campgrounds – Page 4 – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

3-02-2014 Florida Heaven

Current Location: Alexander Springs Ocala National Forest CG

It is a little after 9am, and the sun just emerged through the misty fog shrouded trees. Alexander Springs campground is a forest service campground in the heart of the Ocala National Forest. I love this forest. There aren’t many places in the US where several varieties of pines and oaks are interspersed with palms and magnolias. The trees are huge, many topping over 100 feet tall, and the understory is thick with vegetation of all sorts, dominated by the saw palmetto.

Mo and I walked the Timucuan Trail yesterday, before the fog lifted, and it felt like we were in some primordial space where dinosaurs could emerge at any moment. I guess alligators are as close to dinosaurs as we will get in this lifetime, but the fact that bears also roam these forests is another crazy juxtaposition. Bears/Alligators = Palms/Pines. It all seems just goofy to someone well versed in the habitats of the western forests of the US. Guess that is why I love it, it feels so foreign and unique, and so incredibly lush and full of life.

I have a lot to write about, and the only way I can seem to do it is to step into the moment and write about the here and now. Eventually this particular blog post will work its way backward to the events of the last few days as I slowly write about “now” and let “then” slip into my thoughts. Gimme a break folks, I am on vacation, and the best vacations allow us to completely lose track of time. I have done that very well, it seems.

Campsite: This story is fun, actually. I originally planned for us to spend three days at Patrick AFB, Merrit Island, but speaking with some new fellow military famcamp friends recently, we thought better of that plan. (More on the new friends later, I don’t want to get sidetracked)

I picked a site here unseen, with a bit of difficulty, since we needed three days over a weekend, and most campgrounds were already booked. Alexander Springs is a bit more remote, and there are no hookups here, and I imagine that contributes to the availability of sites.

When we arrived on Friday night after a lovely day exploring Merrit Island NWR (more on that later, remember I don’t want to get sidetracked), the park was nearly full. Driving through the campground we were tickled to see private shaded spaces that looked pretty nice. Until we got to ours. Space 65 didn’t look bad on the internet, but in reality it is in the center of a large group area and there were already several large families settling in for the weekend. Before we even set up, there were small children running and screaming through our camp, climbing our lantern pole like monkeys, and crawling all over our picnic table in their shoes. Hmmmm.

For the first time on this trip, I felt tears come up. The campground was so lovely, how in the world did I manage to screw up this badly? I told Mo, “Don’t set up yet”, and sought out a camp host. Terry was a great guy, new at camp hosting for this park, and an employee of the concession that now runs the NF campgrounds in this area. He was sympathetic, talked to the families with all the kids (there seemed to be at least 12), and said that while he didn’t have any encouraging news, he would talk with the campground manager to see if it would be possible for us to move.

A bit later, he came back to our site and said we could move to site 56, but would have to move again on Sunday, and that it could be possible that there would be no place for us to be on Monday. He said for me to come to the gatehouse and talk to the manager. The gatehouse was just closed, but they let me in. I was nice as I could be, dripping sugar as I said, “Of course children should have camping space as much as retirees, but it IS just a bit much and we would be happy to take number 56 and then move”. The manager, Phyllis, took a look at me, and then looked at her employees and said, “Put them in Andy’s site”.

What that meant was that we got to park for the entire three days in a camp host site with power and electric right at the back of the nicest bath house in the park. Our price for this bit of serendipity is possibly being mistaken for camp hosts, in spite of the black plastic sack placed over the camp host sign. The US flag still brings some folks our way. The other funny part is that our parking area looks a bit like a pathway to the bathrooms, and we have a parade of various kinds of people coming through our site on the way to the bathroom. Makes for some interesting conversations.

With the little kids, Mo just says, “Please walk over there rather than going through our site”. With some high school boys, she started talking with them, and they turned into the most polite creatures imaginable, saying “yes maam” and “no maam” and such. Seems as though they were ROTC kids doing an orienteering weekend in the park. They turned out to be really sweet kids, who still say hi, but walk around behind the rig rather than through our site to get to the bathroom.

