Thursday January 26th 2023

I got a little later start to the day than I’d planned. On travel days I like to be awake by 7:30 and out of bed soon after. This morning I didn’t wake up until 8:30. I still managed to pull out of the Starke KOA by 11:30 which is half an hour before the noon checkout.

After last night’s cold front, it was much colder this morning. The inside temperature was in the fifties. Outside it was a little cooler causing me to follow a slightly different order to some of my preparation tasks. Changing the order is always a risk. I have to be extra careful not to forget to do something important. It all worked out in the long run.

The trip from Starke to Clermont is not complicated. It just isn’t any fun. The trip south on US301 to Ocala is filled with towns every five to ten miles. In each town the speed is reduced from 65 to 45 or even 35mph. Once you reach Ocala and join with US 27 it gets worse. There is a traffic light, I’d guess, on average every mile. You just get up to speed and have to slow down again. I went through more yellow lights than is safe today. In addition to all the traffic lights there is plenty of traffic to go with it. This route goes through the city of Ocala, the Villages, Leesburg and Clermont. I could avoid some of it by going out to Interstate 75, but it adds miles and doesn’t miss enough of the congestion to make it worth it.

I arrived at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont at 2PM. It has been six and a half weeks since I left here in December. The site I’m on is about 3 sites away from the site I occupied during my last stay. I’ll be here for two weeks.