Sunday, June 05, 2011

Chilling

White Springs, Florida

Well after a lot  of work, we finally rolled out at 2:30 pm  yesterday. 

It was stifling hot at 100 degrees and we were ready to get out of the heat.  Thank goodness for the generator.  It allowed us to keep the motor home cool after we unhooked the power and got the toad hooked up. 

I followed behind Al in my Honda Cr-v.  We intend to sell it, but as with several other items, we didn’t want to sell it until after we knew we were going to close on the house.  In the meantime, we’ll be taking 2 cars with us.  It’s not the preferred plan, but we just didn’t have the time to mess with trying to get it sold. 

As we drove slowly drove off our property for the last time, I shed a couple of tears.  I have no regrets, but it did bring up some memories.  Fortunately, I have tons of pictures.

We headed east on Hwy 84 towards Valdosta, Georgia, then south on I-75 to the little town of White Springs, Florida. 

The state park ( Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center) is one of the nicest of Florida’s State Parks, and we have been wanting to stay there.  I didn’t want to make reservations though, given our history with reservations.  It looked like they had quite a few vacant sites, but I decided to just call them on the way and verify.   I kept calling, and calling and never got an answer.  In the meantime, our generator quit on us under load.  With the high temps, we knew we needed to be able to get in and hooked up quickly to keep the cats and ourselves from heatstroke.  We decided to go to “plan b.”

Our “plan b” was a private campground we had seen a few years ago.  We just needed some place we could quickly pull in and hook up the electricity with a minimum of effort. We are at Lee’s Country Campground.

We drove in, paid the $17.50 Passport America price and were led to a very nice shady, pull through site.  It’s sandy, but level and plenty long for the toad and the Honda.  There are two washers and dryers right across from our site in an “open air” setting.  I’ll take some pictures of the campground today.  It’s a very nice, clean place and we think we’ll just hang out here for several days.

We intend to do a lot of relaxing while we’re here, but we did need to do a few loads of laundry.  First thing this morning we walked across to the laundry area.

My first thought was, open air = critters.  Need to be careful of the scariest creature on the planet. 

Alligator's, sharks?   No, I said the scariest!

I carefully opened the lid for the washer, ready to run if anything came at me.  I surveyed the situation and found nothing.  I stayed on guard though, just in case.  I could sense trouble. After I put the clothes in the second machine and was setting it, I happened to notice this terrifying creature stalking me.  I know he was just waiting for the right moment to make is presence known.  I ran off screaming like a girl,  and Al knew immediately what had happened. 

green tree frog by washing machine

Yep, the dreaded Florida tree frog!

I think I’m psychic where frogs are concerned.  I always seem to know when I’ll likely find one.  It looks like Al will be taking the clothes out of the washer.

I want to thank everyone out there in blog land for all your good wishes.  We finally got it done and are so  happy to be “on the road.”  I want to especially thank  Jim and Sandie for your sacrifices in doing the celebrating we were just too tired to do!  It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it, right?  Sorry you had a headache celebrating for us.   We were in bed last night at 8:45.   There was no celebrating going on around here.  Just exhaustion!  Tonight, however, will be a different story!

 

BTY, if you hear in the news about any perverted activities going on at a rest area along I-75 south of Valdosta, Georgia….I can explain, but not today…I’m tired of writing!

14 comments:

  1. Okay, now you've got my interest peaked. Perverted activity???

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  2. Wow been so busy I missed you leaving. Congratulations on going full time, What a great start to a new phase in your lives. We ca't wait. Hope you get your laundry done, tree frogs are everywhere in the south.Maybe you should be heading north toward cooler climes for a few months and then head to Florida. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

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  3. Wow, I didn't realize you had just sold! Congratulations! And, yes, we're very close by, your side of Lake City near Falling Creek Falls.

    I will also be standing by for details of said perversion.

    Roxanne

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  4. I thought about celebrating again for you last night but then I came to my senses. Perverted? Definitely need to hear about that one. Glad you found a nice place to just unwind for a few days. When we left MT on our first day, it was snowing and we were trying to outrun a terrible snow storm. With me in a wheel chair with a broken ankle, really exciting. But we stopped at a rest area and did our freedom dance. So enjoy.

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  5. Yep, you've peaked all our interest. Perverted, hmmm very,very interesting..... Congratulations on finally getting out there on the road!

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  6. Sounds like a scary critter to me. Never saw one up close and personal, thank goodness.

    We aren't going to Fort Desota. The park had some recent bad reviews and mentioned low hanging tree limbs, trees that have been hit, etc. So we are heading to Maderia Beach KOA - will drive 2 miles to the ocean to let the kids play in the sand and then return to swim in the pool. We like our satellite and wi-fi too.

    By the way, if you want to stay on our lot for awhile, let me know so I can tell you about the water and electric turn on stuff.

    So glad you are finally able to be "chillin". We'll be "celebrating" your escape tonight in your honor.

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  7. That is some tease in the last paragraph! Can't wait to read the story.

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  8. Like the others, I'll be waiting to hear 'the rest of the story'.

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  9. You definitely have my curiosity up!! Waiting for Part II of the story!

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  10. Congratulations, you did it!

    Poor little frog, probably been waiting for someone to rescue him. Little tree frogs are just like little pets, they won't hurt you.
    It's when you came across an alligator, snake or scorpion that you need to worry.

    Happy Trails on your new journey, Penny, TX

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  11. They use to call that kind of ending a cliff hangar. Congrats on finally being on the road full time!

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  12. I guess that we'll have to pull in at the first rest area that we get to when we finally make the FT leap. I really did laugh out loud. Safe travels.
    Syl

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  13. Congrats on the closing and hitting the road. Enjoy your trip through FL. Kick Now just kick back and enjoy.

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