Monday June 13th 2022

This morning’s TV weather forecast suggested it was going to be less humid today. I think they were over optimistic. It was a mostly cloudy day with very heavy air. A couple of times during the day it released some of that weight as a brief downpour followed by a little bit of sunshine before the pattern repeated. The high temperature was in the upper eighties under cloud cover, but reached the low nineties during the brief periods of sunshine.

I woke up to the sound of lawn mowers. I knew Monday’s were landscape day. This resort publishes the mowing schedule and requests that guests clear the grass areas of their sites to facilitate easy access. They have a crew from a landscape service do the job. When I heard the mowers this morning I assumed they were coming toward my site, but I was wrong. They passed by a couple of roads over from my road. They didn’t get to my site until after lunch. I was in the last section they mowed, trimmed and blew.

Today was a day to get a few chores accomplished. The inside ones were simple to accomplish. Outside was a little more complicated. I needed to dump my holding tanks. The sewer connection on this site is in a depression in the concrete. My right angle sewer hose connection that screws into the plastic pipe in the ground won’t fit, so I can not leave the hose connected. When I need to dump I connect the hose to the RV and wedge the other end into the ground end so it won’t pop out. After I empty my tanks I put the hose back in the RV and cap the pipe in the concrete. Normally, during a stay I connect the hose once and dump the tanks every few days. Here I’m dumping less frequently, because I have to connect the hose each time. The outdoor task was very sweat inducing. My shirt was drenched and everything was dripping in sweat my the time I finished the procedure.

Sunday June 12th 2022

The rain came early today. Today’s forecast called for rain around 3PM, but they forgot to tell Mother Nature. I had to shut the windows, close the vents and turn on the AC before the lunch hour. A short period of heavy rain popped up and turned a bright day into a dark and gloomy one like the throwing of a switch. A pattern of off an on showers followed for the rest of the daylight hours. It was an overall humid day with a high temperature in the low eighties.

The showers got in the way of the things I tried to do today. The first shower arrived as I was preparing to drive down to the river. I never got back to that outing. Trying to get in my exercise walking around the park between storms was also problematic. My first two attempts were cut short by the new storms sneaking up on me. I got a little wet the first time and trying to avoid a similar occurrence on the second walk I cut the excursion much shorter than I needed. The third walk at dusk was shorter, but a success.

On my walks today I started speculating on how long various RVs have been here. The park doesn’t allow the extreme clutter that often indicates long term occupancy. There are a number of sites with small storage boxes and big potted plants, but storage sheds and fancy patio furniture are not allowed. There are a couple of RVs that I remember from last fall and one that I’m sure was here at this time last year. They are memorable for reasons other than the look of the site. The one I’m sure has been here more than a year is a very small motorhome with Oregon plates and a Georgia car, for example.

Saturday June 11th 2022

Today was a two storm front kind of day. It began as a mostly cloudy day with a few short breaks of sun. In the early afternoon the first line of thunderstorms moved through the area. It was even more humid after the storms. The second line of storms arrived as the sun set. The light show from all the lightening was spectacular. A light rain continued after the storm.

I got in a little area touring before the storms arrived. I was watching boaters launch their boats into the river system leading out toward Amelia Island, when I spotted the dark clouds to the southwest. The area to the north and east still looked like fine weather. I was surprised to see the people launching boats to continue without any apparent concern. In hind sight they probably had about an hour, but I wouldn’t have taken the chance. As it was I returned to my RV home to ride out the storm.

I spent most of the day inside my RV home with the AC keeping things comfortable. Before and between the storms I got in a couple of walks around the RV resort. Without a lot of direct sunlight the ducks and geese were active in and around the retention pond. The park residents were also active. Since many of the people staying here work in the community, the weekend is the time to get things around their RVs accomplished. There were many sounds of maintenance and outdoor work tasks. My neighbor on one side was using the time to remove tar from the front of the motorhome and the neighbor on the other side was engaged in some gardening. He transplanted a number of seedlings into bigger pots.

