Thursday February 24th 2022

The above normal temperatures continued today. It was a humid day with a high temperature in the mid eighties. People in the area are starting to find the water in the river a welcome relief. Many people were heading into the head springs area of the state park to take a dip in the springs. The wide hillside lawn area was rapidly filling with towels and blankets as people stretched out in the sun to dry off after a quick dip. I was just back at the park to wander the paths and take some more pictures of the Azalea blossoms.

Water Lilly

Azalea Blossoms

Turtles and Birds

Wednesday February 23rd 2022

It was a foggy start to a very warm day. By around 10AM the fog had lifted and the sun started to make an appearance, but it never completely won the battle for the sky. In the early afternoon another layer of clouds moved into the area, but was mostly gone by sunset. The temperature peaked in the mid eighties with lots of humidity.

Today didn’t get off to a good start. I was supposed to make my next set of reservations for next winter at 8AM this morning. Last night I did all the research and identified ten possible sites at two different State Parks to try for this morning. The one thing I didn’t do last night was set the alarm clock. As it turns out I was awake early enough, but I didn’t remember my important task. It was around 11:30AM when I remembered what I was supposed to do at 8AM. By the time I checked the online booking system, all of the sites were booked.

I’ll try to book a two week stay for the end of next January into early February again in two or three days. Once I’m successful, I’ll reserve a commercial campground to fill in the gap between state park stays. That is the same technique that found me staying at Disney’s Fort Wilderness this past January. Good things can come from disappointing mistakes.

Most of my afternoon was spent in the car driving around the area. It ended with a stop at Walmart for my latest grocery restocking. The checkouts were busy, but the number of people in the store didn’t seem to be that bad. I had a difficult time finding all of the things I wanted. It may have been supply chain issues or it may have been that I didn’t know where to look. Somebody seems to have stirred up all of the aisles in the store. The aisles weren’t in the same order I’m used to finding in Walmart and some of the similar items were spread across multiple aisles. I found Strawberry Jam with the snack foods. It is usually with the coffee or bread. Crackers for soup are usually with the cookies, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. Even with all the searching, I still spent more money than I usual spend restocking my food supply.

Tuesday February 22nd 2022

It was another nice weather day. With a little more humidity than Monday the temperature reached the low eighties. Each day this week is forecast to be a little warmer. Some record highs are in danger of being surpassed.

Today turned into a lazy day. I started reading various articles on the internet during breakfast and didn’t come up for air until early afternoon. My plans outside of the campground were scraped. It was back to my two walks of the day around the campground and down to the river.

There was a lot of turnover in the park today. Some of the rigs that have been here since I arrived last week pulled out this morning. A few others that arrived recently just changed sites to extend their stay. By mid afternoon the empty sites were getting filled with the new arrivals. Judging by the boats on the roofs of arriving vehicles, about half the people staying here are into paddling.

I have often thought about having a kayak, but it isn’t really practical carrying one around the country with me. Even the inflatable Sea Eagle brand kayaks are heavy and fairly bulky when you take into account all the stuff that goes with it. If I used it often, it might still be something to do, but judging by how often I use my bicycle it wouldn’t be worth it. There are fewer places to use kayak than a bicycle.

Monday February 21st 2022

My second week here at Rainbow Springs State Park started with another great weather day. It was a sunny day with a few fluffy clouds. The temperature continued to climb from Saturday’s low around seventy. Today the high temperature was around eighty.

Today was an RV home maintenance day. The pressure sensing switch on my water pump broke a while back. The switch senses when there is a demand for water based on an open faucet and turns on the pump. As long as I’m hooked up to water at the campground, it is a non issue. I don’t use the water pump when I’m connected to water. Unfortunately, I’ll be staying at a couple of places without a water hookup during the second half of March. It is time to fix the problem.

I have the replacement switch that goes on the top of the water pump. The problem is getting access to the pump to switch the old for the new. The pump is mounted to the wall of the basement storage bin with the water tank with four screws. The tank blocks access to two of the four screws. In addition to the water lines going to and from the pump, there are electric wires, heating ducts and a vacuum cleaner line in the same space as the pump. My best option will be to replace the switch on top of the pump without removing the pump.

The next challenge was finding a tool to remove the screws holding the switch to the pump. I was reminded of Goldielocks and the three bears. In this case my first choice in screw driver was too big. My second choice was too long. The third choice worked for a few turns, before it was also too big. I need to find a tool that is just right or another way to access the space with the pump. Tonight I’ll think about other ways to get at the pump. Tomorrow I’ll go tool shopping.