Yesterday morning was Mo’s birthday, we we began the day with her favorite poached egg breakfast in the MoHo before exploring the area and hiking the short trail. The springs were full of divers taking an instruction class, and the happy children were everywhere on the trails. The Timucuan Trail boardwalk was quiet, however, and we met only one couple walking.

Checking out the little camp store was nice, and the new manager has added a great inventory of swim and snorkel gear, flotation devices, and reasonably priced snacks. This is definitely a diving, swimming, snorkeling, and family park. There is a canoe concession with a great supply of canoes, and a launch that costs $6 per boat. However, another one of the park hosts, a nice guy who knows everything about the area, told us about the free walk in launch back on the highway on the south side of the bridge.

At first for whatever reason, I wasn’t all that anxious to get on the water. Seems pretty crazy, since the main reason I came to Florida was to kayak the spring runs! Somehow photos of the tangled vegetation and low water made me a bit nervous. I have no idea why I felt this way, but thank goodness Mo didn’t take me up on my tentative comment, “Well, we don’t HAVE to go kayaking this afternoon.”

The launch just off the highway was perfect, with hard packed fine sand and only 50 feet or so from where we parked the Tracker. Slipping into the water was a perfect moment, and I knew that finally I was in my version of Florida Heaven.

The water at the bridge was crystal clear, although a dark tea color from staining by the organic matter in the riverbed. We slipped into the gentle current, paddling upstream toward the spring and took our time going the 1.37 miles or so to the barrier between the spring run and the actual spring. The sun was gorgeous, the plants were brilliant green with some trees beginning to leaf out. A single kayaker and another canoe passed us going back downstream, but other than that, it was totally quiet.

I marveled at how different this forest sounds in the breeze. The palm fronds almost sound like waterfalls, and the splash of turtles dropping into the water is another different sound. On our morning walk, the birds had been fairly quiet, but this afternoon they were in full song, and I heard a barred owl although we didn’t see him.

When we first got on the water we were greeted by a very playful, and very curious otter, who swam right under my kayak, surfacing in front of me. He was too fast for me, and by the time I dropped the paddle to pick up the camera he was already swimming away in front of the boat. We saw a couple more on the lower edge of the run.

As we got closer to the spring, the water lost its tea color and turned a gorgeous shade of blue and then to no color at all. Alexander Spring is another first magnitude spring, with more than 70 million gallons a day of fresh pure water pouring from its depths.

I loved seeing all the fish swimming beneath us and my favorite bird of the day was a happy little blue heron who wasn’t the least bit concerned about me being close by watching.

Just thought I would mention here that I decided to skip hauling the big lens on the river and only took the 17-70 for photos. So this photo of my favorite little bird is without telephoto. I was literally this close to him and didn’t disturb him in the least.

We also finally found a small gator, very well hidden in the brush along the bank. The turtles were wonderful, enjoying the sun. I guess it is time for me to get up on the different kinds of turtles found in these waters. I know there are several varieties.

Backtrack writing is still in the works, of course, but I am in the present moment, listening to birds, enjoying the sunshine, and thinking about preparing for a visit from Alison, one of my favorite soil scientist friends who lives nearby in Eustis. Alison will be bringing her baby boy Damen ( old time readers might remember the quilt I made for Damen) out to visit us here at the spring. I can’t wait to see her again.

We did have a magnificent day, our last day in Key West, and an even more magnificent evening. While camping at Sigsbee, one of the greatest delights of the place is the friendly atmosphere. We got lucky our first day there, and met a lovely couple from Panama City, new to RVing, but accomplished sailors. Judy refers to her RV as their “land yacht”. The two of them also had new Trek bikes that were pretty darn sweet, and a couple of kayaks with sails.

Something about kayaks in your campsite makes for easy conversation, and on our last evening there, Tom and Judy invited us for wine and sunset. I must say, being a Florida girl from Panama City gave Judy some big points on sunset viewing and she honored us with her conch blowing skills to accompany the setting sun. Such a great moment.

I have a feeling these are friends that we will see again, whether in Panama City as they invited us, or in Rocky Point where we invited them to visit.

