QC41-19 Mountain Stay and Homebound

March 24, 2014 (Mon) Mars Hill, NC (2) 29/42° - Well it's back to cold mornings! And it didn't get all that much better as the day went on. It was good to be where we could hang out inside a warm house - with a warm fire. And that's pretty much all we did. Joy went shopping with Pat in the morning but that's about it.

March 25, 2014 (Tue) Mars Hill, NC (3) 34/47° - Woke up to a winter wonderland - not so welcome really.

Other than the adventure of wading back and forth through a couple of inches of wet snow several times, we had another do-nothing day in front of the fire. Bob and Pat's grandson Wesley and family got here in the late afternoon and the addition of two small children livened things up quite a bit.

March 26, 2014 (Wed) Mars Hill, NC (4) 24/43° - Bob and Pat's grandson Christopher and Melissa came this morning after having driven all night from New Jersey. There was a time when we could have and probably would have done that. Not any more! The addition of two more people did wonders to increase the level of activity. We had known Chris and Wesley when they were young children but not seen them for many years. It was great to begin to get know them now as young men.

In the late morning Bob and Mark went out to deliver Wednesday's Meals-on-Wheels to some elderly shut-ins in the area. We found one client bundled up against the cold and sitting in her wheelchair on the ramp outside her house trailer home. She was waiting for a medical transportation van to take her doctor appointment which was 45 minutes late at that point. Bob called the transportation service company to insure that she wouldn't have to wait much longer. They may have forgotten her!

Chris spent most of the afternoon making (finishing actually) kilts that he and Wesley plan to wear when they go to Disney World in a few days. Melissa may also be wearing something exotic. We don't know about Kecia or the kids.

March 27, 2014 (Thu) Mars Hill, NC (5) 24/57° - This noon the whole gang - well most of us anyway - went into Asheville to dine at The Mellow Mushroom. This is a funky pizza place that makes and serves very good pizza and has almost every beer imaginable on tap. We chose a large house special pizza (shared with Bob and Pat) and a pint each of the Celtic amber ale. The Mellow Mushroom is a small chain with several restaurants across the South and, we were excited to learn, one is now under construction in Mt Dora, FL. We'll be checking it out next year.

The younger folks spent the time before and after lunch exploring Asheville. The old folks took the opportunity to slow down in front of a fire at home.

March 28, 2014 (Fri) Mars Hill, NC (6) 25/57° - Wesley and family left for Florida at 5:00 this morning (we assume because that was their plan and their car was gone when we got up) and Christopher and Melissa, also left for Florida, later at 7:30. The rest of the day was devoted to rest and waiting for word that the travelers had safely reached their destination. They did.

At about the time things quieted down nicely Mark discovered he'd lost his glasses! Luckily he has another pair along for such emergencies and was able to function (i.e. read things). The intense search lasting well into the afternoon, was interrupted only by the men's breakfast with Bob and friends and, later, lunch. The search included removing one of Q's cabinets to look behind it - neither easy nor fun. Not there!

There must be something in the air this week because Bob's wallet went missing sometime Wednesday. While Mark had Q torn apart, he got a text from Joy in the house that Bob had found his wallet. After Q was reassembled, Mark finally found his glasses - in a bag hastily closed up and put away in the morning.

And all lived quietly ever after the rest of the day in front of a warm fire.

March 29, 2014 (Sat) Mars Hill, NC (8) 42/62° - Papa's and Beer is our favorite Mexican restaurant in Asheville. The last time we were here we heard that another, by the same owner and to be called Mama's and Beer, was being built, we thought with a slightly different cuisine, i.e. Texas vs California style. We went there to check out their lunch menu. It turns out it's the same menu. in fact the menu says Papa's and Beer. Apparently there are already three Papa's and Beers in town, the limit for one franchise in Asheville. the Mama's and Beer name makes the fourth legal. How was the food? About the same as far as we could tell albeit a bit more expensive. That is to say very good. Joy and Pat spent a while in the Black Mountain Yarn shop up the road in Black Mountain, a community that would be fun to spend some time in some day, lots of arts and crafts

Another quiet day followed - except for the rousing game of dominoes in the evening.

March 30, 2014 (Sun) Mars Hill, NC (9) 33/52° - Once again it snowed during the night. Have we started north too soon? Anyway, after church in the morning it was another quiet relaxing day in front of the fire. More dominoes in the evening. We're on the road again tomorrow.

Q97612 Bob and Pat's yard (x10)
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March 31, 2014 (Mon) Mars Hill, NC to Winchester, VA (394/2776) 31/67° - We had a small amount of concern that there might still be snow or ice on the road over Sam's Gap (el. 3760 ft) in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Small because we know that surface conditions are well managed up there and the snow was gone where we were. We took off about 9:15 and headed up the mountain on I-26 and into Tennessee. There was no snow - not even along the roadside, although it accented the mountains above and around us.

The Walmart in Unicoi, TN usually has the least expensive gas anywhere on our route. Not today. While it was the best, other than Costco, to that point, $3.25/gal, we saw plenty of other stations with that price and even some below, through Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia.

Signs along the way
   Billboard oxymoron: "The Factory Antique Mall"
   Dog Walking and Pet Sitting Service: "Fairy Dog Mother"

Q093006 Camp Walmart Winchester, VA
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April 2, 2014 (Tue) Winchester, VA to Home (296/3072) 43/61° - A pick-up came in close beside us last night just as we were thinking about going to bed. Attached was what at first looked like an animal carrier fifth-wheel. It deserved a much closer look and a possible move if, in fact, it was carrying animals. The smell would have made sleeping impossible. No animals. Just crates of some kind of machinery. The guy ran his diesel engine on and off during the night though. So much for a nice quiet night's sleep. Oh well, it's part of the parking lot camping experience.

Even though our noisy neighbor had left by the time we got up, we decided that the dining ambiance would be better in the rest area up the road so we took off before breakfast. Rest area parking spaces for long rigs are limited at best and especially so when crowded. We ended up between two big idling diesel 18 wheelers. Ugh!

Most Cabela's (The Worlds Foremost Outfitters) stores have RV dump stations. Rather than using the one at the Flying J where we got gas which was crowded we chose to go on to the one in Hamburg, PA. After taking care of that necessary part of RVing we moved into the wide open parking lot to eat our lunch. Then it was back on the road. Another unpleasant part of RV travel is enduring less than well maintained roads. The rough Winter really did a job on an already broken up I-78 through Pennsylvania. It was good to cross the border into NJ.

Q093302 Home at last

QC41-18 Into the Mountains

March 19, 2014 (Wed) Ocala National Forest (16) 57/73° - It used to be in years past, and even occasionally this year, when we'd sit around all day enjoy being free of the cold, snow and most responsibility. Today was one of those rare days. It makes me think that I really should have something of interest to say about what we did but I don't, and for us, that's good.

March 20, 2014 (Thu) Ocala National Forest (17) 54/78° - This has been another of those do-nothing days. The weather has been sunny and warm but not too warm. The campground has been very quiet, unusually so for the number of people here, especially in our loop. Yesterday afternoon several van loads of late teen/early twenties young people went by and though we knew they set up camp around the bend a few sites away, we've heard hardly a peep from them. In contrast to the groups over the weekend, they seemed to be an organized group with older adult chaperones(?). They had canoes and kayaks and we think they spent the day today on the water somewhere.

At noon Bill and Margaret invited us over to their site for a grilled hamburger lunch (a celebration of the first day of Spring?). What a pleasant change from our usual stay-at-home lunch. And, of course, the company made it all the better.

