Florida Trip 2015

Ocean Pond

We left Georgia two weeks ago for our winter trip to Florida. Our first stop was a Walmart in Valdosta, Georgia. It had to be the busiest 24/7 Walmart in Georgia. We parked far enough back to stay out of the busiest part of the parking lot, but the lot was practically full until about 10 pm.

Our next stop was Ocean Pond Campground in the Osceola National Forests. It is a nice small park with only 19 first come, first serve electric/water sites. Upon arrival, there was a sign that said electric hookups were full. I walked down the street and found one where someone had just left and gabbed it fast.

We made friends with Helen and Ken (both in their 80's). They were from rural Maine and had lots of stories for us.
Before leaving, Sherrian noticed a small puddle of hydraulic fluid on the pad of the rear jack. Having no experience with a leaking jack. I had nightmares that my jacks and slides wouldn't retract. The older fellas in the campground helped ease my fears by telling me a small leak should not be a problem. The leak was at the top of the jack and I could fit in the tight space to see where it was coming from. At any rate, the old guys were right. Everything worked fine and we were able to hit the road.

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Salt Springs

 ​Our third stop is the Salt Springs Recreation Area, about 30 miles from Ocala. It's in the Ocala National Forest. We will be here for one month (over the Christmas and New Year Holidays). So far, we are having a great time! We visited Juniper Springs, had a great breakfast buffet at Bass Champions and visited two flea markets. We also did a short bike ride to the springs in the campground and hiked to the canal that connects to Lake George.The canal is abundant with herons, egrets and turtles. We have yet to see the resident alligator or any manatees. Oh yeah! I almost forgot, Sherrian saw a bald eagle! I am keeping my eye out for a bear, wild hogs and turkeys.
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This is our second visit to Salt Springs and have met many friends from last winter and made some new ones. By the way, we put the jacks down and our leak disappeared!
We are looking forward to more hikes and bike rides in the forest.

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