Thursday December 16th 2021

Today’s weather was unsettled once again, but not quite as bad as the last couple of days. Every now and then a group of thick clouds would pass through disrupting the otherwise sunny day. A couple of the cloud intrusions even brought rain with the darkened sky. The temperature still managed to approach eighty degrees.

This is my last full day at Lake Louisa State Park. It doesn’t seem like two weeks since I arrived, but my time is up tomorrow. This area has a nice mix of the natural environment of the state park and the availability of the various Orlando area attractions. I chose not to get into a lot of the attractions this time. The holiday season has the whole resort corridor area overly crowded. The hiking tails and ponds in the state park are an enjoyable counterpoint.

I’m heading to the Gulf Coast area for the next month. I’ll be at Myakka River State Park and Lake Manatee State Park for a pair of two week stays. After that I’ll be back here for two weeks. I really enjoy staying in the natural environment the state parks provide. The downside is the length of stay is limited to two weeks.

Today was filled with a combination of local exercise around the campground and preparing to move tomorrow. I didn’t do as much early preparation work as normal. I have until 1PM to be off my site and a theoretical check in at Myakka River State Park of 3PM. I’m sure I’ll be able to check in earlier, but I don’t want to get there too early. It is about 130 miles of mostly interstate highway driving with lots of traffic.

Tuesday December 14th 2021

Unpredictable weather resulted in a disappointing day. Yesterday, the forecast for today was for partly cloudy and warm. What we got was a little different. The day began foggy and dull. Slowly as the morning progressed the fog lifted to low cloud cover then just cloudy. Around 12:30 the day started to brighten and I got ready to start the active portion of my day. Before I got out of the park thick dark clouds were arriving from the east along with a few drops of rain. The plan for outdoor activity was not looking bleak. The weather radar showed some a few showers moving in from the east. I decided to return to the dry confines of my RV home.

The rain never happened. It remained cloudy and threatening most of the afternoon. At 5PM as the sun was starting to approach the western horizon there were a lot of large gaps in the cloud cover. The moon was visible in one of the gaps and the setting sun was highlighting the clouds to the west. Tomorrow is forecast to follow a similar pattern.

With the exception of a couple of walks around the campground most of my day was spent chancing various chains of information on the internet and watching TV. On my walk around the sixty campsites I’m starting to see a few Christmas decorations. My neighbor has a cute blow up dog with a Santa hat.

Sunday December 12th 2021

The weather was in transition today. It started cloudy and a little foggy. It progressed to a sunny day before the next cold front arrived. Around 4PM thick dark clouds started to move into the area from the north and east. It looked like it was going to rain at any minute. So far the rain hasn’t arrived. Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny again, but a few degrees cooler than the mid to upper eighties of the last few days.

There was the expected turn over off sites in the campground today. All of the weekend residents departed. By late in the day all of the sites were occupied once more. The new arrivals seem to be here for a longer period of time. Many of them put out Christmas decorations as part of setting up camp. The two week stay limit now includes the holiday weekend, so some of the new arrivals may be here through Christmas. I won’t know, I move on this Friday.

My exercise for the day was another hike. Once again I took a new turn and ended up in some areas I didn’t recognize. The forest service did a prescribed burn last spring that removed a lot of the underbrush and left many dead pine trees exposed. Some areas look rather bleak. I know I’ve hiked in the area I was in today, but I approached from the other direction. All of the intersections along the trails are numbered and have arrows pointing to other numbered intersections, so I wasn’t lost. I was just following a few paths that I probably haven’t been on before. Once again my hour long walk around Hammond Lake turned into a three hour hike over hills and around hidden ponds. It was fun and I got back before the dark clouds rolled in.

My camera was busy on the hike. Here are some of the images I captured.

Saturday December 11th 2021

The beautiful weather continues. It was another sunny day with the high temperature in the mid eighties. There was a little bit more breeze than Friday, so it felt more comfortable.

Last nights severe weather in the middle of the country is my worst nightmare. Most forms of extreme weather have a few days warning. Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms give you a few minutes warning at best. I have learned to have an idea what represents potential shelter at every stop, but knowing when to head for shelter is another thing. Storms at night like yesterday’s in Kentucky would be particularly difficult to get ahead of. In my six years living on the road I’ve taken shelter twice. Both times a tornado warning was issued for my location, but missed. I’ve also delayed travel into an area that has a major front with severe weather possible heading through the area in the day ahead. There have been severe thunderstorm warnings that in hind sight I would have been more comfortable seeking shelter, but again nothing dangerous actually happened. My thoughts are with the people in the impact zone.

