Never Without Challenges

Should you have ever wondered what we looked like when we were first married, wonder no more!

Although I find it hard to believe that we both once looked like this, and that we took our cats for a studio portrait, the photo evidence is clear that we did!! The Siamese is Benny, named after Elton John's hit, and Wally, whose name I can't begin to remember the reference. And how is it that I am sharing this today? That will come later, but for now, let us return to O'Leno State Park where the weather was mostly gloomy aside from one day that was perfect, albeit cold.

That would be me first thing in the morning after a chilly night. Our tent, on the other hand was cozy and roomy. Note the floor space at the end of the mattress, something we were sorely lacking in the other tent.

Another great feature, just barely visible, is the pockets lining one wall that you attach by clips. It was there that I put my glasses, toothbrush, hairbrush and that sort of thing. Every time we go we learn something new, and in this case it is the rug inside the tent which came in very handy, trapping most of the sand. Bruce found the shelter in the storage unit, and it is great too. We just bought some market lights for this shelter which I suppose we'll have to go camping again soon to test out!

On the one sunny day we rode our bikes to the other campground in the front of the park, glad that we ended up in the one we did as that one is about 1.5 miles from the river, unlike ours which was very close. Following the bike ride, we locked our bikes and hiked on the River trail which circles, well you figure it out. And how is that possible? Well, amazingly, the Sante Fe River flows underground for three miles and here's where it stops before heading underground.

Can you imagine? Seems like a wonder of the world to me, but maybe others do the same? One minute it looks like this,

And then it stops.

That would be Duckweed on the surface of the river and here's something else:

Although we did not count this amazing amount of turtles, a very nice Canadian couple we met did so, and the man counted 50 using binoculars. We traveled through the forest and it always amazes me the downed trees. This one is called a Loblolly Pine with the bark stripped. That link includes an interesting fact sheet with the history of the tree's part in American history.

Speaking of trees, and of course how could you not after having spent three days in the woods, but I digress....the contrast between the live trees and the color of the changing Maples was a scenic highlight for me.

Another beautiful sight is when the sunlight streams through the trees...just magical!

That night I made two small meatloaves in our wonderful camp oven. The sides? Why mashed potato and corn of course; one of Bruce's favorite meals, so much so that if asked what he wants me to fix for his birthday dinner, that's the one!

Note the potato peeler and the larger knife, two items I added to the box. Although Bruce already had both, neither were up to my standards. An OXO potato peeler is the absolute best! I was unsure how the potatoes would turn out using just a wooden spoon, but by golly, they were super good.  We totally snuggled up in our sleeping bag with an extra blanket that night as the temperature dropped to 36! It worked perfectly! As we are learning from experience, the right equipment makes a world of difference.

The following morning the sky looked like this,

and that cloud cover never went away. Reading and walking occupied our day with the reading occupying most of our time for reasons beyond our control. We also did more exploring of the buildings and the museum which was very informative.

One of the neatest things I learned there is that Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame was a CCCer. The town used to be called Keno, however many years ago that was replaced as they did not want to be known for the gambling game of the same name. Before the name change, there was grist mill that used the power of the river with the remnants displayed under a shelter. Seeing these I now understand the term-stone ground corn meal much better.

There are tiny rapids on the river that perhaps are bigger when the water level is higher?

After our nice long chat with the forest ranger we walked back to our site. Another thing we learned from him is that the Park service is the state's only money maker, however, unfortunately they don't re-invest the money in the parks, rather giving it to other departments. If this makes no sense to you, my previous post mentions our conversation and you can read it here. 

Before long, the predicted rain began and unlike our normal summer storms, this was more than three hours long with a steady rainfall. The good news is that our tent stayed completely dry as did we because it is large enough to bring our chairs inside!!

By the time the rain finally quit, it was after 6:00 and we were glad to have leftover meatloaf to use for sandwiches. Because I was wanting something hot in the chilly, wet weather, we ended our night with roasted marshmallows on the fire.

