Monday July 11th 2022

Today was a travel day so I was up early to allow plenty of time to be on the road by 11AM. It was a sunny, but humid morning. A few minutes outside was enough for sweat to flow like a waterfall. I took a couple of breaks to dry off, but still managed to pull out as the 11AM clock clicked over. As I pulled away the park employee that had been hovering in the area immediately headed for my site to weed wack all the green stuff coming out of the cracks in the concrete. He wasn’t doing anything to push me to leave, but it was clear he knew my site would need to be cleaned up soon.

The problem with short travel days is the need to kill time so I don’t arrive before my new site is ready. Today was one of those days. I sat in my RV home in the Georgia Welcome center parking lot for close to two hours. My destination was in sight on the other side of the Interstate. Shortly after 1PM I drove to the Jacksonville North/St. Marys KOA and got checked in. One of the advantages of this location is the tall pines that provide some shade. That is very different from my last five weeks fully exposed to the heat of the sun.

I just managed to get setup before the rain arrived. It started with a strong thunderstorm followed by pretty much constant rain all afternoon into the evening. This is the first day the forecast has been close to right in several weeks. My site is now on an island surrounded by rain water.

Sunday July 10th 2022

I was expecting another day with heavy thunderstorms during the afternoon, but that is not what happened. The day started cloudy, still and humid. Shortly after noon when the first set of thunderstorms were predicted the sky to the north and east got very dark. I buttoned up my RV home and turned on the AC expecting a downpour at any minute. We got a few sprinkles of rain. During the rest of the day a few more dark clouds passed by, but no more rain fell. The high temperature was in the mid eighties.

This is my last full day at Pecan Park RV Resort. I’m moving up the highway a few miles tomorrow. Most of my activity today was focused on getting ready to move. The inside of my RV home had gotten quite cluttered over the five weeks I’ve been here. The biggest item of clutter was all of the packaging from my Amazon purchases. I had broken all of the boxes down, but hadn’t taken them to the park dumpsters. I’ve walked my trash bags full of junk to the dumpsters on a regular basses, but the boxes needed to be chauffeured to the dumpster. They would have been dropped or blown out of my control on the long walk to the dumpster.

I have enjoyed my stay here, but it is time to move on. My walks around the park are not turning up new things to see anymore. Check out is at 11AM tomorrow, so I will have to get up at a reasonable time tomorrow morning. No more sleeping in. I’ll have to kill some time on my way to my next location, so I’ll buy gas and checkout the Georgia Welcome Center.

Friday July 8th 2022

The day began with sunshine among scattered clouds. It was very still morning. The temperature climbed rapidly to the upper eighties. Not long after lunch everything changed. The sky started to darken and the wind started to blow. To the east lightening started to flash followed by the rumble of thunder. The rain from this storm missed here as the storm moved south away from this area. Half an hour or so later the next storm brought the rain. The remainder of the afternoon was wet. Sometimes it was a heavy rain and at others just a light precipitation. Overall it met the very definition of a rainy afternoon. The good news is it wasn’t as heavy as yesterday’s storm.

I squandered the better part of the day. A lazy breakfast with lots of internet reading took up all of the sunshine hours. Just as I was getting ready to implement yesterday’s plan for a trip to the St. Johns river the threatening weather approached. The first storm was on a path right for my desired destination. Some of these Florida summer afternoon storms can drop enough rain to make driving very dangerous. Staying home is the best choice under theses conditions. On the news this evening the weather talkers reported one area southwest of Jacksonville that got over six inches of rain. I need to switch the active part of my day from afternoon to morning before the weather.

Today was a low exercise day. I only got in one partial walk around the RV park. There was too much moisture in the area along with the threat of lightening. Some sources call Florida the lightening capital of America. It seems like there is a story on the local news about somebody getting hit by lightening every week.

