Friday October 14th 2022

The cold front passed through without fanfare last night. The sun was bright in the deep blue sky all day. It was less humid, so the mid eighties temperature felt much cooler. There was nothing to complain about with today’s weather.

On today’s drive I crossed the Intercoastal waterway onto the barrier islands along the Atlantic. The water level in the waterway is still seems higher than normal. I’m not sure why since most of the runoff inland goes west and north into the St. Johns River. It is still above normal, but coming down slowly. Along A1A, the primary route down the coast, there were piles of debris and yard waste waiting to be picked up. The volume wasn’t significantly more or less than what I’ve seen along the streets in the neighborhoods near the campground. Near the inlets and out near the beach there was some evidence of beach erosion and a few of the access points were blocked off. Overall the impact of hurricane Ian was minimal in this area. I can only hope it will be similar mild level at my next stop right on the ocean in Port Canaveral.

The campground has filled up substantially for the weekend. There are still a few empty sites scattered throughout the campground. It looks like there is a Jacksonville area camping club taking up many sites in one area of the park. This is not the same group that was in the campground when I was here during the summer, but apparently this is a popular spot for RV groups. This group seems to be an FMCA chapter.

The water in the campground was off this afternoon. I didn’t see any work going on in the park, so I’m not sure what the cause might be. It came back on by the supper hour, but the flow rate is very low. It only seems to be strong enough to flush the toilet. I have ten gallons or so in my internal tank which I will use as needed. Taking a shower with the current water pressure would be a miserable experience.

Thursday October 13th 2022

Today began with a similar cloud cover to Wednesday. There was an elevated probability of morning rain, but it never materialized. By the noon hour the sky was blue and the sun was beating down. The line of rain and thunderstorms had pushed through and was out over the Atlantic Ocean. The cold front associated with the storms is due to move through the area overnight. There is the possibility of rain as the front passes. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day with far less humidity and a high five or more degrees lower than today’s high at around eighty degrees.

This area was well to the north and west of the center of hurricane Ian’s track line. The storm crossed back out into the Atlantic about 100 miles to the south of here between Daytona Beach and Titusville. The strength of the storm in this area was far less than others had to deal with. Even so, the streets in some of the neighborhoods I drove through today were lined with tree and other debris to be collected. There were even a couple of tree service trucks working near power lines to clean up additional damage. It has been two weeks since the storm passed and this area is not fully back to normal. Just think what it must be like in the southwest of the Florida peninsular. The daily reports from Fort Meyers on the news have ended, but the cleanup is just getting started. They were subject to so much worse than this area.

While I was out, I stopped at the local Walmart to stock up on supplies. They had lots of gaps on the shelves, but lots of pallets of stock in the aisles. The missing element was the staff to put the content of the pallets on the shelves. It really was a bit of an obstacle course. I got everything I needed just not always in the size I prefer. For example, I usually buy the biggest “can” of coffee I can find. Today I had to settle for the regular size. This Walmart was also very low on eggs. They weren’t as out of stock as the last Walmart I visited, but picking was slim. It is a good thing eggs aren’t a big element of my diet.

The campground is filling up for the weekend. I’d guess that about half of last nights empty sites are now full. Tomorrow will probably fill most of those sites. The new arrivals seem to be mostly Florida residents.

Wednesday October 12th 2022

This is the first day in months that I didn’t see the sun all day. It was cloudy and threatening rain all morning. During the afternoon the clouds thought about allowing the sun to break through, but they won the battle in the end. Overall, it was a very humid dull day. The temperature peaked in the low to mid eighties.

Possibly because of the cloudy weather, it was a very slow day. I did my regular first day at a new location tasks, but it seemed like I had plenty of down time between activities. At one point I thought it was around 5PM only to look at the clock and see 2:30PM displayed. Usually it is the other way around and 5PM comes before I know it.

Walking around the campground I would judge it to be about half full. About half of the current occupants seem to be travelers. There are several Texas and South Dakota license plates. Both states are big domicile states for full time RVers like me. Some of the Florida license plates probably belong to full timers as well. At least I know mine meets that criteria. I think there are also a few families enjoying the Fall school break here.

The campground staff is still picking up a lot of debris from the storm almost two weeks ago. They didn’t have any trees come down but branches, sticks and some other stuff needed to be picked up. All that remains to be picked up is the small stuff. They were delayed a few days in getting started because everyone was evacuated during the storm and there was some standing water in a few areas. Overall it wasn’t as bad as I was lead to believe when I wasn’t able to make a reservation shortly after the storm.

One thing that survived the storm well are all the hibiscus bushes. There are as many flowers in bloom today as there were when I was here in August. I really like the flower and took plenty of pictures today.

Tuesday October 11th 2022

The string of low humidity days came to an end today. I woke up this morning to thick fog in the campground. It gradually lifted into a cloudy day by the time I left shortly before 11AM. Getting ready to travel was a damp exercise. By the time I arrived at my destination in St. Augustine the sky was blue, the sun was burning hot and the humidity remained. It wasn’t much fun setting up for my stay. I was dripping.