Friday June 10th 2022

The thunderstorms missed this area today. The line of storms passed from west to east south of Jacksonville. With that exception the overall daily weather pattern was the same as the last few days. It was sunny and still in the morning. The afternoon was filled with billowy clouds and a nice breeze. The temperature peaked just above the ninety degree mark.

I took my first walk of the day just before noon. As usual I had my camera with me to capture anything interesting. All I found was some a few nice colorful blossoms to photograph. During the heat of the day the animal life seems to be in hiding. They are probably back in the cooler wooded area surrounding the park. My second walk of the day was in the evening. Animals and people were out in the slightly cooler evening.

The park doesn’t seem to be filling up for the weekend. Jacksonville is celebrating its Bicentennial this weekend. They are having lots of events downtown tomorrow. I expected the park to fill up with people arriving for the fun. I didn’t see more than two or three RVs arrive this afternoon and evening. If anything the park may have emptied out some for the weekend.

During my stay here last November the park was full or close to full every night. People escaping the cold north joined the people using the park for temporary living to occupy most of the sites. I think during my stay last June at this time the park was also busier, but not full. I went back and read my blog entries from that June 2021 period to refresh my memory a little. While I noted that the park had openings I didn’t obsess over the issue. The current level of occupancy is probably normal and the high nightly rent probably discourages weekenders.

Thursday June 9th 2022

The weather pattern seems to be pretty much established. The day begins with only a few wispy clouds, if any, with no wind. The sun rapidly heats the air toward the daily high. As the day progresses the clouds thicken and occasionally block the sun for a refreshing few minutes. At some point during the afternoon into the evening a line of rain storms pass through the area. Today the storms arrived at 4PM and were gone by 6PM. Yesterday the storms were much later around 9PM. The storms cooled the air temperature, but increased the overall humidity. Today’s high temperature was in the low nineties.

Either the Florida Air National Guard didn’t have any missions this morning, or I’m acclimated to the noise of the jets taking off overhead. I didn’t wake up to the sounds of F-15 afterburners this morning. It was close to 9AM when I got my day started.

First up on today’s agenda after breakfast was a grocery run. Walmart is located one exit south on Interstate 95. It is in a very big shopping area with all varieties of stores. Navigating the parking lot is an exercise in patience. There are many stop signs with a lot of cross traffic between clusters of shops. The store wasn’t busy today, I was able to wander up and down the aisles without having to dodge too many other carts and shoppers. It’s a good thing, because the layout was a little odd. I’ve never seen a Walmart with the bread aisle in the middle of the grocery section like this. Other aisles seemed to be in odd places as well.

I managed to get in one walk around the front area of the RV resort before the thunderstorms arrived. The weather was threatening enough that I didn’t venture into the back area of the park. I wanted to be near shelter when the storms started. My second walk was later in the evening after the storm line moved through. The weekly food truck visit was going on at the front of the park. It had a few customers lined up, but I had already eaten by that time. Having regular food truck visits is one of the latest things for campgrounds that call themselves “resorts”.

Wednesday June 8th 2022

The day began with bright sunshine and very little wind. As a result the temperature climbed quickly to the upper eighties. The humidity was a little higher than Tuesday. As the day progressed the clouds moved inland from the ocean along with a developing breeze. The result was a more comfortable afternoon despite the temperature being a few degrees warmer.

There is a landscaping crew in the park replacing trees. About thirty palms that were planted awhile back didn’t survive the transplant. I noticed dead palms when I stayed here last June, so this has been an issue for more than a year. A landscape crew with a noisy skid steer has been taking out the old trees and planting new palms. It is amazing how small a root ball the trees have. The new trees are getting heavily watered in so hopefully they will survive.

Despite the temperature I got in two walks today. The first was shortly after the lunch hour. There aren’t many people out and about. There are many people using the park for temporary living, so they are at work during the day. Others are inside their RVs with the air conditioning cranked. During my second walk after the dinner hour there were many more people out including lots of kids. The large fifth wheel trailer beside my RV home has a family of five. During the day the mother and three very young kids were inside. This evening the kids were out playing for about an hour with the mother watching closely. I can’t imagine what it is like in their trailer all day.