I can’t keep going back in my mind any more, and writing about our first night at Cracker Barrel in Fort Pierce, visiting the beach at Fort Pierce, our flat tire and AAA experience on a rainy night, and exploring the Merritt Island NWR will have to wait for another post. Next time hopefully I can get caught up before more stuff happens. You know how it is when you are traveling and having fun and I just decided the heck with it…I’m not going to try to keep everything in order, it is too much work!

02-22-2014 to 02-26-2014 Days in Key West

Current temperature at Sigsbee NAS Campground 83F Humidity 74% Partly Cloudy

At the moment, we are holed up in the MoHo with the generator on and the air conditioning running full blast. Being in the dry camping area at the NAS Key West (what used to be called Sigsbee Field) the air conditioner is imperative, even with our lacy shade trees overhead. At the moment Mo is trying to get our CO2 sensor to quit beeping. We don’t have a special stack for the generator as suggested, however even if we did, all the other generators going at the moment in these tight quarters might set that sensor off anyway.

Jeremy decided to add to the humid, quite warm ambience of the MoHo by adding something of his own. Albeit in the cat box, still requiring a nice kitty bath to make it all ok again. Very indignantly, he is trying to lick himself dry now. Nice to be able to not worry about him catching a cold. The last few times I have given him a bath in Mo’s collapsible bucket he seems to enjoy it, at least for the most part. I think his favorite part is getting all swaddled up in the bath towel and cuddled until he is at least partially dry. He doesn’t complain.

This is our second full day in the campground, having arrived in late afternoon on Saturday. The campground office was closed, but after reading several accounts of the procedure, and an emergency call to John (our recent new friends at “Our Trip Around the Sun”, we had an idea where to go and how to proceed.

Within minutes of calling the phone number posted on the office door, a campground host showed up in his little cart and went over the process of signing up officially on Monday morning and led us to what was to be our site for the weekend. We were tucked back in a circular area with several rigs around us, all running their Honda 2000i’s to ward off the heat. I guess one of these generators will power a 30 amp rig, but it takes two to power up the big guys with 50 amps. Only planning on dry camping for 5 nights, we were content to use the generator on board the MoHo.

Camping here is an experience at what is most definitely an inside culture of folks who know how to do it, how it works, and those who don’t. Lucky for us, most of the folks know how to do it, and we have communicated enough with blog friends who have camped here that we had a basic understanding of the rotation system and didn’t give our host too much trouble. He wasn’t so lucky with some folks arriving just before we did, with a lady waving her arms and looking disgusted trying to wangle a better site on their first night here. We did know better than that, and Walter, the host, told us that the rotation at the moment is about 4 weeks with more than 200 rigs signed up on the rotation list.

Trumbo Annex, at the Coast Guard facility down the road, is completely full with long time sites that have been filled since Christmas. We were told there is no chance of getting into that part of the family camp. Dry camp in this part of camp is mandatory rotation, but with only five nights here, that isn’t an issue for us. Tired from our journey across the keys, and the traffic and surprising heat and humidity, we settled in with the air conditioner and the generator going full blast.

We had a bit of a hiccup with the generator, being set for high elevation, and no doubt a bit moist from all the humidity, it coughed a bit and died. Unsure what the problem was and with darkness falling, Mo decided to wait until morning to check the oil and the altitude adjustment. All was fine after that, but our first night here was a bit of an adjustment for us as well. With normally balmy temperatures in Key West, we weren’t expecting mid 80’s and little breeze. From what I have learned, it happens sometimes, but not usually this time of year.

During our evening walk around the campground, we ran into the camp host and asked what exactly you had to do to draw one of those primo waterfront sites. He said, “Well, I have one coming in tomorrow that is too big for the site, so you could move in there after ten AM”. OK then!

We went to sleep pretty tickled, got up early to go explore town and get our bearings in the car before our scheduled move. Back at ten sharp, we checked the site as instructed, and with it empty, we made our move. No sooner had we dropped the jacks and opened the slide that another camp host arrived to tell us, “Sorry to tell you this, but you have to move. This site has come up in rotation and you can’t be here.”

