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Published: February 27th 2012
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Governors Creek
One of the pocket parks I pulled into to enjoy the view, near Palatka, FL. The signs say "Do Not Touch the Manatees" Sunday February 26, 2012
Eustis FL to Brunswick GA
What a day this turned out to be. I am so glad I ended up at a place with internet service just so I could share the day’s events.
I didn’t sleep well, my hip ached and I just couldn’t get comfortable, and I knew I wanted to be up at 6; I kept waking up looking at the clock, even though my alarm was set, I didn’t want to miss it. Up at 6 and it was cold and dark. I packed up quickly, showered, and was on the road at 8, and that’s a new record for me!
First stop, gas. $3.699, $100 and my tank wasn’t full, it wanted more. GROWL. I travelled north on FL 19 out of Eustis, and it is obvious to me the climate changes when you leave town. Gone are the orange groves, gone are the open fields of horse farms. Now the scenery is miles of pine forests. Then I entered the Ocala National Forest, and more miles of straight roads and pine forests on both sides of the roads. It started to rain lightly; at least it waited until I was unhooked.
Winston was a mess. He paced up and down the aisle, jumped into the shotgun seat, paced some more. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him until I smelled it. His morning poop ended up smack in the middle of one of my throw rugs. And it stunk. And there was no place to pull over on this 2 lane no shoulder road. I drove about 5 miles like that until I found a small store. What a mess. He was very humble. I took him for a walk, yes, in the rain, and left the somewhat cleaned up rug bungie corded to the back platform.
From the Forest website:
The Ocala National Forest is located north of Orlando between the Ocklawaha and St. Johns Rivers. Encompassing approximately 383,000 acres, it is the southernmost forest in the continental United States and protects the world's largest contiguous sand pine scrub forest. Although it is centered on high, dry, central scrub ridges, the Ocala National Forest is rich in water resources with more than 600 lakes, rivers, and springs, including three first-magnitude springs. Each an oasis surrounded by subtropical growth, our springs are some of the finest and clearest in the United States. Visitors can swim, snorkel, and dive in these crystalline waters year-round. Established in 1908 as one of the first National Forests east of the Mississippi River, the Ocala National Forest protects many significant archaeological, historic, geological, and botanical wonders. I have travelled thru this forest before, both north to south and east to west and it is massive. In years past I have stayed at a private ‘resort’ campground in it’s midst, (just so so, nothing special) as well as staying at the Salt Springs Recreation Area (awesome). It is very difficult to get a campsite there; they are gobbled up by long term campers. Even though you can only stay 14 days, there never seems to be an opening for longer than 1 or 2 nights, and then those are very undesirable campsites, next to the bathroom, or very far from the bathroom, or at a busy interior roadway crossroad. There is a beautiful first magnitude spring there. I chose not to stay there this year, been there, done that, have the T shirt, but it’s on my list of places to spend some time again. Daughter Kristine had told me that her friend, Lou, was at a yoga institute in Salt Springs with one of his nephews for a weekend of classes, meditation, and music. After I cleaned up the poop I texted him, thinking maybe we could meet, but his class schedule didn’t coincide with my travels, so I sadly moved on. By this time it was pouring – the wipers were on high speed for a long period.
The Forest ends just before Palatka. I love saying that, it kind of rolls off my tongue. I nice medium sized FL town with lots of stores and restaurants, and wide downtown roads with a very large nuclear power plant very close to the road. Leaving FL 19 behind for another year, I headed north on US 17 and pulled into a few marinas on large lakes, just to avoid the rain for a few minutes. US 17 meets up with I295 around Jacksonville, and I opted for that route, rather than I95 thru Jacksonville in the rain – it’s only about 10 miles longer. Meeting up with I95 north of Jacksonville, I saw a sign for Pecan Park Flea Market. Anything for a diversion today, so I pulled in, parked far away from the buildings by choice – barky Winston, and took a tour. 3 covered buildings, some stalls had semi permanent doors, some were open. What a lot of junk. Nothing redeeming about this flea market. I was looking for something to eat for lunch, hoping for a sausage sandwich. I found a snack stand and actually got a pretty good piece of fresh made pizza. Back to my rig and a frantic Winston in his crate. Next to the flea market is a huge campground, yes, Pecan Park Travel Park. They do a lot of billboard and internet advertising, and I expected a beautiful place, but it was close campsites with big rigs, next to the flea market, and right under the jet takeoff runway from the very near airport. A ‘no’ in the check column of that campground.
I needed more oranges before I left the state, and got off I95 again following the signs to an orange/souvenir stand. It looked familiar, I am sure I have been there before. Remember those oranges I bought from the farmer for $5 for ¼ bushel? Well, here they were $12.95. I declined and just bought 4 oranges and 2 grapefruit, and a bag of very yummy pecan brickle, and didn’t spend $12.95. Heading north, I expected the gas prices to drop a little bit in Georgia. They are the same as FL, and the same as what I paid in Eustis.
I had a decision to make. Should I stay overnight at the Flying J in Brunswick, GA, or spring the $ for a campground. I pulled into the Flying J, and it was FULL of trucks. It was only 3:00, and I thought that parking there at that time of day would mean I would be listening to trucks pulling in and staying on for too many hours. AND, there were no good parking spots left. Even though they had a large store, and a few restaurants, I just wasn’t feeling comfortable. I opted for the nearby campground. When I pulled in I realized I had been here before. First thing – wash the rug!!!! Golden Isles CG used to be a KOA, I can tell that by the way the buildings are shaped and the campground is laid out. Linda in the office charged me $29 for a site with cable TV and free wifi. I am glad for both, as I must see the Oscars tonight and participate in Gina’s FB group chat. The Comcast cable is great, but the stations are very limited; I was finally able to figure out what channel ABC is. My wine is ready, my snacks are ready, and so am I.
The weather is lousy again for tomorrow. Figures, my time camping on the beach will be rainy. Thank goodness I have my yellow slicker and winter crocs! I will still walk the beach!
Now, no internet for real until I get home, so KAT OUT for real this time.
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