We arrive back in
Illinois to spend time with Sharon's brother and sisters. On our travel back
from Florida we learned Sharon's older sister has been hospitalized.
For the time period
April 13, 2017 through May 12, 2017 we have been busy setting up a financial
budget and caregiver services for Sharon's older sister. We also added a new
addition to our family: a 16-year old male toy poodle named Maurice. The poor
little fella had been so neglected due to the poor health of Sharon's sister to
properly care for him and with her blessing, she agreed to let us adopt him.
Initially, he was very aggressive toward anyone that approached him. It took me
three days of loving care before I gained his trust. He soon turned into a
loving pet, eager for human companionship. We nicknamed him “MO.”
Tomorrow another
adventure begins.
Travel Details:
Departed: Oak Grove, KY
Departure Time: 7:00 am
Arrived: Jacksonville, IL
Arrival Time: 2:05 pm
Continuing on our
trip back to Illinois. Normally we like to take our time returning home,
however, we recently learned Sharon's older sister has been hospitalized, so we
are packing in as many miles as we feel comfortable with each day.
Our trusty
Allstays Walmart ONP app provided us with a spot to spend the night in Oak
Grove, Kentucky. This is a 24-hour Walmart, which is what we prefer, for an
added safety factor, while we are traveling. There were a couple of RVs already
there, so we selected our spot and settled in for the night.
Tomorrow another
adventure begins.
Travel Details:
Departed: Graceville, FL
Departure Time: 7:45 am
Arrived: Oak Grove, KY
Arrival Time: 8:00 pm
Miles traveled:
468
Campground: Walmart Store 3362 (Open 24 hours)
Location: 14800 Ft. Campbell Blvd. (Alt US-41)
GPS
Coordinates:
Latitude: 36.66688 N
Longitude: 87.44347 W
Verizon Cellular Service: 4G-3 Bars
Verizon Internet Service: 4G-3 Bars (JetPack)
Dish TV Satellite Service: Excellent Service
Time to end our
2016/2017 winter snowbird adventure and return to Illinois.
We make a short
stop in Panama City to have dinner with our son and his family at the Bonefish
Grill. We say our goodbyes to the family and travel 65 miles north on US-231 to
the Florida Welcome Center. We nestle our trailer in between other RVs and
truckers. This will be our home for the night.
Tomorrow another
adventure begins.
Travel Details:
Departed: Fort McCoy, FL
Departure Time: 8:30 am
Arrived: Panama City, FL
Arrival Time: 3:15 pm
Miles traveled:
326
Departed: Panama City, FL
Departure Time: 7:30 pm
Arrived: Graceville, FL
Arrival Time: 8:45 pm
Miles traveled:
65
Campground: US-231 & Alabama State Line
Type: Florida Welcome Center
Coordinates:
Latitude: 30.9947 N
Longitude: 85.4091 W
Verizon Cellular Service: 4G-3 Bars
Verizon Internet Service: 4G-3 Bars (JetPack)
Dish TV Satellite Service: Excellent Service
April 6, 2017 through April 10, 2017
Salt Springs
Recreation Area
Fort McCoy, Florida
Continuing on our
journey north through Florida we visit another one of our favorite campgrounds:
Salts Springs Recreation Area. This is a beautiful campground located 35 miles
east of Ocala, FL. It is the largest campground in the Ocala National Forest.
featuring full hookups for RV's. Campsites are nicely shaded and well away from
the usually busy day use area.
Campsites are
available by reservation only. Early in the week you can sometimes find a
campsite for one or two nights without a reservation.
The Salt Springs
Recreation Area is home to the salt water springs, with crystal clear water that
is 72° year round. The springs are full of Bass, Turtles and Blue Crabs.
Although alligators inhibit the area, the swimming area is safe and free of
these predators during the day. Lake Kerr is the body of water that connects to
the springs providing excellent fishing. Boat rentals are available through the
Lake Kerr Marina.
The main roads
through Salt Springs are State Road 19 as well as County Road 314 and County
Road 316, both of which terminate at SR-19.
Tomorrow another
adventure begins.