Instead of staying in our very hot, very fume filled site however, Buzz led me to a shady site that was a bit smaller and was right by the garbage cans. Oh thank you for a small rig. Garbage cans or not, this site is shaded with two lovely, lacy trees that are actually nasty invasive species that are overtaking the Keys. At the moment, with the shade from those trees, we can sit outside in our site and enjoy the cooling breezes, and the MoHo doesn’t get all that hot during the day with just the Fantastic Fan running and the windows open.

There are several hundred RVs on site at this moment, and as I said 200 or so are waiting to rotate into a full hookup site. Generators are allowed to run between 7am and 11pm, and there is a dump and water station. We learned that if you try to dump during the dark there is a $15,000. fine. Yup, you read that right.

With all the complexity, it might seem easier to just go to a regular RV park, but at the current rate of $147 per night at the local KOA, and no other parks around, we decided that paying $13.00 per night to camp here was worth it. Thus far, after about half our five day stay, we have used about 1/4 tank of gasoline to run the generator. Pretty inexpensive digs to stay in Key West.

Next post: Some of the more delightful aspects of staying and visiting in Key West and why we decided it was worth it.

02-18-2014 Schizophrenic Days, Meeting Sherry and David was great, the KOA and Florida Traffic not so much.

Currently: Midway Campground at Big Cypress Preserve 71F at six AM and no internet

We have been in this magical land of Florida heaven for so long now I almost forgot why people say they never want to come to Florida. Some who have been here say they will never come back. Others who have never been here have an image of the state that fits perfectly what we experienced on Tuesday morning when we left our idyllic waterfront campsite at Fort De Soto.

When drying to a crisp in western winters, I sometimes think it might be nice to have a bit of humidity. In some ways it IS nice. My feet are not cracking, my fingernails are not shredded, and my hair is…well..can you say fluffy? Not sure that is a good thing, however, but it feels good.

What I forget about humidity, however, is the smell. Whatever smells that are assaulting your senses are multiplied. Both inside and outside the MoHo we are often overcome with funny smells. I used an entire can of rug spray cleaner to freshen up the rig (Resolve spray works great for traveling!) I also was extremely happy to get our bedding dried out. I forgot about that clammy bedding thing that happens in high humidity.

I am laughing to myself thinking of all those readers out west who think Florida travels are just insane, especially those who read my blog who are high and dry out boondocking somewhere in Arizona. Still, it is worth it, maybe a bit like traveling in a third world country. There are lots of strange smells and lots of weird traffic, but I wouldn’t miss doing it for the world.

We left Fort DeSoto around 8 on a gorgeous sunny morning. Loved crossing the Sunshine Skyway, but it is surprising how unimpressive it seems when driving. I could see most of Mullet Key below us, and could see a great kayaking spot on the eastern edge of the island that would have been perfect for bridge views. Sorry Karen, we never made it over there for sunrise or sunset photos. You have some breathtaking shots of that view that I could never duplicate. We had no clouds around to make the skies interesting.

Neither of us had slept well the previous night because we were worried about Abby. She was unable to urinate, and at more than 12 years old it could have been anything, even too much swimming in sea water, or so we thought. I found a veterinarian on the internet, hoped the reviews were good, and chose one that was south of Bradenton, just beyond the main part of the city.

It turned out to be a good choice. At first, they said they had no openings, but when I explained our situation a bit more they suggested that we get a urine sample and wait, for what could be up to three or four hours. Have you ever wondered how you get a urine sample from a female dog? Nope, me either. However, running around behind Abby with a little wheeled gizmo with a plastic tray was interesting. It worked. Abby didn’t have an infection, but she did have crystals, and possible kidney stones. With antibiotics, an anti inflammatory, and some special food, we were happy that our four hour stop was fruitful. At the moment, Abby seems fine, but will have to be checked again in a couple of weeks.

We continued south toward our surprise destination for the day. I emailed Sherry, of “In the Direction of our Dreams”, letting her know that we were going to be passing by their camp at Oscar Sherer State Park and asked if a meeting was possible. Sherry made several suggestions and with a final email we agreed to meet at the beach just a couple of miles from their campground and right off Highway 41 on our route.

