Tuesday, Oct. 23rd
Shortly after Hurricane Michael hit we got a call from the campground in Eastpoint, FL (which would have been our stop during this leg) telling us that they were cancelling our 2-night reservation because the campground had some damage and no electricity. They were putting our deposit in their “house account” for a future stay. That’s an interesting tactic. I would have thought a refund to our credit card would have been a more appropriate response. They’ll get a phone call from me on that once they actually have power restored.
So with that stay being canceled, it gave us an opportunity to get in touch with a company in Lakeland, Florida that does the install on the Bigfoot (hydraulic) leveling system. We reached out to them and they could do the install while we’re in Florida, but the gentleman who owned the company wanted to see the rig first to be sure he could properly do the installation. So we scheduled a trip down to Lakeland so Roy (sweet older Southern gentleman) could see the 5th wheel, and give us his opinion.
We left Freeport, FL in the morning with some clouds and spotty rain. We traveled east on I-10 to Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs, FL in route to getting to Lakeland. You probably won’t remember (we certainly didn’t!) that Stephen Foster was an American composer who wrote “Way Down Upon the Suwannee River” and made the river famous. As you may have guessed, the state park is located on the Suwannee River. Big surprise. Mr. Foster’s other famous songs included “Oh, Susanna” and “Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair.” There’s a museum that can be toured (we arrived too late in the day to take advantage of that). But, there’s also a bell tower (with a 97-bell carillon) that played the Suwannee River song at about 4:00 in the afternoon. That we did hear. Rather amazing! Apparently other songs can be heard at various times throughout the day. The park was gorgeous. Huge live oak, a spacious natural setting for the campsites and trails to be explored. Perhaps more beautiful than the Taj Mahal campground we stayed at on Mustang Island… and it was all natural. We were only here for one night, but would definitely come back again and explore the area more fully!
Wednesday, Oct. 24th
We headed south on 75 to Bigfoot Leveling in Lakeland so Roy could check out our rig and see if he could switch out the landing gear for the hydraulic version. Lo & behold he can. I won’t tell you what the price is because it’s embarrassingly high. It’s like owning a second home with the requisite repair bills. Bigfoot Leveling was in an industrial park at a dead end road. We made it down and into his fairly small parking area. Then I’m wondering how are we ever going to get out of here when he said “I’ll direct you out.” Thank you Jesus. We scheduled our appt. for Mon., Nov. 5th when we’d be dropping off the RV for 2 days to be worked on. But, for now, it was time to head to Sanlan RV Resort for the night, located in Lakeland. Big place with a golf course, pool, bocce courts, shuffle board, rec center, bike trails somewheres although we couldn’t see them, and not a whole lot of charm considering what they’re charging per night. But they did have a great laundry facility so we were able to get all our laundry done.
Thursday, Oct. 25th
Today we headed back north on 75 to Silver Springs State Park campground. We had to make the detour to come down to Lakeland to check on the landing gear issue and now we’re back on track with our original plan of spending three nights at this state park near Ocala. We follow directions to what we think is the campground and instead land at the wrong entrance which is to the State Park (not the campground). Luckily there is a big parking lot to turn around in and we drive back down and out and get to the campground (which by the way is very poorly marked!). But, the campground is great. Large sites under large live oak trees. Very nice! Silver Springs was made famous back in the 50’s/60’s with having several movies and TV shows filmed here including several James Bond films, Tarzan, and the television series Sea Hunt to name a few.
Friday, Oct. 26th
We had scheduled an oil change and tire rotation for the truck so we were out early to Ocala to have that done. Ocala has trademarked the tagline “horse capital of the world” and I guess with over 700 thoroughbred horse farms throughout the area, they can claim that. By late morning the truck was all set. I had reached out to our former neighbor, Wayne, who had sold his home over the summer and had just recently moved to The Villages (55+ community) near Ocala. We met him and Diane at their new home at the Villages in the afternoon. A beautiful home! They’ve been there all of a week so they’re still settling in and buying furniture. The home is only a few years old and the inside colors are lovely in a soft blue/gray with white accents. High ceilings and the furniture they do have looks splendid… being a mix of traditional and contemporary. We’ll look forward to visiting them again when they’re all settled in! The Villages is huge with a population of about 100,000, although it’s broken up into different neighborhoods so doesn’t feel overwhelming. Within The Villages you can shop, dine at a variety of restaurants, play golf, see a doctor…. basically you don’t ever have to leave! They took us out to dinner at the Arnold Palmer Country Club Restaurant…. delicious food, lovely atmosphere and wonderful conversation with two terrific people! A fun evening for sure, and we can’t thank them enough for letting us barge in on them so soon after their arrival!
After that we headed back to the state park where we’re camped. The gate was down but we had a passcode to get in. You always hold your breath hoping the passcode will work, because if not it would be a very looooong walk to have to leave the truck and hoof it… in the dark with creepy crawlies. When we were checking in the day before, the ranger had explained about using the passcode after-hours to gain entry into the campground, and she had said “You can always get out of the campground. Just pull up to the gate and it will open, because it would just be creepy if we locked you in at night.” Yep, that would be creepy. And, yes, the passcode worked fine.
Saturday, Oct. 27th
We planned a quiet day today of sticking close to the state park and enjoying what it had to offer. Gary cooked an omelette for breakfast in the morning then we headed off to Silver Springs State Park (the part that wasn’t the campground) and toured the grounds and took a ride on one of their world famous Glass Bottom Boats which have operated in one form or another since 1878. As one of the largest artesian springs ever discovered, Silver Springs was Florida’s first tourist attraction (dating back to the late 1800’s). The springs are a natural phenomenon where vast underground caves and caverns form to hold water. Silver Springs has a constant temperature of 72 degrees with crystal clear water. The depth varies and because it’s so clear, it’s very deceiving. It appears more shallow than it actually is. We saw fish, something called eel grass covering the river floor in many areas, and our favorite, manatee. We were lucky enough to have 7 or 8 sightings. A rarity this early in the season. We saw a baby and her momma. Apparently the mommas weigh far more than the males. Maybe because they carry their baby for a full year and when the little one is finally born it weighs about 300 lbs. That’s a big baby! We had a fun tour with a knowledgeable guide.
Tomorrow we head south to Hobe Sound near Jupiter to link up with family again!
