The Savage Traveler: Winter Trip 2015: On to Florida

Fri. Feb. 20 & Sat. Feb. 21: The next 36 hours were not the highlight of the trip. After our third night in a row close to freezing we were hoping to find some warmer weather. We got on I10 and drove for nearly 12 hours. After several drives when we had driven all day and were still in Texas, this time by noon we were entering our fourth state of the day, Florida. As we traveled we decided to just go as far as we could and stay at a motel and have a nice dinner at a restaurant. By 8:30 we were around Gainesville so we decided to get off and find a place to stay. But our first stop told us there was a basketball game and a soccer tournament in town and that without a reservation we were not going to find anyplace. He suggested we go 45 minutes south to Ocala and try our luck there. On arriving we found that there were very few rooms available there, either, and even the lowliest of joints wanted $180+ for a room. The Howard Johnson’s had only two rooms left for over $220. We just couldn’t justify that so instead we found an RV park nearby. The chipper recording on the phone said it was after office hours but to come on out, take any available site, and they’d settle up in the morning. When the GPS got us there we were met by a locked automatic gate. As I stood there trying to figure out what to do and Marv tried to figure out how he’d get the truck and camper turned around, a small truck zipped up to the gate, causing it to open, and then drove away. We could only assume they had seen us on their security camera and let us in that way. We drove slowly through the huge, crowded but seemingly deserted camping area, searching for an open spot. Finally, we found a small one at the very back of the park against the fence. With no street lights Marv got the trailer backed in and squeezed the truck next to it. As we set up we realized the electrical box was smashed apart so we would have no power. But we can make do without and we were in no position to quibble. We did a minimum set-up and warmed up leftovers and made potato salad for a very late dinner. A walk around the park showed us that the restrooms were very close by and that there really were no other open spots. We were exhausted when we fell into bed and slept pretty well, considering.

In the morning we both took showers in the nice, big bathrooms. They gave us a break on the site for having no electricity, charging us “only” $34 for the night. We packed up and got away by 9:00. The rest of the morning was a comedy of errors trying to find a place to fill our propane tank (which we couldn’t do when the second place we went, a U-Haul, said the tank would have to be re-certified because it was over 12 years old and only an Ameri-Gas place could do that. None were open on this Saturday morning). While getting gas for the truck, Marv noticed that the passenger side tire on the trailer had broken treads (the fifth tire we’ve had to replace) and had to be removed immediately. He pulled over at the gas station and changed it, which is a very big deal and involves opening the camper in order to get to the tire and wheel well. We’d have to find a Discount Tire during the week to replace it. While he did that, I was on the phone finding out that Juniper Springs in the Ocala National Forest where we wanted to stay had no openings until Sunday. Luckily, Alexander Springs also in the Ocala National Forest said they had one opening and might have more in the afternoon. By the time we got there they had two openings and we gratefully took site #30. We have visited the day-use area there before but never camped there. The site was large and on a corner lot with no one on one side or behind us. There is running water, flush toilets, and showers in the bathhouses, but the sites have no electricity or water, like State Parks do. We got set-up and made lunch and then just took it easy for a while and tried to recover from the traumas since leaving New Orleans area. The temperature got nearly to 70 and there was a lot of sun, with warmer temperatures and sunny skies forecast for the next few days. We rode our bikes about 2 miles around the campground and the day-use area and visited the springs, where several people were swimming. Things were looking up as we played some Cribbage sitting under the pines on our campsite before having leftover Red Beans and Rice with salad and cornbread for dinner. The campground was very crowded and a little noisy but we knew it would be much quieter as people left from weekend stays.

Sun. Feb. 22 & Tue. Feb. 24: We made the best of our time at Alexander Springs. Both mornings were spent getting up in a leisurely manner and reading in the warm sun as the temperature rose into the upper 70s. Monday we rode 6 miles of the Paisley Woods Bicycle Trail. It started off a short spur trail through a dense natural woods across the main road from the campground. The trail itself is through a Pine Hammock of mostly tall thin Long Leaf Pines with all their growth at the tops, leaving a clear understory through which we could see a long ways. It is a sandy trail but well maintained with most of the way covered with pine needles and leaves and just a few loose sand patches. Had we known that the trail was so good we would have packed a lunch and done the 11 mile loop, but as it was we went out about 30 minutes and then came back and ate lunch at the campsite. Afterwards we rode back to the Spring and went for a dip in the clear, refreshing water. At the store there we bought a pint of strawberry ice cream and ate half of it on the patio before we took the rest back to the camper freezer. After dinner we built a fire and enjoyed the now nearly deserted and very quiet campground, feeling like we were alone in the forest. I checked out a rustling on the other side of our site and found a large armadillo hopping along with a big bundle of leaves packed between all four legs. She froze when I shined a light on her so I left her alone to continue. I wondered if she was about to give birth and making a nest. The stars shone brightly and it was a lovely evening.

The view over Marv's handle bars

On the Paisley Woods Trails

We call these immature Long Needle Pines "Muppet Trees"

Our large camping site

Marv adjusts to the 72 degree water

He's in!

A Lesser Blue Heron flies over the the aqua water where the springs bubble up

Tuesday was pretty much the same but instead of biking, we took our inflatable kayak to the spring outlet and paddled as far as we could on the crystal clear creek until water lilies filled the waters to the point that it was too hard to paddle. Along the way we saw a large alligator, many herons, a few anhinga, and countless turtles sunning themselves on the logs at the edge of the water. It was calm and peaceful with a stiff breeze riffling the top of the water and giving us a bit of a challenge some of the time. By the time we finished and deflated and put away the kayak we were pretty warm so we biked back to the spring and had another swim. We took their 1.1 mile Timucuan interpretive trail highlighting the plants and their uses of this area where there used to be a Native American village. We both took showers after our hot, strenuous day. Then it was time to start packing some things to leave the next day. We used the rest of our wood for another campfire. When we put away our chairs and the bikes at the end of the evening we found we had ridden the bikes 10.3 miles while in Ocala.