Monday February 8th 2021

There was no lingering in bed this morning. It was a travel day. The sun burned through the clouds by mid morning and allowed the day to warm into the low seventies. With only about 35 miles to travel, I took my time getting ready to depart Silver Springs State Park. I do a little bit before breakfast, then more after breakfast with plenty of breaks along the way. At 11:30 I committed to departure in earnest. By 12:30 I was in line at the dump station to empty my holding tanks.

The drive north to Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park was on state and US routes. I didn’t go all the way west to Interstate 75 only to come back east to the park a few miles north. It was an easy drive through horse country. I checked in at the gatehouse around 1:45PM. I’ve been to this state park twice before, so I know my way around. There is an overflow parking lot on the way to the campground that is ideal for unhitching my towed car. The campground roads are narrow and all the campsites are back in, so it was important to get the car unhooked in an area with plenty of room. I’ll use the lot again in two weeks to hitch up when I leave.

I am also on a campsite that I had during one of my previous visits. It is one of the bigger sites with 50amp electric service. Many of the sites only have 30amp power. This time I was unsuccessful getting a satellite lock for my satellite TV. Last time I was successful, but this time I’m positioned in such a way that a big tree blocks the dish. I may reposition the rig tomorrow or I’ll just live with the over the air TV channels.

Late this afternoon as the clouds moved into hasten the arrival of darkness, I took a walk to Lake Wauburg. There were several people fishing from shore and in boats. I also spotted a few large birds, so I won’t be in withdrawal right away. I really enjoyed all the birds, turtles and other wildlife over the last two weeks at Silver Springs State Park.