Thursday June 16th 2022

There was more sun than clouds today, but the high temperature managed to stay at the seasonal normal temperature of 91 degrees Fahrenheit. This was largely possible because of a strong wind off the ocean to the east. Tomorrow another Heat Advisory day is expected with a heat index above 105.

I spent my day doing a few chores around my RV home and generally relaxing. I got in a fair amount of reading and too much internet surfing. At fairly regular intervals I was interrupted by deliveries to my neighbors. They got two sets of deliveries from Amazon and one each from UPS and Fed X. Other day’s they have gotten a few deliveries, but today was a bumper crop of delivery trucks.

In addition to the ordinary delivery services, I have also seen a couple of food delivery services in the park. One is the traditional service with the fancy refrigerated truck that looks similar to an old milk truck and the other is a more informal looking service that delivers from Walmart. An ordinary car pulls up and starts unloading regular Walmart plastic shopping bags. As with all deliveries the stuff gets left on the cement pad in front of the RV door. I think some of the drivers knock on the door, but most seem to drop the stuff and run.

Delivery services seem to be very important for many of the residents of the park. They are gone for long hours during the day. I suspect that many have to travel a good distance to their work locations. I hear people leaving as early as 6AM and many don’t seem to be back before 7 or 8 in the evening. There are people here that work construction, some are in the military, a few appear to be traveling medical workers based on the scrubs they wear and my guess is just about any profession may be represented. This park is heavily populated with people in temporary living situations.

Wednesday June 16th 2022

The Weather Service didn’t issue a heat warning for today, but somehow I thought it was warmer than yesterday. The actual high temperature at the airport was 94 degrees Fahrenheit. The feels like temperature was in the low 100s. One difference today was the wind. For the first two thirds of the daylight hours there was very little breeze. Late in the day a comforting breeze developed.

The TV weather talkers have indicated that the current high temperatures and humidity have arrived early this year. Next week is forecast to be even higher. The current pattern is not normal. I’m not really bothered by the high temperature, but it limits some of the things I might consider doing. Multiple short walks during the day have replaced longer hikes. Anything more strenuous than a short walk outdoors is reserved for early in the day or after dark. So far I have not run the AC overnight. I put it on at dusk or earlier if rain forces me to close the windows and vents. Once it brings the temperature down to the point that it is cycling, I turn it off so it doesn’t wake me up during the night.

After two unsuccessful attempts in the last few days, I finally made it down to the boat launch and park on the Trout River. Instead of trying to take a less traveled path, I took the interstate highway the eight miles south. Sometimes it is just easier to go through the construction zone rather than around it. The tide was close to high resulting in high water levels. There were a few people launching boats, but most people were just sitting in their air conditioned cars watching the world go by. I walked around the area for a few minutes and took a few pictures of the birds. Then I became one of the people sitting in the air conditioned car watching the world go by.

Back at the RV resort later in the day I got some more exercise with another walk around the park. There have been a few departures and a few new arrivals. Overall the level occupancy seems to be pretty constant. I’ve come to the conclusion that occupancy is about the same as last year at this time, but more people are staying in the back area this year. Who knows for sure, but it is fun to speculate.

Tuesday June 14th 2022

There was a heat warning in place for this area today. The feels like temperature was forecast to be 109 degrees Fahrenheit. I doubt it got that high. The actual temperature seemed to only reach 93 degrees. This area even dodged the severe thunderstorms that started a little north of here and passed by to the west as they moved on a southwest path. This weather pattern has forecast high temperatures above normal for the next couple of weeks.

I didn’t get a lot accomplished today. While I was out driving around I attempted to avoid traffic and road construction. I ended up on unfamiliar roads heading into downtown Jacksonville. After a U-turn and some stop and go traffic I was back in familiar territory, but never got to the park and boat launch on the river I was planning on visiting.

While I was out I noticed that gas prices had gone up another fifteen to twenty cents since Saturday. Prices in this area are now between $4.75 and $4.90 for regular unleaded gas. That is a lot better than many areas of Florida and the rest of the country. The fact that Georgia is less than twenty miles away on Interstate 95 may be helping to keep the price down in this area. Georgia has suspended its gas tax for a period of time that ends today, so prices may jump again tomorrow.

Monday June 13th 2022

This morning’s TV weather forecast suggested it was going to be less humid today. I think they were over optimistic. It was a mostly cloudy day with very heavy air. A couple of times during the day it released some of that weight as a brief downpour followed by a little bit of sunshine before the pattern repeated. The high temperature was in the upper eighties under cloud cover, but reached the low nineties during the brief periods of sunshine.