The drive was uneventful. Traffic in the Jacksonville area was very heavy. Crossing the St. Johns River on the Interstate 295 beltway was the first obvious sign of the recent hurricane. The docks along the shore were in bad shape. The water was near the tops of the docks and many of the decking boards were missing. The water had clearly been higher and the wave action more severe than it was today.

Earlier in the drive on Interstate 75 south, I saw a few less obvious signs of the recent hurricane. I was passed by many big trucks filled with building supplies. The two flatbed trucks loaded with roofing shingles traveling south together cued me into the types of products on some of the trucks I was playing hopscotch with. Once I started looking I saw loads of plywood and two by fours on flatbeds as well. I suspect a few of the enclosed trailer trucks contained building supplies for the hurricane area too. It could have been normal deliveries, but I think there were just too many.

I am back at Sun Outdoors St. Augustine until Sunday. I was last here in early August. This is a good place to wait out a few days before my reservation at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral begins. There is a lot more to do in the St. Augustine area than Jennings Florida, but I’m really looking forward to my next stop at the intersection of the port and the Atlantic Ocean.

Monday October 10th 2022

The great weather continued today. The temperature peaked in the mid eighties under a cloudless sky. The humidity wasn’t bad and a gentle breeze blew out of the north most of the day. The bright sun kept the resident ducks in hiding most of the day. They settle down for naps under bushes and back in the woods.

Once again the campground emptied quickly this morning. My immediate neighbors were gone by 8AM and almost everybody else was gone by the 11AM checkout time. There was one additional RV here for the day than yesterday. Not as many new RVs arrived to fill in the vacancies this afternoon. I do not have any immediate neighbors tonight.

Tomorrow is moving day. I am moving about 150 miles to St. Augustine. Today I did a few of the day before travel tasks, but not as many as usual. I have a few more to do in the morning and I’ll decide where to buy gas on the fly. The price of gas has gone up ten to twenty cents while I’ve been here. I even checked the price to the north in Georgia to see if it made sense to back track a little. The biggest increase in cost was actually at the stations in Georgia. With about half a tank, I can make it all the way to my destination without filling the tank. The real question is what will gas cost next Sunday when I move again.

Sunday October 9th 2022

Both today’s weather and the campground occupancy followed the pattern established over the last couple of days. The temperature peaked in the mid eighties under a bright sunny sky and once again the campground emptied out this morning. Any thought that this is a holiday weekend in Georgia and some parts of Florida is completely irrelevant. By the 11AM checkout time there were only two RVs in this part of the campground. One was the work campers assigned to this area and the other was me. Shortly before 2PM tonight’s arrivals started to fill in the vacancies.

One of today’s chores turned into a more difficult task than necessary. Getting the laundry accomplished involved a lot of walking and waiting all because of a change machine. I needed quarters to feed the machines. The laundry facility at this park had a change machine in the laundry. While that sounds normal, it is not that common. They probably installed it because the office is a long walk away. When it works it would be a great help. Today it took my twenty dollar bill and gave me 8 quarters. That isn’t even enough for one load of laundry. I made the long walk around the pond back to the office to report the malfunction. Walking back I passed the staff member heading for the office for the keys to the machine in a golf cart. He met me back at the laundry fifteen minutes or so later. In quick order he gave me the rest of my change, but the entertainment wasn’t over. The machines that were available when I started the saga were no longer available, but I was entertained watching the guy try to fix the change machine. He had to empty all of the coins to find a way to fix the machine. As expected when dealing with coins more than a few ended up on the floor. He had a great time chasing them around. It took him more than half an hour to get the machine back in working order. By then, a washing machine was available for me to start my laundry.

Watching football on TV was my other diversion for the day. The games weren’t filled with as many last minute plays as last week, but there were still a few good games on TV. I was going to watch the NASCAR race, but the laundry episode diverted my attention enough that I forgot to turn the station.

Saturday October 8th 2022

The temperature peaked in the mid to upper eighties just like Friday. It was a very nice day.

One of the reasons I’m staying here this weekend is because there was a vacancy. I didn’t book the holiday weekend soon enough to find a space at any of the campgrounds near popular recreation opportunities. This is a campground on the side of the interstate that gets many overnight or couple of night stays. Even so, I got the last site available for the six nights including the holiday weekend. I wasn’t surprised to see the campground really fill up on Friday night. It looked like there was going to be a good crowd for the weekend. This morning when I raised the blinds both of my neighbors were already gone. By the 11AM checkout time there were only four RVs in this part of the campground. Where did everybody go? Did they head further south or north? So much for my assumptions about weekend occupancy. This evening many of the empty sites have filled up, but nowhere near as thoroughly as Friday night.

While I was out on Interstate 75 today there was another steady stream of utility line trucks heading north. That would seem to track with the media reports that power is back on in most of the state. The only significant outages remain in the area of maximum devastation in Lee County. There is no point in turning the power on for buildings that are only a debris field. Time and money are the only things that are going to get the mess cleaned up and eventually restored. The number of things that are gone forever is scary.

