It is warmer than Ohio

So it has been chilly off on and on here in Florida but I watch those Ohio weather reports. Any day that the dogs can still get me out the door to walk is more than I could imagine me doing in the Ohio temperatures.

The last full day at the Stable/campground near Santa Rosa beach was spent walking down a very quiet, foggy beach.  When you can't really see the distance it is harder to judge how far you have walked.  The dogs did not care they kept encouraging me.

Back at the ranch, er barn, the bouncy castles had been brought out and inflated for a preschool pony ride, bouncy castle birthday party.   It still seems a little over the top for a birthday party but then I know that many children's parties are more involved than even this....

The view across from the RVs still carried the peace and tranquility of the environment.   Those preschoolers weren't my responsibility to chase down and protect

I arraigned to back out on the trails with just a guide so that we could go farther and on some of the less traveled trails.   Don't get confused by that white stuff you northern folks. We are surrounded by sand.   

The dogs and I pulled out on Sunday and because it was expected to rain all day anyway, I decided to drive straight through to the campground which is about 30 minutes south of Gainesville.   It was a long day of grey wet interstate driving.  The traffic didn't become an issue until just west of I-75 and never really stopped just slowed way down.....   I arrived just after dark but knew where the campground was in McIntosh and friends Carol and Liz came out in their rain coats to welcome me and help my road weary brain make some "how am I going to park in this site, decisions.   The dogs got to come out once and quickly empty bladders and do other important dog things in the rain with promises of long walks the next day.  They are so trusting.

Dog walking around McIntosh means walking around the small town and enjoying the architecture of a past era with the giant live oaks to back it up.    The cranes waiting hang around the gate while I watched an arm and bucket throw out patiently awaited feed.  Never really saw the person just the arm and the patient birds. 

Sportsman Cove is what many of us would call a "rustic" RV park but the price was/is right, the dog walking around town full of visual candy and complete with a couple of friends to go kayaking or in general ready to hunt up "fun" like teenagers at the mall.   And for the record, Carol won the card game, though Liz will say she was still recovering from the effects of her colonoscopy sedation.   It wasn't like we were asking her to sign legal papers or at least not any that she has a memory of signing.....:-)

A couple of shots of the worthy dog walking streets of McIntosh.

We drove over to the Silver Springs State Park to have lunch with another friend from the WomenRV group.  This is a beautiful park in Ocala.

Carol, JudyB (her rig in the background), Liz and Irmi, who we picked up from her campground up the road so she could join us.   Yes some of us have some jackets and/or sweatshirts on but notice no gloves and our lips are not turning blue.

 We tried to walk off part of the lunch and made the mile plus walk down to the Silver River.

We then drove over to what used to be the a commercial park complete with glass bottom boats, wild animal displays and amusement rides. The animals are gone but the glass bottom boats still run and give close up views of many of the springs.

The old pavilion curves around the headwaters of the river and you can imagine it filled with little gift shops and touristy places.   The potential is there to be a vibrant destination once again as it probably was 50 years ago. 

Yesterday, Liz and I escorted JudyB on her first kayak paddle.  We may need to go back because Irmi had another commitment and had to postpone her acceptance.

This guy was just hanging out trying to catch some warm sun beams.

Judy just wanted to take a closer look.  "Just trying to stay warm. Nothing to see here. Just glide on, ladies."

Remnants of the old amusement park, historical "villages"..... 

Driving JudyB back to her camp site, were informed to travel carefully past areas that were undergoing "controlled" burn.  Seeing fire burning and smoldering through the undergrowth helps dramatize the insidiousness of fire.  Even knowing this was a controlled burn we appreicated how carefully all those hot spots and smoldering piles had to be monitored and would have to be completely found and put out before the firemen's job would be done.   

Today we drove over to Salt Springs Campground in the Ocala Forest. It is very nice and is far enough away from Ocala to allow some longer term winter campers.   Carol and Liz rode over to meet another Carol, that I had only met once in a parking lot in Carolina Beach State Park, NC, over 5 years ago.   Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?   Carol and her husband have a beautiful Airstream and have done some extensive work camping in New Mexico. They travel with their kayaks and they shared their recommendations with us for many of the springs and rivers in this area of Florida.

Liz and I are planning to revisit the Silver River soon and do the longer down river paddle from the headwaters to a public access point farther down stream. There is a benefit of traveling with two vehicles and the ability to provide your own transportation back and forth.  

Paddling down the Silver River feels like a meditation on life and finding balance.  Best self seminar......

Back on the Roads Again and Again

The last blog entry was back in July and I promise you I have not sat home all these months.   There were dog shows here and there, a GTG in Kansas back in September and a trip to Charlotte and Savannah around Thanksgiving.  And now the pups and I have completed our winter escape of Ohio and have found warmer temperatures here in Florida.  From the temperatures my friends and RV acquaintances are posting from the Southwest I think my decision to travel to Florida this winter was a sound one...so far anyway.

Here are some pictures from this past summer. Some came from my iPhone and some from my camera so I am not worrying over much about chronological order.  

There was that weekend that both Audrey and Daisy collected majors at an AKC show.

In August the girls hit the UKC show in Lexington and picked up wins towards their UKC Grand Champion titles.  Along the way out of the 6 shows, Audrey took one Reserve BIS while Daisy, not to be out done, took one Reserve BIS and one BIS.    By November the girls had both completed their UKC Grand Championships. They both also appear to be ranked #3 in the Top Ten of their breed for 2014, which actually is more reflective of how few English Cockers Spaniels were shown in UKC shows this year than the great number of dogs they beat.   But they don't know the difference.