Thursday July 7th 2022

Last night the weather forecast for today called for thunderstorms in the afternoon. This morning the forecast had changed. There was only a ten percent chance of rain all day with a mostly sunny sky. They shouldn’t have changed the forecast. About 4PM the sun disappeared, the sky darkened and it began to rain. As the precipitation got heavier cloud to ground lightening flashes surrounded the area. The time between many of the flashes and the sounds of thunder were next to instantaneous. The lightening was very close and the ground often shook. The storm was also very slow moving. It lingered overhead for close to two hours. This was a typical Florida summer afternoon thunderstorm that we haven’t been getting in this area much lately. I think the weather pattern has changed.

Earlier in the day I was out on a mission to visit the St. Johns river for some sight seeing followed by a stop for groceries. Traffic had another idea. I got on Interstate 95 heading south and almost immediately slowed to a crawl. It took almost twenty minutes to get to the next exit two miles away. The traffic on the local roads was also heavily backed up. My plans changed to just grocery shopping since the Walmart was easily accessible. With groceries in the car it is more or less imperative to head straight home in this heat. Checking the south bound lanes of the interstate as I headed north showed that the backup hadn’t improved. My trip to the river was off until another day.

I got in one walk around the park late in the day. It was necessary to dodge a few puddles and a goose or two, but I stayed dry and got in a little exercise. The temperature drop after the storms made the walk more comfortable.

Wednesday July 6th 2022

This the third day in a row with no afternoon thunderstorms in this area. For most of the day there were very few clouds in the sky. The sun, humidity and comfortable wind kept the temperature in the low to mid nineties.

On my walk around the RV resort this afternoon I finally stopped and explored the new recreation area. There is a Tennis Court, Two Pickle Ball courts, a basketball hoop, two horseshoe pits, a boccie ball court, a large area of artificial turf and a fire ring. Most of the time when I walk by the area is empty. I’ve only seen a few people using the basketball area. It is probably the heat.

On my visit to this park in June of 2021, work on the recreation area had just started. The land was cleared and leveled with some paving completed. It wasn’t clear what the construction was going to create. In November of last year they were actively working on the area. A restroom building was under construction. Fences around the various courts were getting installed and lights on tall concrete poles were getting installed. When I departed at the end of November it looked like the construction was in the final stages.

As I’ve mentioned in other blog entries, I don’t understand campground occupancy. This park emptied out on Monday and Tuesday after the holiday weekend as expected. What surprised me was the number of new RVs that arrived today. They also seem to be a travelers rather than longer term residents. Many are families in smaller RVs.

Tuesday July 5th 2022

Today’s weather was very similar to Monday’s. The temperature peaked in the low nineties with plenty of humidity and some wind. The only real difference was one brief period of threatening weather. Just after the noon hour there were lots of black clouds and some rumbling of thunder to the east, but no rain fell in this area. By mid afternoon blue sky returned for the remainder of the day.

I started my day catching up with the Fourth of July Fireworks. Since I didn’t see any in person last night, I started my day watching YouTube Videos of various fireworks shows. The video of the local Jacksonville show was mostly from aerial shots, but it was clear I would have been in the wrong place if a good view if I had attempted to view them from the spot I was considering. Overall they weren’t that impressive although I’m sure they would have been great in person.

The other fireworks I watched on YouTube were from Walt Disney World. Both Magic Kingdom and Epcot had special 4th of July fireworks shows. Several people posted vlogs to YouTube of the shows. It is the first time since 2019 that Disney held the special fireworks shows. The shows from both parks were impressive, but the Epcot presentation was over the top. They added a ten minute special fireworks show to the end of the regular Harmonious pyrotechnics show. The sky above the World Showcase Lagoon was filled with Red, White and Blue fireworks set to patriotic music. Once again it would have been better to be there, but it was a good show on video as well.

The remainder of my day was spent on chores and my regular walks around the RV resort. The park is back to its regular sleepy midweek atmosphere. Most of the people that arrived for the weekend have departed and many of the rest are back to there regular work schedule.

Monday July 4th 2022

The good news is it didn’t rain today. The bad news is it was hot and humid. The high temperature for the day was in the low nineties.

