Monthly Archives: December 2021

Bad Weather and a Big Repair

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Tuesday December 21st 2021

The forecast rain arrived overnight. It didn’t sound particularly heavy on the roof of my RV home, but I slept through most of it. This morning I woke to the sound of heavy rain on the roof. Once I turned on the TV, I found the area was under a tornado watch. Once again, I must have slept through the worst of the storm. It didn’t seem particularly bad. When I ventured out after the storm, I found a moat around my campsite and evidence of many dead palm branches and Spanish moss blown from the trees. The day was mostly cloudy with a high temperature in the low seventies. This evening it is raining again. Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny and Florida cold.

Moat across the entrance to my campsite.

Today I was on a mission to find someone to check the tow hookup on my car. When I disconnected the towbar from the car I detected some movement in the base plate that mounts permanently to the cars frame. It should be rock solid. After forty thousand miles of towing the base plate was coming loose. I found A&A Trailer Hitch Center in Bradenton that installs base plates and towbars. They were able to fit me in today once they finished with an install. After taking the front bumper off my Honda CRV, they found one missing bolt, one bolt missing a nut and all of remaining six bolts loose. It was a disaster waiting to happen. Eight brand new bolts later the base plate was rock solid again. They were clearly very busy, but made time to fix my issue. This is definitely a business I’d return to another time.

Before and after my repair mission, I searched the State Park for wildlife. The cooler cloudy weather seemed to keep many of the creatures in hiding. Very few gators were on the bank, but a few heads were above the surface of the water. Many of the birds seemed to be hiding out from the wind and chill of the day. I could see many more white, pink and gray specs in the distant trees than I saw out on the river bank. I still managed to take a few pictures of the birds I saw.

Clouds and Groceries

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Monday December 20th 2021

Clouds dominated the weather today. To the north the clouds were thick and dark and to the south it looked like there were more breaks in the cloud cover. Here at Myakka River State Park there were a few short periods of cloud filtered sun. The temperature peaked in the upper seventies. Tonight and tomorrow morning are forecast to be rainy as the latest cold front moves through the area.

In addition to checking out the wildlife around the park, I ventured out to find some food. Getting back to the interstate was a bit of a challenge. Half of the eight mile stretch of road is under construction. Even though the signs indicated that road closures were during the overnight hours, there was plenty of work happening to stop the flow of traffic. Four intersections along highway 72 are getting widened with traffic control getting added. At the interstate major changes are being undertaken to both the intersection and the interstate highway. It looks like a couple of years of work.

My primary goal for the day was getting some groceries. I chose a Walmart further away than necessary. It gave me a chance to checkout changes to the area and it is a bigger store than the nearest one. I didn’t find anything new along the way. The store was busy, but not Christmas busy. Only a few of the staffed checkouts were open, so checkout took longer. I was in the wrong frame of mind for grocery shopping resulting in over buying. Besides not wanting to visit a store until after Christmas, there also exists a small chance of pandemic restrictions being established after the presidents over advertised speech Tuesday. I came home with food that will have to be frozen, but my freezer is already three quarters full.

Rosetta Spoonbills

Birds

Alligators

A Hike Along the Myakka River

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Sunday December 19th 2021

The overnight fog was slow to burn off this morning. It was shortly afternoon before the sun made an appearance in the sky. Even so, the temperature still managed to get into the low eighties.

I need to get groceries. The last weekend day before a major holiday would seem like a bad time to join the crowds, but the cloudy weather added a little to the positive side of the decision. The arrival of the sun this afternoon threw the balance back to staying in the park and taking a hike. I took a hike along the banks of the Myakka River this afternoon.

Trail along the Myakka River

Both sides of the river near my campsite have trails along the river bank. One is a defined trail and the other is a path that people have developed by continued bushwhacking along the river. It is an interesting time to walk the banks. The river level is low this year. Last year it was a couple of feet higher and on a visit before that it was actually out of its banks. Today the banks of the river were covered in a bright green grass. Just like yesterday I got a lot of interesting pictures.

Alligators

Birds

Rosetta Spoon Bill Bathing

Great Blue Herons Getting Acquainted

Deer

Alligators, Birds and Deer

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Saturday December 18th 2021

The above normal temperatures and bright sunny days continue. Today’s high temperature was in the mid eighties. Tomorrow and possibly Monday are forecast to be similar. A cold front with a line of strong storms is on the way for Tuesday.