Perfect! Except when Florida traffic settles in. Shortly before we arrived at the beach location, I got a quick phone call from Sherry saying, “We are at the beach, all parking lots are full, and we can’t find a spot to park, much less a spot for the MoHo.” We agreed to meet them at the picnic ground inside the state park instead. They were amazed at the heavy traffic, the intense congestion at the beach, and said they had never seen it quite as bad on a weekday during mid day.

The minute we turned east on the State Park road, we could have been in a different world, the “real” Florida. The park was lovely, and we met at the picnic ground. It is always amazing to meet people that have been correspondence friends for a long time and to find that they are exactly as you imagined.

It was wonderful walking the nature trail and sharing stories of things we have in common. They were great trail guides, telling us all about the park and their travels, and sharing some ideas about some of our planned future travel locations where they have spent a great deal of time. If anyone knows Florida state parks well, it is Sherry. With so much time in Florida, Sherry is especially frustrated with the difficulty in getting reservations even a year in advance. She also repeatedly talked about how crowded things seem to be this year. Maybe everyone came south because of the Polar Plunge events?

A couple of hours flew by and we needed to get on down the road. Abby seemed to be feeling better already after her walk and her meds so that was a relief.

When I said that Fort DeSoto was our most expensive campground on the trip, I completely forgot about the Big Pine Island KOA. I wanted to visit Sanibel Island and even with many months in advance, I could find no reservations that were anywhere nearby that were even close to a reasonable cost. The one campground on Sanibel, Periwinkle, does not allow dogs in the campground. We found a few others on the beach near Fort Myers, but they were more than $100 per night, and all the nearby state parks were fully booked back last summer when I tried to get a reservation.

I finally booked the KOA at $52 per night for the two nights we had to be there. What isn’t shown in the fine print however, are all the Florida taxes and fees that boosted our stay to a whopping $62 per night. Just plain crazy, and another reason why traveling in Florida might not be something to do very often. Throw in all the tolls on roads and bridges, and the high cost of food and the taxes on everything, and it becomes a very expensive adventure. Sheesh!

We arrived at the KOA just before sunset, in time to get set up with our full hookups before dark. It was rather frightening, actually, to see the big rig bedroom slide just a very few feet from our back bedroom window. I sort of freaked out at first as we drove down the long rows of sardine packed rigs. It felt a bit like a refuge camp. Now THIS is what they mean when they talk about a Snowbird Park? The minute we got hooked up, we turned on the air conditioning, closed up all the windows, put up all the shades and were snug and safe in our little home.

Sleeping was interesting, though, because of course the window needed to be open and Mo was wakened at three am by sewer smells. Who knows, it wasn’t ours, but there are so many people packed into such a small space I can’t imagine how the sewage is managed. Remember what I said about the smells?

I will say that our initial reaction to the park was moderated a bit before we left. These kinds of parks do have their place. Watching CNN the morning we left, there was an interesting story by Sanjay Gupta discussing loneliness in people and how it contributes to premature death even more than obesity.

We noticed that most of the people in the park were more on the elderly side, and when the sun rose, people were out walking and talking to their neighbors and visiting everywhere. I don’t imagine that very many of them are lonely.

The park is now an Encore/1000 Trails park that has a KOA franchise. About 100 residents are full time, and a couple hundred are seasonal, staying from 2 to 6 months every year.

The park was filled with huge rigs, park models, and campers with everything in between. Many folks had gardens and lots of yard art. The laundry was large and nice and not ridiculously expensive. The cable was OK, the Verizon signal had the best reception I have had on the entire trip. The swimming pool was large and well kept, there are a couple of reflective ponds and I guess fishing is the biggest recreational activity, other than talking to your neighbor.

The park served its purpose for us and we did get to visit Sanibel.

