Monday January 8th 2024

The weather threatened rain all day. Yesterday the forecast was for a chance of rain in the afternoon. This morning there was a chance of rain in the morning instead. When the afternoon arrived without any rain in this area, the forecast returned to predicting afternoon rain. There was a lot of rain in the area, but it never arrived here. The temperature climbed very slowly from the forties overnight to a high in the mid sixties in the afternoon. It is forecast to continue to climb overnight tonight. Tomorrow will be warm before a line of severe weather passes through near nightfall, or so the current forecast goes.

The campground really emptied out this morning. All of the units I thought would depart yesterday pulled out this morning. I would estimate the campground was only half full at checkout time. This evening there are still empty sites. I’ve noticed this year that Monday seems to be a bigger turnover day than Sunday.

The fact that the kids are back in school and most people have returned to work was also apparent along the trails. The number of cars parked at the day use area was way down and I didn’t see many people along the trails. The threatening weather didn’t make it a very good day for a hike. I still managed to get in a morning and an afternoon hike.

The alligators and turtles didn’t have any reason to be out of the water on the banks. My theory that they were sitting on the bottom waiting for it to warm up was disproved when I spotted a gator swimming along the surface. It was clearly in search of food or mischief.