Daisy was not above borrowing other talented handlers to help her collect her wins in AKC.

Stuart stayed out of the limelight most of the time by concentrated on his volunteer work listening to the children read to him at the library.

Stuart also tried be pretend that he was above the riff raff and opportunists that circled in the kitchen at the thought of "something" being dropped during "dog camp" when Izzy came back to visit us for a month along with Daisy.  Izzy's Pappa Bill and Mamma Lyn worked on getting moved into their new house and the girls concentrated on attending a clutch of dog shows.

Izzy often wanted to  remind Audrey and Daisy that they better appreciate the fact that she gave up her retirement on the couch and had to put up with all this grooming fuss so that she could attend the UKC shows and assist their run for points.  Her daughters may have beat her every show but she still had the wiggliest butt in the ring.

In September I headed off to spend a week in Kansas with friends from the WomenRV.com group. This is just one of the pictures.  The dogs saying things like, "Hey, didn't I meet you last year in Southern California?"   Crazy ladies traveled from both coasts to attend.

Sometime soon I really do need to update the rig picture here on the blog......She has finally decided to call herself Beatrix....the Wanderer.....    And aren't these COE sites fabulous and all for the $10 "Old People" prices.

There were gatherings for visiting and food.

There was time for kayaking and checking in with children who wonder where their mothers go when they say they are going to Kansas.   

Just so happens that the city of Council Grove had a bunch of "Lady Night Out" shirts left over and sitting around the Chamber of Commerce office.   For $10 the theme seemed to suit most of us.  It also helped the locals keep track of us.....not that they should have worried. Much.

Several of us had opportunities to share with Catherine the mental health benefits of planning for retirement.....

When back at home Stuart found time to take his sister for a walk around Lebanon so she could observe any changes in the couple years since she left to become a Kentucky dog.

Blondie and her daughter Izzy position themselves on top of the dog crates.  (That much closer to the tubs of dog food....) "Who us? We wouldn't try to get that lid off, promise. It must have been one of those pesky young girls."

At Thanksgiving there was a quick trip to Savannah, but since I have taken bunches of Savannah pictures before I didn't bother with many this time.   

I also did not take pictures of Thanksgiving dinner at Kate's and Lucas' new home in Charlotte, NC.  Enough to say the food and company was great and their new home has what all of my RV friends wish for....the flat driveway with electric available.

Leaving Ohio on Christmas day, Stuart, Audrey and Remi spent a day visiting Lexington and walking around the Kentucky Horse Park.  From Lexington we landed in our friend Mitch's drive way in NE TN, for two nights and a chance for Stuart and I to see if we had the stamina to keep up with Mitch on her walking routines.   We did.

From there we took two days to travel on down to the Escapees park outside Mobile, AL. After one night there we drove closer to the coast to our wonderful piece of heaven, Arnett's Gulfside Trail Rides, Stables and Campground.  It is a Passport America park with only a small handful of full hook ups sites in the back.  Not fancy back there but very quiet and the management is wonderful. If the smell of barns and hay and horses are a pleasant thing for you, I recommend the place.  The campsites are right next to the edge of the state park and hiking trails run right out the back into the piney woods.   The beach is only 3/4 of a mile down the highway. No excuses for not walking dogs.

Audrey has learned to be a pretty good hiker with her Uncle Stuart.  If Remi walks with us he usually walks immediately behind me.   On deserted trails he can follow off lead.

"Don't worry about the  Panthers out there, Remi, the Bobcats will probably take you down first" 

This picture is for my daughter, Kate, who appreciates smaller tracks over the broad trails that I like..... The coated dogs collect less "baggage" on the wider trails.   But Stuart will take me down all of them. He doesn't care about coat issues.

Unfortunately there have been wild animals in this part of the park.....leaving their trash behind.

Beatrix and the little white thing that follows her everywhere.

And the beach....

"Wait. I remember this stuff!" woofs Audrey,  "Didn't I decide that I like it last winter?  Remind me."

This one is available if you what to spend some additional money working on protecting the supports.

Or we could just go in and share expenses for this one. I am thinking coffee over looking the ocean in the morning might be meditative and I don't usually even drink coffee.

New Year's Day crowd beginning to gather for the Annual Plunge.  Many thought to come in costumes.  I am sure that helped keep them warmer.  We left before the crowd got too deep.

And, yes, I took a trail ride.   I later came back and took a two hour ride Saturday with just the guide. It was a lot more fun and the trails were much more interesting because she didn't have to worry about the general public and the children.

I ditched the puppers for one evening and met up with a friend from RVing and Facebook. Alice has taken up the Christmas decorating hobby.  Really you can get this far in only three years of collecting!  Retired folks have to keep busy.   It is especially fun if you like glitter! 

 Coming back after dinner, you realize what draws all the neighbors and the children to come past Miss Alice's Christmas House.    What you all missed are the stories over dinner of where all the reindeer fly off to in the windy Florida storms and the visual of Alice collecting errant decorations from the neighbor's yards.  There were also a stories about undependable and useless helper elves.  

So tomorrow we hook up the Honda and take to the road again and head towards Ocala where I have been warned that temperatures were in the 80's today.   I have enjoyed the beach walks and am now ready to go find some kayaking lakes/rivers.