Thursday February 3rd 2022

The weather is back on the warmer side of normal. The wind is out of the south and southeast supporting a high temperature near eighty degrees. Overall it was a beautiful copy of yesterday.

My daily pattern has been set. After breakfast I take my first hike of the day. The middle of the day is dedicated to getting a few chores completed around my RV home. Before sunset I take another hike down to the river.

The river is much busier with kayak traffic this year than it was last year. The difference is probably because the shuttle service from the end of the Silver River back to the head water at Silver Springs is running again. Last year it was shutdown do to the pandemic. Most people kayak downriver from the springs to Ray Wayside Park, a county run boat launch area, near the confluence with the Ocklawaha River. The current in the river is very strong making the paddle down river mostly a float trip, but the up river paddle must be a real challenge.

You can rent kayaks and arrange for the shuttle service at Silver Springs. I don’t have enough confidence in my kayak skills to do the 5.3 mile paddle alone, but would do it in a minute if I had a kayak buddy. The wildlife viewing along the river is incredible. In addition to all the water birds, you can see alligators, manatee, turtles and monkeys. From one or two places on the bank, you have to see what comes to you. On a paddle down the river, you have and opportunity to see them all. I plan to stop at the rental facility in the next couple of days to investigate further.

Wednesday February 2nd 2022

The weather continued to improve. The day started in the fifties and peaked in the high seventies. It got a little cloudy as the day progressed, but generally was a very nice day. The positive trend is forecast to continue tomorrow and Friday.

I surrounded my chores with a couple of hikes in the state park. My first hike in the late morning started with a walk along the Swamp Trail to River overlook. When I first arrived there was no one around and the river was quiet and empty. A couple of minutes later kayaks approached the area from up river and a power boat noisily approached from the other direction. The tranquility was broken a steady stream of kayaks followed from the head water area. I watched the kayaks go by and the fish swimming in the clear water of the river for fifteen to twenty minutes. I would have hung around longer, but the quiet was about to be disturbed further.

The Marion County School System runs an educational program out of the Silver River Museum located in the state park. They host school groups everyday. Today I found out a boat ride is part of that program. As I was watching the kayaks in the river a big pontoon boat came down river and tied up at the river overlook I was on. It was filled with what I’d judge to be middle school aged kids. While they were getting docked I decided to clear out of the area before the kids filled the trail. On my way along the boardwalk across the swamp I met another group of school kids that were apparently going to replace the kids on the boat. They had arrived on a trailer with seats pulled by a pickup truck. This is a well coordinated activity schedule.

I completed the Swamp Trail then doubled back onto the River trail for a return visit to the campground’s kayak launch area. It was also very busy with kayaks filled with people stopping at the near midway point on the river to use the portable bathroom facility or have lunch. Out in the river it looked like a kayak traffic jam. I don’t remember as much activity in the river during my stay at the state park last year.

On my second hike of the day I returned to the campground kayak launch on the river. There was much less activity on the river and I only saw a few people on the trail. Unfortunately, it was still to busy and noisy for the wildlife to be in easy viewing. A few birds were on the far bank of the river, but I didn’t get to see the deer I still hope to see.

Monday January 31st 2022

The overnight temperature got down to near or below freezing again last night. It was in the forties inside when I got up. My little space heater along with the bright sun coming through the windows warmed the inside into the seventies by 9AM.

This was a travel day. I had about sixty five miles to travel north to Silver Springs State Park east of Ocala Florida. The relatively short travel distance and the late checkout time allowed me to prepare for departure at a leisurely pace. I pulled out of Lake Louisa State Park at 12:30AM.

It may have been a short travel distance, but it was along the time of roads I dislike the most. US Route 27 north from Clermont is very congested. Most of way is lined with various types of businesses with traffic lights and intersections around every bend or knoll. This type of road means I have to slow and stop my heavy motorhome frequently. The occupants of passenger cars don’t appreciate the danger they create by cutting in front of me. I always have hard stops on these types of roads. Today I had several, but at least none were of the panic variety.