Next: A long planned and eagerly anticipated visit with John and Carol of “Our Trip Around the Sun” at J.N. Ding Darling NWR

02-17-2014 Florida Magic Morning

Fort De Soto Campground; Clear sunshine 70 degrees F

It is the morning magic thing. Florida brilliant sunshine, balmy air, light and shadow through the oaks and cedars and palms. Birds singing, a few voices here and there as folks leave the campground. Actually Mo and I snagged a waterfront site this morning for our anticipated move. Mo just said, “This is privacy without privacy!” What she meant was that we are in our private campsite watching the activity beyond the little bayou as people pull out of the park

Most entertaining was this huge rig pulling a huge trailer that hauls a huge Escalade. The rig was in site 137, trailer and all. It took them at least an hour to get set up to pull out, and then watching them pull out was incredibly entertaining. I think there must have been more than a million bucks tied up in that get-up and you couldn’t give it to me for free! And according to a park volunteer watching their late exit, they were only there one night!

We get to watch another big rig trying to pull into these gorgeous private waterfront sites. Two guys are waving their arms around and Mo is here talking to herself saying, “Why in the world don’t you go around and pull in the right way?!” Unlike folks in our rv-ing life who have no qualms telling us what to do, she won’t go over there and tell them how to do it better. There are two guys waving their arms while another guy drives and three women standing around taking photos. Six people in one rig? No matter how big it is that seems a bit tight for me.

Abby is snoozing on the grass in front of us as we sit in our chairs sipping and reading. Although the entertainment across the pond definitely has superseded reading for the moment. Jeremy is back in the rig after thinking he was spry enough to catch a pesky squirrel that was trying get inside the rig to eat whatever he could find.

When I watch these rigs trying to manuever, I am so grateful for our 26 foot length and especially for our 11.5 foot height! Mo just went to get the binoculars so she could check out the new folks more easily. Tell me where you can find entertainment like this when you don’t have TV. Now THIS is what rv-ing is all about, right?

NOT!

THIS! is why we are in Florida, once again, I know why we are here. After the sun gets a bit less intense we will launch the kayaks nearby for another paddle on Mullet Bayou. We originally planned to go explore a section of the park that we missed before launching the boats, but when we moved the rig we saw a huge line of cars at the entry station just south of the campground. Some kind of biking/running/swimming thing called a Duatholon. Do you bike and run or bike and swim? No clue, but biking is definitely part of the agenda.

We have no need to go anywhere but right here in our perfect spot, with entertainment provided across the way by accommodating big rig folks.

But that sort of entertainment only last so long. With scarcely a breath of wind and those bright sunny skies, the boats were calling us. Instead of leaving the campground to launch, we decided to use one of the unoccupied tent campsites. It was very quiet there, and we parked in the site, launched, and then moved the car to a quiet nearby spot to park.

On this trip, we were again in Mullet Bayou, but on a different shore. Decided to paddle east, and hopefully go under the bridge toward Tampa Bay. Before we were out even ten minutes, suddenly there was a ruckus in the water in front of us and sure enough, it was a pod of dolphins. I think there were at least three and they were cavorting and jumping and playing. I didn’t have the camera…having decided that I didn’t need more photos of herons and egrets. Can you believe it?

Thankfully I did have the iPhone, so grainy as the photos are, you can at least see that the dolphin was right in front of my boat. With all the jumping around they were doing, Mo and I both wondered out loud, “Do you suppose they could dump us over?” I suppose that could happen, in fact I think it did happen to someone with an Orca whale not long ago, but I wasn’t too worried. It was great fun to see them playing so close.

We paddled under the bridge, north into the edge of Tampa Bay, and back around under the Pinellas Bayway making a perfect loop. Passing up our launch site to slide into the bayou by our campground was fun, with another phone photo of the MoHo site on the water from the kayak.

By the time we returned, it was after 4 and we needed to get a few groceries. Google sent us back out of the park to the north and east over the Pinellas Bayway again toward a decent Publix about 7 miles from the campground. Somehow with all that water and all those bridges things seem much more distant than they actually are. We were back home and had the grill started up by 5:30.

To celebrate our great days here at Fort De Soto, we decided to have a campfire. Here in Florida, that seems to be a rather pricey celebration. We put down a $20. deposit for the fire ring which cost $3.50 per night, and bought an orange net bag of firewood for $9. The wood was some kind of cypress or cedar and was stringy and damp and smoked a very long time before it finally caught.

Still was great having a fire and a sunset to accompany us as we enjoyed the balmy evening on the waterfront. Tomorrow we head south toward Fort Myers, and plan to take the slow route along the coast rather than jumping on 75. Who knows who we might see along the way. I guess we will find out tomorrow.