I woke up to the sound of lawn mowers. I knew Monday’s were landscape day. This resort publishes the mowing schedule and requests that guests clear the grass areas of their sites to facilitate easy access. They have a crew from a landscape service do the job. When I heard the mowers this morning I assumed they were coming toward my site, but I was wrong. They passed by a couple of roads over from my road. They didn’t get to my site until after lunch. I was in the last section they mowed, trimmed and blew.

Today was a day to get a few chores accomplished. The inside ones were simple to accomplish. Outside was a little more complicated. I needed to dump my holding tanks. The sewer connection on this site is in a depression in the concrete. My right angle sewer hose connection that screws into the plastic pipe in the ground won’t fit, so I can not leave the hose connected. When I need to dump I connect the hose to the RV and wedge the other end into the ground end so it won’t pop out. After I empty my tanks I put the hose back in the RV and cap the pipe in the concrete. Normally, during a stay I connect the hose once and dump the tanks every few days. Here I’m dumping less frequently, because I have to connect the hose each time. The outdoor task was very sweat inducing. My shirt was drenched and everything was dripping in sweat my the time I finished the procedure.

Sunday June 12th 2022

The rain came early today. Today’s forecast called for rain around 3PM, but they forgot to tell Mother Nature. I had to shut the windows, close the vents and turn on the AC before the lunch hour. A short period of heavy rain popped up and turned a bright day into a dark and gloomy one like the throwing of a switch. A pattern of off an on showers followed for the rest of the daylight hours. It was an overall humid day with a high temperature in the low eighties.

The showers got in the way of the things I tried to do today. The first shower arrived as I was preparing to drive down to the river. I never got back to that outing. Trying to get in my exercise walking around the park between storms was also problematic. My first two attempts were cut short by the new storms sneaking up on me. I got a little wet the first time and trying to avoid a similar occurrence on the second walk I cut the excursion much shorter than I needed. The third walk at dusk was shorter, but a success.

On my walks today I started speculating on how long various RVs have been here. The park doesn’t allow the extreme clutter that often indicates long term occupancy. There are a number of sites with small storage boxes and big potted plants, but storage sheds and fancy patio furniture are not allowed. There are a couple of RVs that I remember from last fall and one that I’m sure was here at this time last year. They are memorable for reasons other than the look of the site. The one I’m sure has been here more than a year is a very small motorhome with Oregon plates and a Georgia car, for example.

Saturday June 11th 2022

Today was a two storm front kind of day. It began as a mostly cloudy day with a few short breaks of sun. In the early afternoon the first line of thunderstorms moved through the area. It was even more humid after the storms. The second line of storms arrived as the sun set. The light show from all the lightening was spectacular. A light rain continued after the storm.

I got in a little area touring before the storms arrived. I was watching boaters launch their boats into the river system leading out toward Amelia Island, when I spotted the dark clouds to the southwest. The area to the north and east still looked like fine weather. I was surprised to see the people launching boats to continue without any apparent concern. In hind sight they probably had about an hour, but I wouldn’t have taken the chance. As it was I returned to my RV home to ride out the storm.

I spent most of the day inside my RV home with the AC keeping things comfortable. Before and between the storms I got in a couple of walks around the RV resort. Without a lot of direct sunlight the ducks and geese were active in and around the retention pond. The park residents were also active. Since many of the people staying here work in the community, the weekend is the time to get things around their RVs accomplished. There were many sounds of maintenance and outdoor work tasks. My neighbor on one side was using the time to remove tar from the front of the motorhome and the neighbor on the other side was engaged in some gardening. He transplanted a number of seedlings into bigger pots.

Friday June 10th 2022

The thunderstorms missed this area today. The line of storms passed from west to east south of Jacksonville. With that exception the overall daily weather pattern was the same as the last few days. It was sunny and still in the morning. The afternoon was filled with billowy clouds and a nice breeze. The temperature peaked just above the ninety degree mark.

I took my first walk of the day just before noon. As usual I had my camera with me to capture anything interesting. All I found was some a few nice colorful blossoms to photograph. During the heat of the day the animal life seems to be in hiding. They are probably back in the cooler wooded area surrounding the park. My second walk of the day was in the evening. Animals and people were out in the slightly cooler evening.

The park doesn’t seem to be filling up for the weekend. Jacksonville is celebrating its Bicentennial this weekend. They are having lots of events downtown tomorrow. I expected the park to fill up with people arriving for the fun. I didn’t see more than two or three RVs arrive this afternoon and evening. If anything the park may have emptied out some for the weekend.

