March 24, 2013 (Sun) Ocala National Forest (6) 70/82° - As fast as they came, they left. There was much activity around the campground this morning as the folks around us packed up and, one by one, headed out. And we were practically alone here again - for a whole. Then more came to take their places. Ebb and flow. These seem to be mostly families though - little kids running around and bicycling all over the place. Easter week. School is out.
March 25, 2013 (Mon) Ocala National Forest (7) 60/72° - Joy's smartphone was having trouble with the camera close focus. i.e. it wasn't doing it. So a trip to the Verizon store in Silver Springs before their no cost exchange policy expired was in order. They said they couldn't help! They were a retail store, they said. We bought it from a corporate store. We'd have to go one on them. How does one tell the difference? Try to exchange something I guess. Anyway off we went to a "corporate store" west of Ocala where after intense questioning (the guy apparently couldn't believe there could be anything wrong with an iPhone) and much testing, rebooting, software updating and phone calling (help line?) he gave us a new phone - that focuses!
March 26, 2013 (Tue) Ocala National Forest (8) 43/59° - Weather. Everyone's talking about it but no one is doing anything about it. It just keeps getting colder. It's almost April in Florida and they are predicting possible frost tonight! The folks in tents, and there are a lot of them this week, are going to be shivering tonight. We remember many a night when the penetrating aspects of the cold made for very uncomfortable nights for us as we gained our camping legs. We learned to be prepared. The feather bed comes out tonight!
March 27, 2013 (Wed) Ocala National Forest (9) 35/62° - No frost this morning but we debated where we'd take our showers. At 35° we turned the furnace and water heater on, waited for things to warm up and showered on board. It was actually 1° colder here than at home, 1000 miles north!
We met Mark's sister Dorcas and Mike in Mount Dora and poked around in some of the shops of this touristy little town for a while. Lunch at The Frog and The Monkey with time to catch up on family and other news was a welcomed relief from walking and elbowing our way through crowded shops. It was so good to see them again and to hear more detail about their grandson's serious health incident. Thanks, guys for sharing and for our time together. Maybe next time we can find a campground closer for both of us.
March 28, 2013 (Thu) Ocala National Forest (10) 36/67° - It's been a long time since our last Costco fix - oh, and we needed some things we can only find at Costco - so we took off for Altamonte Springs this morning. It was also a way to get away from a cold campground and sit in a nice warm car for a while. On the way back we checked out the Wasabi Buffet Restaurant, a new for us (and maybe actually new) place south of Eustis. It turned out to be one of the best we've eaten in. The selection was smaller than most but the quality was excellent.
We welcomed Rudy Rooster to our family today. He is a most colorful traveling companion.
We spent the afternoon enjoying the relative warmth of our campsite. We are assured by the forecasters that the worst is over. (We've heard that one before!)
March 29, 2013 (Fri) Ocala National Forest (11) 39/72° - It's interesting how campground atmosphere changes. During most of the winter season solid sided RVs (trailers, motor homes, 5th wheels etc) prevail. But as the weather warms (most years!) the bigger rigs begin to thin out and tents take over, families with children replace retired senior citizens. And in the last few days rigs hauling dirty ATVs have invaded this part of Juniper Springs campground. And for some reason these groups seem to consist of at least two haulers with trailers and lots of children. We saw a sign on the road not too far from here advertising a "Mud Fest" - what ever that is. Could that be what it's all about? Anyway, the traditional camping season has begun in spite of the weather. We like the nontraditional kind better.
March 30, 2013 (Sat) Ocala National Forest (12) 42/81° - A cold start but the showers were hot. Our laundry trip to Silver Springs was uneventful except for learning how much the price of gas has dropped since we last ventured into Silver Springs - down to $3.59 in most stations. Our last afternoon in Florida was a gift, warm and relativity bug free. We took advantage and got a lot of reading done.
We spend tomorrow night in the Savannah, GA Walmart parking lot. Woo Hoo!
Q088566 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest #13 dry (x12)
QC31-14 Starting North
QC31-13 More time in the forest
March 15, 2013 (Fri) La Belle, FL to Lakeland, FL (132/2447 miles) 43/72° - Another cold morning! It helped to be busy. After breakfast we scurried around and got ready to leave Ortona Locks. At 8:30 or so Joy threw the laundry into the back of Lamont and headed out for La Belle 8 miles to the west to get started on that dreaded duty while Mark finished breaking camp. His dreaded activity was dumping the holding tanks which he did and then met Joy at the laundromat. We hooked Lamont to Q in the parking lot of the out-of-business Save-a-Lot and we were on our way (64° clear). The best price we found for gas was $3.59/gal in Sebring, FL. This was down a bit from last week but not by much.