The state park and campground were very active today. During the week there is some activity, but the park is mostly quiet. The weekend campers were here to enjoy themselves. The concession service was doing a big business renting kayaks, canoes and bicycles. I met several people out on the trails during my hike. Usually hikes at this park are a very solo experience. There were even a few people on horseback. I’ve seen horse calling cards on the ground before, but not the actual animal and rider on the trail.

Friday December 10th 2021

For the first time in the current stretch of above normal temperatures, it felt hot today. The fog to start the day was lighter than the last few days. By 9AM a bright sun in a clear blue sky was warming the air. The clouds stayed away all day and so did the wind. It was a very calm day. The temperature peaked in the mid eighties. Compared to summer standards, it was a mild day, but by Florida winter standard it was hot. Tomorrow is forecast to be warmer.

One good thing associated with the warm weather is the return of the wildflower blossoms. The temperature for most of the month of November was bellow normal. As a consequence many of wild flower blossoms died off and new ones didn’t take their place. Of particular notice was the absence of flowers on the lily pads in the lakes. Since I arrived last week more flower blossoms have appeared every day. The last couple of days I’ve even spotted a few lily blossoms in the lakes with more buds ready to burst open in the next day or two.

It seems like every area has a different shopping pattern. I seem to have the bad luck of finding the peak times. Early afternoon on a Friday has been a low shopping time in other areas, but in this area it was a really busy time today. My stop at Walmart started with parking at the back of the parking lot and continued with congestion on all of the aisles in the grocery section of the store. I ventured into the non-grocery area and found a lot fewer customers, so it was food that was causing the draw not Christmas shopping. Either way I got my shopping done with only a few items forgotten. I will have to do without Oatmeal until my next shopping trip.

The campground really emptied out this morning, but filled up again as the evening approached. It seems to be a symptom of the reservation system. People in local travel distance book the weekends, a few of us book the maximum two stay and people traveling fill in the week days.

Thursday December 9th 2021

There was a little rain overnight. This morning there was a heavy cloud cover that lasted most of the morning. In the early afternoon the sun broke through the cloud layer occasionally. As the day went on the size of the openings in the clouds got bigger, but it never really cleared. Surprisingly, there was next to no wind. The surface of the two lakes was very still. Another foggy start to the day is forecast for tomorrow.

I set the alarm to wake up early this morning. My goal was to reset my sleep pattern closer to normal. I got up early, but that doesn’t mean I got an early start to the day. Knowing it was early I spent more time preparing and eating breakfast. Combining my slow pace with the dull weather it was afternoon before I got the active part of the day started. When you only have three to four hours of daylight remaining the options for outdoor activities are limited. It turned into another day of walking around the campground, reading and general relaxation.

This campground is full every night, but has a few sites turn over each day. More than half the sites are occupied by Florida RVs. A good mix of travelers from other states are represented as well. A few of the RVs have been decorated for Christmas. It is really too early. With the exception of the work campers all of the RVs will be gone by Christmas. I’ll put up something at my next stop that overlaps the holiday. I imagine it is the same with many of the others.

Wednesday December 8th 2021

Once again the day began with fog. It wasn’t as thick as yesterday morning, but it still slowed my start to the day. The sun and blue sky took over the weather by ten. The temperature climbed rapidly across the eighty degree mark, before leveling off when a line of clouds arrived from the north. Another front is passing through the area. The rain is forecast to remain to the north and the warm temperature is supposed to remain for the next few days. (They were wrong. It rained for a few minutes before I finished writing this blog entry.)

Shortly after noon I set out on a hike in the state park. In the past I’ve hiked the area south of the campground on the back side of Hammond Lake. Today I took a different path at a fork in the trail. While I had a general idea where the I was going, it turned out to be much longer than I anticipated. The trail when around Dixie Lake on the north side of the campground. The highlight of this walk was the rental cabins high on the bank along the north side of Dixie Lake. The state park has twenty two bedroom “cottages” for rent. My short walk turned into a hike of almost three hours.

I took a closer look at the “ECO” tents they have for rent on my hike. They have five white canvas box tents lined up forty to sixty feet apart. They are along the side of field that I don’t think has access to power or water. For facilities there are three portable outhouses. They look to be at opposite end of the spectrum from the “Glamping” tents in the campground. The “ECO” tents don’t have electricity, air conditioning or the closeness to activities that the “Glamping” tents have.