Lance and Diane, also from Michigan and here for 10 days, joined us at the campfire tonight.

March 21, 2014 (Fri) Ocala National Forest (18) 55/83° - Again the weekend crowds have begun to fill up the campground. There seem to be more families than spring-breakers this time, although there are a few groups of young people. One group on loop D was busy setting up a huge pavilion type tent similar to a revival tent. Oh Good! Whatever that was all about, they were very quiet in the evening - at least during the time we were at the campfire. Another group nearby enjoyed an hour or so of group singing with guitar and banjo accompanying. This, as opposed to last week's noise was quite pleasant - no artificial amplification and not the least intrusive.

Q091976 Alexander Springs CG, Ocala NF #32 dry $10.50 B (x18)

March 22, 2014 (Sat) Ocala National Forest to Midway, GA (267/2213 miles) 63/78° - It seemed reasonable, since this was a family weekend and just begun late yesterday, that the shower rooms would not be busy, especially early in the morning. Wrong. Mark found young men two deep at the sinks and a line waiting for the three showers in the normally empty facility. Tents bloomed three, four and five to a site and many campfires were already heating morning breakfasts. Joy found a tick while she was showering but we suspect it had nothing to do with the change in character of the forest campers.

After calling the Astor post office to see if our mail had gotten there yet - it hadn't - we got off at about 9:15 and made our way out of the forest, up to US-40 and onto US-301. Gas at BP around 10:10, lunch at Wendy's at 11:30 or so and some grocery shopping later in the afternoon was about the extent of our excitement as we drove north. The roadside flora was beautiful though. Spring is just beginning to show in the many variety if deciduous trees making them look fuzzy soft in their pale colors. Blooming red bud, dogwood, azaleas and a mixture of wildflowers gave the highway a colorful sparkle.

We passed a building in Starke with a sign that read "Knuckle Draggers Motorcycle Associates"

We found Larry's small home on the Isle of Wight (near Savannah, GA) without any trouble and he and Kaye came out to help guide us into the small yard.

March 23, 2014 (Sun) Midway, GA to Mars Hill, NC (369/2582 miles) 48/69° - Kaye and Larry sent us off with a wonderful french bread breakfast made from Larry's own homemade cinnamon bread. It was good to see Kaye and to spend some quality time with her and to get to know Larry. The time was too short. We began to wind our way off the island at about 9:30, hooked up Lamont just before getting on I-95 and headed north again.

A stop for gas at Costco in Spartenburg, SC yielded a full tank for both Q and Lamont as well as the discovery of a "noise" in Q's left front wheel. The noise didn't sound serious or dangerous so we went on but Mark began to worry about it. We stopped at a rest area near Asheville, NC to investigate further. Mark took the hubcap off and found that the cap meant to cover the wheel bearing had come off and was rattling around inside the hubcap. Once replaced there was no more rattling.

Hildene led us astray in Asheville! She told us to turn left on US19. We were actually supposed to stay right on US19 and I-26. We've been through the area and knew how to do it but discovered Hildene's error too late to do anything about it. As a result we had to navigate some very narrow roads with very tight curves, steep hills and one bridge underpass too low for Q's 10.5 ft height getting back to I-26. There is no such thing as a simple U-turn while towing a car! It gave some meaning to the slogan we saw painted on the back of a big motor home earlier...

"We came. We saw. We got lost"

We got to Bob and Pat's at about 5:45 exhausted, irritable and ready to hang out for a while.

Q97612 Bob and Pat's yard

QC41-17 More Fun in the Forest

March 15, 2014 (Sat) Ocala National Forest (12) 49/79° - We started today in the hospital emergency room. Joy woke up during the night with a minor, recurring, easily treatable problem. She did need a doctor issued prescription though. An internet search revealed the closest walk-in clinic to be in Miami! Well, that wouldn't do! So we set out bright and early in search of something closer. The emergency room was at the Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares (just west of Eustis). Joy gives the hospital high marks. The facility looked clean and well maintained and the staff was fast and efficient (in spite of the apparent high volume). Above all, they seemed to have dispatched her discomfort in very short order.

There is no end to chutzpah on weekends in a public park as loosely managed as this one is. Kids biking, walking and playing ball in areas meant for vehicle traffic is a normal and expected part of the weekend camping experience but, the total disregard of one-way/do not enter signs and other traffic and vehicle rules as well as loud intrusive music should not be. And blatant indiscriminate, sometimes intentional, fouling of the public rest rooms is beyond unacceptable. There are signs posted here and there throughout the campground stating that vehicles must stay on paved roads and pads. For the most part this rule is respected but yesterday afternoon a large class C motor home blazed itself a new campsite, hitting overhead tree branches in the process, several feet from the site's paved pad. Chairs were put out and the young couple went off to spend the rest of the afternoon somewhere else. We half expected one of the cruising campers to pull into the empty pad and claim it their own. Someone must have informed the couple of the infraction because as soon as they got back late in the afternoon they moved the motor home over to where it belonged.

This afternoon several large groups of spring-break aged young people took over some of the sites around us. At one point we saw four sturdy young fellows lugging a rather sizable generator into one of the sites and we thought the worst - with good reason, it turned out. They must also have brought along stage sized amplifiers and speakers too because as the evening wore on the volume of the music rose to unbelievable heights. Campground security came around a couple of times and made them turn it down and were there, if a little late, to insure that the 10:00 quiet time was honored, but for a while they were entertaining the whole campground whether it wanted to be entertained or not. And the folks on the other side of us contributed their own music. But the quality of their sound equipment distorted it badly trying to handle volume it was not designed to produce.

March 16, 2014 (Sun) Ocala National Forest (13) 59/83° - An early run to the Publix in Eustis yielded a New York Times and a couple of bagels for lunch. Then it was back home to, hopefully, watch the exodus of the party folks. And leave they did - but not without a parting shot of aggravation. Joy reported that a large group of girls (can't call them women although they were probably 20 some) had taken over the women's restroom completely, occupying every space and more with activity that could well have waited until they got home - cars, fully packed and ready to go, overflowed the small parking area outside. After they left the floors in both restrooms were covered with mud and littered with toilet paper. We feel no envy for the voluntary staff whose responsibility it is to keep these ares clean.

March 17, 2014 (Mon) Ocala National Forest (14) 62/84° - We woke up to spritzing rain. The weather guessers are saying we're in for some heavy stuff later on today and into tomorrow so we had some decisions to make. The first was what to do about showers. This wasn't really a hard one. A little more water in the form of light rain as we went to and from the shower rooms wasn't going to hurt anything. And it's warm enough, this morning, not to have to wait for it to warm up later in the day. The second decision was a little more complicated. We weren't in dire need of a sanitary refresh but we were close. Under ordinary circumstances we could wait until the weather cleared tomorrow afternoon but if the predicted severe weather, complete with thunder, lightning and high wind (we were under a tornado watch!) actually descends upon us, we're not going to be wanting to traipse through the woods to the public restrooms. We chose to be prepared. What little rain there was at the time gave us a break.

The expected violence never materialized but it did rain all day - sometimes as downpours. By the time we were ready to go to bed there was a nice big puddle in our back yard. And it was still raining.

March 18, 2014 (Tue) Ocala National Forest (15) 57/73° - The rain kept up most of the night - we had to wonder how the folks in tents were making out - but was reduced to a light sprinkle and the trees shedding the accumulated water by morning. The forecasters were predicting the return of the sun but there was laundry to be done and a lunch at Wasabi Buffet to be eaten so off we went to the big city. There is a new bakery in Umatilla, a tiny one not open on Sundays, that we stopped to check out. The folks who own it must be transplants from New York because the bagels looked as if they came from there and the blueberry muffins looked to die for. Other bakery items looked just as tempting but aside from a tri-chocolate chocolate chip cookie, we resisted the temptation to buy more.