01-12-2014 Micanopy and Silver Springs State Park

Current Location: Fort De Soto Campground Tierra Verde, Florida

Weather today: Highs in the mid 60s and Sunny

Visiting northern Florida can be a step back in time, enjoying what they call in the state park brochures, “The Old Florida”. I think that is what is most appealing to me about this part of the state, and there is no better example of the old Florida than the little town of Micanopy.

We had a short drive on this day, just a little over 60 miles from Manatee Springs State Park to Ocala. An additional 20 miles or so led us through Micanopy, a place I wanted to share with Mo. It was a damp, rainy morning when we embarked on the big move for the day.

Once we arrived in Micanopy, there was plenty of parking, with few people on the streets and most stores not opening until 11AM. (It was just 10:45 when we got there). Mo was impressed with the long streetside parking available for large rigs in such a small town. We walked Abby around a bit to explore and then let her keep Jeremy company in the rig while we visited the Micanopy Café for some hot chocolate and some of their great homemade soup. Of course, only on Thursdays does the owner make chicken and dumplings, but her chickens were cooking in the big roaster with lots of herbs and broth and smelled wonderful.

Next door to the café was a great art gallery that drew us in. Earlier we visited the local coop gallery as well but managed to get out of there without buying something. It was a different story at this place and we emerged with some beautiful watercolor card prints and one amazing framed collage, 3 dimensional, of great egrets. At less than half price, it became our “Florida Purchase”. I am tickled pink.

Micanopy was originally founded in 1821 and on a local street information sign, claimed to be the oldest inland town in Florida. Named for Chief Micanopy of the Seminole Nation and immortalized by Michael J. Fox in the movie “Doc Hollywood”, it still feels like a slow, southern small town, where you could sit and sip sweet tea on a porch and enjoy the beautiful curtains of Spanish moss on the incredibly huge old oaks.

hanging out in Micanopy One of the stores, The Shop, wasn’t open, but the website gives an idea of what kinds of gracious southern living goodies can be found there. I oohed and aahed through the windows. Antiques seem to the the most plentiful with several shops in historic buildings that are a delight.

Another piece of old Florida that is going through many changes is Silver Springs. Once an original Florida theme park attraction, the park is now part of the Silver Springs State Park, formerly known as Silver River State Park. The history is well worth reading if you are so inclined. Here is an interesting link. Silver Springs (The Historical Theme Park)

Silver Springs was Florida’s first tourist attraction, dating back to the 1870’s With much complexity, the state acquired several thousand acres of land around the spring. In 1993, the state acquired the spring as well, though it was still privately run. With profits dwindling, the company released control of Silver Springs and it was merged with the Sliver River State park to now become Silver Springs State Park.

I am here in Ocala to take Bel’s ashes (my friend who passed almost a year ago) to her chosen resting place, and Bel’s parents lived in Ocala for several decades. Bel had wonderful memories of visiting Silver Springs as a child, and we would often go there when I visited. The park was very commercial, with a bear exhibit, birds and alligators, a jeep ride through the “jungle” with animals from around the world. There were busy shops, restaurants, a huge Christmas boat parade and light show, a ferris wheel.

It was all great fun, but getting to be more and more expensive. The last time I visited Bel we declined visiting Silver Springs. I was a bit sad about the change, but reading in depth about the contamination of the springs with run-off from development and the animal exhibits, I felt much better about the state take-over. Bel’s sister Iris isn’t quite so happy about it. Silver Springs remains in her youthful memories as it once was.

Florida’s natural fresh water springs are a national treasure and should be protected and honored as the sacred gifts that they are. I hope that the state park will take care of the springs while keeping some of the local history of Silver Springs as an original Florida attraction. The glass bottom boats are still there and rides down the river and over the springs are still allowed. They will continue in the future as one of the historic parts of the springs to be retained. We heard that they also had the Christmas light show last December, minus the boat parade, and that Willie Nelson performed there recently.