Still gloomy Thursday morning, we made a hearty breakfast followed by breaking down our site. In most of the campgrounds we've visited the check out time is one o'clock which was more than enough time. You would be surprised how quickly it all packs up. 11:00 and the last step is putting the bikes on the back, and that is where things became challenging. Oh my! The next two hours were tense because the back gate of our new Subaru would not latch. Okay, now what? Try again. No luck. A call to our dealer was not much help. Bruce took the rack off as I was using the iPad for locating the nearest dealer located in Gainesville. Calling them, he explained the problem. Somehow, after that conversation, he got it to latch. Whew!! Thank you Google!

Except then it would not OPEN!!! Unreal, right? Here we are two hours from home with two bikes on the ground and a gate that would not open. Meanwhile, I'm roaming with my camera in hand, surprised I'd not noticed the fantastic display of mushrooms on a downed log by our site.

Super cool, right? The symbiotic relationship in a forest is so fascinating! Being in nature just can't be beat, especially if the stars are out at night, which they were for two nights and it was breathtaking!

Okay, back to the matter at hand. Turning back to Google using different search words, I learned that if you held the button in for thirty seconds it would open, and by golly, it did! Hurray. Would it shut again was our next question and somehow it did. You know how long all of this took? More than TWO hours!! By now it was well after lunchtime, so we stopped in nearby High Springs for lunch at a cute place where the food was good.

Had we not spent so much time with the car business it appeared to be an interesting place to mosey. Our sister-in-law sent a message regarding some photo albums she'd been storing that belonged to Mom Peck. Did Bruce or his sister want them? Michele said no thanks, so I said yes which meant driving a convoluted way home to drop by Debary, meaning we got home so much later than we planned, however, it was worth it!

It was a darn good thing there weren't any more albums because the car was jam packed already! Also during our absence a package from Matt was delivered and picked up by our neighbor Connie for safekeeping. Holy Cow, how cute is this?

I'm going to venture a guess that I've not ever had five boxes of Girl Scout cookies at one time, that is if you don't count the time I sold them as a girl! Yum, yum!

During the very gloomy Saturday, I spent hours going through the albums, reliving some of the things she'd done, one of which was swim in the Panama Canal with the certificate to prove it! There was also an album containing photos of the year we lived in California when Matt was a year old and those were sure fun to see. Removing all the ones I thought anyone would want, the rest found their way into the dumpster, a sad ending for sure.

And that, my friends, is how you are seeing the very, very young, Mr. and Mrs. Peck.

your friend,

Gail

p.s. Bruce is at the Subaru dealership as I type. Say it ain't so!

O'Leno State Park

A friend recently sent a message asking if I was stopping my blog and the answer is that I have no plans to do so even though my postings are fewer and farther between. Two factors are influencing that change, one is that I have to be at my computer to post and if we are out and about that does not work. Secondly, with Bruce's retirement, all of my habits have changed and that's a good thing. So keep looking for me in this space as long as I am able!

Sunday evening, after returning from Bunker and Cathy's house, I asked Bruce if he wanted to go camping in the morning? Say what? "I don't think we can be ready that quickly," says Bruce to which Gail replied, "I bet we can!" First was a quick search on Reserve America, the site where you book camping spots. Finding a few open days at O'Leno State Park, near High Springs, Florida, I booked them right away.  Next stop was the refrigerator--was there enough in there to put together three days worth of meals? Why, I think I can.

And so it was that after arising early and a trip to the storage unit for our gear we took off. I know we just went camping, but in the words of a camper we met at the park, "why not go camping?" Indeed.
Does anything about the photo below tell you something?

If you guessed that we took the highway, you are correct. Seriously almost a first, Bruce wanted to make good time as we were getting a little bit of a late start. Even though the campground was about two hours away, he made the decision and who am I to argue with the driver?  You see a whole 'nother side of Florida, taking the turnpike and Interstate, including this massive development going on near Leesburg.

Seriously, it was huge with streets laid out everywhere. Doing a little sleuthing on the web and I'm convinced it is part of an expansion of the The Villages. Don't quote me on that!!

This sort of display used to be very common on Florida's highways...

