Friday January 27th 2023

The temperature was down in the forties overnight. When I got up the inside temperature was in the fifties. Luckily, this campsite is open to the sun most of the day. It warmed things up inside nicely. The high temperature for the day was in the mid sixties. Another cool night is forecast before everything starts to warm up. Sunday’s high is forecast to be well above normal around eighty.

This was my day to get settled in at Lake Louisa State Park. After breakfast this morning I got the towing equipment, my bicycle and the rack off the car. I must have been exercising my muscles when I tightened the bold on the bicycle rack. It took some extra effort to get it off this morning. I was about ready to switch to a bigger wrench when it finally came free. Now I have a bolt soaked in WD40 that I have to keep out of the sand. A fun complication to an otherwise easy task.

The middle of the week park residents departed this morning to make way for the weekenders. When I walked over to the lakes shortly before the noon hour there were more empty sites than occupied ones. As the afternoon progressed all of the empty sites filled up again.

Not much has changed in the campground in the last six weeks. A couple of small fences for traffic control have been erected showing that maintenance is ongoing. This park always seems to be well kept. The foliage that was still green in December is black now. The December freeze obviously caught it hard. With the warm temperatures over the next week I expect to see a few more blossoms return to the wildflowers.

It was cold on the side of the lakes today. The north wind was more than a little breeze keeping a strong chill factor. It also made the water level appear higher the wave action kept the logs the turtles and gator like partially submerged. One brave turtle was balancing on the small portion of the log exposed. In another area of the lake an Egret was huddled near the tall grass trying to keep out of the wind.

Thursday January 26th 2023

I got a little later start to the day than I’d planned. On travel days I like to be awake by 7:30 and out of bed soon after. This morning I didn’t wake up until 8:30. I still managed to pull out of the Starke KOA by 11:30 which is half an hour before the noon checkout.

After last night’s cold front, it was much colder this morning. The inside temperature was in the fifties. Outside it was a little cooler causing me to follow a slightly different order to some of my preparation tasks. Changing the order is always a risk. I have to be extra careful not to forget to do something important. It all worked out in the long run.

The trip from Starke to Clermont is not complicated. It just isn’t any fun. The trip south on US301 to Ocala is filled with towns every five to ten miles. In each town the speed is reduced from 65 to 45 or even 35mph. Once you reach Ocala and join with US 27 it gets worse. There is a traffic light, I’d guess, on average every mile. You just get up to speed and have to slow down again. I went through more yellow lights than is safe today. In addition to all the traffic lights there is plenty of traffic to go with it. This route goes through the city of Ocala, the Villages, Leesburg and Clermont. I could avoid some of it by going out to Interstate 75, but it adds miles and doesn’t miss enough of the congestion to make it worth it.

I arrived at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont at 2PM. It has been six and a half weeks since I left here in December. The site I’m on is about 3 sites away from the site I occupied during my last stay. I’ll be here for two weeks.

Wednesday January 25th 2023

I woke up this morning to dark clouds and a significant wind. The TV weather forecast called for wind ahead of a line of storms moving in from the west. The stations couldn’t seem to agree on when it was going to arrive. I heard everything from early afternoon to the dinner hour. The good news is it was warm in front of the cold front. Today’s high temperature was just south of eighty degrees.

The storm front actually arrived around five fifteen, but it was very anticlimactic. There were a few RV shacking gusts of wind, but the rain was very light and sporadic. It has continued off an on in the three hours since it started. Tomorrow is forecast to be dry, cooler and windy.

The weather threat kept me at home today. I didn’t want to be out driving around aimlessly just to have deluge of rain or even something as severe as a tornado appear in my path. Instead I did a few chores around my RV home and got in a couple of walks around the campground. On one of the walks I checked out the shopping center next door. When I was here last May one of the stores was under a serious remodel. It wasn’t clear what was going to move in. An ALDI grocery store is now open in that location. One odd observation I made walking by the store, was the need to make a twenty five cent deposit to use a shopping cart. Apparently you need to stick a quarter in to unlock the cart and get it back when you return the cart. Is this normal for ALDI? I never have change in my pocket anymore. I’d be in a real hurt carrying everything in my arms. I guess I’ll stick with Walart.