Myakka River

I spent the day getting settled in at Myakka River State Park. In addition to finishing the setup tasks I did some exploring around the park to visit all of the wildlife. This is one of my favorite Florida State Parks. People share the space with a wide variety of animals.

Alligators

Birds

Deer

The Full Moon

Travel Day to Sarasota

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Friday December 17th 2021

After three plus days of changeable weather, today was all sun. The temperature in the mid eighties was ten degrees or more above normal. A travel day without rain is a nice change.

Site 54 at Myakka River State Park.

I departed Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont at 12:30PM. One hundred and thirty miles and three hours later I arrived at Myakka River State Park in Sarasota. The route is primarily intestate highway, but he traffic was horrible. It seems like every time I travel the route it gets worse. Today there was no let up from heavy traffic and there were several slow downs to crawling speed. Most of the time the speed went from sixty plus to thirty or slower in rapid cycles. This is very hard in the motorhome. I need extra distance to slow and stop if necessary, so I have to leave plenty of room in front of me. Other drivers see that as an invitation to weave into the gap I allow to open. If they knew my stopping ability, they might think twice.

Usually there are a couple of areas that the traffic eases up, but not today. One between Davenport and Lakeland on Interstate 4 was filled with construction that constrains the traffic. The other location south of Tampa and north of Bradenton on Interstate 75 had an accident on the northbound side that slowed everybody on the southbound side to look things over. Overall there were three accidents with plenty of emergency vehicles on the other side of the highway and one flat tire changer on my side. There was more construction near the end of my interstate travels and on the road out of Sarasota to the state park.

Today’s drive was only a 130 miles, but it makes the top ten of bad drives on my Rambling Road Trip. I was happy to be off the road and setup on my site for the next two weeks at Myakka River State Park. After getting a little rest and a little food, I took a walk to the Myakka River to check for birds, alligators and the sunset. There were plenty.

Last Day at Lake Louisa State Park

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Thursday December 16th 2021

Today’s weather was unsettled once again, but not quite as bad as the last couple of days. Every now and then a group of thick clouds would pass through disrupting the otherwise sunny day. A couple of the cloud intrusions even brought rain with the darkened sky. The temperature still managed to approach eighty degrees.

Harmless looking clouds moving in from the southeast actually brought a little rain.

This is my last full day at Lake Louisa State Park. It doesn’t seem like two weeks since I arrived, but my time is up tomorrow. This area has a nice mix of the natural environment of the state park and the availability of the various Orlando area attractions. I chose not to get into a lot of the attractions this time. The holiday season has the whole resort corridor area overly crowded. The hiking tails and ponds in the state park are an enjoyable counterpoint.

I’m heading to the Gulf Coast area for the next month. I’ll be at Myakka River State Park and Lake Manatee State Park for a pair of two week stays. After that I’ll be back here for two weeks. I really enjoy staying in the natural environment the state parks provide. The downside is the length of stay is limited to two weeks.

Today was filled with a combination of local exercise around the campground and preparing to move tomorrow. I didn’t do as much early preparation work as normal. I have until 1PM to be off my site and a theoretical check in at Myakka River State Park of 3PM. I’m sure I’ll be able to check in earlier, but I don’t want to get there too early. It is about 130 miles of mostly interstate highway driving with lots of traffic.

Two more nights to full.

A Confusing Weather Day

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Wednesday December 15th 2021

Today’s weather was both better and worse than Tuesday’s. The day started with ten to fifteen minutes of light rain followed by a gradual clearing. It looked like the sun was about to win the battle in the sky when it started to rain again. After a few minutes the cycle repeated. I thought it was finally clearing late in the afternoon when another couple minutes of rain arrived. It came with a benefit. The rain departed leaving a gorgeous rainbow arcing across the eastern sky.

Clouds over Lake Louisa today.
Anhinga beside the lake.

Unlike Tuesday, I was mentally prepared for today’s rain. It wasn’t a day that you could get very far away from shelter, but it wasn’t terrible. I took a drive around the area to see what’s changed from my last visit in April. The twenty mile stretch of US 27 from Clermont south to Interstate 4 is full of new development. Years ago the area was filled with orange groves. Now, it is a combination of retail space and housing. The new housing ranges from vacation rental properties and townhouses to single family homes in the upper half of the x00Ks near a million dollars.

The area around the state park is still not heavily developed, but a new development is being established across US 27 from the parks entrance. Last spring there were roads and two or three houses in various stages of construction. Now there are at least twenty or more homes across the hillside and lots of open space for more homes. Next year I expect to find a traffic light at the entrance to the state park and the new development. It really needs one.