During my stay here last November the park was full or close to full every night. People escaping the cold north joined the people using the park for temporary living to occupy most of the sites. I think during my stay last June at this time the park was also busier, but not full. I went back and read my blog entries from that June 2021 period to refresh my memory a little. While I noted that the park had openings I didn’t obsess over the issue. The current level of occupancy is probably normal and the high nightly rent probably discourages weekenders.

Thursday June 9th 2022

The weather pattern seems to be pretty much established. The day begins with only a few wispy clouds, if any, with no wind. The sun rapidly heats the air toward the daily high. As the day progresses the clouds thicken and occasionally block the sun for a refreshing few minutes. At some point during the afternoon into the evening a line of rain storms pass through the area. Today the storms arrived at 4PM and were gone by 6PM. Yesterday the storms were much later around 9PM. The storms cooled the air temperature, but increased the overall humidity. Today’s high temperature was in the low nineties.

Either the Florida Air National Guard didn’t have any missions this morning, or I’m acclimated to the noise of the jets taking off overhead. I didn’t wake up to the sounds of F-15 afterburners this morning. It was close to 9AM when I got my day started.

First up on today’s agenda after breakfast was a grocery run. Walmart is located one exit south on Interstate 95. It is in a very big shopping area with all varieties of stores. Navigating the parking lot is an exercise in patience. There are many stop signs with a lot of cross traffic between clusters of shops. The store wasn’t busy today, I was able to wander up and down the aisles without having to dodge too many other carts and shoppers. It’s a good thing, because the layout was a little odd. I’ve never seen a Walmart with the bread aisle in the middle of the grocery section like this. Other aisles seemed to be in odd places as well.

I managed to get in one walk around the front area of the RV resort before the thunderstorms arrived. The weather was threatening enough that I didn’t venture into the back area of the park. I wanted to be near shelter when the storms started. My second walk was later in the evening after the storm line moved through. The weekly food truck visit was going on at the front of the park. It had a few customers lined up, but I had already eaten by that time. Having regular food truck visits is one of the latest things for campgrounds that call themselves “resorts”.

Wednesday June 8th 2022

The day began with bright sunshine and very little wind. As a result the temperature climbed quickly to the upper eighties. The humidity was a little higher than Tuesday. As the day progressed the clouds moved inland from the ocean along with a developing breeze. The result was a more comfortable afternoon despite the temperature being a few degrees warmer.

There is a landscaping crew in the park replacing trees. About thirty palms that were planted awhile back didn’t survive the transplant. I noticed dead palms when I stayed here last June, so this has been an issue for more than a year. A landscape crew with a noisy skid steer has been taking out the old trees and planting new palms. It is amazing how small a root ball the trees have. The new trees are getting heavily watered in so hopefully they will survive.

Despite the temperature I got in two walks today. The first was shortly after the lunch hour. There aren’t many people out and about. There are many people using the park for temporary living, so they are at work during the day. Others are inside their RVs with the air conditioning cranked. During my second walk after the dinner hour there were many more people out including lots of kids. The large fifth wheel trailer beside my RV home has a family of five. During the day the mother and three very young kids were inside. This evening the kids were out playing for about an hour with the mother watching closely. I can’t imagine what it is like in their trailer all day.

Tuesday June 7th 2022

I was reminded of the proximity of this RV park to the Jacksonville Airport a little after 7AM this morning. Several F15s of the Florida Air National Guard flew took off over my head with full afterburner speed and the accompanying noise. I knew this fact about the park from previous stays. It will soon fade into an accepted noise, but this morning it was a rude reminder.

Today was a very humid day with a high temperature a little below ninety. It was a partly cloudy day with many clouds passing overhead. When the sun was blocked by clouds it was comfortable. In the afternoon a breeze developed that helped as well. Even with the high humidity it didn’t rain today.

This morning I finished up the setup tasks that I didn’t complete yesterday. Since this is a longer stay I got the tire covers out to block the UV light from getting to the tires. They are a real chore to get properly fastened. It requires lying on the ground and reaching behind the tires. Getting them off at the end of my stay is only a little bit easier.

Next up on today’s agenda was a walk around the RV park to see what has changed since last November. This park is spread out over a very large area. Walking around the complete perimeter is close to two miles. The sports courts that were under construction in the fall seem to be finished. I say “seem”, because they didn’t look like they have seen much use. I’ll be watching to see if anyone is using them.

The front area of the park that is used for short term stays has many empty sites. I think there are more sites available then when I was here last year at this time. The back area of the park that has more longer term residents only has a few empty sites. I’m in an area in the middle of the park with that isn’t as easy to categorize the residents. It only has a few empty sites.