Wednesday December 21st 2022

I think it rained lightly most of the night. At least the couple of times I woke up there was the sound of a light rain on the roof. This morning everything was wet, but the rain had stopped. It remained cloudy, damp and breezy all day. It was a very raw day that felt much colder than the sixty degree high temperature.

The Christmas rush is in full swing. I made my last stop at Walmart for groceries before the holiday today. There are eight or more traffic lights in the four plus miles between my RV home and the store. I had to wait at everyone and at several for multiple cycles. Traffic in the other direction was equally as congested.

Inside the store it wasn’t that bad. There were a lot of people in the store, but things were moving. In the grocery section people were spending most to their time in the meat, produce and bakery sections. The aisles were relatively clear. In the general merchandise part of the store there were many solitary shoppers. The shopping pairs and families were not clogging the displays as often happens.

I managed to get everything on my list even though I left the list at home. The only thing I didn’t come home with was a USB memory stick. All of the merchandise in the electronics section was in locked display cases. It was a lot more than the usual high value items that were locked up. Everything from a couple of dollars on up was behind glass. If they need to lock everything up, they also need to staff the area with enough people to get the merchandise out for a customer. I didn’t see any staff members in the entire electronics department.

The checkouts weren’t as backed up as I feared. Most of the grocery shoppers have been seduced by Walmart into using the self service checkouts. I generally refuse to do their work for them and pay the same price for less service. Given the season they had most of the staffed checkouts open today. The people with general merchandise in those lines only had a few items. Consequently, the time to checkout today was shorter than usual.

The traffic on the way back to my RV home vectored me toward the Ocala Wetlands Recharge park. It is near my route, but if I wasn’t trying to avoid another long traffic light cycle I would have gone straight home. Instead I took advantage of the cool weather to take care of my groceries in the car and spent a few minutes walking the trails in the park. It was cold and the birds were hiding, but it was worth the detour.

Tuesday December 19th 2022

I knew that today’s weather wasn’t going to be as nice as the last few days, but it turned out to be a lot different than I anticipated. I expected rain in the afternoon into the evening. Around 7:30 I woke to the sound of rain on the roof. It didn’t last long, but clearly the rain was beginning early. It didn’t rain heavily during the day. Most of the time it was just cool, damp and hazy. Am occasional shower kept the potential of an imminent downpour ever present. Based on tonight’s TV weather report, most of the rain was south of here.

This RV resort has fairly good WiFi. Today’ I took advantage of the high speed connection to watch a lot of YouTube Videos and some other online video content. It isn’t practical when I’m on my cellular data connection or the poor connections at many commercial RV parks. I’ve been noticing a lot more RVs that are putting up Starlink Satellite antennas. It seems like a good solution for people that depend on an internet connection for work or business. I think it is still a little too expensive for my needs. Increasing my cellular data service is more likely for me.

Just before it got dark this evening, I took my daily walk around the RV resort. I was prepared to cut it short if the rain returned, but I got in one good loop. Once again I think there was a net gain in occupancy. Several RVs departed today, but I believe more arrived. I have neighbor on my other side now. There are eight rigs in a row without an empty space tonight.

Monday December 19th 2022

The temperature didn’t seem as cool this morning. It may be that I’m just getting used to it, but I didn’t have the urge to remain under the covers. The high temperature for the day was around sixty five.

Traffic was a nightmare today. I made the mistake of getting close to the shopping areas and thought I’d never get through the area. Eventually I got back into the area of my RV resort. I stopped at the Ocala Wetlands Recharge park for another walk around the reclamation ponds. It was a refreshing walk. The birds were a little less numerous today. I only saw two or three heron. I think one bird was following me from one area of the park to another.

The campground feels a little more occupied than when I arrived last week. It is hard to be certain since RVs are scattered all over the five hundred sites. There are still far more empty sites than full. Walking around yesterday, I discovered that some of the sites are not finished. The power transformers haven’t been installed although all of the power boxes at the sites with the breaker panels have been installed and connected. Also, workers are still busy completing the landscaping in another area of the resort.

Sunday December 18th 2022

We are in a “Florida” cold spell right now. The inside temperature was in the low fifties this morning, which means the outside temperature was in the forties. It got into the low sixties by mid afternoon. The forecast low tonight is in the thirties. Later in the week the forecast low in this area is projected to be in the twenties.

