Monday February 14th 2022

The temperature got down into the high thirties overnight. It was in the mid forties inside this morning. I couldn’t roll over and snuggle under the covers until it got warm. Today was a travel day. The temperature eventually reached the mid sixties.

I took my time getting ready to travel. Checkout time in most Florida state parks is 1PM and I only had about thirty miles to my next stop. Even taking my time, I managed to create a bloody mess. Somewhere in the cold temperature I nicked a knuckle on one hand and scraped the back of the other. Both were minor breaks to my skin, but I found blood all over before I found the source. A little washing and blotting with a paper towel and I was good to go. I didn’t even need a bandage.

I pulled out of Silver Springs State Park at 12;45. My first order of business on the road was finding gas to fill my tank. With a little detour off the shortest route, I found a gas station with easy access that wasn’t too busy. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the cheapest. Later on my journey I saw gas almost ten cents a gallon cheaper. At $3.48 per gallon, I didn’t get the tank full even with two credit card authorizations. One Hundred and ninety eight dollars almost filled the tank. I need to stop letting the tank get so empty.

I arrived at Rainbow Springs State Park northeast of Dunnellon at 1:45. You need to have a gate code to get in. The campground had called earlier with the code, but I didn’t have to use. The trailer arriving moment before me had to call for assistance resulting in the gate getting opened remotely for both of us. This park is setup different than other Florida State Parks. You need to check in at the concession office rather than a gate house.

My site is a little uneven. It took extra effort to get leveled and setup. Overall it looks like a nice campground. There is plenty of distance between sites and a good amount of foliage for privacy. A quick wander around the campground showed that the park is popular with travelers. Out of state license plates heavily out numbered Florida plates. Just Like Silver Spring State Park, the river is a good hike away. I’ll explore that walk in the morning. On the down side cell reception is poor and consequently so is the speed of my internet access.

Sunday February 13th 2022

It rained lightly off and on all night. This morning the sky was cloud covered and gloomy, but as the day progressed conditions improved. The sun made an appearance shortly after the noon hour. By 2:30PM the sun dominated the sky allowing the temperature to peak at seventy degrees.

Today was my last full day at Silver Springs State Park. I have really enjoyed my stay. The river has a fascinating array of wildlife to watch. The rifer is a long way from the campground, but that has its advantages too. I got plenty of exercise walking to the kayak launch or the overlook on the river. Both areas are more than a mile hike each way from my campsite. Along the trail there is also a chance of seeing a few of the land animals in the area. I saw several deer, but never got one to pose long enough for a picture.

On my first walk to the river of the day, the kayak launch was once again filled with kayaks and their occupants. The first paddlers to arrive seem to get out of their kayak and leave the boat right at the water’s edge blocking most of the eight foot wide aluminum ramp. The next people to arrive either try to climb over the boats already there or pull up along the shore beside the launch area. Eventually, people get the idea to carry or drag their boats inland a bit away from the bottleneck at the end of the ramp. After people finish their lunch or bathroom break the congestion of launching boats and landing boats gets even more exciting. People with rental kayaks that may be paddling for the first time don’t have a clue how to get in and out of the boat without unintended comedy.

I have completed most of my outside travel prep for tomorrows journey. It is less than fifty miles to my next stop. I won’t be leaving until close to the 1PM checkout time, so I’ll have plenty of time to finish the other tasks.

Saturday February 12th 2022

The temperature got up to eighty before the clouds associated with the next cold front started to move in. Rain is forecast overnight and tomorrow morning before the sun returns on a much cooler Sunday.

The state park was very crowded today. The day use area parking lot had more cars parked than I’ve seen before. On my first walk of the day to the Silver River I couldn’t even get near the Kayak launch dock. There were over twenty five kayaks scattered around the area. Most of the down river paddlers stop at the campground Kayak launch for lunch or a bathroom break. At two miles from the headwaters, it is located about mid way on the down river paddle.

Further along the River Trail a secluded area that has a bench to sit on while watching the river was filled with a family having a picnic. Along the bank a little further I found a couple of other people with a camera on a tripod waiting for interesting subjects on the river. Both of these areas are usually very quiet and empty. Not today!

My second walk of the day was to the river overlook. I found a couple and their two dogs using the overlook for a late in the day picnic. There were also still many boats on the river. Usually as sunset approaches the river is quiet. All of the activity on and around the rive seemed to keep the birds away. I only saw one lonely Anhinga today.

Between walks, this was a chores day. I got a little cleaning done, took the trash to the dumpster and cooked a hamburger conglomeration with Penne Pasta for lunch today and tomorrow. My stay is winding down here at Silver Springs State Park. Tomorrow is my last full day.

Friday February 11th 2022

The positive weather trend continued today with a high temperature in the mid seventies. The only downside is the humidity is also increasing. It seemed to be a little warmer than the actual temperature. Tomorrow is the last day of this trend. Rain is in the forecast for Saturday night and Sunday will be much cooler.

