Hi to all! Nursing is my bag. Flu clinics for me ended Nov. 20th. Yahoo! The H1N1 injections was a nightmare with so many stipulations on who was eligible to receive at this time.
Dec. 1 we began packing for our FL winter trip to camp/timeshare/camp until the spring thaw.
Dec. 6 we were on the road again by 4:30 a.m. heading down I-95 for Salt Springs, FL. Arrived around 2 p.m. after a GPS mess up (my fault) setting up camp on a large corner lot with live oaks and elbow room. We pitched our 2 tents in time as we had light rain during the night. Park Rangers were nice sharing oranges/tangerines picked from the park. YUM! The springs run was full of grasses, turtles, and an assortment of fish. Some souls swam/snorkeled/pulled weeds in the constant 72 degree water. We took our canoe to the Salt Springs Run for a paddle. Water's edge greeting came from a bunch of vultures. Before we got our paddles wet, there to my right were 3 big Manatee's bobbing up/down doing whatever they do. As we paddled we saw a variety of birds...3 cute otters with the sweetest eyes, long whiskers, and heads the size of a kick ball...several fishermen catching Ladyfish...jumping mullet that can only be caught with a net/speared/shot with bow & arrow...and an alligator about 10-12 feet in length. As our week progressed, we rode many hard packed sandy roads throughout the Ocala Forest. The Ocala National Forest is one of central FL last remaining traces of forested land. Here you will discover towering palms, large live oaks and scrubby sand pines dominating the forest's scrub oak ecosystem. Native to the Ocala, the sand pine is the only tree capable of growing to a usable timber size in this forest's dry, sandy soil. The Ocala's sand pine scrub ecosystem is the world's largest forest of this type. There we ran into a bunch of hunters stopping for a chat. I was very impressed to see a woman in the bunch. Being a hunter myself, one does not often see the female gender. Bear tracks down lots of sandy ditches, deer and Armadillo tracks. A pair of golden eagles soared over a low cut area.
While at camp a trailer parked a couple sites from us with nice northern folk. Bobbi and Harry are our type of folk with similar interests. They canoe, ride the trails & Bobbi and I are into handwork, crafts and sewing. She got me going on a new (for me) craft I had tried several years ago without luck. The Knifty Knitter finally created a toboggan for my other half. One night we shared our campfire with our neighbors with them bringing marshmallows to roast.
Then here comes Joe...an 89 y/o NY retired accountant pitching a small one man tent across the road. He had not camped since a boy and needed lots of pointers.
There was talk of a black bear named "Stupid" who would frequent the park about once a week. Park Ranger said the bear would go to the locked side of the dumpster instead of the open side...not able to get a thing. Thus he/she got the name "Stupid".
Dec. 8th we broke camp to drive to Summer Bay Resort...a condo near Claremont, FL. Here we washed clothes, soaked up a few sun rays, soothed our aches in the hot tub and heated pool. Hubby exercised while I exercised my crochet hook. LOL
Dec. 16 was an interesting day at Walmart when our departure was not a GO as we had a very dead battery. Hubby purchased a new battery as this one was at least 7 years old. I think we were driving on a prayer.
Dec. 17 we had some family over for dinner. Menu: crispy shake 'n bake used with mesquite and rotisserie chicken spices to create the tasteful fluffy chicken breasts... steamed broccoli/carrot medley...baked Russet potatos on the side. Everyone smacked their chops.
Dec. 19 was oil change day at Walmart. I enjoyed walking around as we waited.
Dec. 20 checking out heading for Silver River St. Pk., FL, to canoe to see the wild monkeys and Silver Springs along with whatever else that may be available.
Merry Christmas to all.