On my daily walks to the river I found a slightly calmer level of activity. There were not as many power boats, but the number of paddlers was just as plentiful. The people paddling in kayaks either can’t see or don’t know the significance of diving flags. There were several very close passes between kayaks and divers this morning.

Sunday February 20th 2022

The temperature peaked in the low to mid seventies after a cool start. It was in the forties inside my RV home when I first got out of bed this morning. I retreated to my bed for another hour after turning on the heat.

This is probably the last morning I’ll experience in the forties this Florida winter. The remainder of my stay here is forecast to be very warm. The forecasters are talking about the possibility of record highs in the upper eighties to ninety degrees by the end of the week. Next Monday I move to the southern part of the state for all of the month of March. Overnights in the fifties during March are coldest usually experienced in that area.

Every winter in Florida I seem to have my travel pattern somewhat backwards. I seem to be at my furthest north location in January and February. For next year I was planning on reversing that pattern, but it hasn’t worked out. When I attempted to book the two weeks in the middle of January, I wasn’t successful booking a state park east of Tampa. The alternative I found was even further north than I am now. On Wednesday of this week I need to book the end of January into the beginning of February. I will try for a reservation in the center of the state planning on moving south as the winter continues.

Today was the Daytona 500 NASCAR race. It is a big deal in central Florida. The local Fox television channel has been broadcasting from the track since Wednesday. This morning they were there once again. The Fox network coverage took over in the afternoon. I didn’t need all the hype to remind me to watch the race. It is on my agenda every year. I wasn’t completely glued to my TV, but I did watch most of the race. Wrecks near the end of the race took many of the name drivers out of the race. A rookie, Austin Cindric won the race as the field wrecked behind him.

I took my usual two walks today and got in some more time watching the action on the river. Similar to yesterday the river was filled with various types of water craft and people enjoying the clear river. I continue to wonder what it looks like as the temperature really gets hot.

Saturday February 19th 2022

It took until late morning for the sun to make an appearance after the clouds and rain associated with the latest cold front passed through the area. The high temperature was much cooler today and the wind was out of the north. As long as you were in the sun it was very comfortable. The temperature peaked around seventy degrees.

Between my daily walks I spent some time watching the action on the river. When I first arrived at the kayak launch and beach area the river was rather empty. The only real action was from a party at one of the houses across the river. Within a few minutes everything changed. A few Kayaks appeared from the south followed by the start of a flotilla of up stream bound jet skis. From the other direction a diving flag on a buoy followed by a pair of snorkelers and a diver came down river. There was a flood of activity in the river and it wasn’t even the popular season for recreation on the river. I can only imagine how congested the river is in the high season with floating down river on tubes added into the current mix of boating, swimming and diving activities.

The atmosphere at the campground was very much in weekend mode. Unlike the laid back atmosphere during the week, kids were playing in the grass areas and campfires were burning at many of the campsites. There was also a steady parade of kayaks getting dragged to and from the river. This is very much a paddler’s campground.

Friday February 18th 2022

The latest cold front arrived this afternoon with a bit of a fizzle. The day began sunny and ended cloudy with a spritz of rain now and then. The temperature still made it to the upper seventies and the rain never lasted more than a minute or two. It satisfies my criteria for a nice day.

I was back on the unmarked trails behind my campsite today. The main trails seem to form a figure eight or two squarish circles stacked on top of each other. There are also several spur trails off to the west that go to the river. The spur trails are not easy to walk. The ground along those trails is torn up from the foraging of feral hogs. I’ve seen similar disturbed ground on most of my hikes in Florida State Parks. They can be a big problem. The hogs are active at night, so I shouldn’t have any undesired encounters.

There were a few other hikers on the trails today, but the river was still the most popular form of recreation. An organized paddling excursion has been staying at the state park last night and tonight. They arrived from down river yesterday afternoon in about thirty five high end kayaks. No short sit-on-top boats for these people. Most of the kayaks are fifteen or sixteen feet long with skirtable cockpits. Some of the tents they are spending the night in are at the opposite end of the deluxe spectrum. They’ve seen better days. Today was a day of rest that most of the kayakers took as an opportunity to explore the river and the springs at the headwaters. Tomorrow morning they continue on toward the Gulf of Mexico. The excursion ends on Sunday.

It is hard to believe this is a holiday weekend. The mix of Florida license plates to other states changed a little bit today. There are more Florida tags for the weekend. Most of the weekend arrivals came with two or more kayaks on the roof of the tow vehicles. Along with the kayaks came some pretty interesting contraptions to transport the boats to the river. Today I say one made with bicycle wheels that carried two stacked kayaks. They towed the kayak trailer contraption behind a bicycle.