Q091976 Alexander Springs CG, Ocala NF #32 dry $10.50 B

QC41-16 Orange Blossom Cannonball

March 9, 2014 (Sun) Ocala National Forest (6) 45/77° - The Publix supermarket in Eustis usually has the Sunday New York Times newspaper - we think. The last time we were there on a Sunday they didn't. The Winn Dixie supermarket across the street did. Aside from Panera Bread which is some distance away, Publix is the only place in the South where we can be sure to get bagels that come anywhere near approximating New York area bagels. So Publix was our destination of choice this morning. But we had to go early before the Sunday Times were all sold out. We did and we were able to get one of the last two left and some bagels. We also picked up some picnic supplies, hot dogs, buns, paper plates etc. to celebrate the start of Daylight Savings Time with Bill, Margaret, and Dora at the campfire tonight. We also picked up a couple of cans of cherry pie filling for Margaret who made a delicious white cake, cherry, coconut, almond concoction for dessert.

It warmed up beautifully as the sun came up so our room of choice became the great outdoors. The one concern we had, as we read the newspaper, worked a crossword puzzle, read our books and appliqued a quilt border, was ticks. The approaching Spring was causing the Live Oak trees around us to bud pushing last years leaves out of the way. Seed ticks love to hang out on the tiny leaves and ride them down to the unsuspecting humans below. While relatively harmless (no threat of lyme disease) they are pesky and need to be dealt with to prevent infections. Luckily we found none.

March 10, 2014 (Mon) Ocala National Forest (7) 50/81° - We have found that if we use our water and sanitary facilities sparingly, we need to refresh the tanks only about once a week. Today was the day so we took Q up to the dump station and did just that. As the fresh water tank was filling, Mark noticed that the left rear tire looked a little soft. This could mean it needed air or that it was bearing all the weight meant for two. It turned out that the inner tire was dead flat! There was no question about who would do the honors this time. We drove up to the small parking lot by the gate house, called for road service and waited. And waited. And waited, because the nearest network facility was 64 miles away in Ocala, 2 hours after calling for help, Q was back in site #32 and we were ready to do what we thought we'd be doing much earlier. Hanging out.

I might add here that before the big adventure with the flat tire, Joy thought she was up for a walk around the campground which we did. Then while we were waiting for the road service truck, she walked back to our campsite to get her bicycle so she'd (we'd) have some form of transportation if needed. So she got a lot of walking in with no apparent ill-effect.

March 11, 2014 (Tue) Ocala National Forest (8) 54/84° - One of the things Joy did yesterday afternoon was design a small quilt/hanging with a "Sandy" (the super storm) theme and found she needed some fabric not in her traveling stash. The last time she was in the quilt store near Mt Dora (Sew-mini-stitches) she wasn't all that impressed but it was the closest so off we went. It turned out that the shop had greatly expanded and now well worth the visit.

On the way to the quilt shop we stopped in Umatilla to make arrangements to have Q's tire repaired. Actually all it needs is a new valve stem. Since this failure keeps happening we will be looking into a way to prevent it from happening in the future.

March 12, 2014 (Wed) Ocala National Forest (9) 67/83° - The folks at the tire place in Umatilla wanted us to call to ahead of our arrival so they could be sure there was room for us in the limited work area. They said it was pouring rain there. Since they'd be working outside and would need to fetch the wheel with the now deflated tire from its storage location up under the motor home, a probable muddy crawl, we agreed to reschedule for tomorrow. We had planned to go on into Mt Dora (with Lamont) after Q was whole again and decided to go today anyway. When we were there last year, we discovered the Fiesta Grande Mexican Grill - after we'd already eaten! We vowed to try it the next time we were in town. This was that next time. The food was excellent and well worth the wait.

Eustis is on the way to Mt Dora and The Orange Blossom Cannonball was in town. So we stopped for a closer look and to take some pictures. There was no one around to ask nor any signage to indicate what she was here for but we suspected that the Tavares, Eustis & Gulf was making ready to run excursions between Tavares and Mt Dora again. Last year the track in Mt Dora was in deplorable condition and obviously not in use but today we noticed work trains and crews along the right-of-way installing new ties. A web search when we got home confirmed our suspicions. See www.orangeblossomcannonball.com if you are interested.

March 13, 2014 (Thu) Ocala National Forest (10) 50/71° - Chilly start to the day and the weather guessers say it's going to be chillier tonight. Do we get the feather bed out or not? We'll see.

We've had several flats on Q's rear inner tires caused, we are told, by the valve extenders flexing the valve stem until it fails. Steel valve stems may be the answer, if extenders must be used, but our local tire supplier tells us that rubber and steel are just as good. Apparently they are not. This morning we took Q into Umatilla and had all steel stems put in both inside wheels. As far as I can tell there should be absolutely no flexing now. We'll see.

March 14, 2014 (Fri) Ocala National Forest (11) 37/73° - Thirty seven degrees this morning! I expected to see flakes of snow drifting through the palm trees. What am I thinking? This is Florida. And it's the middle of March. Oh well, It's better than the weather they're getting at home. It did warm up nicely during the day and by afternoon it was warm enough to sit out without sweatshirts.

It's Friday in the park. The influx has begun! By late afternoon cars and campers were going by almost nonstop looking for the "perfect" site. Kids on bicycles zipping here and there risked life and limb in their oblivious use of the roads. One little guy ended up on the asphalt in front of our site. There was no apparent sign of damage to him but his bike took some fixing before it was road worthy again.

Q091976 Alexander Springs CG, Ocala NF #32 dry $10.50 B

QC41-15 Campfires, Rain and Frustration

March 4, 2014 (Tue)  Lakeland, FL to Ocala National Forest (90/1946 miles) 64/73° - Of the three campgrounds we've stayed at in the Ocala National Forest, we prefer Juniper Springs. So why are we sitting here in site #30 at Alexander Springs? Because we have friends here. Bill and Margaret, a couple from Michigan, and Dora, a single lady from New York State, come south and spend most of the winter months here. They are often gone, on their way north, by the time we get here on our way north but this year the weather back home has been so bad they decided to stay down another few weeks. We came here instead of Juniper Springs to spend some time with them.

Bill is a great one for campfires and has one at their site almost every night. Cold weather and rain are about the only things that will keep him from it. His reputation is such that other campers, especially regulars, and the campground hosts, keep him well supplied with wood. All are welcome to come to enjoy the warmth and shared travel experiences. Tonight we and Stuart, a lone bicyclist peddling his way through the forest, were their only guests. But the fellowship was no less satisfying.

Sand Hill Cranes at Ortona Lock South

March 5, 2014 (Wed) Ocala National Forest (2) 57/64° - We had anticipated a long day today. Doing laundry is a chore that has to be done every so often whether we want to or not. And shopping to replenish the larder is no substitute for a relaxing day in the sun reading either. We did reward ourselves by driving a few extra miles to an excellent Chinese buffet in the outskirts of Mt Dora that we found last year. Our mail was due to arrive in the Astor post office today - 8 miles the other side of Alexander Springs! Oh well, we're out we may as well go on and get it. It will save us from having to go out tomorrow.