A Disappointing Day

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Tuesday December 14th 2021

Unpredictable weather resulted in a disappointing day. Yesterday, the forecast for today was for partly cloudy and warm. What we got was a little different. The day began foggy and dull. Slowly as the morning progressed the fog lifted to low cloud cover then just cloudy. Around 12:30 the day started to brighten and I got ready to start the active portion of my day. Before I got out of the park thick dark clouds were arriving from the east along with a few drops of rain. The plan for outdoor activity was not looking bleak. The weather radar showed some a few showers moving in from the east. I decided to return to the dry confines of my RV home.

The rain never happened. It remained cloudy and threatening most of the afternoon. At 5PM as the sun was starting to approach the western horizon there were a lot of large gaps in the cloud cover. The moon was visible in one of the gaps and the setting sun was highlighting the clouds to the west. Tomorrow is forecast to follow a similar pattern.

With the exception of a couple of walks around the campground most of my day was spent chancing various chains of information on the internet and watching TV. On my walk around the sixty campsites I’m starting to see a few Christmas decorations. My neighbor has a cute blow up dog with a Santa hat.

A Visit to Disney Springs

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Monday December 13th 2021

After yesterdays ominous weather at the end of the day, it was nice to see another nice day this morning. It was a sunny day with an occasional cloud or two passing overhead. The temperature peaked around eighty.

I spent most of the day around my RV home enjoying the park and catching up on a few errands. Toward evening I headed out to Disney Springs to view some of Christmas decorations. Traffic in the theme park area was about normal for late afternoon. It took a little over half an hour to get through all of the traffic lights. The Orange parking garage had plenty of room giving me hope it wouldn’t be too busy. After getting trough security and out into Disney Springs, I found it to be very crowded at 5PM.

Dragon in front of the Lego Store at Disney Springs

The theme decorated Christmas Trees that were in one area are now scattered through out the shopping, dinning and entertainment complex. I think I found all of them, but I didn’t keep track on the scavenger hunt like map that many people were using. The Star Wars themed tree and the Toy Story themed tree were my favorites. The detail that makes the trees unique didn’t get captured in my pictures. The tree lights drowned out the creative ornaments.

I bought a take out Fish & Chips meal from Cooks of Dublin for supper. Finding a place to sit and eat out of the flow was difficult. I found a seat on the side of a planter near one of the entertainment areas. There were at least three areas with live entertainment for the holiday season. The rest of the park has piped in Christmas music playing in the background.

The stores I went into have been reconfigured with more open space. The Christmas shop had very few displays in the center of the room. Most of the merchandise was along the walls. The World of Disney Store was reconfigured with well defined Entry and Exit doors. I suspect all of these changes are accommodations for the pandemic. Masks were required in all inside locations.

After walking from one end of Disney Springs to the other and back, having supper and watching a little entertainment, I headed home. My Christmas decoration viewing itch had been scratched and I got some people watching in as an added extra. The trip home was also through heavy traffic. Last year at this time, traffic was far less. People are clearly traveling to the Orlando area again.

Sunday Hike

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Sunday December 12th 2021

The weather was in transition today. It started cloudy and a little foggy. It progressed to a sunny day before the next cold front arrived. Around 4PM thick dark clouds started to move into the area from the north and east. It looked like it was going to rain at any minute. So far the rain hasn’t arrived. Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny again, but a few degrees cooler than the mid to upper eighties of the last few days.

There was the expected turn over off sites in the campground today. All of the weekend residents departed. By late in the day all of the sites were occupied once more. The new arrivals seem to be here for a longer period of time. Many of them put out Christmas decorations as part of setting up camp. The two week stay limit now includes the holiday weekend, so some of the new arrivals may be here through Christmas. I won’t know, I move on this Friday.

My exercise for the day was another hike. Once again I took a new turn and ended up in some areas I didn’t recognize. The forest service did a prescribed burn last spring that removed a lot of the underbrush and left many dead pine trees exposed. Some areas look rather bleak. I know I’ve hiked in the area I was in today, but I approached from the other direction. All of the intersections along the trails are numbered and have arrows pointing to other numbered intersections, so I wasn’t lost. I was just following a few paths that I probably haven’t been on before. Once again my hour long walk around Hammond Lake turned into a three hour hike over hills and around hidden ponds. It was fun and I got back before the dark clouds rolled in.

My camera was busy on the hike. Here are some of the images I captured.