I missed one turn onto a road that would have cut around the city of Ocala. As a result I drove a little longer than planned right through the center of the city. I actually saw the signs for the turn, but I couldn’t believe I was supposed to turn onto the narrow traffic filled road. I arrived at Silver Springs State Park around 2:30PM. I’ll be here for the next two weeks.

Sunday January 30th 2022

Today was a sunny day with very little wind that allowed the temperature to climb into the high fifties. Some locations in the area may have even broke the sixty mark after starting the day at an unseasonable below freezing temperature.

With all the warnings on the news about a “hard” freeze, I disconnected my outside water hose before going to bed last night. I don’t think it was really needed. The outside temperature in this area was probably only below freezing for a short period of time and the water line had the benefit from some of the heat maintained by my RV. It is always better to be safe than sorry. Knowing how to react to the hype generated by the local media is a challenge. Having detailed local knowledge to temper the news reports would be helpful, but not generally available in this lifestyle.

On my first walk of the day it was clear that a freeze or very hard frost had occurred. All of the blossoms and green ground level foliage left after last Monday mornings frost were now either black or gone completely. In some areas the brush looked lifeless. It will be a few weeks before the leaves and blossoms return. The warming trend is already in the forecast for later in the week. It appears the weather pattern is switching away from the below normal temperatures of the current pattern.

This is my last full day at Lake Louisa State Park. I’ve enjoyed my stay, but the weather has impacted the things I wanted to accomplish. Most days have been rainy, cold or both. Some of the things I didn’t get to do include a return visit to Sea World and another hike on the Van Fleet Rail Trail. I’ll have another opportunity in the middle of April when I return for a week long stay. Tomorrow I’m heading for Silver Springs State Park near Ocala.

Saturday January 29th 2022

It was a beautiful Florida cold day. The high temperature was around fifty degrees despite not a cloud in the sky. The bright sunny day was only marred by a strong wind out of the north. The wind was reported at fifteen to twenty sustained with gusts near thirty. In the shelter from the wind it was a comfortable day. Unfortunately, my campsite has an open view along the south side of Dixie Lake. I got the full force of the wind broadside all of last night and today. In other areas this would be great weather. Here in Florida it is hard to take such below normal conditions.

I got in a couple of walks around the campground and the nearby trails. There are many more people out walking today. Some of the added folks are fellow campers and others are here to enjoy the park for the day. There were also two or three groups wearing pink sweatshirts leading me to suspect an organized cancer walk of some kind, but I didn’t see any information posted about such an event.

Depending who you listen to tonight is either going to be the coldest night in 4 years or twelve years. In this area, west of Orlando, it is supposed to be about 28 degrees for a couple of hours before dawn. North of Orlando even lower temperatures are in the forecast. High twenties temperatures for a few hours shouldn’t be a problem for me. I’ll just disconnect the outside water hose before I go to bed tonight. If it really seems to be getting cold overnight, I’ll turn on the noisy furnace. It is just so much better when I can sleep in the peace and quiet without the blower noise.

Friday January 28th 2022

The sun returned to its typical position in the sky this morning. The clouds of the last few days were gone. The bright sun allowed the temperature to quickly climb into the high sixties. Unfortunately, the clouds returned shortly after the noon hour. By the end of the day it was just as gloomy as the last three.

The weather is the dominant topic in the news. On the national news they are spreading fearful information about the impending blizzard in the northeast. The local news broadcasts in Florida are focusing on spreading fearful information on the cold temperatures coming to central Florida this weekend. The daytime high temperature tomorrow is forecast to be in the forties with a windchill in the thirties. Overnight Saturday into Sunday is the real freeze. A very large area of Florida will have temperatures in the mid to upper twenties. The majority of the TV coverage has been on the potential impact to the citrus crop and how to cover or otherwise protect the plants in your yard. I’ll disconnect my water hose and maybe add another blanket on my bed.

