Tuesday October 11th 2022

The string of low humidity days came to an end today. I woke up this morning to thick fog in the campground. It gradually lifted into a cloudy day by the time I left shortly before 11AM. Getting ready to travel was a damp exercise. By the time I arrived at my destination in St. Augustine the sky was blue, the sun was burning hot and the humidity remained. It wasn’t much fun setting up for my stay. I was dripping.

The drive was uneventful. Traffic in the Jacksonville area was very heavy. Crossing the St. Johns River on the Interstate 295 beltway was the first obvious sign of the recent hurricane. The docks along the shore were in bad shape. The water was near the tops of the docks and many of the decking boards were missing. The water had clearly been higher and the wave action more severe than it was today.

Earlier in the drive on Interstate 75 south, I saw a few less obvious signs of the recent hurricane. I was passed by many big trucks filled with building supplies. The two flatbed trucks loaded with roofing shingles traveling south together cued me into the types of products on some of the trucks I was playing hopscotch with. Once I started looking I saw loads of plywood and two by fours on flatbeds as well. I suspect a few of the enclosed trailer trucks contained building supplies for the hurricane area too. It could have been normal deliveries, but I think there were just too many.

I am back at Sun Outdoors St. Augustine until Sunday. I was last here in early August. This is a good place to wait out a few days before my reservation at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral begins. There is a lot more to do in the St. Augustine area than Jennings Florida, but I’m really looking forward to my next stop at the intersection of the port and the Atlantic Ocean.

Monday October 10th 2022

The great weather continued today. The temperature peaked in the mid eighties under a cloudless sky. The humidity wasn’t bad and a gentle breeze blew out of the north most of the day. The bright sun kept the resident ducks in hiding most of the day. They settle down for naps under bushes and back in the woods.

Once again the campground emptied quickly this morning. My immediate neighbors were gone by 8AM and almost everybody else was gone by the 11AM checkout time. There was one additional RV here for the day than yesterday. Not as many new RVs arrived to fill in the vacancies this afternoon. I do not have any immediate neighbors tonight.

Tomorrow is moving day. I am moving about 150 miles to St. Augustine. Today I did a few of the day before travel tasks, but not as many as usual. I have a few more to do in the morning and I’ll decide where to buy gas on the fly. The price of gas has gone up ten to twenty cents while I’ve been here. I even checked the price to the north in Georgia to see if it made sense to back track a little. The biggest increase in cost was actually at the stations in Georgia. With about half a tank, I can make it all the way to my destination without filling the tank. The real question is what will gas cost next Sunday when I move again.

Sunday October 9th 2022

Both today’s weather and the campground occupancy followed the pattern established over the last couple of days. The temperature peaked in the mid eighties under a bright sunny sky and once again the campground emptied out this morning. Any thought that this is a holiday weekend in Georgia and some parts of Florida is completely irrelevant. By the 11AM checkout time there were only two RVs in this part of the campground. One was the work campers assigned to this area and the other was me. Shortly before 2PM tonight’s arrivals started to fill in the vacancies.

One of today’s chores turned into a more difficult task than necessary. Getting the laundry accomplished involved a lot of walking and waiting all because of a change machine. I needed quarters to feed the machines. The laundry facility at this park had a change machine in the laundry. While that sounds normal, it is not that common. They probably installed it because the office is a long walk away. When it works it would be a great help. Today it took my twenty dollar bill and gave me 8 quarters. That isn’t even enough for one load of laundry. I made the long walk around the pond back to the office to report the malfunction. Walking back I passed the staff member heading for the office for the keys to the machine in a golf cart. He met me back at the laundry fifteen minutes or so later. In quick order he gave me the rest of my change, but the entertainment wasn’t over. The machines that were available when I started the saga were no longer available, but I was entertained watching the guy try to fix the change machine. He had to empty all of the coins to find a way to fix the machine. As expected when dealing with coins more than a few ended up on the floor. He had a great time chasing them around. It took him more than half an hour to get the machine back in working order. By then, a washing machine was available for me to start my laundry.