My short stay in Starke is over tomorrow. I’ll be moving south about 125 miles to Clermont Florida. I’ll be at Lake Louisa State Park again for two weeks. Before the rain started I got the car loaded with my bicycle and completed some of the other outdoor preparations. Check out time is noon, so I should have plenty of time in the morning.

Tuesday January 24th 2023

It was at cool night again. This morning it was bright and sunny in the forties. During the day the temperature managed to reach the upper sixties. The forecast for tomorrow calls for warmer temperatures, but rain likely late in the day.

Today was a day to settle in and restock. This morning I did my usual day after arrival tasks. The biggest of these is getting the car ready for regular use. This involves getting the bicycle and towing gear stowed away. It only takes about ten minutes, but it is a necessary task. This morning I wanted it over with so I could get on with the restocking task.

It has been almost three weeks since I made a grocery run. While I was at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park I enjoyed the park to much to take the time for the drive into Gainesville to shop at Walmart. I managed to use up some of the older items in my freezer and cabinets. The only items I really ran out of were deserts and snacks. Here in Starke, the Walmart is less than half a mile down the road, so it was time to restock.

This is a smaller Walmart, but it had everything I needed. The aisles are narrower and the “flavor” varieties are limited. For some reason I was noticing an increase in price for most of the things I purchased. Many of them probably went up long ago, but today I was noticing them. Things that were around a dollar per unit were now a dollar thirty to a dollar and a half. Items that were in the high three dollar numbers were now well over four dollars. The big gotcha were the eggs. Today they averaged out to forty three cents per egg for a dozen and half or more than forty five cents an egg if you only bought a dozen.

After I returned to my RV home and got all the groceries stored away, it was time for a walk around the campground. The last time I was here was at the end of May last year. It was very empty at that time by comparison. Today most of the sites are occupied by snowbird style residents. The remaining sites are used for nightly traffic. This campground is frequently the first stop in Florida for people coming into the state from the north. It causes some interesting activities.

Last night a big class A motorhome pulling a very large red box trailer pulled into the site next to mine. Both the motorhome and trailer were covered with road grime. This morning they unloaded a lime green Dodge Charger from the box trailer. Everything got hosed down, although not washed. It is against the rules to wash vehicles at your site. Then they changed all four tires on the Charger. Performance wheels and tires were installed. I assume, but couldn’t verify, that all season or even snow tires were removed. They were clearly getting ready for a winter in the sunshine state.

Monday January 23rd 2023

Today was a travel day. I was up early, but really didn’t need the extra time. Checkout time was at 1PM and with only about forty miles to travel I didn’t need to rush. The temperature started off in the fifties, so I focused on inside tasks until it warmed up a bit. The temperature only reached a peak in the mid sixties during the afternoon.

Getting ready to travel from Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is a little more complicated than most places. The campground roads are very narrow. It is not possible to hookup the car for towing without blocking traffic completely. I need to preposition the car in the overflow parking lot or the day use area where there is enough available space. Either one is a good distance away. This morning I drove the car to the overflow parking area and walked back to my site. It was a good ten minute walk. By the time I got the tanks motorhome holding tanks dumped and reunited with my car it was over half an hour later.

My destination for today’s travel was the KOA in Starke Florida about forty miles north of the state park. I booked the KOA to fill the gap between state park reservations. I was unable to get another state park reservation until Thursday. I’ve used this KOA for similar purposes in the past. Surprisingly the rates at this KOA are better than many of the other private campgrounds in the area. It is a nice park. This time of year most of the sites are occupied by snowbirds.