Friday October 7th 2022

Today was a few degrees warmer than yesterday, but otherwise it was the same great weather. The temperature peaked in the mid to upper eighties. The norm for this area at this time of year is the low to mid eighties. So “Where having a heatwave”. The heat is accompanied by low humidity, so it all evens out in the end.

I was able to book a reservation in St. Augustine for when I leave here next week. For the last few days the campground had not been taking reservations. I presume because of high water levels in and around the campground, but that really is just a guess. With that reservation I now have the next six months full book. In most cases, because of the type of places I’m staying, I even have the stay paid for. The last time I felt so prepared, the pandemic hit and I had to start canceling reservations. My fingers are crossed.

As of right now, three of the state parks I’m booked at have not reopened after the hurricane. I’m pretty sure Myakka River State Park is still underwater. It floods often. Hopefully, the water will recede and everything can be cleaned up before the middle of December. My end of December into early January stay is also in the area impacted by the hurricane. I give that one a better chance of being OK. The last reservation of concern is at the end of February in Collier county near Naples Florida. The park is located in an area that often floods. I think it will be fine long before February.

The two Army Corp of Engineers campgrounds along the Caloosahatchee River and waterway east of Fort Meyers that I failed to get reservations at despite many attempts, sound like they are in serious trouble. It turns out to be a good thing that I had to make other accommodations. The other thing to worry about is FEMA and other relief efforts taking over the public campgrounds in the southwestern part of the state for humanitarian and temporary living arrangements. If it happens I’ll adapt. Providing people with a place to live is more important.

Thursday October 6th 2022

Today’s weather was a little bit warmer than Wednesday. It climbed into the low to mid eighties, but the humidity is low. It was a very comfortable day.

It was a typical first day at a new location. As usual I slept in a bit until about 9AM. Breakfast takes a little bit longer, because I have to unpack the coffee maker and a couple of other things. After breakfast it is time to convert my car from transport mode to touring mode. Basically this means I take my bicycle and its rack off and stow the towing tabs away. The bicycle gets locked to the picnic table and the rack is stored under my motorhome. At that point, I’m ready to start my stay.

This is a familiar campground. I last stayed here in the middle of August. A tree maintenance crew was working in the park at that time. Today I checked out the result of their work. Most of the mid size live oak trees in between the campsites have been removed. They even removed the stumps. Two or three big healthy ones remain. The ones they removed were more obstructive than helpful. Other trees in the park have been trimmed. The low hanging branches along the exit road have been cut back enough that they will not scrape the roof of tall RVs. Overall things look better.

The local ducks are all still here. In August some were clearly young birds. Now, most of the ducks are the same size. It is no longer possible to recognize family units in the dozens of ducks. They clearly have no fear of people and wander right into campsites and up to people. The ducks are a domesticated variety.

The campground was close to full last night, but this morning most of them departed. In the middle of the day there were only about five other RVs in the campground. Around 2PM the park started to fill up again. It is about as occupied tonight as last night. Back in August most of the RVs were from Florida, tonight the mix of license plates is far greater. California and Oregon were represented for the furthest traveled award. Ontario, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire were also represented.

Wednesday October 5th 2022

Today was a travel day. It was time for the second half of my trip south on Interstate 75 back to Florida. The traffic today was just as bad as Sunday for most of the run. It lighten up some after I passed Valdosta and approached the Florida line. Overall it didn’t do anything to reduce my distaste for the route.

Yesterday I scouted out the best gas station to fill up the tank in my motorhome. My selection was about four miles in the wrong direction. A Pilot station a little less than four miles north on Interstate 75 had the best deal. It was the station I had pump issues at on Sunday afternoon. The eight mile detour would consume one gallon of gas, so the price had to be significantly better than a station on my southbound itinerary. At seventeen cents a gallon cheaper it was easily the best deal when buying more than fifty gallons of gas.

With all the research and analysis complete I departed the campground around 10:30 for the gas station. That was the last thing that went according to plan. The price of gas had gone up ten cents overnight. It was still a good deal, but the same problems I had at the Pilot station on Sunday persisted. The pumps I could get to were broken. There were two other stations at the intersection that advertised the same price, so I went to the BP station that had easy access. I neglected to read the fine print. Credit card sales were ten cents higher. Never the less I put $175 worth of gas in the tank. It wasn’t a full load, but it was close. The good news is that the stations on my southbound route also went up overnight. I still bought gas about ten cents cheaper on my northern detour.

After completing my gas detour I was headed south on Interstate 75 a little after 11AM. I think there were still a few convoys of equipment heading south for hurricane cleanup, but there were also a few convoys of utility line trucks heading back north. The week of hurricane clean up was over for many of the power company workers. That tracks with the news that power restoration is ahead of schedule in most of the state.

I stopped at the Florida Welcome center for about half an hour to time my arrival at my home for the next six nights to be after 1PM. By 2:30PM I was setup on my site at the Jennings KOA Holiday just south of the Florida Georgia line. This is my fourth visit to this park. My last visit was in the middle of August.