Perhaps it still is and I've just not seen it because we've been avoiding highways, thanks to my trusty iPad and Google maps? In those days citrus was king and baby alligators were quite the draw, long before the likes of Walt Disney came to Florida! And for your information, those are not stacked fruit at all, instead they are like half moons of painted plaster.

Okay, off I-75 and into the park we go.

Should you be curious, as seniors a night of camping here cost about $11, an incredible bargain in anyone's book. There are two campgrounds in the park, one of which is named Magnolia where our site, #28 is located, and as we discovered on the following day, was the more ideal of the two.

Our upstairs neighbor, Bill, camps frequently by himself as Julie wants nothing to do with camping. He was telling us about his tent and that got us to thinking, perhaps we should buy one that we can stand up in. So, after searching and searching, we ended up buying a new 6 person Core tent from Costco,  a brand we'd never heard of. After reading a bunch of reviews, mostly good along with a few negative ones, we decided to go for it, knowing that Costco stands behind every product. At $129 delivered it was quite the bargain. And as it turns out, the tent was put to the test on this trip. But before we get into that, another thing we purchased was a sleeping bag after Matt chided us for not having one in the cold weather and baby it was going to be cold on this trip. Another Core product, it exceeded our expectations for numerous reasons, one of which is how it hold our pillows in place!

That was a real problem with our former set up as the pillows tended to slide off the end of the air mattress. We are learning as we go that's for sure.

Anyway, another great thing about the new tent is the set up which is super fast. Without going into the specifics, as not to completely bore you, the tent is up, rain fly on and staked in about twenty minutes. Before long we were all set up and after a tuna sandwich that I'd made before leaving home, it was time to explore on my bicycle.

The first thing I discovered at the end of our "street" was this area where there was evidence of a prescribed burn, a term we learned from the ranger on day three. Once called a controlled burn he told us that term is no longer used because, frankly, it is hard to control a fire.

Unlike the Dogwood campground, ours was just minutes away from the main attractions of which there were much more than is typical of most of the parks we have visited. Consider this:

There are many remnants of this time our our nation's history, with this plaque particularly interesting.

Located along the Sante Fe River, it was a gloomy day so between leafless trees and gray skies, well my photos aren't really all that appealing but they are a bit atmospheric. Maybe?

This is the main attraction a suspension bridge that was allegedly built by the CCC.

Allegedly? Well, here's what we learned from that ranger and don't go telling anyone as it makes all of the signage a little suspect. Apparently there was a volunteer who was heavily interested in history and after exhaustive research, he learned that it was more likely built by the WPA, because he could find no evidence of a specific CCC regiment stationed in the park. So, now you know.

On this day the water was quite low, however, according to this post, it is not always that way.

Can you imagine the water rising so much? There is the usual step gathering spot as well as a dock used for jumping into the river on hot summer days.

Returning to our site, Bruce joined me on riding back so he might try his hand at a little fishing. It was a good thing he brought his bicycle instead of his kayak as they were not allowing any boats on the water as it was too low. While I was fishing for photographs, Bruce was well, fishing for fish. Any fish really. Well, before long he caught one and luckily I was still there to document the occasion. 

He called it a Mudfish, which is the common name but the more accurate name is a Bowfin, or so we learned from the brochure he picked up last week. One thing to note is that almost every photo you will see of Bruce camping, he is wearing a denim shirt. He loves nothing more than a denim shirt so all of this camping in cold weather is providing him opportunity to be clad both top and bottom in denim! After letting the fish go, he continued fishing and I went walking seeing a new bird! Not the greatest picture but I'm pretty sure this one is called an Eastern Phoebe. What a sweet name!

Definitely hard to spot in all of that that, however, the Pileated Woodpeckers I saw were anything but hard to spot with their huge bodies and bright red heads. Actually I saw two together however I was so far away, the pictures are even worse than this one!

Maybe one of these days I'll get better at bird photography.

After a lovely fire and French bread pizzas made in our new camp oven, we turned in for the night and were super comfy in our new sleeping bag and a few quilts even though the temperature dropped to 42 degrees.