March 16, 2013 Lakeland, FL to Plant City, FL - Q is sitting this one out as Lamont takes center stage. This morning, we packed him up and headed 12(?) miles west to Plant City to visit Gordy and Ruth. We spent the afternoon and evening catching up on family doings. It's always great to see them when we are in the area.
March 17, 2013 Plant City, FL (2) - More visiting today interrupted by a jaunt over to a big mall south of Lakeland. Our intent was to see if Books-a-Million had the book Joy has been looking for and to see if Bed Bath and Beyond had the OrGreenic frying pan - it has a ceramic lining rather than Teflon - that we've been considering. Books-a-Million didn't have the book but they did have the frying pan (go figure!). We bought one. While Ruth and Joy went shopping in some of the clothing stores, Gordy and Mark went to the Verizon retail store to begin looking into getting smart phones (for us). In spite of the pretty young saleswoman's personal attributes, Mark resisted making a purchase.
March 18, 2013 Plant City, FL to Lakeland, FL - Now that we had some idea about what we wanted to do about reconfiguring our phone situation - Joy has been wanting a cell phone of her own for a while now - we thought we'd get a second opinion. The nice young salesman in another Lakeland Verizon store convinced us that an iPhone was really the best way to go, even though he himself had a Droid. We took the plunge. Joy now has our old home number, Mark has our old cell number.
Interesting (though irritating) sidebar: When we began to seriously think about upgrading our communication, we could get some models of smart phones free from Verizon. By the time we actually did it, the "sale" was over!! The cost of procrastination.
Q088464 Ed & Kathy's yard
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March 19, 2013 (Tue) Lakeland, FL to Ocala National Forest (102/2549 miles) 61/84° - What a difference a few weeks make. When we were here last the campground was nearly full and on weekends it was jumping. Now there is hardly anyone here. We pretty much had our choice of any campsite we wanted. Being completely overwhelmed, we choose the site we were in the last time, #13. It is roomy and provides a choice of sun and shade depending on the weather.
March 20, 2013 (Wed) Ocala National Forest (2) 64/78° - Normally we would have taken today to recharge from the past busy period but this was the day Shane was to have surgery on his ear so we thought distractions would be healthier for us. So we drove into Silver Springs, did a laundry and indulged in a Chinese Buffet. Even then it was a couple of hours after we got back before we heard that the surgery was finished. Apparently it was more involved than the surgeon had expected but it was successful. More surgery may be needed though. Shane and parents are doing well and recovery is under way.
March 21, 2013 (Thu) Ocala National Forest (3) 47/64° - This has been a lazy day. Other than a bicycle ride around the almost empty campground our only productive activity was entering data into our new smartphones. It's amazing how much miscellaneous data - calendar, address book, shopping lists, book lists, to-do lists etc we are going to be able carry around in our pockets now. We will even be able to make phone calls from anywhere and take pictures and videos of catastrophic events to sell to the news media. Life is good!
March 22, 2013 (Fri) Ocala National Forest (4) 43/70° - We thought seriously about our showers this morning - whether to take them or not. Two months ago using the unheated public showers when the outside temperature is 43° would have been out of the question. This morning we thought we might. It's interesting how we've been able to use this trip to Florida to become acclimated to the cold. Even so, we opted to wait till afternoon when the temperature was predicted to reach well into the 70s. It barely reached 70° - outside. The shower rooms weren't even that! - but we're used to the cold now.
March 23, 2013 (Sat) Ocala National Forest (5) 57/76° - From nearly empty to nearly full, the weekenders piled in late yesterday. There are many sites with gaggles of young people here to celebrate Spring. Fortunately, we are far enough away from them to not be bothered by their festivities - except when they walk by on their way to and from the springs to swim (or to look for wild turkeys as one group reported).
It has warmed up to pleasant again. We are back in shorts and t-shirts - an encouraging change even though it has rained off and on all day.
Q088566 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest #13 dry
QC31-12 Supplemental
March 20, 2013 (Wed) Ocala National Forest - At 12:30 am this morning we woke to a strange ringing sound. It turned out to be Verizon Wireless with a welcome text on Joy's new iPhone. What great folks they are at Verizon wireless - working all night just for us! So now Joy has her own cell phone and a number all her own. It's the number we both had on our land line (we no longer have a land line). Now when you call thinking you are calling us at home, you'll get Joy - somewhere. Mark has adopted our old cell number as his own. He too now has an iPhone. Oh, the learning curve!
QC31-11 College softball
March 7,2013 (Thu) Lakeland, FL to Labelle, FL (131/2315 miles) 40/77° - We said good-bye to Ed & Kathy (and shelties) at about 9:00 - thanks again guys for everything - and headed over to the Publix to stock up for a week at Ortona Lock Campground. This and hooking up Lamont took about 40 minutes then we were off down US 98 through Lakeland. Although we had a cool start the temperature was up to a clear 53° at 10:00 and 59° by 11:00 when we stopped for gas (USA Murphy $3.65). Lunch was in-house (a sub we'd picked up at Publix in Lakeland) in another Publix parking lot, then it was back on the road. Smoke from several fires - we never learned the sources - made for hazy driving down SR 60 but it had cleared by the time we turned onto US 27 South. By 1:15 we were in our campsite and ready to enjoy our view of the Okeechobee Waterway.