Tuesday June 7th 2022

I was reminded of the proximity of this RV park to the Jacksonville Airport a little after 7AM this morning. Several F15s of the Florida Air National Guard flew took off over my head with full afterburner speed and the accompanying noise. I knew this fact about the park from previous stays. It will soon fade into an accepted noise, but this morning it was a rude reminder.

Today was a very humid day with a high temperature a little below ninety. It was a partly cloudy day with many clouds passing overhead. When the sun was blocked by clouds it was comfortable. In the afternoon a breeze developed that helped as well. Even with the high humidity it didn’t rain today.

This morning I finished up the setup tasks that I didn’t complete yesterday. Since this is a longer stay I got the tire covers out to block the UV light from getting to the tires. They are a real chore to get properly fastened. It requires lying on the ground and reaching behind the tires. Getting them off at the end of my stay is only a little bit easier.

Next up on today’s agenda was a walk around the RV park to see what has changed since last November. This park is spread out over a very large area. Walking around the complete perimeter is close to two miles. The sports courts that were under construction in the fall seem to be finished. I say “seem”, because they didn’t look like they have seen much use. I’ll be watching to see if anyone is using them.

The front area of the park that is used for short term stays has many empty sites. I think there are more sites available then when I was here last year at this time. The back area of the park that has more longer term residents only has a few empty sites. I’m in an area in the middle of the park with that isn’t as easy to categorize the residents. It only has a few empty sites.

Monday June 6th 2022

It was a very humid day with a high temperature in the upper half of the eighties. The first half of the day was sunny, and the second half was filled with showers. I was dripping in sweat packing up this morning.

I departed the campground just before the 11AM checkout. I hadn’t even cleared the first line of campsites before the campground crew was at the site preparing it for the next arrival. They must have been stacked out waiting for me to leave. They shouldn’t have found much to do. I leave the sites clean and in good condition.

My first stop on the sixty mile drive was at one of the gas stations I scouted Sunday. The access was as good as I expected, but the price per gallon had gone up ten cents overnight. I put in one credit card authorization of $175. When I arrived in the area of my destination I found gas fifteen cents per gallon cheaper. I would have been very uncomfortable trying to travel that far on a rapidly emptying tank.

I took a very indirect route today. Check in time at my destination was 2pm, so I had plenty of time. I completely avoided the interstate highway and probably added fifteen miles to the google indicated sixty mile distance. Along the way I encountered two rain showers complete with very black clouds and brief downpours. I arrived at my destination around 12:45 and was able to check in early. They were in the process of assembling my checkin package as I entered the office.

There were only a few sprinkles while I got setup. The first round of storms was west of this area. Around 5:30 the second round of storms hit hard. A thunderstorm with heavy rain sat over the area for about forty five minutes. This evening the rain is gone, but the humidity remains.

I am back at Pecan Park RV Resort. This is the same location that I spent the month of November last year. I have booked and paid for seven weeks at the monthly rate. I will be ahead of the weekly rate after about three weeks, so I’d be comfortable moving on if the opportunity comes up. The nightly rate at this park is close to twice the nightly breakdown at the monthly rate. They really want longer staying guests.

Sunday June 5th 2022

The weather turned out to be better than the forecast called for. There were more clouds in the sky than the previous few days, but the line of thunderstorms passed through the area without dropping any rain here. There was rain to the north and south of here. The temperature peaked in the high eighties.

Today was my last full day in Starke Florida. Tomorrow I’m moving to the north side of Jacksonville. In preparation, I scouted out my departure route today. I was particularly interested in finding a suitable gas station. Finding a station with good access is my primary concern. All of the stations have higher prices than the last time I put gas in the motorhome’s tank. The five to ten cents difference in price between stations is only a minor consideration when looking for a “good” station. I found a couple of good possibilities.

Most of the weekenders departed the campground by the 11AM checkout this morning, but in some ways the park was more alive today than yesterday. This park has a number of workers that stay here during the week, but leave for “home” on Friday. They return on Sunday afternoons. There are also people that leave their rigs here during the week and only use them on the weekends. They don’t have to checkout by 11AM, so the weekend continues for them until Sunday evening. The pool was very busy this afternoon after the line of clouds associated with the thunderstorms in the area moved through.