On the way back to the campground, on the long lonely part of the road through the forest, we heard a loud bang followed by some rather unsettling rumbling. We had a flat tire! A blow-out actually. Unlike the motor home, changing a tire on the Honda CRV should be fairly easy. There should be no need to call our road service provider and wait for someone to come from who knows where. Getting off the shoulder-less road into the wide shallow ditch wasn't fun but it got us out of the way of traffic. The lug nuts proved hard to loosen because they'd been put on with an impact wrench when Costco rotated the tires. The uneven footing and improperly set hand brake allowed the car to almost roll off the jack. As if to underscore our faulty decision to do it ourselves the spare tire cover was next to impossible to get off. A job that should have taken 10 or 15 minutes ended up taking nearly 45. We should have taken a picture to include here but, well, we had other things on our minds. In stead here is one from a more relaxed time.

Ibis at South Bay campground

March 6, 2014 (Thu) Ocala National Forest (3) 59/65° - We were expecting heavy weather this afternoon but we thought we could make to Costco in Altamonte Springs (north of Orlando) to get our tire replaced and get back home by the time it hit. While we waited at Costco's outside food concession tables, we checked the progress of the storm an discovered that a hurricane watch was in effect - starting a half hour ago - for the whole Florida peninsula. And there was the possibility of 1" diameter hail! We made it back home in plenty of time, even with a pause at Panera Bread for a soup and sandwich lunch.

It turned out not to be much of a storm, not even all that much rain, where we were but it was a different story to the east on the Atlantic coast. TV news reports showed uprooted trees and flooding in several areas.

 March 7, 2014 (Fri) Ocala National Forest (4) 55/68° - It rained a little during the night but the storm seems to have passed us by for now. It has been a cold (mid 50s and 60s) damp miserable day. If we hadn't been going so much the last few days, we might have considered it an opportunity to take a road trip. In stead we would hang around, spent the time catching up on chores that we have been neglecting and relax. Wrong!

Almost before we began, Mark discovered that we had been double billed by one of out health providers. A phone call to them was unsuccessful because the signal strength here is too weak so we'd have to go out after all. Joy wanted to visit a very good quilt shop in Ocala anyway and we could use a WiFi connection with good, relatively quiet table access (i.e. Barnes and Noble or a public library) for some financial downloads so off we went. The quilt shop was no longer there #%@#*!. It  went out of business suddenly and without notice according to a former neighbor. Several attempts to reach the health provider resulted in an equal number of "Please leave your name and phone number..." messages.  But an hour at a Barnes and Noble across the mall proved successful - Joy got a book and Mark got his banking data. It was a long drive, far longer than we anticipated, and wrought with aggravation, in spite of a few successes. We were glad to get home.

Flowering tree at Alexander Springs

March 8, 2014 (Sat) Ocala National Forest (5) 47/67° - A chilly night last night. We didn't think we'd need the feather bed, it was in the car, and we didn't but getting up and getting dressed would have been uncomfortable if we didn't have the furnace to take the chill off. The sun warmed things up nicely as the day developed, though, so we were able to haul our chairs out and spend some quality time enjoying this secluded campsite - as long as we were in the sun.

A nice warm campfire gathering with Bill, Margaret and Dora closed out the evening.

Q091976 Alexander Springs CG, Ocala NF #30 dry $10.50 B

QC41-14 Rear Window & Northerly

February 24, 2014 (Mon)  South Bay, FL (5) 62/??° - An early morning walk on the levee gave us a wonderful view of the sunrise - and lots of mosquito bites. (Well, lots of mosquitoes anyway, not so many bites.) The fact that Joy suggested that we do it, and as yet feels no ill effect from it, speaks volumes for the improvement in her back.

Jack, a high school friend of Mark's is someone else we try to see when we are in Florida. So our jaunt today was into Stuart, FL to have lunch with him. Our visits are always good to stimulate old memories and catch up on the doings of old friends. And, of course, to hear about Jack's adventures over the past year. Probably the most significant of these is his recent foray into the world of antique cars. He is a new member of The Antique Automobile Club of America with his 1979 Mercury Cougar. The car, as old as it is, has only 9000 (I believe he said) miles on the odometer and is in immaculate condition. As far as he knows, and there is some documentation to the fact, everything on it and in it is original. i.e. it is not a restored antique. The one exception is the tires. He recently replaced the originals (35 years old) with reproductions. (He's hoping the certification folks will allow this for unrestored cars.)  It won a first place trophy for him in a local car show over the weekend.

Christopher Columbus was in town. It's true!! We saw his ships, two of them at least, tied up in the marina in Stuart.

The picture above is of the Pinta. The Nina is behind it. The Santa Maria was nowhere around. We think Chris may have taken it to do some sight seeing since we didn't see him anywhere either. Jack let us out of the car so we could walk out onto the bridge for a closer look at the ships while he turned the car around. There were no signs indicating what was going on so we corralled an official looking photographer (he had several cameras and equipment bags hung over his shoulders). He reluctantly paused in his determined dash up the sidewalk to say there was some kind of tour tomorrow.

Q091595 South Bay RV Campground w/e/s/c/w $25 B+ (x5)
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February 25, 2014 (Tue)  South Bay, FL to Hudson, FL (233/1899 miles) 67/83° - We mentioned the broken glass in Q's rear door a few weeks ago. Today we headed for Hudson, FL and Suncoast Designers to get if fixed. The appointment is actually for tomorrow but since they open and start work at 6:45am, we took up residence in their parking lot for the night to be sure we were here in time. The drive here was relatively uneventful except for:

• An osprey flew across the road in front of us carrying a large (3 feet long at least) palm branch in his talons - building or renovating his nest we assumed.
•  A large very long tear drop shaped, obviously old trailer pulled out of a rest area as we pulled in. On down the road later he passed us (he must have stopped for gas) and we saw that it was a "1957 Airfloat antique trailer" per the plaque on the back.

When Mark checked in at Suncoast Designers, he handed the receptionist the paper work for the repair last year and told her we were here to have the window they had installed fixed. "Not covered by the warranty," the woman said. "I thought not, but I was hoping." "Doesn't hurt to hope," she said smiling.

February 26, 2014 (Wed)  Hudson, FL - Lakeland, FL (57/1856 miles) 60/79° - The young fellows from Suncoast Designers showed up right on time at 6:45am to remove Q's rear window. They covered the resulting hole with cardboard to protect us from the elements - though there were no elements to be protected from today - and took the window inside to do their magic on it. We hung out in what felt like a canyon of big class A motor homes pretending we were experiencing spectacular scenic natural wonder views all around.

Just as we began to discuss what we might do for lunch (at about 11:30) the young men brought our window frame back, complete with sparkling new (unbroken) glass. 10 minutes later the told us that as soon as we'd completed the paperwork inside we were good to go. Then came the pleasant surprise - no charge! They had determined that the glass had cracked because of some burrs in the frame that should have been removed when we were here last year, so it was fixed under the warranty. They didn't have to do that since they'd already told us it wasn't covered. But  they did. Good guys!

When we got to Ed and Kathy's, they gave us a tour of their new motor home - a 2013 Newmar Ventana LE. Very nice!

February 27, 2014 (Thu)  Lakeland, FL (2) 59/70° - Lunch at one of the best (and a favorite) Chinese Buffets we've ever experienced with Ed and Kathy was the highlight of our day today. Other than that we made a few shopping stops and pretty much hung out the rest of the day. Oh, we also stopped by an RV dealership to look at small motor homes. Seeing Ed and Kathy's new one made us begin thinking maybe we could use one ourselves. The good news (especially for Q) is; we saw nothing that came close to sparking any desire to have anything other than our trusty little Chinook. While new would be fun (and expensive!) the floor plans we saw just didn't come close to being as functional as what we already have.

