Sunday January 31st 2021
I was up early this morning to attempt to book the elusive next 2 weeks in the coming winters Florida State Park hop. There were six possible sites available across 2 different state parks for the two weeks starting December 31st. There is a lot of competition during the week between Christmas and New Years. Families are probably taking advantage of the school vacation period. I knew I’d only have one chance, so I selected the best site in the least popular part of the least popular park to make my play. I got everything set and clicked the mouse button as the clock struck 8AM. I was successful. When I checked the availability at 8:08AM all of the sites were taken.
The next event in the 2022 Florida State Park booking drama is on February 14th. It is somewhere between a game and a pain in the butt activity. The state parks are the places I like to stay so I do what I have to do. The alternative would be to book a month or the entire winter season at a private park. Individual weeks at some private campgrounds are similarly as difficult to book and costs more for less of the closeness to nature that I enjoy. When I am not successful booking a state park for two weeks, I find a private park for a few days to a week. I’m sure I’ll run into that for next winter before I’m finished. This winter I have one week at a private park between the beginning of December and the middle of April.
Today began as a bright sunny day. The temperature climbed into the upper seventies before the clouds started to move in. The next cold front is due to pass through the area tonight. There is the possibility of some severe weather. Tomorrow and the rest of the week is forecast to be much cooler.
The pictures in this blog entry are from today’s walk to the Silver River. On the long trail to the river I usually see one or two people. Today I saw close to a dozen people along the trail each way and even more coming in off the river for a break in paddling or a trip to the porta-potty. The animals seemed to be keeping their distance from all the people.
Rob's Rambling Road Trip 