Rainy Laundry Day

January 30, 2010.  It was raining with a few rumbles of thunder when we awoke.  If you like the sound that rain makes on a tin roof, then you would like sleeping in an RV.  It’s not as loud as a tin roof inside the RV as its muted but even so I like the sound.

By late morning the rain had let up.  However, with the wind blowing through the tops of the trees, dropping the trapped rain water made it sound and feel like it was raining under the forest canopy.

Some kayakers showed up to brave the Big Shoals.  They were four college boys from Orlando.  The river today was at 65.65 ft. above mean sea level.  At this height the white water is tamer than the optimal class III white water level of 62 ft. Here they are moments after leaving the canoe launch.

We received a call from our friends George and Bonnie and we decided to get together for lunch tomorrow in High Springs, Fl.  Because we are planning to leave Monday, we decided today would be a good day to do laundry one last time before leaving Big Shoals State Park.  Although our fifth wheel is prepped to contain a combination washer/ dryer.  We didn’t purchase the appliance.  We still feel its faster just to go get it all done at once at a laundromat. 

We traveled to Stephan Foster Folk Culture Center State Park to do laundry.  Afterwards, we stopped at Fat Belly’s for a late lunch.

Back at the rig, our rv concrete slab was still wet.  Nothing was drying because of the humid conditions.  I was glad I took care of airing up the tires yesterday as I wouldn’t want to be crawling around on the wet ground today.

I decided to to explore a bit in the forest and took this picture of one of the swollen creeks.

Later I cleaned up the John Deer Gator and Joyce parked it at the Ranger’s house as we would not be needing it anymore.  After sunset, I locked up the park, but not before allowing a father and his young son to stay late and watch the bats flying out of the bat box.  The young boy was really interested in the bats and spoke about them while filming the winged exodus.  The father said that he and his son had canoed earlier today down the Suwannee River from about 20 miles upstream from Big Shoals.  

Tomorrow, Sunday, I’ll need to pack up the satellite dish, the bicycles and whatever else I can so that we can get an early start on our travel day, Monday.

White Springs, Airing up the Rig

January 29, 2010.  Another beautiful, partly cloudy day that started off with an early morning rain shower. 

We got out early and did our usual Friday chores around the park for the last time.  We drove the Gator to Little Shoals on Road 1.  You may recall that Road 1, a dirt road which is often muddy, cuts through the forest paralleling the paved Wood Pecker Trail.  I’ve enjoyed riding through the forest on this 4 mile road and the unexpected sightings of deer and other wildlife.  I couldn’t help but think that as we prepare to leave in the next few days that this may be my last time on Road 1.

Back at our rig, we decided to go into town for lunch.  We went to the Corner Cafe.  We enjoyed our meals.  If you are ever in White Springs, the Corner Cafe and Fat Belly’s are both worth the visit.  

We took some pictures of some older homes in and around White Springs on our way back to Big Shoals State Park.  There is a lot of history in White Springs.  The area used to have a thriving turpentine industry, saw mills, tobacco and cotton plantations.  Many of the early 20th century homes are beautifully maintained and/ or restored. 

There’s also a number of old homes in the area that are in severe disrepair.  Many are abandoned and surprisingly still standing.  However, I find them interesting as I wonder about their history.

When we got back, I set out to inflate the tires on our Carriage Cameo fifth wheel. I wanted to get this done as rain is expected for tomorrow, Saturday.  We have been parked for 3 mos. so I expected the tire pressures to have gone down some.  The recommended tire pressure for our fifth wheel’s four tires is 80 p.s.i. each.  I was surprised that the pressure in the tires was only down 2-3 p.s.i. each.  I use a tire pressure monitoring system on the fifth wheel’s tires when traveling.  It monitors the tire pressures and temperature.  The system monitor flashes and alarms when it senses air loss and has adjustable parameters for the air pressure and temperatures.

I had taken the valve stem transmitters off each wheel when we first arrived at Big Shoals as each transmitter continues to transmit and run down it’s battery unless the transmitter is removed from the valve stems.  So after airing up each of the tires, I checked the lug nuts and installed the transmitters.

I then began work on the truck’s tires.  The rear duals have average sized valve stems that are difficult to reach and work with.  Subsequently, I’ve found it’s much easier to get to them if I take off the chrome inserts.  I had aired down the rear duals to 65 p.s.i. each while we were not towing.  However, I aired the tires up to 75 p.s.i. each in preparation for towing our fifth wheel.  I maintain 65 p.s.i. on the front tires.

I use a pancake compressor that is stored in the front storage compartment of the fifth wheel.  This compartment is often used for an on-board generator.  When we ordered our Carriage, we ordered it without the $5K optional propane generator.  We did order the generator prep package.  I’ve left room for a nice quiet gas powered generator.  A purchase we’ve yet to make.

Windy Day, Turtle, White Springs Police Dept.

January 24, 2010.  We awoke to temps in the 60’s.  We had the windows open all night.  The day would prove to be warm and humid with temps in the upper 70's and a strong south wind.