Watching football on TV was my other diversion for the day. The games weren’t filled with as many last minute plays as last week, but there were still a few good games on TV. I was going to watch the NASCAR race, but the laundry episode diverted my attention enough that I forgot to turn the station.

Saturday October 8th 2022

The temperature peaked in the mid to upper eighties just like Friday. It was a very nice day.

One of the reasons I’m staying here this weekend is because there was a vacancy. I didn’t book the holiday weekend soon enough to find a space at any of the campgrounds near popular recreation opportunities. This is a campground on the side of the interstate that gets many overnight or couple of night stays. Even so, I got the last site available for the six nights including the holiday weekend. I wasn’t surprised to see the campground really fill up on Friday night. It looked like there was going to be a good crowd for the weekend. This morning when I raised the blinds both of my neighbors were already gone. By the 11AM checkout time there were only four RVs in this part of the campground. Where did everybody go? Did they head further south or north? So much for my assumptions about weekend occupancy. This evening many of the empty sites have filled up, but nowhere near as thoroughly as Friday night.

While I was out on Interstate 75 today there was another steady stream of utility line trucks heading north. That would seem to track with the media reports that power is back on in most of the state. The only significant outages remain in the area of maximum devastation in Lee County. There is no point in turning the power on for buildings that are only a debris field. Time and money are the only things that are going to get the mess cleaned up and eventually restored. The number of things that are gone forever is scary.

Friday October 7th 2022

Today was a few degrees warmer than yesterday, but otherwise it was the same great weather. The temperature peaked in the mid to upper eighties. The norm for this area at this time of year is the low to mid eighties. So “Where having a heatwave”. The heat is accompanied by low humidity, so it all evens out in the end.

I was able to book a reservation in St. Augustine for when I leave here next week. For the last few days the campground had not been taking reservations. I presume because of high water levels in and around the campground, but that really is just a guess. With that reservation I now have the next six months full book. In most cases, because of the type of places I’m staying, I even have the stay paid for. The last time I felt so prepared, the pandemic hit and I had to start canceling reservations. My fingers are crossed.

As of right now, three of the state parks I’m booked at have not reopened after the hurricane. I’m pretty sure Myakka River State Park is still underwater. It floods often. Hopefully, the water will recede and everything can be cleaned up before the middle of December. My end of December into early January stay is also in the area impacted by the hurricane. I give that one a better chance of being OK. The last reservation of concern is at the end of February in Collier county near Naples Florida. The park is located in an area that often floods. I think it will be fine long before February.

The two Army Corp of Engineers campgrounds along the Caloosahatchee River and waterway east of Fort Meyers that I failed to get reservations at despite many attempts, sound like they are in serious trouble. It turns out to be a good thing that I had to make other accommodations. The other thing to worry about is FEMA and other relief efforts taking over the public campgrounds in the southwestern part of the state for humanitarian and temporary living arrangements. If it happens I’ll adapt. Providing people with a place to live is more important.

Thursday October 6th 2022

Today’s weather was a little bit warmer than Wednesday. It climbed into the low to mid eighties, but the humidity is low. It was a very comfortable day.

It was a typical first day at a new location. As usual I slept in a bit until about 9AM. Breakfast takes a little bit longer, because I have to unpack the coffee maker and a couple of other things. After breakfast it is time to convert my car from transport mode to touring mode. Basically this means I take my bicycle and its rack off and stow the towing tabs away. The bicycle gets locked to the picnic table and the rack is stored under my motorhome. At that point, I’m ready to start my stay.

This is a familiar campground. I last stayed here in the middle of August. A tree maintenance crew was working in the park at that time. Today I checked out the result of their work. Most of the mid size live oak trees in between the campsites have been removed. They even removed the stumps. Two or three big healthy ones remain. The ones they removed were more obstructive than helpful. Other trees in the park have been trimmed. The low hanging branches along the exit road have been cut back enough that they will not scrape the roof of tall RVs. Overall things look better.