I chose not to make reservations at Silver Springs State Park, assuming it wouldn’t be full on a rainy, cool mid-week day. It wasn’t, but it was definitely more popular than I expected. Once settled into our site 32 in the Fort King Loop could see why. This campground is gorgeous! With huge wide open sites that are well spaced, completely level shell/limestone aggregate pads with enough room for a big rig, a big table, a car and who know what else.

The evening we arrived, a huge storm was brewing, with a red line of thunderstorms coming our way fast. I never took any photos of that great site. There is the river to kayak, with new launch areas near the headwaters of the Silver River at the old parking lot of Silver Springs. There are miles of dog friendly trails and biking paths. There is a replica Cracker Village and a nice small museum. In addition, with a camping permit, there is free access to the old Silver Springs Theme Park….now in the process of restoration and reconstruction.

Of course, Ocala has anything one might need in the way of shopping and entertainment, and the Ocala National Forest with its beautiful springs and byways is nearby. I love Ocala. I would have been happy to stay here a week at least. But one night was on the schedule, with time to meet Iris, and enjoy a great dinner at Horse and Hounds, a lovely pub type restaurant that was just a mile or so from the campground.

Mo enjoyed meeting Iris, and listened patiently while Iris and I did a lot of reminiscing about Bel. It was a nice time and the rain was irrelevant. Our campsite was so big and open, and while it was surrounded with beautiful trees, there were no overhanging branches or limbs over the site, so the high winds weren’t scary. Early the next morning, I took advantage of the dark hour to use the one set of laundry machines at our loop restroom, and take a nice hot shower.

My thoughts regarding staying a week in Ocala very nearly came true. I made our reservations for Fort De Soto Campground the minute they came available 180 days before our planned arrival. Fort De Soto is a Pinellas County Park, and extremely popular. Most everything was already filled within minutes of the campground website accepting reservations, but I snagged a decent site in what I thought was the dog-friendly part of the campground.

The morning of our departure from Ocala, as I was reviewing the documentation, I realized that my reservation was not in the pet-friendly area. Knowing how hard it was to get a reservation, I didn’t panic, I just thought, “Well, if we have to stay in Ocala, so be it.”

With a phone call to the park, all was resolved without too much difficulty. We were reassigned a new site, actually three new sites, and we will have to move from our first site to a second site for three days, and the last day of our stay will be at a third site. All in the dog friendly area. The park staff was extremely kind and very accommodating, in spite of our stay through the upcoming holiday weekend.

On our way to the Tampa Bay area, we decided it was time to purchase a Florida SunPass card. Bridges and toll roads are everywhere in this part of Florida, and most of them cost money. Purchasing the mini sticker transponder for the windshield was easy, we found one at a Publix grocery store. The activation, however, was a bit more complex, and I decided to call rather than attempting to do it online with the iPad in a grocery store parking lot.

The agent was great, very deliberate and clear with her instructions, and she suggested that we possibly buy two transponders so the the baby car would also register through the gates. However, the sensors usually catch all four of the axles in the rig and the toad, and we were unsure how this would work if we had two separate transponders. The only problem with only having one, however, is that they are inactivated if removed from the windshield, so if we cross bridges on day trips in the baby car, we will have to pay as usual.

Daughter Deanna (the trucker who plies Florida highways quite often) suggested the Sun Pass card because there are some bridges in Florida that don’t take cash. They simply photo your license plate and send you a bill. With our mail coming to Oregon and only sent along every month or so, we could easily become delinquent with the bill. According to the agent, you have about 28 days to pay. Instead, we need to check the website to see if we were charged for 2 or 4 axles, and tada…all 4 showed up right away on our crossing of the Pinellas Bayway on our way to this park.

The activation is set up with an initial amount using a credit card, and you can choose to add additional funds automatically in specific amounts if your account drops below $10. When you leave the state you can apply for a refund of any excess funds. It was great fun just flying through the Sun Pass lanes for the first time in the 13 years I have been visiting and driving in Florida. Success, and Thank You, Deanna!!

We are now settled in, the sun has risen and it’s time for some breakfast! Happy Valentine’s Day. Among the plans for the day is a trip to the See’s candy store in St Petersburg for some traditional chocolates> Yippee!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!