We decided to do our rounds and clean up the park because we had hundreds of visitors from the Ididaride on Saturday.  In the morning several of the cyclists were filtering in to the park with their muddy bikes on racks attached to their vehicles.  We got the chance to talk to some of them.  One group was from Pasco County, Florida close to where we once had a home.  Most were doing the hike out to Big Shoals on the Suwannee River.

On the way back from Little Shoals in the John Deere Gator, we came across this turtle laying eggs.  My limited research indicates it’s a species of Box Turtle.

In the afternoon, I took a ride around White Springs.  I found the City Hall/ Police department. 

It seems the police department is closed on Sunday.  Not exactly a full service agency. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office also has jurisdiction in White Springs.

Like most small towns, I think the White Springs Police Dept. is more of a traffic oriented police agency. 

This small building at one time used to be the police department building.  I've seen a picture when the building was the police office and was painted white.  At that time it had a sign on it that read in black letters; White Springs Police.  

Ididaride, Craft Show and Swap Meet

I was up before sun up, and out the door by 07:30 a.m.  It was a cool 54 degrees and overcast. 

I loaded the handheld blower in the Gator and set out to blow the leaves off the 3 small bridges on Woodpecker Trail and the pavilion at Little Shoals.  I had done all of this yesterday, but wanted to make sure it was clean before the Ididaride cyclist and organizers converged on the area.  The organizers were planning to use the large pavilion at Little Shoals to host the lunch.  As I expected the winds from the night before had made a mess of things.

After returning back to Big Shoals, I met up with Ranger Dylan Shoemaker.  He had met with some of the Ididaride organizers and learned that the bulk of the riders would not be in the Big Shoals/ Little Shoals area till noon when they would serve lunch.

Later in the morning, Dylan and I then set out to check the Long Branch Trail.  Yesterday one of the organizers had reported the 2nd bridge on the trail had been washed out in the last storm and part of the trail was under water.  The trail passes by the canoe launch.  We stopped to look at the river and called to get the latest river elevation report form the ranger station.  The river had risen over a foot again since the previous day and was at 61.3 feet above mean sea level!

We continued our hike to the small bridge.  It had been moved off its concrete blocks before we got here in November.  Apparently organizers had moved it back several days ago in preparation for the event.  However, the recent rain had swelled the creek, and knocked if off the foundation again this time washing away the ramps.  You gotta marvel at the power of mother nature. There was nothing we could do to fix it today.

When we got back around 1030 a.m., Dylan offered to take us to the Stephan Foster Folk Culture Center and the Craft Rendezvous event.  There was a small mix of craftsman doing pottery, painting, leather works etc.  It was one of the smallest craft shows we had seen.  Joyce and I are more familiar with the really large organized arts and crafts events that pop up all over the Tampa Bay area.

On the way back to Big Shoals, we stopped at a small swap meet at the local hardware store in White Springs.  Some of the handful of venders that ringed the small parking lot were selling chickens, ducks, guns, hot dogs and miscellaneous stuff.  Again, smaller than any swap meet/ flea market I had ever been too.  However, I need to keep it in perspective as White Springs is a small town!  

Around noon we stopped at the Little Shoals entrance and mingled with the cyclists and organizers of the Ididaride.   Being amongst all those cyclists made me long for the days when Joyce and I would participate in long organized rides throughout Florida with our friends and fellow cyclists.  I gave my road bike to my son in law when we went full time.  Although we have our tandem road bike and our mountain bikes with us, we haven’t ridden them much.  I have a lot of excuses as to why we haven’t been riding much, but they are just excuses!  It’s something we keep telling ourselves we need to get back into.  We miss our cycling friends from the The Suncoast Cycling Club.  The organizers said that 350 cyclist signed up for the event.  The cyclists were being served a spaghetti lunch.  

Some of the cyclists were bailing out of the event after their lunch.  They reported muddy conditions on the trails and most of them looked worn out!   One of the cyclists noticed my UF Gator hat and wanted me to take a picture of his muddy gator socks!

Afterwards, the three of us stopped at Fat Belly’s one of the three restaurants in town,.  Their pulled pork sandwich is one of the best I’ve had!  

Once we got back to our rig at Big Shoals, it was evident that the number of cyclists completing the ride had dwindled substantially.  We saw just a few at the Big Shoals loop which was the 35 mile mark of the 50 mile ride.  I wanted to take pictures of cyclists on the Long Branch Trail.  However, there were so few cyclists at that time, I grew impatient and gave up.

Later in the afternoon, Dylan and I did the 3 mile hike again to Big Shoals to retrieve the signs we had put out yesterday.  On the way back we walked with a father and adult son from Alabama.  We talked about kayaking as they were kayaking enthusiasts.  They were on their way to Orlando and just took a short detour to see the Big Shoals class III rapids.  I invited them back to our rig before they left to look at the pictures I had taken of the shoals at different stages.  

By 6:00 p.m. I was inside for the night and looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.