Thursday February 15th 2024

The sun was very slow in making an appearance today. The day began with a thick cloud layer as the day progressed a few openings allowed the blue sky to be visible, but the sun didn’t find the openings until late in the afternoon. By sunset only a few clouds remained. The temperature managed to climb into the mid seventies with the help of a very light breeze out of the south.

The campground at Lake Louisa State park is near the southeast corner of the park. It is a long way from Lake Louisa which forms the northern boarder of the park. Today I drove to the beach area on Lake Louisa. There are more hiking trails in this area. I walked a trail along the lake shore and another one inland around another much smaller body of water. Turtles, alligators and water birds still remain allusive. In the week and a half I’ve been here, I’ve only seen one egret along the side of Dixie Lake. All of the places I’m used to seeing gators and turtles taking the sun have been empty. It is a mystery to me.

There was no one using the water part of the beach today. A couple of people were sitting on the sand, but the sun wasn’t out to consider it sunbathing. A couple of families were having picnics and the kids were using the playground. I just walked across the beach and out the cypress tree lined trail along the side of the lake. A few wildflower blossoms drew the attention of my camera.

The campground has started its transition to weekend mode. It looks like people are trying to get a head start on the long weekend. Several tent campers and tent trailer campers arrived this afternoon. Some of the trailers that arrived also did a lot more setup than is usual for an overnight stay, so I expect they are here for the weekend as well. It is unfortunate that the weather forecast for the weekend calls for a couple of inches of rain on Saturday and Sunday. The local TV weather talkers are spreading fear that Sunday afternoons Daytona 500 race will be rained out.