Today was pretty much a repeat of Saturday. I stayed inside watching TV and chasing obscure information on the Internet most of the day. In general I tend to stay in on weekend days unless I have a specific destination. During the run up to Christmas, traffic and general congestion on the weekend is worse. The good news about staying at home is the time it provides to cook a more elaborate meal. Today I cooked a small pork roast in the convection oven and had a proper “old fashion” Sunday dinner.

For some reason that I don’t understand, today was a big arrival day here at the RV resort. When I took a walk around the park this afternoon there were a lot more occupied sites. I even have an immediate neighbor tonight. Up until now, there has been an empty site on both sides. I knew they were coming because the park staff blew the grass clippings off the pad and opened the power box the first thing this morning. The park staff checks every site before the next guest arrives. I’m told they open the power box because they have had problems with wasps and lizards inside.

Saturday December 17th 2022

Today started a little warmer than Friday, but overall it was still cool. The inside temperature at 7:30 was 54 degrees Fahrenheit. Luckily there was some sun early in the day that quickly raised the inside temperature to a comfortable level. As the day went by clouds blocked the sun. The outside temperature never climbed out of the low sixties. This evening there is a light rain falling.

It was a very slow Saturday. I did a few chores around my RV home and generally relaxed most of the day. The TV tuner got a good exercise as it change the channel from one sporting event to another with a Christmas movie or two thrown in for good measure. I also got some exercise with a couple of walks around the RV resort. It is a little more lively today than it was during the week.

Friday December 16th 2022

The meteorological switch was toggled last night. The temperature was in the forties this morning. It peaked in the low sixties this afternoon. On the positive side, the humidity was way down and the sun was out all day along with a bright blue sky.

While I was out today I stopped in to visit the birds at the Ocala Wetlands Recharge Park. There were a few more people today along with a few hundred Ibis foraging around the grassy areas. The egrets and herons were a little harder to spot, but they were there too. It is a very nice park to walk through.

Later in the afternoon walking around the RV park, I came to the conclusion that there are fewer RVs here tonight than last night. Several departed this morning and the weekenders that I thought would arrived didn’t. The Christmas decorations are slowly increasing. Tonight there is a plastic pig dressed for the holidays on one of the sites.

Thursday December 15th 2022

At 6:30 this morning I woke to the sound of rain on the roof of my RV home. It was more than a little shower. The sound of the individual drops blended together into a constant roar. Rain continued off and on for the rest of the morning. The cold front that has been bringing severe weather to the rest of the nation had arrived in Florida.

The forecast called for the storms to arrive in this area around ten, but was obviously early. A tornado watch was issued for the entire center part of the Florida peninsular until 4:30 in the afternoon. There was nothing particularly bad in this area, but to the south there were tornado warnings and possibly an actual tornado in the St. Petersburg area. The storms were all south of here by early afternoon. The sky started to brighten around 3:30 and everything started to dry out.

This storm system seems to be issuing in a major change in the weather. Ever since hurricane Nicole passed through the area in early November the weather has been warmer than normal. It also hasn’t rained much since the hurricane. The forecast for the next week calls for temperature at or below normal with an elevated chance of rain on several days. All of this seems like the beginning of winter here in Florida. From previous years I know what to expect for winter in Florida. For the next month and a half it will be cool with rain days associated with the tail end of winter storms that move across the country. By February most of the storms moving across the country don’t seem to reach this far south and the temperature will start to climb again.

I spent most of my indoor time during the storms chasing various threads of information on the internet and reading. With my noise canceling earbuds in my ears and music, a podcast or video playing, I can almost ignore the sound of rain on the roof. After the storm before dark I got my exercise for the day by walking around the RV park a couple of times. I haven’t measured it, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn a single loop may be near a mile. The park has gained a few more residents as the weekend approaches. It will be interesting to see how many more people arrive for the weekend.

Wednesday December 14th 2022

Today was the last warm weather day in the forecast. The steady breeze out of the east didn’t prevent the bright sunny sky from raising the temperature to the upper half of the seventies. A cold front with potential severe weather is heading this way across the Gulf of Mexico. It is expected here tomorrow morning. Weekend high temperatures are only forecast to be in the low sixties.