Thursday February 17th 2022

It was another great weather day. The only thing keeping it from perfection was a strong breeze out of the southwest. That is one of the hot weather wind directions. Today’s high temperature was in the mid eighties.

The headwaters area of the Rainbow Springs State Parks used to be one of Florida’s big springs attractions. It opened in the 1930s and closed in 1974 when the Interstate Highways and Walt Disney World took its visitors away. During its life as a theme park it had glass bottom boats, man made waterfalls, aerial gondola rides, extensive gardens, a zoo and a rodeo area. The former attraction became a state park in 1990 after years of neglect.

I drove the seven miles from the campground to the springs area of the park. The entrance from US Highway 41 is a tree lined approach with an occasional azalea bush in bloom. The two dollar per person fee is included in the camping fee. The first thing I noticed was that the manicured gardens visible in the pictures of the old attraction were now much more natural and slightly wild in appearance. The main feature of the state park in this area is swimming in the springs. There are also kayak and canoe rentals. I was interested in the beautiful azaleas, waterfalls and trails.

The azaleas are not in full bloom. Some of the plants have heavy blooms and others are very sparse. They are all big plants that could use more pruning surrounded by lots of other vegetation that should/could be removed. The areas that were probably wide open grass lawns in the days of the original theme park were filled with brush and medium size trees. Only one of the man made waterfalls had water running today. The others were filled with leaves and grass. I understand that is a winter condition.

It was a nice few hours wandering around the grounds. If the intent was to allow the natural elements of the area and the springs to stand out, they have succeeded. The area is not a manicured green space. It is a natural setting. Even the banks of the river around the springs are filled with grass and other water plants.

I took many pictures of azalea blossoms, turtles and the springs. If my internet connection allows I will include many here. They may be at a lower resolution.

Wednesday February 16th 2022

The cold weather pattern of the last few weeks is gone for now. The overnight temperature only got down into the mid to high forties and today was a beautiful day. The temperature got into the upper seventies with only a few fluffy clouds in the sky. Tomorrow and Friday are forecast to be in the eighties.

I’m struggling a little bit establishing a pattern to my days at this new location. The hindrance is a little thing we take for granted; Internet access. My cell phone does not have a reliable data connection, so I can’t read all of the things I usually read with my morning coffee. It means I’m ready for my first walk of the day much earlier and consequently I’m back at my RV home earlier as well. To fill the additional time I took a third walk today.

As a side note, to publish this blog entry I use my Verizon MiFi device. It has an external MIMO antenna that can establish a decent connection with the distant cell tower. I have a 15GB data cap on the device, so I’m self rationing my usage to keep some level of high speed internet access throughout my stay here. If I get into real internet withdrawal, I can always buy more data.

There was a lot more activity on the river today. In addition to all the kayaks and canoes, today I saw a couple of dive boats. They were hosting a number of people on a snorkeling adventure in the river just up stream from the campground. The snorkelers weren’t the only ones in the water. Two swimmers were in the river swimming up river against the current. I don’t know how deep the water is in this area, but they were alone without anyone spotting from a boat.

I also found a marked nature trail today. Unlike yesterday’s unmarked trails north of the campground, this one was on the south side of the campground access road. It had plenty of little arrows along the trail to keep you going in the right direction. There were also a few benches to take a break from walking. What I didn’t see was any animal nature, just plants and trees. I didn’t even hear any birds along the trail.

Tuesday February 15th 2022

The temperature got down to just above freezing last night. The inside temperature was in the forties this morning. Adding to the chill this morning was the cloud cover. It was mid morning before the sun broke through for a short period of bright sunshine. By mid afternoon a high level of clouds returned to filter the sunshine. The temperature made up to about seventy.

This was my day to get settled in and acclimated to the new location. For the first time this winter I’m at a park that I haven’t visited before. I had new territory to explore. The park is nice and I’m sure I’ll enjoy my stay. It just isn’t what I expected. Unlike the Silver River on the other side of Ocala, the Rainbow River has a lot of development along it. The head waters are about six miles up river from here. You can not walk there. The land between here and there has a housing development and I think a golf course. Across the river from the campground part of the State Park is all developed with large homes.

The river is about a quarter mile from my campsite along paved paths and roads. The river access has a kayak/canoe launch area and a swimming area. During the warmer weather a tube ride concession also uses the area. Today a few kayaks were using the launch area. Just like the Silver River the Rainbow river has very clear water and a swift current.

Out behind my campsite to the south there are many trails and access roads. They are not marked and a map isn’t available. I wandered down one of the trails and found another much more isolated river access. My surroundings were trees and bushes, but across the river were more homes with large covered boat docks. I will be exploring the trails more during my stay.