Wednesday January 11th 2023

The day started cool and ended seasonal. The overnight temperature got down into the forties. The day was bright and sunny resulting in a high temperature in the low to mid seventies. It was a nice weather day.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry my campsite is in the trees. It is a very nice shaded and quiet site that I like very much, but this morning it worked against me. I got up at 7:30 and turned the heat on to raise the temperature from the overnight fifty degrees to a comfortable level. Once the heat was on I got back under the covers to stay warm and watch the morning news on TV. That didn’t happen. I woke up a little after 10AM. The darkness and quiet worked against me. It was clear today was going to be a very lazy day.

Today was a chores around My RV home kind of day. I needed to work on eliminating some of the dust and dirt that had built up over the last few weeks. The transition from needing to cool the interior to heating it, seems to expose or maybe create dusty areas that need cleaning. Nobody who knows me well would call me a clean freak, but I try to keep up with the accumulation when I find it. The next cleaning chore I’ve been ignoring that really needs help is the microwave oven. Soon.

It was another two walk to the day use area day. The first was around the noon hour and the second as the sun was setting across the lake. Each time there was a fare amount of activity. On the early walk there was a lot of boating and on the second trip most people were waiting for the sunset. The view of the sun setting across the lake is perfect.

Tuesday January 10th 2023

The temperature got down into the forties last night. My campsite at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is in the trees. While I prefer this type of site, it doesn’t allow the sun to warm the inside of the RV quickly. I have to help Mother Nature with the heater. Overall it was a sunny day with a high temperature just shy of seventy degrees.

Today was a park exploration day. I was last here in February of 2021. Not a lot has changed in two years. There has been some maintenance and repairs to benches and walkways along with a few cut up trees. More people seem to be using the day use area as well.

I took two walks to the day use area from the campground. The first was in late morning and the second was around sunset. I wasn’t dressed warm enough for the morning walk. I needed pockets or gloves to keep my hands comfortable. There were a lot of fishermen out in boats on Lake Wauberg this morning, but none in the late afternoon.

During the afternoon I drove the approximately two miles to the prairie and visitors center. The prairie observation tower was busy this afternoon. With the unaided eye it was possible to make out a flock of very loud birds near the water several hundred yards out in the prairie. With the my camera zoom it looked like they were primarily sand hill cranes, but that is just a guess. A couple of wild horses were near the birds grazing under a big palm tree. Even further out on the prairie there were blobs of black and brown visible with the aid of the camera zoom that were probably cattle and bison. Knowing that they are inhabitants of the prairie is the only way one could possibly identify them at long distance. I’ll return to the observation tower many times over the next two weeks and will probably hike out onto the prairie a time or two to get a better view of all the creatures.

Monday January 9th 2023

This morning began cool in the mid fifties. It warmed up quickly as I worked inside and outside to prepare for my travel day. By the time I pulled out of the RV resort at 10:50AM it was warm enough that I had ditched my sweat shirt. The temperature topped out in the low seventies.

My travel day was only a short distance, but needed to take more than two hours. To make that happen, I ended up traveling sixty plus miles to travel twenty five. My plan was to travel north on Interstate 75 about ten miles north of my intended exit to a rest area and wait until 1PM. Unfortunately, all of the suitable parking places were full. Strike One. I could see empty spaces across the highway at the southbound rest area, so I continued north about a mile to the next exit and reversed course to the southbound rest area. All of the empty spots I had identified from the other side of the highway were gone. Strike two. I returned south on the Interstate and reversed course again at the next exit which so happens to be my ultimate destination exit. When I return north to the rest area my timing was right and I found a spot. An hour and a half later I repeated the cycle back to the proper exit about ten miles south.

I arrived at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park about 1:20PM. The ranger at the check in station chastised me for arriving before the 3PM check in time. I didn’t care as long as she let me into the park. Which she did with the admonition that the site my still be occupied or dirty. It wasn’t. The previous occupant departed before the 1PM checkout time and the park hosts had time to do their cleanup thing.

With the exception of the extra miles to find a way to kill time, the trip was uneventful. I didn’t see any signs of the fuel leak that kept me sidelined for an extra two weeks. I’ll continue to monitor the issue, but I think my level of trepidation before my next travel day will be a little less.

I’ll be at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park for two weeks. I missed this State Park in my winter rotation last year. Not a lot has changed in the campground. I’ll check out the rest of the park in the days to come. I can already see that the water level is a little higher than I remember. The sunset across the lake was very pretty, but I didn’t get a picture. That is another thing for another day.

Sunday January 8th 2023

It was another nice Florida winter day. The temperature climbed into the low seventies from a start in the low fifties. There was bright sunshine and a gentle breeze all day.