The normal high and low temperatures for this time of year in this area are almost thirty degrees warmer than the weekend forecasts. The low seventies is the normal high and the mid fifties is the usual low. Next week the temperature is forecast to rebound. By Thursday it may be in the eighties in this area. I’ll be sixty miles or so further north in the Ocala area, so I will not get all the benefit.

There was a large turn over of sites in the campground today. The people filling in the available sites during the weekdays had to leave making room for the local people that had long awaited weekend reservations. When sites empty out during the week they are usually filled quickly by travelers stating about 1PM. The people filling the sites on a Friday usually don’t show up until late in the day. They work all day before traveling to the campground. This weekend some of the weekenders may not show up. It is too cold for a lot of activities.

Thursday January 27th 2022

The trend of cloud covered days continued. Today the rain didn’t fall and the cloud cover wasn’t as thick all day. There was one point in the afternoon that it looked like the sun might break through, but the clouds won out. The temperature also recovered into the mid sixties even with a strong wind out of the northeast.

For the first time since Monday I took a real hike. My choice today was the labyrinth of trails in the state park south and west of the campground. The trails are easy to follow, but they aren’t really marked. They are wide grass and sandy surfaced paths designed for waking, bicycling and horse back riding. Every intersection is marked with a number and a set of arrows providing directions to other numbered intersections. This works great if you are carrying a map, but it isn’t very helpful without the map to decode the numbered intersections. Since I didn’t set out with a map in hand I soon felt slightly lost.

I had three options to solve my lost in the woods problem. I could cheat big time and download a map with my phone or turn around and backtrack along my route. The third option that I chose was to continue to turn in the same direction at every intersection. Since I knew there were no dead end trails, I eventually would complete a loop back onto may original route or find a known landmark. I ended up on a much bigger loop than I intended, but it was a nice walk on a cloudy day. There was nobody else on the trail today.

For inside activity during this period of gloomy weather, I’ve been doing more research for my summer travels. The question I need to answer is where do I want to be on each of the major holidays from the end of May to September. Then I can fill in the blank area between those potential bottlenecks. At least, that is the approach I’m taking this year.

Wednesday January 26th 2022

Today was the second day in a row dominated by full cloud cover, rain and drizzle. It was also the forth day in the last five that was better for indoor activity than outdoor activity. Unlike the above normal conditions most of the month of December, the second half of January has been filled with below normal conditions. It was another dreary and cool day. The high temperature was in the low fifties.

I was up early to make another reservation for next winter. I successfully booked two weeks from December 26th to January 9th back at Lake Manatee State Park. The new booking software continues to be a challenge to navigate. Last May the Florida State Parks switched from the Reserve America booking system to another service. The Reserve America Software isn’t perfect, but its wide use has reduced many of the bugs in the user interface. I haven’t encountered the software used by the new service anywhere else. It may be a better underlying system, but it has lots of bugs in the web interface. The biggest problem is the way it formats the information on the screen. Lines can wrap around at random points and formatted text can be compressed into narrow columns for no apparent reason. It makes reading the display a challenge. Perhaps the most annoying issue is the information it remembers between uses. It often displays information about the last park for which you investigated reservations instead of the park you requested.

I got two short walks in around the campground today. During the first walk I had to take refuge under a picnic table shelter while a rain shower moved through the area. It was only a few minutes but represents the unpredictability of today’s weather. The walk at the end of the day was dry. Tomorrow is forecast to have a lower probability of rain, but it will still be a cloud filled day. The weather forecasters are hyping Saturday’s weather. The high temperature is supposed to be in the low forties and Saturday night is forecast to be in the twenties. The dreaded Central Florida Hard Freeze is coming. With most of the citrus groves replaced by housing developments in this area, I don’t think it is as big a concern as it once was. Most to the groves are now twenty to thirty miles south of here and toward both coasts.