Travel Details:
Departed: Zolfo Springs, FL
Departure Time: 10:15 am
Arrived: Fort McCoy, FL
Arrival Time: 2:15 pm
Campground: Salt Springs Recreation Area
Type: National Forest
GPS
Coordinates:
Latitude: N 29.35822
Longitude: W 081.73215
Camping Fees: $19.50 with Senior Pass
Campsite: 70
Campsite Hookups: Electric, Water & Sewer
Campground Amenities:
Flush Toilets, Free Hot Showers, Water Spigots, Trash Dumpster, Sewer Dump
Verizon Cellular Service: 4G-2 Bars
Verizon Internet Service: 4G-2 Bars (JetPack)
Dish TV Satellite Service: Excellent Service
March 23, 2017 through April 5, 2017
Pioneer Park
Zolfo Springs,
Florida
We spent a
delightful few days at EG Simmons County Park, now we move on to another county
park in Zolfo Springs: Pioneer Park. All campsites at this park are
first-come-first-serve and we had no problem securing a suitable campsite from
the many campsites available.
Pioneer Park is
located in Hardee County at the northwest corner U.S. Highway 17 and S.R. 64.
The park is bounded on the north by the Peace River (popular with canoe and
kayak enthusiats) and to the south by S.R. 64. On the west side of the park is a
manmade 8.5 acre lake and a wildlife refuge. Fishing is allowed on the lake and
the river and visitors can tour the wildlife refuge center for a $2.00 fee.
The
road winding through the park is a popular area for walking enthusiats. On the
east side is a Pioneer Village restoration and Cracker Trail Museum.
We have camped at
Pioneer Park during our past winter visits to Florida and always enjoy our
camping experience here. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of buzzards that
gather here each winter and roost in the trees adjacent to the Peace River.
Every morning between 9:00 am and 10:00 am they depart, soaring in a circular
fashion, as they catch the warming thermals under their long, extended wings.
The thermals carry them ever higher into the sky and out of sight as they
disperse to unknown regions throughout central Florida. Then, at around 4:00 pm they return
in scattered flocks, slowly winding their way in a circular fashion to ever
lower altitudes. After circling for extended periods of time, they locate a
branch on their favorite tree to roost for the night. As the branches on the
trees fill up, late comers attempt to dislodge some of the earlier arrivals.
Eventually, all of the buzzards have returned and found a suitable roosting
site. It is quite an entertaining spectacle to witness these daily
events.
Tomorrow another
adventure begins.
Travel Details:
Departed: Ruskins, FL
Departure Time: 10:05 am
Arrived: Zolfo Springs, FL
Arrival Time: 11:45 am
Campground: EG Simmons County Park
Type: County Park
GPS
Coordinates:
Latitude: N 27.73900
Longitude: W 088.46600
Camping Fee: $107.00 per week
Campsite: A49
Campsite Hookups: Electric & Water
Campground Amenities:
Flush Toilets, Free Hot Showers, Water Spigots, Trash Dumpster, Sewer Dump
Verizon
Cellular Service: 4G-3 Bars
Verizon
Internet Service: 4G-3 Bars (JetPack)
Dish TV Satellite Service: Excellent Service
March 16, 2017 through March 22, 2017
EG Simmons County
Park
Ruskin, Florida
We are slowly
working our way north through Florida as milder weather begins to creep
northward. On this leg of our journey we will spend a few days at the EG Simmons
County Park in Ruskin, Florida. Fortunately, all campsites are
first-come-first-serve and we had no problem selecting one to our liking from
several available.
There are two
campgrounds at EG Simmons County Park: East and West. We prefer the more
spacious campsites in the East Campground.
EG Simmons County
Park is close to Sarasota (39 miles) to the south and Tampa (29 miles) to the
north which is an easy drive to visit both places. In Sarasota we enjoy visiting
the Ringling Brothers Circus. In Tampa we enjoy visiting Ybor City and dining at
the many fine Cuban resturants that encompass this area.
Just a short drive
north of EG Simmons County Park, 7 miles on US-41, is the Manatee Viewing Center
(6990 Dickman Rd, Apollo Beach, FL). It is located just south of the Teco Big
Bend Power Station. Manatees hang out along the warm water discharge canal from
the power station when the Tampa Bay water gets too cold. The viewing season
runs from November 1 to April 15, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
There are
“No-See-Ums” at EG Simmons County Park. They are a family of tiny biting flies
that can be quite pesty at times. They are often just as much of a pest as
mosquitoes. They are attracted to carbon dioxide, therefore, CO2 mosquito traps
can be used to attract and kill them. We have found Avon Skin-So-Soft to be an
effective deterrent to these tiny pests. Fortunately, on this visit we did not
encounter a problem with them.