I arrived at the Starke/Gainesville NE KOA just before 2PM. Once I got through Gainesville traffic the drive was uneventful. After check in I got escorted to my site as usual. I’m in a different area of the park than I usually stay in. Maybe I booked a different category of site or more probably the sites I’ve been in before are occupied by snowbirds. I’ll be here until Thursday.

Sunday January 22nd 2023

Saturday’s rain continued last night. I woke up a few times overnight to additional noise on the roof. Possible it was debris from the trees falling on the roof that caused me to wake up. When I woke up this morning it was dark and cloudy. The darkness was very similar to Saturday, but the similarity ended there. The temperature climbed to near eighty despite the cloud cover. Saturday peaked in the fifties.

The campground really emptied out this morning. By the 1PM checkout time there were only a handful of sites still occupied. As the afternoon progressed the empty sites were all filled. I will be among the departed tomorrow. This was my last full day at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park for this visit. I’ll be moving north another forty miles for a few days. My next state park reservation doesn’t start until Thursday.

Today was a two walk and one drive day. The walks were to the day use area along Lake Wauberg. The wind off the lake was very strong out of the southwest. Finding the birds was a challenge. The change in wind direction changed the birds hiding places. My search was also complicated by trying to keep my hat on my head. The wind was real challenge. Walking through the woods I had to dodge falling debris all the way. Spanish moss, small branches and palm fronds were among the items I needed to dodge.

The drive park of the day was to the visitors center on the side of the prairie. The climb up the observation tower revealed the wild horses in a new place. They were grazing off to the right on the southeast side of the prairie. They still weren’t close enough to be easily visible, but I could count nine horses. The bison were still nowhere to be found.

When I got back to my RV home, I loaded the bicycle onto the car for tomorrows travel day. Most of my outside tasks are completed, so I can take my time tomorrow morning. Checkout time is at 1PM, so I will have plenty of time. It should be a cooler day tomorrow. As I’m finishing up this blog entry a thunderstorm is passing through the area. The sound of rain on the roof has completely blocked hearing the TV.

Saturday January 21st 2023

I woke up to a cloudy and dreary day. I needed the lights on inside RV home just to prepare my morning coffee. Instead of getting brighter as the morning progressed it got darker. Shortly after noon it started to rain. Most of the time it was only a light rain that barely got through the trees, but from time to time the rain fell at a moderate level. The high temperature for the day was in the low fifties.

During a brief break in the rain, I got in my one and only walk of the day. The campground was mostly full, but the day use area was empty. On the fishing pier a solitary Great Blue Heron was watching the world go by. It didn’t seem very interested in me as I stood about forty feet away taking pictures. I might have continued taking pictures, but the break in the rain came to an end. I made my way back to my RV home during one of the moderate showers. The trees protected me from getting drenched on the half mile trek.

Most of my day was spent inside watching TV and doing a few chores around the rig. Once the NFL playoff game started at 4:30 the TV had my full attention. I watched the first half of the Jaguars vs. Chiefs game. At half time my attention got diverted to NCIS reruns and I never got back to the game. As I write this blog entry the Giants vs. Eagles game is on the TV, but it hasn’t really got my attention yet.

Friday January 20th 2023

After a short period of rain last night today was a little cooler than Thursday. The wind was calmer and out of a more northerly direction. The mercury climbed to the mid seventies. The rain returns tomorrow afternoon for real.

This morning I made another attempt at navigating the morass of the Florida State Park reservation software. Once again when 8AM rolled around everything went south. The new software just can not handle the rush of people trying to book a few available sites. If there is a better or more optimal way of using the interface, it sure isn’t intuitive.