March 8,2013 (Fri) Labelle, FL (2) 44/76° - When we bought our bicycles five years ago or so we were told that the tires were designed to not have flats. We knew that was probably an exaggeration but it seemed to be true. We've had no flat tires in all the time we've had them. As we were coming back from our ride out to the main road today Mark discovered that his rear tire was going flat! Since we've been so many years without having a flat tire, we didn't have a repair kit with us so we ended up having to walk the mile plus back to our campsite. It turned out to be a sticky valve. A little silicone spray may or may not have fixed it.
March 9, 2013 (Sat) Labelle, FL (3) 48/78° - It didn't fix it! The tire was dead flat this morning. On to plan B. It really needs a new valve but lacking the tools to remove and replace it Mark put in a whole new tube.
A retired salesman(?) for Blue Ox (the RV tow bar people) gave a talk on RV safety in the pavilion in the late morning. We learned a couple of things.
We like being where we can watch the wildlife. As do most of the folks who spend a lot of their time one the road. At the end of our bike ride this afternoon, we took a spin up around the rest of the campground. We were curious to see if the site we will be moving into tomorrow is still empty - it was earlier today. As we approached the site we saw a crowd of people on the road taking pictures of a rather nondescript, rather uninteresting fifth wheel trailer parked near-by. It turned out there was a huge, maybe even super huge, swarm of bees covering one of the storage hatches. We learned this evening that the swarm has moved inside (the storage space?). The folks who live there have taken a room in nearby Labelle, FL.
March 10, 2013 (Sun) Labelle, FL (4) 54/77° - Moving day - for us and apparently for half the campground. We are now up in the eastern loop in the site next to the one we were in back in February. It's a clear bright day with a few clouds in the sky. We have a beautiful view of the waterway out our dining room window. In the afternoon the wind began to increase. We're told that a cold front is coming in, though the temperature won't drop much. I guess that's what the wind is all about.
A class A motor home just drove by with it's windshield completely covered. The driver must have been able to see out, apparently not very well because he was driving on the wrong side of the road, although it looked pretty opaque to us. I guess he was moving to new site too.
March 11, 2013 (Mon) Labelle, FL (5) 61/78° - The temperature this morning was the same as it was when we went to bed last night. We took off for Lee County Sports Complex (about 50 miles West) at about 10:30 to watch Jackie's college softball team. They played 2 games, unfortunately won neither. Jackie played in the first game and got one hit in two at-bats. After the games we took her to a Buffalo Wild Hot Wings restaurant for nourishment. They are off tomorrow but we'll be going back over on Wednesday.
And speaking of wildlife, there was an osprey nesting on top of one of the ball field light towers. Every once in a while he would come swooping down over the field and glide off over the terrain beyond. It was interesting in that he came down so low he could well have been hit by a fly ball if the timing had been right.
March 12, 2013 (Tue) Labelle, FL (6) 63/71° - Took a walk out along the waterway to the east this afternoon. We've not thought to do that before - actually we're not sure we're allowed since there is a gate we had to climb over to do it. We followed a roughly mowed dual path (for vehicles) completely devoid of human habitation on our, the south, side of the canal. Farms and a small village decorated the north side. Mark worked on taxes and Joy mostly read in the morning and late afternoon.
March 13, 2013 (Wed) Labelle, FL (7) 49/68° - Cold this morning. Mark reports that the shower in the men's room barely got above lukewarm which didn't do much to improve his body temperature. Joy says hers was hot.
We spent another day in Fort Myers watching Jackie play softball. It was another disappointing day for them although it looked for a while that they would win the second game. As disappointing as it may have been, we could see considerable improvement demonstrating to us how beneficial the concentrated schedule has been for them. There were ospreys on the light poles in these fields too (we were in a different sports complex today) but they were more interested in talking with one another than buzzing the field. It was sea gulls who handled dare devil duty there.
It has been wonderful to be where we can get to watch a few of Jackie's ball games. And seeing her and spending some time with her was a real treat.
March 14, 2013 (Thu) Labelle, FL (8) 46/70° - Mid March in Florida isn't supposed to be this cold. Here we are camped beside a beautiful waterway with boats both large and small, power and sail occasionally going by, destinations unknown, on their way to and from the locks. We should be enjoying the view and the wonderful warm sunshine but the wind, gusty and strong sometimes, has a chill in it that makes 70° seem colder than it should. It's our last day here - tomorrow we begin our slow trek north.