Tomorrow another
adventure begins.
Travel Details:
Departed: Cedar Key, FL
Departure Time: 9:50 am
Arrived: Ruskins, FL
Arrival Time: 3:45 pm
Campground: EG Simmons County Park
Type: County Park
GPS
Coordinates:
Latitude: N 27.73900
Longitude: W 088.46600
Camping Fees: $18.00 with Senior Discount
Campsite: 103 – East Campground
Campsite Hookups: Electric & Water
Campground Amenities:
Flush Toilets, Free Hot Showers, Water Spigots, Trash Dumpster, Sewer Dump
Verizon
Cellular Service: 4G-3 Bars
Verizon
Internet Service: 4G-3 Bars (Jetpack)
Dish TV Satellite Service: Excellent Service
March 10, 2017 through March 15, 2017
Shell Mound County Campground
Cedar Key, Florida
This is our fourth visit to
Cedar Key. We specifically come here for the “World Famous Clam Chowder” served
up at Tony’s Seafood Restaurant.
Shell Mound County Campground will serve as our
home base while we enjoy our return visit to Cedar Key.
Cedar Key is a small town in
Levy County, Florida. The population was 702 at the 2010 census. The Cedar Keys
are a cluster of islands near the mainland. The Cedar Keys are named for the
eastern red cedar, once abundant in the area. The old-fashioned fishing village
is now a thriving tourist center with several regionally famous seafood
restaurants. The village holds two festivals a year, the Spring Sidewalk Art
Festival and the Fall Seafood Festival, that each attract thousands of visitors
to the area.
In 1950, Hurricane Easy, a
category-3 storm with 125-mile-per-hour winds, looped around Cedar Key three
times before finally making landfall, dumping 38 inches of rain and destroying
two-thirds of the homes.
Hurricane Elena followed a
similar path in 1985, but did not make landfall. Packing 115-mile-per-hour
winds, the storm churned for two days in the Gulf, 50 miles to the west,
battering the waterfront. All the businesses and restaurants on Dock Street were
either damaged or destroyed, and a section of the seawall collapsed.
After a statewide ban on
large-scale net fishing went into effect July 1, 1995, a government retraining
program helped many local fishermen begin farming clams in the muddy waters.
Today, Cedar Key's clam-based aquaculture is a multimillion-dollar industry.
On October 3, 1989, 8,000 acres
in and around Cedar Key were added to the National Register of Historic Places
under the title of the Cedar Keys Historic and Archaeological District.
A cautionary note about GPS
coordinates for Shell Mound County Campground. On our approach to Cedar Key,
westbound on FL-24, our Garmin Nuvi directed us north on Shiloh Road and then
west on what the GPS showed as SW 78th
Place, a single-lane, dirt road. We knew the road to Shell Mound is a two-lane,
paved road so we continued north on Shiloh Road to find a place to turn around.
Shiloh Road is a dead-end road, but fortunately provides a large turn-a-round
area at the end that allowed us to get turned around. Once we got west of Shiloh
Road on FL-24, our GPS guided us directly to Shell Mound.
The correct route to Shell
Mound is to follow FL-24 west to CR-347. Travel north on CR-347 to CR-C326 (SW
78th Place).
Travel west on CR-C326 to the Shell Mound entrance on your right.
Campground:
Shell Mound
Type: County
Park
GPS Coordinates
(actual coordinates at our campsite):
Latitude: N
29.20935
Longitude: W
083.06211
Camping Fees:
Water &
Electric: $15.00
Electric Only:
$10.00
Primitive Tent:
$5.00
Military
Discount: 50% Senior
Discount: None
A 7% Sales Tax
and 2% Bed Tax are added on to all fees.
Campsites:
Water &
Electric: 1 through 12, 20, 21, 23 through 28
Electric Only:
13 through 18
Primitive Tent:
9,19 & 22
Total
Campsites: 28
Campground
Amenities: Flush Toilets, Free Hot Showers, Water Spigots, Trash Dumpster, Sewer
Dump – (RV’s must back up a gravel incline to access dump).
Verizon
Cellular Service: 3G-3 Bars
Verizon
Internet Service: 4G-22 Bars (Jetpack)
Dish TV Satellite Service: Excellent Service
Miles traveled today: 103
Route Traveled:
West on FL-40
West on CR-326
North on US-27
North on US-ALT 27
West on FL-24
North on County Road 347
West on CR-C326 to Shell Mound
Campground