I spent some time today scouting out possible places to watch the Jacksonville fireworks. They are launched from several sites around the city. I don’t want to go into the center of the city and get stuck in crowds and traffic. An ideal place would be along the north bank of the St. Johns River with a view of several of the launch locations. I wasn’t successful. I’m not familiar enough with the area or the exact locations of the launch sites. It will be TV and Internet fireworks for me this year.

Over the last few years on my Rambling Road Trip I’ve been lucky to be able to see the Forth of July Fireworks from my campsite most years. In 2017 I was able to see the fireworks in West Wendover Nevada down the hill from my campsite. I was also able to walk into town and watch the parade that morning. In 2019 I was able to see the fireworks in Pasco Washington. The next year I was confined to the campground in Grants New Mexico because of COVID restrictions on travelers, but I was able to watch the fireworks from my site. Last year the fireworks for the town of Chattahoochee Florida were visible from the end of the campground loop I was staying on. Twenty Eighteen was the last year I didn’t get to watch the fireworks from my site.

Last night I commented in the blog that I wasn’t hearing any fireworks in the area. Tonight I am hearing the sound of fireworks. They are from a good distance away. The nearest residential area in the direction of the noise is over a mile away. I did not here the public fireworks from Jacksonville.

Sunday July 3rd 2022

The daily rain arrived at 2PM today. It started heavy and transitioned to a long drawn out period of gentle rain. Around 7PM I looked outside to a blue sky and a bright sun in the western sky. The temperature reached the upper eighties before the rain brought it down to the upper seventies. The bright sun after the rain allowed the temperature to climb again before nightfall.

This was a very quiet and sleepy RV resort today. People stay inside their air conditioned RVs most of the time. When I was out walking I saw a few people, but not any real gathering of folks. The exception happened this afternoon during the light rain period. The power went out for about half an hour. Everybody came out of their RVs long enough to look around and verify it was more than just them with a power issue. Brief “Are you out too?” questions and answers were exchanged. Then we all went back inside to wait for the power to return.

The park management sent out a reminder late last week that fireworks are prohibited in the RV park. So far it has worked. I haven’t heard any fireworks going off in the area. The park is located in an unpopulated area. The nearest housing development is to the north out of the flight path in and out of Jacksonville International Airport. The bottom line is I haven’t heard any fireworks this Independence Day Holiday weekend. If I want to watch fireworks tomorrow, I’ll have to travel to a good viewing location. Since I don’t know, more than in general terms, where the pyrotechnics will be launched that might pose a problem. I’ll do a little more checking tomorrow, but right now I expect to be watching fireworks on the TV and/or internet.

Saturday July 2nd 2022

I got faked out by the weather forecast again today. The thunderstorms finally arrived around 5PM. They had been forecast since 11AM. The sky showed signs of an impending storm all day with big dark clouds all around. A few breaks in the clouds allowed the temperature to heat to around ninety degrees, before the evening thunderstorms brought it down into the seventies.

This was a day filled with random tasks and events. Breakfast dragged into a two hour event while I caught up on some of my Internet reading. During that time I got a notice that Amazon was going to deliver my one remaining package this afternoon. It spent some extra time in Georgia on its way to Jacksonville according to the tracking information. So by 1:45 my “What’s up with Amazon?” thoughts were answered. It amazes me how they can successfully deliver it to my open door, six feet from where I’m sitting in my RV home, without me knowing it until I get the notice from the Amazon App. Sure enough the package was there.

I got one long walk around the RV resort in today. The number of people here for the weekend is surprising. This is the most occupied I’ve seen the park this summer. The swimming pools and sports courts were getting a lot of use. The ducks were trying to sleep in the shade of a tree (until I came along) and the Canadian Geese were roaming between the sites. In other areas of the park people seem to be preparing the outside of their RVs for parties. In many ways there was more activity today than I’ve seen here.

The 5PM thunderstorm was more intense than any of the storms in the last few weeks. The sky darkened, the wind blew and the rain pour down hard on the roof of my RV home. The forecast called for rain to continue for several hours, but once again mother nature didn’t agree. The heavy storm was over in about twenty minutes and the light rain that followed was over by 8PM. Plenty of time to get ready for round two tomorrow.