February 28, 2014 (Fri)  Lakeland, FL (3) 49/64° - It was chilly last night. I guess we are headed north after all. A cool day was a good day for a road trip. Englewood, FL is where Joy's folks moved when they retired and where her mother lived for many years. Today was the first time we've been back there since Lelia's memorial service 2 1/2 years ago. Jeannie, the proprietress of the group family home where her mother lived before she died was not available for a visit but Doris, her condo up-stairs neighbor was, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch together at the Mango Bistro downtown Englewood. It was both fun and emotional to later visit some of the familiar places in the area.

Traffic on I-75 and I-4 on our way back was unbelievably bad, making the two hour trip exhausting. Apparently it was just as bad east of Lakeland because Ed and Kathy had to abandon I-4 for back roads when they came home from their work day at Disney World.

March 3, 2014 (Mon)  Lakeland, FL (6) ??/??° - On Saturday we packed up Lamont with enough luggage to sustain us for an extended cruise and headed for Plant City for a couple of days with Ruth and Gordy (Mark's aunt and uncle). As always we spent a great deal of time around the dinner table and on their sun/screen porch discussing a wide range of topics from family doings to current events. And, all too soon, we had to say good bye. Thanks guys for your hospitality and a great time.

Q091886 Ed and Kathy's yard (x6)

QC41-13 Some Time Below the Levee

February 18, 2014 (Tue) Trailtown, FL (7) 59/82° - Is it that we have become complacent in our peaceful uncluttered living 40 miles from "civilization" or is Miami traffic unbelievably irritating? Probably some of both but we put most of the blame on the traffic, traffic patterns and drivers in the Miami area. (We saw on the news yesterday that the traffic pattern at one exit was completely flipped. i.e. Where before you exit right for highway x and left for highway y now it's the opposite. Talk about confused.) Joy needed some thread for the quilt she's working on, we needed something to provide shade when our awning isn't doing it and we had some other errands to do before beginning our long trek north. Phoning attempts to the only quilt shop within reasonable driving distance yielded busy signals all morning. Assuming that must mean it's out of business, we headed for the nearest Jo-Ann's which turned out to be in Miami rather than Kendall. The store more then lived up to its reputation, (in other words it was not a good experience!!).

It sure was good to leave civilization behind and get back to uncivilized living.

February 19, 2014 (Wed) Trailtown, FL (8) 61/85° - Our mail forwarding service sends out email confirmation with postage cost when a packet has been sent to us (at our request). We got the expected confirmation Monday. We downloaded our email in a strong signal area on the way home. As always, we looked through it for anything that might need a response before going back into the communications black hole but didn't notice that we had 7 more mailing confirmations - with different costs! Did they really sent us 8 packets? Are they charging us for packets sent to others? By the time we did notice, it was too late to call them for answers.

Monroe Station

We think of Monroe Station as a derelict building with a large pot holed "parking lot" on US-41 about a mile east of Monument Lake campground (where we were last week) and the western terminus of the 21 mile Loop Road into the Everglades. It is also where folks park their tow vehicles and trailers when they want to take their big strange looking swamp buggies out into the wild. Why it has such billing, with large highway signs and notation on Florida maps, is a mystery to us but recently it has become the "seven miles down the road" where we have to go to get a usable phone signal. And where we went this morning to call FMCA about all those confirmation messages. It turns out that they had a computer "glitch" yesterday that caused us to get all those emails. The woman Mark talked to laughed and assured him that we would be getting only one package - and charged for only one mailing.

We tried out our new "sun shade" this afternoon but it was a little too windy. It kept blowing down. We need to find a better way to attach it to the awning.

Q091489 Big Cypress NP, Midway CG #2 elec $15 A (x8)
_________________________

Feb 20, 2014 (Thu) Trailtown, FL to South Bay, FL (106/1780 miles) 63/83° - Another short hop today, though not as short as the last one. Have we started to head north? We hate to think so but we are north of where we have been and our next move (and most of them from now on) will be in that direction, so I guess we have. We are in the South Bay RV campground in South Bay, FL. On the map we are at the very bottom of Lake Okeechobee. This is a county (Palm Beach) park and very much like many of the private parks we've been in, complete with full hook-ups, cable TV and even WiFi. Some sites have nice views of the two small lakes and narrow channel, but ours is of motor homes and fifth-wheels.

One could argue that we are back in civilization, but not very far in. South Bay has one restaurant (a Subway), a couple of gas stations, a Post office and a few commercial places serving the sugar cane industry but that's about it. We drove to Belle Glade, about 6 miles east, after picking up our mail, looking for some place to eat. We found a little improvement but not much. We ended up at a Pizza Hut where we over-ate at their buffet. The help could have been a little more diligent with service, busing, sweeping, restroom cleaning etc. but the pizza was pretty good - that is to say, standard fair for Pizza Hut.

Feb 21, 2014 (Fri)  South Bay, FL (2) 69/87° - Real showers this morning! After two weeks of the miserly use of water in a cramped space we could spread out, more or less, and let the water run as long as we wanted. Phone reception is better here too but spotty (fair at our site but barely existing up at the restroom/laundry building).

Margate is a northern suburb (and I use the term loosely) of Miami and our destination today. One of Joy's quilting friends lives there and we always try to have lunch with her when we are in the area - and, of course, go to the local quilt shop. Sweet Tomatoes is an all-you-can eat salad/soup/bakery buffet chain (in southern Florida?). The salad bar itself is a one shot deal. You can pile as much as you want (or think you can eat) on one plate but you can't go back. The 8-soup, bakery, beverage and desert (soft ice cream)  sections are available for repeat trips. We've been to the one near Margate several times and have  always found it well worth the $10 plus ticket price.

Feb 22, 2014 (Sat)  South Bay, FL (3) 70/87° - We had always thought that the levee that towers over the roads around Lake Okeechobee actually defined the lake shore itself. In other words, climb the levee anywhere and there the lake would be. This morning we took our bicycles up onto the paved "scenic trail" along the top of the levee. No lake! Just channels - leading to the lake no doubt. (for those not familiar with Florida geography, Lake Okeechobee is the "eye" visible toward the bottom of Florida on almost any map of the state or the United States.) Riding along the levee to the east and north we watched the traffic on four lane US-27 far below on one side and small outboard skiffs headed for a day of fishing on the other. Above to the east and south the clouds billowed soft and fluffy. Far to the west and north looked like approaching storms. A beautiful ride! A construction fence turned us back after about a mile so we returned to our starting point and went a couple of miles the other way. The prospect of peddling back against the wind discouraged us from going any further. There wasn't much in the way of wildlife up there. skittish Snowy Egrets avoided photo-ops all along the way as did an osprey in his nest high on pole. One lone anhinga stood drying his wings on a distant shore. That was it. No pictures.

Feb 23, 2014 (Sun)  South Bay, FL (4) 67/87° - The McDonald's Sausage McMuffin with egg meal used to a treat that we reserved for our last breakfast on the road for each trip. It's been years since we've done it so we decided to do it this morning - even though it's not our last day on the road. It will probably be years before we do it again! Either McDonald's has changed things or our tastes have changed - probably the latter.

What do you call a group of several Ibises? Since when birds of a feather get together they take on group names that differ by species, I thought it would be interesting to know about the Ibis. I found there are three - a congregation, a stand and a wedge. None seem to fit, except maybe congregation, because all they seem to do when they get together is wander around with their heads down.

There are several "congregations" around the campground. These, from group of about 25, were grubbing around near the pavilion. There is another that seems to like hanging around up near the restroom/shower/laundry facility at the end of our loop. Our back yard supports another congregation of 25 to 30. And there are others.