I woke up this morning to the sound of lawn mowers. They need a big crew to get all of the grass in this park mowed. They started around 8AM and were still at it at 5PM. Not only do they mow, but they trim and edge around every post and concrete pad. I mentioned in August that I didn’t think the commercial mowing crew hand a good handle on the idiosyncrasies of mowing an RV park, and I still hold that opinion. For example, they get a little too close to all the hoses and cords that tie every RV to the services for my tastes and running their noisy trimmers and blowers right outside my window before I’m out of bed is another issue.

For exercise today I drove over to the Ocala Wetlands Reclamation Park that I discovered on my last visit. I expected to find more water in the collection ponds this time, but I found just the opposite. One the ponds was practically drained dry today. The level is artificially controlled so it probably doesn’t reflect local rainfall totals. It seems like the water level in this area isn’t as high as the Orlando area. The retention pond at the RV park that contained some water in August is dry now.

There were plenty of birds at the Wetlands Reclamation Park. There were several Egrets and Herons today. In August they were missing, but there were more ducks than I saw today. Overall I had a good time walking the trails and will be back for more visits while I’m here.

Tuesday December 13th 2022

The weather was seasonally appropriate in this area today. The temperature peaked in the low seventies under a mostly sunny sky. Off to the south, in the area I spent the last seven weeks, it was not as nice. Rain and wind off the Atlantic dominated the weather in the Orlando area. So, at least for today, my move north worked out weather wise. Toward the end of the week it might be a different story.

Today was a multifaceted day for activities. First up was configuring my car for daily driving. Basically that means stowing the equipment that allows it to be towed and taking my bicycle and rack off the back. It is a lot of little things, but they only take fifteen minutes or so to complete.

Once the car was ready for use, I set out for Walmart. I needed to restock my refrigerator. It was busy, but not as bad as it could have been. I certainly won’t be going near shopping areas near the weekend or most of next week. Probably a week from today I’ll make my last stop for food before Christmas. The shelves were fairly well stock and the lines weren’t bad today. I came home with everything I need for now and could survive through the holiday if I don’t get back to the store next week.

Back at the RV resort this afternoon I refreshed my memory of the place from last August. At that time it had only been open a few weeks and the majority of the sites were empty. I doubt if there were more than fifty occupied sites most of the time. Now it has been open for a few months and the majority of the sites are still empty. Even so there are probably three or four times more RVs here today. The campground has around five hundred sites.

I walked around a good portion of the park this evening. Most sites have some form of holiday decorations on display. They aren’t anything as elaborate as the ones I saw at Disney’s Fort Wilderness, but they celebrate the season to some degree. For example, I only have a couple of strings of led lights in my front window. Maybe things will change as the holiday gets closer.

Monday December 12th 2022

It was another cool and cloudy start to the day. Unlike yesterday the weather cleared up by mid morning and remained sunny the rest of the day. The temperature peaked in the low seventies.

I spent the morning finishing the packing for my travel day. Shortly before the 1PM checkout time I set out on my drive to Ocala. This two week period is my replacement reservation for the hurricane Ian flooded Myakka River State Park. I’m staying at the Champions Run Luxury RV Resort in Ocala Florida. This is a new park so it had plenty of available space for an almost last minute reservation. I stayed here for two weeks at the end of August.

My first stop along the way was at the gas station I scoped out yesterday. Access to the station was good and the price of gas was even cheaper than yesterday. The price of regular gas has gone down to $2.98 per gallon. It was $3.03 yesterday and more than twenty cents more expensive two weeks ago. The tank was very low. I put in over 58.5 gallons and it still wasn’t quiet full.

There are several ways to travel the seventy to eighty miles from Clermont to Ocala. I picked a route that would avoid all the stop and go through the Villages area. The 55+ collection of housing communities is a very built up and congested area. The route I piked cuts out to interstate 75 south of the Villages. It turned out to be the wrong choice. I got stuck in a traffic backup ten miles or more long. It took well over an hour at stop and go speeds. During most of the crawl I was completely surround by tractor trailers. The traffic light obstacle course through the Villages would have been far better.

I arrived at Champions Run a little after 3:30PM. I was met by a staff member in a golf cart at the entrance and escorted to my site. While I was setting up another staff member brought my check in packet to my site. I don’t think I’ve come across a similar check in process on my Rambling Road trip.