The excitement for the day here was a fairly long confab outside the public rest rooms. The Park Ranger and three other rather official looking gentlemen with clipboards seemed to be discussing changes to the rest rooms. Although they are clean and in good repair, they could be larger to accommodate the number of campers in this area of the campground. We hope that expansion was part of the discussion.
Q088332 Ortona Lock Campground #36&26 e/w $12g (x8)
QC31-10 A stint in civilization
February 27, 2013 (Wed) Hudson, FL (116/2128 miles) 63/76° - Domestic discussion: "They said they'd start [working on Q's back window] at 6:45" "I know but that was just to make sure we were up and ready when they did start. We could go on and eat breakfast." "I don't want to be in the middle of it when they come." "There are a bunch of other motor homes here. They won't start with us even if they do start at 6:45." "Wanna bet?" At exactly 6:45 a young fellow came to our door. "Ready for me to take your window out?"
Before noon we learned that we'd be spending another night in beautiful downtown RV-repair-parking-lot-ville. Apparently the type of seal needed for the door window requires a 24 hour curing period before it can be reinstalled. We celebrated by going to a Walmart to buy a gas can. Oh, and we found a Panera Bread for lunch. The good news is that they happened to already have a piece of tempered glass of the right shape to replace the bad one so they didn't have to have one especially made - which would have taken a week.
Q088145 Hudson, Fl Suncoast Designers parking lot(x2)
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February 28, 2013 (Thur) Hudson, FL to Lakeland, FL (56/2184 miles) 58/69° - We assumed that we didn't have to be up and prepared for a 6:45 am knock on the door this morning. They said yesterday that all the windows to be repaired are removed before the finished windows are installed. So we spent most of the morning watching young men carrying motor home windows on their shoulders parade into the shop. When we saw them carrying windows out of the shop we knew it wouldn't be long.
We got off at about 11:00 with our brand new rear window. Mark reports that a glance in the rear view mirror gives a momentary shock impression that the door had been left open. It's wonderful to be able to see traffic back there again. Joy likes being able to see what's going on out that way while we are parked.
When we got gas in Silver Springs we paid $3.91/gal thinking that was the best we could do. Wrong! Prices north of Tampa are running around $3.69. We even saw one station selling it for $3.59 this morning but we really didn't need any. We should have topped off anyway. Prices in the Lakeland area are $3.79. Grrr!
March 1, 2013 (Fri) Lakeland, FL (2) 49/68° - Ed and Kathy had to work today so Joy took the opportunity to do some shopping that she has been wanting to do. Unfortunately we couldn't find the Beall's Department Store where she thought it was. We ended up going all the way to the south side of Lakeland. Good news is that we found a Chipotle Mexican Grill near there where we had lunch. The rest of the day was spent relaxing.
March 2, 2013 (Sat) Lakeland, FL (3) 47/67° - We made another run to The Book Bazaar in Lakeland this morning. So now the five bags of paperback books we brought south to exchange have been reduced to one, producing about one and one half bags of new books to read. On our way home we stopped at Ling's Chinese Buffet for lunch.
Before we left home we had tried to suspend our subscription to Netflix as we have done in the past but found that this option is no longer available. It so happened that the movie we could not keep them from sending to us was the very popular Boomerang. After holding it out of circulation for 2 months we finally got the chance to watch it tonight. It was awful. 20 minutes into it we turned it off.
March 3, 2013 (Sun) Lakeland, FL (4) 39/64° - Other than going to church this morning, hanging out with good company during the day and dominoes in the evening, it's been a pretty unremarkable day. COLD!!
March 4, 2013 (Mon) Lakeland, FL (5) 37/73° - The coldest night so far in the current cold snap. Our feather bed is doing a wonderful job of keeping us warm. The news this morning is reporting a wild fire burning in the Ocala National Forest. As far as we can determine, it is very close to the campgrounds where we like to go and have been this year. We are wondering if either or both of them have been evacuated. I guess we'll find out when we go back there later on this month.
March 5, 2013 (Tue) Lakeland, FL (6) 47/76° - Most of today was devoted to Disney World Animal Kingdom. It was a great experience in spite of all the human animals. The highlight of the adventure was the Kilimanjaro Safari. We were loaded onto a large safari truck (with all manner of camping and hunting equipment on the roof) and driven out into the simulated (it was Disney after all) lush African savannah amongst such inhabitants as elephants, giraffes, lions, cheetahs hippos and wart hogs (to name a few). We ate at Tusker House Restaurant which was a pricey though excellent buffet featuring African cuisine. All in all a day to remember.
March 6, 2013 (Wed) Lakeland, FL (7) 53/68° - Except for the enjoyment of hanging out with good company, today has been another one of those do-nothing days. Tomorrow we are back on the road again and back to Ortona Locks.
Q088201 Ed and Kathy's yard