With any luck, today was my last full day in Ocala Florida. I’ve been here for four weeks and I didn’t even plan to be here at all. My first two weeks in the middle of December were a replacement for my stay at Myakka River State Park. That campground didn’t recover from hurricane Ian until later in December. The second two weeks here were the result of a fuel leak problem in my motorhome. While that was fixed within a week, I chose to cancel my two weeks at Lake Manatee State Park in Bradenton Florida. My next stop is north of here in the Gainesville area, so traveling 150 miles south and them back again for around a week didn’t make sense. Let’s hope everything works when I crank the engine in the morning.

I stopped at the Ocala Wetlands Recharge Park to say good bye to all the birds I’ve been taking pictures of for the last month. I’m pretty sure it has been the same set of birds I see every time I stop there. Today, the ducks were out in the middle of the ponds rather than back in the weeds. The water level today was the lowest it has been since I arrived. For some reason I expected there to be more water in the park during the winter than there was in August and September when I first visited. That is not the case. There also seems to be fewer birds this time of year than in late summer. Migratory birds apparently do not consider the Recharge park a good winter home.

Tomorrow I’m traveling north to Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park in the Gainesville area. It is only about twenty five miles from here. Since I need to be out of here by 11AM and checkout at my destination is 1PM, I need to kill time along the way. I will probably stop at a rest area on Interstate 75 to give the people on the site I’m destine for time to depart. The official check in time is 3PM, but I’ll try shortly after 1PM. Once I arrive at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, I’ll be back on my planned set of winter reservations. The next potential problem is six weeks out at Collier Seminole State Park east of Naples Florida. The campground at that state park is currently closed do to hurricane Ian damage.

Saturday January 7th 2023

It may have been colder last night, but the high temperature for the day was a couple of degrees warmer. The inside temperature was around fifty this morning and the outside high was in the low seventies.

Today was a planning day. I really don’t know what I’m doing after the middle of April. Last year I had all kinds of ideas that never turned into plans. This year those ideas remain, but still haven’t been converted into plans. The eleven month planning window for next winter in Florida is also opening up. I need to commit to a coast for next winter. Will I be in Florida or out west somewhere? Probably Florida.

Walking around the resort today I couldn’t help but remark on all the new technology that is becoming very common in parks like this. First, ordinary bicycles are rapidly being replaced by electric bikes. In this park they silently creep up behind you at speeds into the 20MPH range. Many of the riders don’t even seem to stop at intersections. While I’m a little envious of the bikes, I fear that the lack of smart usage will lead to onerous regulations about the time I decide to get one. Even more concerning is why do parents buy elementary school age kids little electric bikes. They need the exercise and many don’t have the common sense needed to safely ride them in a busy park.

The other technology I’m a little envious of is the Starlink satellites for internet access. The small rectangular satellite antennas are appearing on the ground in front of RVs and on the roof of others. Today I started counting them. I lost the count in the teens. I am not sure of the cost vs value of the service compared to cellular data. In areas of heavy tree cover the satellite won’t work and if you aren’t near a cell tower you will also have difficulties. If an internet connection is essential, you probably need to have both. For now, I’ll stay with cellular data. Maybe I’ll add another carrier.

Friday January 6th 2023

The humidity and the temperature are back below normal levels. The temperature only climbed into the low to mid sixties. In the sun it was very comfortable, but in the shade and wind it was a little chilly.

While I was out of the park today I stopped at the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park once again. It is only about fifteen minutes from my campsite and is a very nice place to walk and visit with the birds. There was a lot of maintenance going on around the holding ponds this afternoon. The staff was busy picking up some of the downed trees that probably came down during the hurricanes earlier in the year. The birds didn’t seem to care, but maybe the turtles did. I didn’t see any turtles today.

Back at the RV resort late in the day I continued my daily exercise with another walk around the park. It isn’t as full as I expected. The high occupancy over the holidays has ended and the volume of snowbird arrivals has slacked off. There also doesn’t seem to be many weekend visitors other than the camping group that occupies part of one road that was empty previously. Park occupancy continues to be a mystery to me.

Thursday January 5th 2023

Yesterday’s rain ended before bedtime last night. This morning it was cloudy with a little wind. The temperature climbed from the sixties to the low seventies before it started to drop. Tonight is forecast to have a low in the upper forties warming back into the sixties tomorrow.

Today was a day filled with random chores. It really didn’t generate any blog worthy content. Between chores I walked around the RV park twice. I was surprised to see that an area of the park that wasn’t getting filled over the last few weeks was getting filled today. It turns out that the area is reserved for an area camping club. They started to arrive today.