Q091595 South Bay RV Campground w/e/s/c/w $25 B+

QC41-12 Resort Living in the Swamp

February 12, 2014 (Wed) Trailtown, FL (8/1674 miles) 59/83° - Why "Resort Living in the Swamp"? There is electricity (but still no water) on side by side pads 20 feet apart and a pool, actually a small lake (with alligators). We're 8 miles down the road from Monument Lake still in Big Cypress (Swamp) National Preserve. There is no hot tub, tennis courts, golf course or club house - or showers for that matter. That's why the price is only $15 a night. We've been here off and on over the years but for one night stands only. We thought we'd give it a try for a week this time.

As I write this, we're in the midst of a thunder storm - a nice change from several days of sun. Earlier the sky was a deep blue with big puffy clouds. The breeze was brisk and cool reducing the heat of the sun and the bite of the mosquitoes and no-see-ums. Our orientation here is such that we get the afternoon sun coming right in under the awning but there is a tree between our site and the next that gives a little shade.

Next door: When we got here a huge fifth wheel sat on the pad next to us. We found out later that its tow vehicle is a big diesel semi tractor. In fact "semi-retired" is printed in script on the side. Instead of an actual fifth-wheel hitch up behind the cab like commercial tractor-trailers, the trailer connects to a ball at the rear of the "bed" leaving a long space for their "toy" - a vintage 1910 (or thereabouts) fire truck. I wish I'd gotten a picture of that before they took it away. Maybe later.

February 13, 2014 (Thu) Trailtown, FL (2) 59/81° - Trailtown, FL? That's where our smartphone location app says we are. Don't bother trying to find it on a map, it's probably the name of nearest tiny Miccosukee Indian village. US-41 (and I-75 for that matter) goes through the Miccosukee and Seminole Indian reservations. Small stockade fenced-in groups of straw roofed buildings are all along the highway. Signs announcing each is a generic "Indian Village". The one nearest to us, may be Trailtown. We're about half way between Naples and Miami,

When we were in Kendall last week we discovered that the cheapest gas in the area was at Costco, 3 miles away from where we were at the time. We didn't need fuel then but after a couple of trips into Everglades City, Lamont developed a good thirst so that was one of our errands in the big city today. While at Costco we had his wheels balanced and rotated (a free service because we bought the tires at Costco) - and, of course, we had to go inside for a few things! We had hoped to scout out a new and wonderful eating establishment too but Lamont was in a queue at Costco longer than we'd planed so we walked over to a nearby 5 Guys for burgers and fries. Always a treat.

And now a word about communication. Last evening we got a phone call from our daughter Jennifer that was dropped almost immediately, as was her second attempt to reach us. When we tried to call her, it didn't go through at all. Since our phones showed we did have service, albeit very weak, we tried a text message to tell her we were going out to find a stronger signal area. Seven miles west on the lonely dark road we found a strong enough signal to make the call. Phone connections are very sketchy here and, therefore, so is any internet connection. Texting seems to work OK, though - maybe because the application is willing to wait for the fleeting signal to show up. Resort living? Not so much!

February 14, 2014 (Fri) Trailtown, FL (3) 591/76° - The fire truck left for good today. And what an operation that was - and interesting to watch. When they moved the other day, it was just a few sites down and so little truck was driven (and immediately covered with a tarp - thus no picture). Today the fellow drove it around to the other side of the lake then hooked his fifth-wheel to the semi-tractor and drove it around. The trailer had to be unhooked again so the fire truck could be winched up onto the back of the tractor. Then, of course, the trailer had to be reattached.

This was all accomplished by one guy! At one point, Mark asked if he might help guide the truck to the hitch socket on the trailer, a precise procedure that required the driver to run from the cab back to the hitch over and over again. "No. I'd appreciate it if you didn't," the fellow said without even looking up. OooK. This was all done on the one lane exit road so by the time he was ready to go there were 5 motor homes and fifth-wheels in line behind him.

February 15, 2014 (Sat) Trailtown, FL (4) 51/76° - It's been a welcomed do-nothing day. Well, for us anyway. The kids from the two large groups in the tenting area have been having a great time. The younger ones ride their bikes and roller blade around and around the loop while the older ones (mostly early teens) play games in the field up by the main road (or bat small stones into the lake).

February 16, 2014 (Sun) Trailtown, FL (5) 49/84° - Sweetwater Strand on Loop Road (a rarely maintained gravel track into the Everglades) is a rich source of bird type wildlife photo-ops. Usually. This morning there were fishermen who were more interested flinging brightly colored fishing lures into wildlife habitat while talking loudly, than looking at birds. And there were twenty something young lades intent on taking pictures of one another with the strand, understandably devoid of wildlife, in the background. There was a great (white) egret and, I think, a white ibis brave enough to hunt in the relative protection of distance cypress trees but that was it. A very slow return along Loop Road yielded a few good photo opportunities. The Night Heron and Wood Stork below are examples. 

February 17, 2014 (Mon) Trailtown, FL (6) 61/85° - "That airplane looks like it's going to land on the highway." It really didn't but it was a fun thing to say about the slowly descending lights in the sky ahead of us. "It's probably a traffic helicopter. They fly low along highways." But it wasn't. And it did land on the highway. It turns out it was a medivac helicopter and we ended up sitting for 45 minutes waiting for it, fire engines, ambulances and police cars to get out of the way so we could move. We were 15 or so cars back but the police were keeping people well away from the scene so we didn't know what was going on until we were able to continue on. From what we saw it looked like the only car at the scene, which had obvious damage to the hood and windshield, may have hit a pedestrian. This is neither surprising nor unusual along US-41 between Miami and Naples. Fishing and wildlife viewing are popular activities along this 60mph road. People cross back and forth all the time and the speed limit is too slow for most motorists.

Shark Valley isn't really a valley. At least not the kind of valley we're use to. When the highest elevation in the Everglades is 3 feet, valleys are hard to distinguish. Never the less, we did Shark Valley on our bikes this morning. It's a 15 mile long paved bike trail into the Everglades that is lush with scenery and wildlife. Our intent was to go as couple of miles in, take some pictures and come back. But once on the trail we kept going. We were really surprised at how well we we did and how well felt (and still feel) having done the whole thing.

Q091489 Big Cypress NP, Midway CG #2 elec $15 A

QC41-11 Life in the Swamp

February 9, 2014 (Sun) Ochopee, FL (7) 66/79° - Wow! I just noticed as I was setting this post up that my last entry was on February 87. I expect you realize that was a typo.

Great Egret (A.K.A. Great White Heron)

If you ever read the terms of a warranty that sounds like it covers everything, you may well find that it really covers next to nothing. Last year at about this time we stopped at a place near Tampa and had the window in Q's (rear) door replaced because it was almost completely fogged over. The folks at Suncoast Designers did a great job. They even did a good job of matching the tint that reduced the inward visibility during the day. Yesterday afternoon we noticed that the inner pane (of 2) was cracked from top to bottom. We know approximately when it happened and can think of no traumatic reason (uneven "pad" warping door frame, a hard door slam, a bird strike, a stone strike, etc.) for the damage. That leaves inappropriate or faulty glass or less than super workmanship. The warranty that would replace the window 100% free until Feb 27 explicitly excludes post-installation damage, improper installation and cracked glass (among other things). In fact it guarantees only that it won't become foggy again for the next 10 years. Mark will give them a call on Monday but it looks like we're in for another expensive replacement when we're in the area again. In the meantime clear duck tape is holding the glass together.