The local ducks are all still here. In August some were clearly young birds. Now, most of the ducks are the same size. It is no longer possible to recognize family units in the dozens of ducks. They clearly have no fear of people and wander right into campsites and up to people. The ducks are a domesticated variety.

The campground was close to full last night, but this morning most of them departed. In the middle of the day there were only about five other RVs in the campground. Around 2PM the park started to fill up again. It is about as occupied tonight as last night. Back in August most of the RVs were from Florida, tonight the mix of license plates is far greater. California and Oregon were represented for the furthest traveled award. Ontario, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire were also represented.

Wednesday October 5th 2022

Today was a travel day. It was time for the second half of my trip south on Interstate 75 back to Florida. The traffic today was just as bad as Sunday for most of the run. It lighten up some after I passed Valdosta and approached the Florida line. Overall it didn’t do anything to reduce my distaste for the route.

Yesterday I scouted out the best gas station to fill up the tank in my motorhome. My selection was about four miles in the wrong direction. A Pilot station a little less than four miles north on Interstate 75 had the best deal. It was the station I had pump issues at on Sunday afternoon. The eight mile detour would consume one gallon of gas, so the price had to be significantly better than a station on my southbound itinerary. At seventeen cents a gallon cheaper it was easily the best deal when buying more than fifty gallons of gas.

With all the research and analysis complete I departed the campground around 10:30 for the gas station. That was the last thing that went according to plan. The price of gas had gone up ten cents overnight. It was still a good deal, but the same problems I had at the Pilot station on Sunday persisted. The pumps I could get to were broken. There were two other stations at the intersection that advertised the same price, so I went to the BP station that had easy access. I neglected to read the fine print. Credit card sales were ten cents higher. Never the less I put $175 worth of gas in the tank. It wasn’t a full load, but it was close. The good news is that the stations on my southbound route also went up overnight. I still bought gas about ten cents cheaper on my northern detour.

After completing my gas detour I was headed south on Interstate 75 a little after 11AM. I think there were still a few convoys of equipment heading south for hurricane cleanup, but there were also a few convoys of utility line trucks heading back north. The week of hurricane clean up was over for many of the power company workers. That tracks with the news that power restoration is ahead of schedule in most of the state.

I stopped at the Florida Welcome center for about half an hour to time my arrival at my home for the next six nights to be after 1PM. By 2:30PM I was setup on my site at the Jennings KOA Holiday just south of the Florida Georgia line. This is my fourth visit to this park. My last visit was in the middle of August.

Tuesday October 4th 2022

It was another beautiful day weather wise. After a cool start in the low sixties the mercury climbed into the low seventies. There was a blue sky and bright sun all day. The wind was hardly noticeable. Overall it was another comfortable fall day in the middle of Georgia.

I drove around the area a bit to check things out today. There seems to be a lot of empty and abandoned businesses and buildings. At this interstate exit alone there are four closed businesses. They appear to have been closed for some time judging by the weeds invading the parking lot and building structures. Closer to town I saw empty stores in some of the strip malls. I’m guessing this area has seen more prosperous times.

The local Walmart was about as busy as I would expect on a Tuesday afternoon. There were plenty of shoppers, but no backup at the registers. This store had less space dedicated to food than many. It was also organized a little different. There was not as clear a delineation between the sections. The produce section overlapped the freezer section and the meet section. The dairy and deli sections also merged into the beverage area. In the aisles the space allocated for various products and the number of options was limited do to the size of the area of the store set aside for food.

One odd thing in the store was the total absence of eggs. I wasn’t looking for eggs, but it was hard to miss all of the empty black plastic egg crates. Even the organic and specialty brands were sold out. I wonder if this has anything to do with the hurricane. Might the laying hens live in the hurricane ravaged area? There were no signs to indicate why they were out of eggs or when they might have them.