Wednesday January 4th 2023

This morning was cloudy and dull. It looked like it would rain at any minute, but the approaching storm front was sill over the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida panhandle. As the day progressed a few brief moments of rain passed through the area. The temperature still managed to climb into the low eighties. A tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning were issued for the county late in the day. Around 4PM the western sky turned very dark as the storm front approached. The actual period of wind and heavy rain was very short, but lite rain and showers continued into the evening.

During the early afternoon I ventured out to the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park again. There were more cars than usual in the parking lot, but I saw very few people out in the park. Today was a Great Egret viewing day. There were at least four on the sides of the ponds as I walked the trails. These birds were not accustom to people. I couldn’t get very close without them taking to the air to gain distance from an identified threat.

There was quite a bit of wind today. The smaller water birds were staying in the grass and reeds for shelter. Often you could hear them, but not see them. The wind also kept the green surface slime clear in some areas of the ponds. For some reason the birds and turtles don’t seem to like the clear areas.

The rain prevented me from taking my evening walk around the park. Based on the view from my site, it looks like the occupancy today stayed at about the same level as yesterday. There didn’t seem to be many departing RVs or arrivals today.

Tuesday January 3rd 2023

Today’s weather was pretty much a clone of Monday’s. The sky was mostly blue with a few puffy clouds thrown in for good measure. The temperature climbed to eighty by early afternoon. The peak may have been a couple of degrees warmer around 4:30 in the afternoon.

I think the net turnover of RVs in the resort today was in the negative. There seem to be a few more empty sites tonight. Among the empties are the site beside mine and two across the street. Three motorhomes traveling together arrived to occupy those sites yesterday afternoon. They all seemed to be a little on the novice side of the RV adventure. Early this afternoon the park staff arrived to ask them when they were leaving. Apparently they didn’t know there was a checkout time or more likely were going to wait until they were told to leave. If so, the stunt backfired. I heard the staff asking for a credit card number to charge the late checkout fee against. They were gone by about 1PM.

For my exercise today, I took a hike in the Silver Springs Forest Conservation Area. The walk was enjoyable, but uneventful and unremarkable. I heard birds in the trees and some ground level noises, but I didn’t see any wildlife. One bird sound was clearly a woodpecker, but despite gazing up into the trees for a couple of minutes I never found the bird. The published material about the conservation area describe otters and alligators among the wildlife, but I didn’t find any significant water areas on my hike. It is a big area and I only explored about three quarters of a mile into the forest. I may explore more of the area before I leave Ocala on Monday.

On my way home from the Silver Springs Forest Conservation area I stopped at Walmart for groceries. The store seemed busy and out of stock on many items. Now that the holiday weekend is really over, everyone may have hit the grocery store to restock. Since I didn’t find a few items I wanted, I will probably have to make another grocery run soon. At least I bought coffee before I ran out.

Monday January 2nd 2023

There was still fog in the area this morning, but it was a sunny start to the day here. The sky was blue with a few scattered puffy clouds all day. The high temperature flirted with eighty degree mark.

Today felt a little more like the New Years Day holiday. The Rose Parade was on the TV this morning and a few football bowl games were on in the afternoon. The parade and one of the games were on the TV, but I can’t say I really watched either of them. Mostly they served as background noise.

The other indicator that the holiday weekend was over came from all of the departures from the RV resort. From the time I got up until shortly after the 11AM checkout time there was a steady parade of RVs leaving the resort. Not as many RVs arrived later in the day, so the park is a little less occupied this evening. I suspect it will fill up with arriving snowbirds as the week goes by. For mow the recreation facilities including the pool and pickle ball courts are not as busy.

My chief activity for the day was backing up all of the pictures I’ve taken this year from my computer. I off load the pictures from my camera to my computer every night. I keep them sorted by date. My regular backup practice makes a copy every couple of weeks to couple of months depending on how diligent I am. At the end of every year I make two copies of all of the years pictures and blog text onto USB memory sticks. The sticks get stored in different places, one of which is in my “go” bag. I rarely have the internet bandwidth to upload all of the pictures to cloud storage. For special pictures or ones I want to share, I take the additional time to upload them to Google Photos and/or Amazon Photos.

This year I took more than 9,000 pictures. A high percentage of the pictures are of birds, wildflowers and elements of nature. I take pictures for three reasons. First is to add interest to my blog entries. Second is to remind me of things I’m experiencing and third just because I think something will make an interesting possibly artsy image. I try to take time setting up the pictures for reason one and three, but the pictures to remind me about the situation may be more snapshot quality. They may not be well framed or necessarily in focus.

After I finished all of my backups, I deleted from my computer’s hard drive the first five years of pictures. My one terabyte disk was getting very full. The five years of pictures took up more than 350 gigabytes of space. The computer is more than nine years old so I’m suspect on its continued function.