After almost two weeks here at Silver Springs State Park, I finally visited the actual spring today. The first time I visited Silver Springs was in the mid 1960s as a kid with my parents and grand parents. In those pre Disney World times, Silver Springs was one of the biggest attractions in Florida. After Disney opened in 1971, Silver Springs struggled to remain competitive. It added amusement rides, shows and concert venues to attempt to draw some of Walt Disney Worlds leftovers, but it struggled. The Glass Bottom boats along were not enough. In 2013 the state of Florida took over the Silver Springs park area and combined it with the neighboring Silver River State Park to form Silver Spring State Park.

I don’t remember much from my first visit more than 55 years ago. We took a smaller competing glass bottom boat all the way up the Silver River from highway 41 instead of the “World Famous” Glass Bottom boats at Silver Springs. I remember the story about the monkeys released on an island in the river as an attraction that escaped to the mainland. There are know signs warning you about interacting with them all over the state park. It is hard to believe somebody didn’t know they could swim. The other thing I remember was watching a reptile show at Silver Springs. The guy leading the show “milked” a rattle snake for its venom. The things a kid remembers!

To get to Silver Springs I hiked about 2.5 miles on the Sandhill Trail and the Springs Trail. The name Sandhill trail helps define the main characteristic of the hike. The hill is only about ten feet of altitude change, but the sand lining the trail makes walking in some areas difficult. The majority of the hike is through a Long Leaf Pine Forest that has been subject to many prescribed burns over the years. Evidence of the periodic fires can be seen in absence of thick ground cover and the charring on many of the remaining pine trees. The fires are necessary for the health of the trees and the ground animals like the Gofer Tortoise.

The park was busier this year than last. Many people were sitting at picnic tables and on the grass enjoying lunch on the warm sunny day. The line for the thirty minute glass bottom boat ride was very long. I think the next available seat on a boat was over two hours away. The ninety minute ride that I was interested in wasn’t available at all. I chose to walk all the trails and view the springs from the shore. You can hear all the stories the boat captains tell about the springs and park from shore. Sound carries well across the water.

Views of Silver Springs and the Silver River

Birds

Manatees

Turtles

Flowers

Thursday February 10th 2022

Today’s weather was a slightly warmer version of Wednesday. After a cold start in the thirties the temperature warmed to the upper sixties. A few high thin clouds marred the otherwise blue sky late in the day. It was a beautiful hiking day.

I got a really slow start today. My energy level this morning was really dragging, but this afternoon I took a long hike. I chose a trail call “The Sinkhole Trail”’ that I had not walked before. It lived up to its name and circled part of an old sinkhole in the woods. The trail stayed well away from the actual sinkhole. It appeared to have some water and swamp grass like vegetation in the actual hole. The hike was nice, but the sinkhole was anticlimactic.

On both of my hikes today I spotted and managed to get pictures of woodpeckers. I’ve heard them on my walks pounding on tree trunks every day, but today is the first day they have been close enough to the trail to spot them. I think I saw two different varieties of woodpecker.

Late in the afternoon at the Silver River Overlook I managed to get pictures of a few more water birds. It took a little more patience than normal. When I first arrived at the overlook it appeared as though all the birds were in hiding. Gradually I was able to find them hiding in the camouflage of the river bank. They almost seemed to know when I spotted them, because they would start to move around more soon after I spotted them.

Wednesday February 9th 2022

The latest cold front has cleared the area. Today was a bright sunny day with very low humidity. There were no clouds to hide the sun, but the overall temperature didn’t reach the seventy degree normal. The high temperature was in the low to mid sixties.

I was up early this morning to compete for my next two weeks of reservations in a Florida State Park for next winter. There were only seven or eight suitable sites available across two parks in my target area. I had internet problems that did not allow me to connect to the reservation web page. After trying a few things, I gave up with the hope that everyone was having similar problems. Later I discovered that I could connect to the reservation server from my cell phone. All of the sites I could use were booked.

Powering everything down and restarting the computer and the MiFi modem got the internet working correctly. I don’t think the problem was on my end, but rather the Verizon access point I was connected to. With a functional internet, I started my search for an alternative location for the second and third week of January 2023. The first couple of state parks I checked were full. I expanded my search north and found a site at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park south of Gainesville, FL. I have enjoyed my stay there in the past, but hadn’t planned on returning this year or next.

After four days without any significant periods of sun, the turtles in the Silver River were all out getting some sun. I observed several groupings of turtles on my morning walk to the river. The cool temperatures were still keeping the number of kayaks down, but the turtles don’t seem to mind the water craft. They are more skittish when someone approaches along the bank. In my experience, alligators are the exact opposite.

The water birds were also back along the river bank. During the last few cloudy and wet days they have been back elsewhere. They were probably back in the woods were it was a little warmer. I got several nice pictures of a Great Blue Heron.

