What a difference a half a day makes
On Friday morning we arose in Valdosta, Georgia to an outside temperature of 19 degrees. Exactly the same temperature as it was when we left Lapeer. So far, our pursuit of warmth had been a big failure.
We hooked up the trailer and departed Valdosta headed, we hoped, for better weather. In just a few minutes we were in Florida and almost immediately the outside air temperature indicator in the Tahoe started climbing. We quickly made our way to 40 degrees and by the
time we reached the Florida Turnpike about noon it was a balmy 60 degrees. By the end of the day we were at 69 degrees.Everyone who lives here was apologizing for the “cold” and we told them it was just fine with us.
When we arrived at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Florida, we found that instead of being in the full service campground, we had been booked for a River Campground site that had electricity and water, but no sewer service. It is a beautiful spot, but we will be using the camp facilities more than usual to preserve tank capacity on the trailer.
When we arrived at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Florida, we found that instead of being in the full service campground, we had been booked for a River Campground site that had electricity and water, but no sewer service. It is a beautiful spot, but we will be using the camp facilities more than usual to preserve tank capacity on the trailer.
This is what passes for “primitive” camping in Joan and Jim’s world: No sewer, no Internet and no cable TV. Backing the trailer into Space 96 was another test for me, which I passed on the third try. Very tight quarters, but once in we decided it was beautiful and well worth the sacrifice of sewer connections.
Last year we stayed in the park in the Pine Grove Campground (which due to a hurricane is suspiciously empty of anything resembling a pine tree or grove for that matter) which has beautiful new facilities and all the appropriate hook-ups.
We leveled the trailer hooked up what service we did have and I found a bunch of local television stations using the old fashioned antenna method. We don’t plan to watch much television anyway, so it wouldn’t have been a problem if we couldn’t find a signal.
About 5 p.m. we tried the park shower
s and found them to be warm and adequate.
Joan made me my favorite dish – weenies and beans – and we were truly happy campers. We took a quick walk around the River Campground loop and determined that the park is full, probably owing to the 3-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
s and found them to be warm and adequate.Joan made me my favorite dish – weenies and beans – and we were truly happy campers. We took a quick walk around the River Campground loop and determined that the park is full, probably owing to the 3-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
After dinner, I did the dishes while Joan finished cleaning up from her shower and at 6:30 p.m. we headed to my Aunt Judi and Uncle Pete’s home in Stuart, Florida for a short visit. Pete’s sister, Jean, is visiting from Texas so we got to meet her as well.
It was especially fun to make this visit because the last time we were here in April I weighed 80 pounds more than I do now. It was my Uncle Pete who expressed concern about how big I was getting in his own gentle way. As I recall he said: “What the hell are you trying to do, kill yourself?” But hey, it got me thinking and working on getting in shape, so I owe him a lot.
We returned to the campsite about 10:30 p.m. and we crashed. Aunt Judi has big plans for us for the week. Because I’m using my aunt’s computer the posting of pictures will have to wait until next Thursday when we arrive in Key Largo.
Beginning mileage: 53153
Start time: 8:35 a.m.
Arrival mileage: 53509
Arrival time: 2:58 p.m.
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