2017-6 North Florida

2017-6

High Springs, Florida
White Springs, Florida

October Bend (PPA park)

Before heading out midweek, I'm getting a chance to visit a dear friend in White Springs Florida. John is a premier artist concentrating on painting the many natural springs scenery. We shared stories about a recent friend who has passed on remember all the good times we had when I joined a Florida camping group. Setting me on a course that would eventually lead me to become a full-time Rv-er.

Needing to get my truck tires rotated under warranty work, I also spent the money to get new shocks for the truck. Something I should have done quite some time ago. What a difference good functioning set of shocks can do for a 13 year old truck. Feels like a new truck again. Well worth the $600.

Rv-ers tip: Along with common maintenance on your motor home or towing truck, replacing the air-filter can improve mileage considerably. It's a reminder to myself as well to have this maintenance done more frequently, as I'm now getting a couple more miles per gallon. Spend a little money to save a little money.

Heading out from October Bend Rv park

US-41 (from N Michigan to S Florida)

Distance traveled: 111 miles

long leaf pines and sawgrass

As it turned out, my next campground was even closer to John's house, so we took a day trip to a state park I'd never gone to before, called, Gold Head Branch state park. It's in a very rural area of Florida I'd never visited before. This is one of Florida's early state parks and consists of a deep ravine, a shallow lake that at the time is almost nonexistent and lots of long needle pine trees interspersed over grass and sandy terrain. Nice campsites and cabins, many built by the CCC's years ago.

Cabins built by the CCC's

It was a journey we took to remember a friend, David, since this was the last place he saw before passing on to the other side. Viewing the cabin he last stayed at, I'm sure his last days were filled with serenity and the quiet beauty of the area.

my good friend, John Sterpe, artist, songwriter

Gold Head Branch State Park 

I've mentioned this before in past blog reports but I'll mention it again, I am once again traveling along a section of US-41. It has special meaning to me as the road goes through my hometown of Houghton Mich and ends in southern Florida. Every time I travel on a section of the highway, I feel that much closer to my hometown in Michigan as well is my sister Ann who still lives up there. Tomorrow I will travel to my next destination, The Stephen Foster State Park, and I'll be traveling the entire length on US-41. So Ann, if your out and about tomorrow driving on US-41, know that I am on the same road as well.

Distance Traveled: 30 miles

Goodness, not very far after all, all along US-41. All set up by 1pm, but the a/c 30 amp service kept kicking out. Rangers replaced the breaker switch, but the a/c kept knocking the service out. Finally disconnected the inverter/charger and the power is staying on. I use the batteries/inverter to run the refrigerator while on the road, and I've noticed the charger goes into overdrive to recharge the batteries, even though I have solar panels. It apparently uses a lot of juice. So with that off line, all seems to be working fine. I'll gradually turn on the electric water heater and the fridge over to electric and see if all is working. Till then, I think I'll let the a/c do it's job at the temps are hoovering around 86 degrees today and a tad bit humid.

can you believe these fine folks parked in front of my
truck and camper, as I was told to park here to wait for
my campsite to open up. ps they parked in a handicap site
without having a sticker

painted on an upright piano

inside the carillon tower

a diorama depicting one of Steven Fosters songs,
and me in the reflection

I'm at the Steven Foster State park and will be here for the week, so I'll write a bit more about that in the next blog report.

Additional photos

Gold Head Branch State Park