Tuesday February 8th 2022

Today was an inside kind of day. It started raining during the overnight hours and continued off and on all day. The forecast calls for the pattern to continue through mid day Wednesday. It is mostly a light rain that varies from drizzle to steady rain. The temperature never got above the low fifties.

Since hiking down to the river or anywhere else was a little too wet an idea, I used the time for a much delayed grocery run. Walmart is less than three miles away and most of the distance is inside the state park. Many other people thought a rainy day was a good shopping day. The store was very busy.

I wasn’t hungry while I was shopping, so I didn’t over buy. Still I spent more money than usual. For some reason I bought several things that were big ticket grocery items. Replenishing my coffee supply was one of the high priced items and I decided a steak would be a nice treat. Maybe I was hungry after all.

After my grocery shopping I spent most of the day inside my RV home watching TV. The Olympic coverage is an interesting diversion from the normal TV programming. I also cooked the piece of steak along with a microwave baked potato for my main meal of the day. Evening came quickly. After I finish this blog entry, I’ll be back in front of the TV.

Monday February 7th 2022

The weather forecast was a little more optimistic than reality today. The forecast called for partial sun this afternoon, but the heavy morning clouds continued throughout the day. The high temperature was in the low to mid fifties. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow into Wednesday.

I was back to my two hike routine. My morning hike to the river found a few people paddling on the river. The warm river water was giving off a nice layer of steam like evaporation into the cold air. The birds were all back away form the river bank in the trees to stay warmer. Periodically one bird or another would break the quiet with a loud call or squawk. I hung around the kayak launch for a half an hour waiting to see anything interesting, but other than a couple of confused kayak paddlers nothing happened. The confused paddlers were disappointed to learn they had more than two more miles to paddle before they reached their takeout point.

My second hike, late in the day, was to the river overlook. I spooked a couple more deer on the way. Either I’m making to much noise walking or I’m very unlucky. I managed to catch the white tails of these deer as they bounded away. At the overlook I had a little better luck. A few manatee were having lunch in the weeds up river a few hundred yards. They were just close enough that I could get some reasonable zoom pictures when they took a break to breath.

Sunday February 6th 2022

It was a rainy Sunday. The rain began before bedtime Saturday and increased in frequency and strength through the night. By daylight it was slowing down some, but continued off an on until early afternoon. The temperature managed to climb into the low fifties during the afternoon break in the rain. As darkness returned so did the rain. Tomorrow is forecast to be cloudy with the rain holding off until late at night. The wet weather isn’t forecast to move on until Wednesday.

I managed to get one walk to the river in during the afternoon letup in the rain. The trail had a few wet areas, but I was able to dodge and jump around significant puddles. The only people I saw were walking the trails. No one seemed be die hard enough to be kayaking on the river.

Similar to yesterday, I spooked one deer on the trail. It saw me before I saw its white tail as it bounded into the brush. As far as other wildlife goes it was hiding. I heard a lot of bird and other noises from the woods, but didn’t see any photogenic creatures.

Back at my RV home I spent time watching some of the more unique Olympic events. It is only when the Olympics are on TV that you get a chance to watch Curling or Cross Country Skiing. I just wish they’d give you a translation guide. The Curling announcers used more terms in new ways than I’ve heard in awhile. Power Plays, Hammers, Sweepers and Cookies all have interesting meanings in the sport. You really have to listen and watch closely to follow along.

Saturday February 5th 2022

The weekend arrived and so did the less than ideal weather. Just about every weekend this year has had cold and rainy weather. It rained a little last night to usher in the change. This morning it was cloudy and Florida cold. Conditions never improved during the day. The temperature peaked south of the sixty degree mark. This evening a rain shower keeps popping up overhead. Rain is in the forecast overnight into tomorrow.

I had to add a few layers of clothing for today’s walks. The activity mix in the park changed with the weather as well. There were fewer paddlers and a lot more walkers today. It met many more hikers on the River Trail and the Swamp Trail today. There were still kayaks on the river, but they came in groups of two and four not ten to sixteen.

My morning walks this week have averaged about two hours in length. Today, my morning walk took about three and a half hours. The wildlife gets the blame (or credit). Although I didn’t get pictures to prove it, I saw a couple of creatures I’ve been looking for all week. On the Swamp Trail I finally saw a deer. She heard me coming and took off deeper into the woods, but I still managed to get a good look. At the river overlook on the Swamp trail a different creature added time to my hike. It was a game of can you spot the manatee.

When I arrived at the overlook I was informed there were three manatees in front of the overlook in the river, but the guy couldn’t point out the specific location. I took a seat on the bench and started watching. Eventually I saw one come up for air a hundred yards or more down river. I kept watching and there was more activity in the same area. So I can say I saw manatees in the Silver River. It just wasn’t a very good view. I’ve got another week to do better.