February 10, 2014 (Mon) Ochopee, FL (8) 61/80° - Late yesterday afternoon a big fifth-wheel pulled into the site behind us. Although it was one of the biggest we've seen (three big slide-outs and a large self supporting awning), there was little of note except that the slides and awning were all controlled with a wireless remote. The fellow said this morning that the jacks and leveling are supposed to be controllable from the remote too but those functions weren't working. They were off today to get those features fixed. As they left we learned that a tool is only as good as its operator. They forgot to push the button that pulled the awning in and a palm tree near where they were parked registered a near-miss.

An Ibis flyover

The wind came up after we went to bed last night. We could hear the awning flapping. Although it was probably OK, it seemed prudent to pull it in. So out we went with crank and flashlight. It was good we had the light. Joy spotted a huge light brown spider preparing to make a web on the awning strut! Mark would have had an interesting handful if she hadn't seen it.

Remember the fellow with the hot tub? He and his thong clad wife were out washing their motor home with a garden hose this afternoon. Talk about extravagant use of water where there is no water supply. It seemed a little less strange later on when we noticed that they appeared to be breaking camp. Getting ready to leave? May as well put the water from the hot tub to good use.

Our friendly neighbor

February 11, 2014 (Mon) Ochopee, FL (9) 58/82° - Another new perspective. We're now at the south end of the lake - for one night because someone is moving into our old site today. We'll be moving on tomorrow.

We tried Everglades City for lunch again. When we told one of our neighbors about our experience at the festival they said, "Oh, we didn't eat there. We went over to the Everglades Seafood Depot across the street. They have a nice salad bar with all you can eat steamed shrimp for $6.95." We thought that sounded good so we gave it a try. It turned out not to be $6.95 but $8.95 (probably price down to attract festival goers) but well worth the drive in to try it. The place actually also had a taco  bar in addition to the salad bar. We sampled them both (although we learned later that we weren't supposed to) and both were good.

The little town is very much cleaned up from the big festivities last weekend. In fact, it's rather difficult to make out where they had put all the vendor's tents - and all the people!

After lunch we took a ride out to the end of the peninsula to the little village of Chokoloskee. The last time we'd been there was before Hurricane Katrina and it was interesting to see the changes. There were some fenced in empty areas, one with a rather well built bulkhead for boat docks, that have yet to be rebuilt and many of the small houses have been lifted up onto tall pillions. One house was perched so high up - it had to be 20 feet or more - on what looked like thin pillars of concrete blocks that it looked as if even a less than gale force wind would blow it over. A scary sight!

The bird pictured is a Brown Pelican.

Q091481 Big Cypress NP, Monument Lake CG #10 & 3 dry $14 B- (x9)

QC41-10 Fog and Seafood

Evening hunt

February 5, 2014 (Wed) Ochopee, FL (3) 72/82° - In all the excitement of learning about the changes here I forgot to mention the new experience of seeing a man in a hot tub beside his motor home. He gave us a big smile and waved as we drove by. We couldn't tell what he was wearing as only his head, shoulder and arm were visible. The tub appeared to be plastic lined wood slats about 4 feet diameter and maybe 4 feet tall. Thinking about it now I wonder how he managed to fill it as the only source of water here is at the rest rooms some distance away from where he was camped. And heat? well maybe it wasn't heated.

This dragonfly came whipping by us as we sat reading this morning. He found a tall reed by the lake and lit on it. Interestingly he stayed there for two or three hours - even as Mark walked up to take his picture. Every once in a while he'd take off and make as if he was leaving. Then he'd come back and land at the very top of the same reed.

Halloween Pennant

February 6, 2014 (Thu) Ochopee, FL (4) 68/82° - They call it a navy shower. I don't know who "they " are but I'm told the term means to use very little water. But that can't be right. The navy exists only because of the abundance of water. Well maybe it's the size of the shower stall. That would fit - we barely do - even one at a time. At any rate, we started the day with navy showers. At least the water was hot.

It was time to get away for a while - and there was laundry and shopping to be done. Kendell, west of Miami, was our destination. Chipotle supplied our lunch.

February 7, 2014 (Fri) Ochopee, FL (5) 66/80° - Fog, it's mysterious, dangerous and beautiful. I remember a morning some years ago driving the Blue Ridge Parkway in the fog. I don't think it was foggy when we started up into the mountains or we wouldn't have taken that route but it certainly hit us once on the parkway. It got so bad at times that we couldn't see more than two of the dashed center line in the road. It was bad enough just staying on the road, let alone having time to stop had we seen something coming at us. Then there was the more than occasional bicyclist suddenly materializing before us peddling along the shoulderless road. But our greatest fear was someone coming up behind us too fast and not seeing us until it was too late.

The fog this morning was thick. The silhouettes of nearby palm trees against a misty background gave the prairie to the east an air of mystery and calmed the waters of Monument Lake outside our dining room window to the west. Beautiful!

Morning Fog

 When our solar panels can get direct sun all day, we only need to run our quiet little Honda generator for an 1 1/2 to 2 hours each evening to keep the batteries fully charged. But with all the fog this morning we thought an additional hour was going to be necessary today. But the sun finally came out around noon and 2 hours seemed to be plenty.

A medium sized fifth-wheel trailer pulled in next to us late this afternoon. As the last step in his set-up procedure, he hauled out a huge generator, you know, one that is on wheels because it takes two men to lift, and started it up. Well there goes our peace and quiet. Fortunately it spewed out its racket for less than 10 minutes. Just testing? They and another couple took off in their toad and were gone all evening so the generator was quiet. Their little dog wasn't too happy to be left alone though.

February 87, 2014 (Sat) Ochopee, FL (6) 68/81° - Another foggy morning but today it burned off quite early. The generator next door started up at about 8:00 but an hour later died. Out of gas? When we got back from the seafood festival the campsite was empty.  We're back to peace and quiet.

The Everglades City Seafood Festival was an experience. The little town with a population of only 500 is expected to host as many as 20,000 people coming to sample from the huge selection of seafood, crafts and music. When we got there at 10:30, a half hour after it opened for the day, the free (illegal but free) parking was full to overflowing. Paid parking - we hope benefiting some worthy cause - ranged in price from $4 a half mile from the festivities to $10 just outside the gate. The music was billed as country but could have been anything while we were there. The "crafts" were touristy for the most part with some interesting stuff mixed in. There was also some typical farm market fair mixed in - we enjoyed tasting various dips and ended up buying some very hot, hot-sauce. The main attraction, with out a doubt, though, was the namesake seafood. The quantity and selection was endless and overwhelming.

Since Everglade City is supposedly the Stone Crab Capital of the World and we've never had stone crab, we thought, why not? It was both very expensive - probably priced high for the festival - and disappointing. It may have been the particular preparation we chose, served cold with a mayonnaise dip but it was very close to tasteless. We also got a mediocre crab cake to split and some Jambalaya. We tried to stay away from the fried stuff which was the vast majority of the offerings. We should have thrown caution to the winds and worried about the consequences later.

Q091481 Big Cypress NP, Monument Lake CG #10 dry $14 B-

QC41-09 A New Perspective or Two

February 1, 2014 (Sat) Moore Haven, FL (13) 68/88° - It's interesting what a difference a quarter mile in the same campground can make. It's not really the landscaping, which varies only slightly, or the rigs, which are virtually the same type, or even the slightly different view of the waterway. It's hard to put a finger on just what it is. The best I can say is that it has something to do with atmosphere and sense of community. But even that seems to be illusive because no one is allowed to stay in the campground any longer than 14 days out of 30 and there is a constant mix if people because, like us, they readily move from one site to another while here. That said, we like it up here a little better.