I really can’t keep trying to get a reservation at Myakka River State Park for the end of December. It is the hardest park to book, so I need to book it before I book the time leading up to that reservation. Unfortunately, the longer I wait the lower the chance I can find a reservation where I want. Later this morning, I bit the bullet and change my approach. I now have reservations for the last six weeks of the year. Starting before Thanksgiving I have three two week reservations at Jetty Park on the coast, Lake Louisa State Park in the Orlando area and at Lake Manatee State Park in Bradenton. In this set, Lake Louisa State Park was the difficult park to reserve. The only two week stay I could find was a few days earlier than I wanted. The result is I’m moving on Sundays rather than a week day. This may be a problem when I try to book the next two weeks during the winter. Finding a reservation starting on Sunday December 31st, New Years Eve, may be a real challenge. That challenge starts at the end of this month.

All of the research and planning took a good chunk of time out of the day. Most of the things I had considered doing today were put on hold. I still managed to get my two walks in. The first was in late morning and the second was at sunset. With the wind speed down a little the bigger water birds were back in view. I even saw a Great Blue Heron land in the water and swim for a couple of minutes. I didn’t know they did that.

Thursday January 19th 2023

It was a windy and warm day. The next weather front is due to pass through overnight. Today the winds of the leading edge of the front were blowing things around. Leaves, branches and other woodland materials were blowing out of the trees all day. Despite the wind, the temperature climbed into the low eighties. As I’m writing this blog entry the rain has started to fall on the roof of my RV home.

My first walk of the day to the day use area at the lake turned into a much longer hike. I continued through the picnic area on the Lake trail out into the woods. I connected up with the Jackson’s Gap trail and the Chacala Trail. Making all of the correct turns resulted in a three to four mile loop. I passed through some of the areas that have been burned over the last few days and a few areas of forest that had been thinned with a chainsaw.

For the most part it was nice walk in the woods. I didn’t see any significant wildlife, which might be a good thing. There was a warning sign about bears at one of the trail intersections. Not to far along the trail from there I saw a foot print in the damp sand that I think might have been a bear. I imagine all of the controlled fires being set in various areas of the park have the wildlife a little disturbed.

This morning I made another attempt at booking a Florida state park reservation for next December. It wasn’t successful. I am now more convinced that the Web application is not able to handle the load at the start of the reservation window. This morning I managed to get the page to display a link for the site I wanted. Once I clicked on it everything froze until a time out message was displayed. This is the type of message that should never be seen by the user. It should be trapped by the application and translated into a graceful error handler. I’ll keep trying, but his is going to be difficult. There really isn’t much choice if I want a reservation. The telephone line has its own set of issues. Hopefully there are people working on fixing the application.

Wednesday January 18th 2023

The weather pattern has really changed from the weekend. Instead of being cold and dry it is now hot and humid. It wasn’t oppressively hot or humid, but the day began with a little fog and reached a high temperature in the upper seventies. It was an above average temperature day.

My day began with one of my least favorite things about this life style; making reservations. This morning was my first attempt at booking a two week stay for next winter. The eleven month reservation window for Florida State Parks is now open for mid December. At 8AM I tried to book a reservation starting December 18th. I wasn’t successful. The online software interface has been recently updated. This new program has a different behavior when the window opens at 8AM. By the time I got it to accept input, the few available sites were already booked. It is not clear to me if the problem is how I’m trying to use the system or a real bug in the system. I fear a few more days of failed attempts as I learn how to use the interface. There is only one site available tomorrow, so I’ll consider it a learning attempt.

On a more positive note, this year’s reservation I feared would be canceled at the end of February is now safe. The campsites at Collier-Seminole State Park are now open. Whatever damage from hurricane Ian that was preventing the campsites from reopening have been resolved.

Here at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park the controlled fire guys are back. State Park staff were setting little fires in areas near the campground today. They were close enough that the smell of smoke was in the air. I think they are burning some invasive plant species. Most of the fires they set are very small and they put them out rather quickly. If they were doing it for fire control or thinning purposes, I think the fires would be bigger and last longer.

The fire workers had some of my access to Lake Wauberg blocked off today. This cut the length of my walks in half and my opportunities to take bird pictures was similarly reduced. There were still plenty of Anhingas to photograph near the boat launch.