This is my last day at this location. Tomorrow I resume my return to Florida. I have about 100 miles to my next stop just south of the boarder in Jennings Florida. I’ll be at another KOA that I have been to before. This was my best option for the holiday weekend.

Monday October 3rd 2022

Fall weather seems to have arrived. The overnight temperature is routinely getting down into the sixties or lower. With the cooler start to the day, it takes more energy to get the temperature to a high level. Today started off sunny in the low sixties. Before the sun could warm the air much from the morning low heavy clouds moved through the area. The blue sky was back by late afternoon, but the temperature never made it to seventy. The average temperature for this time of year is in the low eighties.

The clouds moved in just in time to divert any ambition I had for the day. Thinking it might rain I decided to stay at home. It became a common day after travel. Exploring the campground was the extent of my adventure for the day. This is an older campground that isn’t in the best condition. From my conversation at check in yesterday, I learned the campground management is new. Based on a sign I saw on the highway the campground may have just been or soon will be sold. There is a lot of potential here, but maintenance has clearly been deferred. It is perfectly good for an overnight or two and that is exactly what it is getting used for. RVs flooded in yesterday afternoon and evening only to leave this morning. This afternoon the pattern repeated.

On my exploration of the campground I didn’t find anything photogenic. There aren’t any flowers in bloom either planted or wild. Even the squirrels didn’t want their pictures taken. They scurried up the nearest tree as soon as I got near. I had to look to the sky for the pictures in this blog entry.

Sunday October 2nd 2022

It was another cool overnight. The temperature was in the low sixties as I packed up and got ready to travel this morning. By the time the daylight hours ended the temperature was around eighty. On the early part of my travel day there was a gusty wind. I was packed and on the road by 10:30AM.

Interstate 75 in Georgia and Florida is one of my least favorite interstate highways in the nation. Even Interstate 95 in the northeast corridor is more tolerable. The road condition is better than many other interstate highways, but traffic is always heavy. Much of the traffic is made up of big trucks. Most of the trucks are traveling faster than I normally cruise, but a few are slower than I am. I try to maintain a 65MPH speed. Passing is complicated by having to find an opening in the fast moving trucks in the next lane with enough opening that I can gain the five to ten miles per hour necessary to run with the big boys. It takes all of my attention to drive on this road.

Today there were a number of big slow downs. The first slow down lasted for thirty five minutes. I only traveled two miles in that time before it miraculously opened up a little and traffic returned to normal speed. There probably was an accident, but I saw no evidence. Later slow downs were not as dramatic. Just lots of brake lights requiring a speed drop into the thirties for a few hundred yards.

Among the traffic on Interstate 75 today was more hurricane recovery material. There were a few more utility trucks with power line equipment in convoy. A couple of flatbed trucks passed with generators big enough to supply small office buildings. A little while later I passed another flatbed truck with a single huge generator onboard. This thing was as big as a small building all by itself. What it is intended to power would be interesting to know.

I deliberately broke up my travel back to Florida into two segments. Each segment is a little under 100 miles long. First it breaks the torture of driving on I75 into two days and second I want to give Florida campgrounds a chance to recover if they need it. Even with the traffic slow downs, the short distance meant that I needed to kill some time in a rest area.

I was trying to time my arrival for 1:30. It would have worked if I had managed to fill my gas tank before I arrived. Unfortunately the stations had other ideas. The first was filled with cars waiting for a pump. There wasn’t room for me to wait. The second station was a Pilot with a dedicated RV pumps, but the pump was pumping very slowly. I was warned off by a motorhome attempting to fill his tanks in front of me. A regular pump on the end of the row was available so I circled the station and pulled up to that pump. It was broken. I gave up. I’ll get gas at the start of my next travel day.

I arrived at the Cordele KOA Journey in Cordele Georgia at about 1:20PM. I will be here until Wednesday.