As you might have guessed, we moved today, from west of the locks to east of them, a distance of about a quarter mile. Only a bridge over a small brook separates the two sections of the campground. We are able to see the waterway better from this site. In the picture between Lamont and the motor home across the road you can see a bit of water that is the eastern approach to the locks. Just to the left of it (behind our car from this viewpoint) is the holding area where boats wait to enter the locks.

The sun has been out almost all day and the thermometer made it up to 88°. Sitting outside, reading and bicycling were again on our agenda.

February 2, 2014 (Sun) Moore Haven, FL (14) 66/83° - The motor home directly across the road from us, not the one pictured, left this morning giving us a good wide view of the waterway. OK! Now we can watch all the boat traffic and not miss any. "All the boat traffic" consisted of the large yacht, a couple of small fishing/pleasure outboards this morning and the commercial excursion "stern wheeler" below ate this afternoon.

We saw The Capt JP enter the locks from the west and watched from the comfort of Q's cabin chairs while the water lifted her to the appropriate level to continue east. When we saw her begin to move, we walked across the road and down to the edge of the canal. In the length of time it took us to get there she should have been well out of the locks. But she'd hardy moved. After a while she moved maybe 20 feet and stopped again. She was in some kind of trouble. Had the gate to the walkway across the dam been open (It's only been open one day in the 2 weeks we've been here), we might have walked over to see, or at least hear, what was going on. From where we stood it looked as if the nose was only part way into the gates. When they finally began to move again, very slowly, and had cleared the gates (pictured) the passengers applauded.

These anhingas paid no attention whatsoever. They seemed to be perfectly happy to just stand around in the sun and preen.

Q091391 Ortona South Campground #13 w/e $12 A+ (x2)
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February 3, 2014 (Mon) Moore Haven, FL to Ochopee, FL (90/1666 miles) 67/82° - Up at dawn to dense fog and took showers. By 9:00 the fog had just about burned off and the day showed promise of being sunny and warm. Actually it turned out to be sunny and hot most of the way down US-29. Other than a stop in Labelle at the Winn Dixie to replenish the larder, it was straight through to Monument Lake Camp ground.

This will probably be the last time we'll be camping here! When we pulled up to the welcoming kiosk, a sign informed us that reservations are now required! The host said we could stay here one night but if we wanted to stay longer we needed reservations. Not only that but the price has gone up 75%, from $8 per night to $14 for us senior citizens ($16 to $28 for younger folks) That's crazy! There is no water hook-up, no electric hook-up, no shower facilities and no dump station. Where we are on the east side of the lake there are only pit toilets, albeit nice ones! Ortona South Campground (where we've been the last two weeks) cost $12 a night and we had water and electric hook-ups, hot shower facilities and a dump station. We've been coming here for years and have been willing to put up with the primitive camping conditions because the price was good. Now it's not. We're running out of campgrounds down here. We stopped going to Flamingo deep in the Everglades when restoration brought out hordes of Olympic sized mosquitoes (with appetites to match). The two campgrounds here in Big Cypress have now lost their appeal too.

February 4, 2014 (Tue) Ochopee, FL (2) 68/84° - Now that the shock of the cost increase has warn off (largely), we can say that it is still beautiful here and for the most part quiet. We hear a constant drone of generators in the evening but that's kind of expected when there are no electric hook-ups. We'd prefer the loud ones didn't park nearby, of course, but most are on the quiet side these days anyway.

It rained late yesterday afternoon and we enjoyed sitting under our awning looking out over the lake and watching the sunset - until it began to pour. Today has been sunny and warm. And we took advantage of it. We both got a little more sun than we should have while at Ortona so we spent the day chasing Q's shadow. Better that than shoveling snow as we'd be doing if we were home.

A yacht has a small boat for a dinghy (for short trips not appropriate for larger craft). A motor home tows a smaller vehicle (commonly referred to as a toad). What, then, does a motorcycle have? Well apparently bicycles. That's what looped through the campground this afternoon - a motorcycle, two people aboard, pulling a trailer with two bicycles mounted on top.

Q091481 Big Cypress NP, Monument Lake CG #10 dry $12 B- (x8)

QC41-08 A Rainy Few Days

January 29, 2014 (Wed) Moore Haven, FL (10) 60/67° - It's been a windy, rainy day. Sitting outside was not an option. It would have been a good day for a road trip though and a jaunt into Labelle to pick up our mail would have been a a legitimate reason to burn the gas. But our mail hasn't arrived yet! Our mail forwarding service always sends it on Mondays (when requested to do so) and, if sent priority it gets to the post office on Wednesdays. For some reason getting to Labelle, FL seems to take longer. We ran into that problem last year and thought it was a fluke. But Mark called the post office this morning to check on it. No mail yet! Since we'll be off to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow, it will have to wait til Friday.

Our data usage allotment was restored during the night so we were able to do some of the things we've been putting off the last few days, the most important of which was updating our financial data. We like to do that fairly often to insure that our bills are getting paid as intended and that our credit cards aren't being used fraudulently. Curious to know what this flurry of activity cost us data usage-wise, Mark checked our usage app as soon as he went off-line. Huge expenditure!! Far more than would have been used even for streaming videos for the same length of time. Verizon, our provider, had no explanation for this but agreed to credit back the morning's entire usage. You can bet we'll be watching very closely for a while. Over spending our allotment can be expensive.

Waiting to enter the locks

January 30, 2014 (Thu) Moore Haven, FL (11) 54/65° - Missouri good friends Jim and Lois have been on a 2 week cruise from San Diego, CA to Fort Lauderdale, FL via the Panama Canal. We drove down to Fort Lauderdale this morning to welcome them home and to have lunch with them. We chose the Bimini Boatyard Bar & Grill for it's seafood on the recommendation of Jim and Lois's motel staff. The food and our time together was more than outstanding.

Hildene and the greater Miami/Fort Lauderdale traffic patterns seem to have a love/hate relationship. Or maybe I should say court jester/hate relationship. Getting to the motel where Jim & Lois were staying was no problem - except for the insane drivers in the city itself. But the route she plotted from the motel to the Bimini Boatyard Bar and Grill took us east on US-84 about a half mile where we were to make a U-turn and come back west on US-84. Then she wanted us to take another U-turn and go back east on US-84 - passing the motel each time. Then we were allowed to continue past the first U-turn point and on to the restaurant. We decided to follow the directions given to us by the motel staff which was the same minus the U-turns. For our route back to the campground, she took us off I-595 onto US-441 north. When this didn't seem right to us we looked ahead at the directions and saw that she wanted us to make a U-turn up the road a way and come back south on US-441 and back onto I-595. Why she wanted us to do that? We have no idea. We made an executive decision to make the U-turn a mile or so short of instructions. Getting back on I-595 was a nightmare even with Hildene's help - a lot of construction and crazy drivers.

January 31, 2014 (Fri) Moore Haven, FL (12) 61/76° - A call to the Labelle post office this morning revealed that our mail had arrived. So off we went on another road trip. We had so much fun driving yesterday that we decided to go on into Ft Myers so we could shop at the Publix there - a much better store than the Winn Dixie in Labelle. The shopping was a positive experience (because we got everything on our list) but lunch was not. A Chinese Buffet in an Hispanic neighborhood makes for an interesting assortment of foods and tastes. i.e. we had to settle for Louisiana hot sauce instead of hot Chinese mustard. And there was much else to keep us from ever going back again!

Some use the waterway for other pastimes

Q091391 Ortona South Campground #50 w/e $12 A+ (x12)