More camping adventures in my next post but this last part is so I won't forget the neat event we attended on Saturday night at the church. Called Men Who Cook, they do a great job making tables nice and providing lots of yummy dishes, including this amazing apple dessert from David Rotenberger.

Clinton got this thing going a few years ago and looks forward to it every January.

So not only lots of amazing desserts but loads of savory dishes as well.

And a good time was had by all.

I am in the midst of washing the campfire smell out of our clothes and, you guessed it, Bruce is at the church hanging pictures and more. Lots of folks were worried how he would do in retirement and the answer has surprised everyone. He is doing great!!

your friend,

Gail

p.s. While tagging this post, O'Leno State Park came up and that is because we stopped in once in 2013 according to this very sweet post that is well worth your time.  Click on the link to read about Bruce's former life as a very talented and very stressed Project manager! The sad news is that after all of the misery to get those California projects opened, they have both now closed. 

Lunch in Lake City

You might assume that I was all driven-out following the camping trip, however, I was not. Monday morning, bright and early--oh wait, not so bright at this time of the year. I digress. Early, the Pilot hit the road once again, this time headed to Lake City with Gail behind the wheel, and Bruce behind the mobile phone. :)

Our mission: to check off the punch list before the Olive Garden opened to the public.
Timing: Well, it's everything, isn't it?

So, it was that just after 9 that we pulled into the empty parking lot. Me, I noticed the banner hanging stating they were opening for lunch rather than the 4 PM Bruce was expecting. The good news is the list was short, so perhaps it would work after all.

As we got out of the car, a funky green VW Bug pulled in adjacent to our parking spot.

After using their facilities, I left Bruce to his thing, and headed to the car to figure out how to spend two hours in Lake City. On my way out I ran into the occupants of the Bug sitting on the little front porch, or whatever you call it, just outside the doors to the restaurant. Well, you know me, I had to have a little chat, which worked out perfectly, because they were definitely up for a chat! And a photo!

Here's how it went:

Me: I guess you want to be the first to eat at the Olive Garden?

Lady in blue: That's our plan!

Me: You are here pretty early.

Lady in blue: You bet! I've waited 22 years for an Olive Garden to come to Lake City!

Me: Wow!

Lady in blue: I even took my Korean exchange student out of school so we could be the first!

Me: Wow! 

What doesn't show up very well in the photograph are the two dachshunds waiting in the car for the OG to open as well. Pondering this interesting experience, I took off for downtown. Not much there, except for the creative sign, or at least an attempt at one, on the side of the building housing the cafe I visited last trip to Lake City.

Do you see it on the left? Espress Who U R, indeed.

What next? The Lake City Mall, all dressed up for Easter:

Sad to see no folks along with many closed up shops. As I made my way through the Belk store, I remembered how much our Mom liked working for the retailer, however, in those days, and I may be wrong about this, but seems to me the merchandise was better. Now what? Keds, my friends, Keds. Passing a shoe store, I saw a window advertisement for Keds, and decided to check them out. Didn't take me long to say yes to a new pair of navy blue Keds.

Attempting to pay for them with my credit card for convenience sake, the young clerk apologized for the delay saying they were on DIAL UP!! Get a SQUARE folks! Cash is king in that store.

Still not 11, my appointed time to meet Bruce, but with nothing left to do, I went back to the parking lot and found this:

As I sat there, more and more folks lined up, coming from every direction. I have to say, seeing this made me very happy. Closer to 11, Bruce and his superintendent, Jim, came out of the restaurant and we lined up with the customers, a first for Bruce. Twenty years, and many, many Olive Gardens later, he's never once eaten the first meal served at one of "his" new restaurants. Seated by the manager in the bar area, we joined the other happy patrons enjoying a delicious early lunch. Say what you will about OG, but from this experience, I glean that there are still small cities all over the country that are wishing, and hoping, an OG would come to their town. Otherwise, they probably have to eat out at places like the sad litte cafe where they invite you to Espress Who UR! Following our meal,  I noticed the green bug still parked in the lot--they were making the most of their visit!

Let's take the scenic route home, shall we? 

Just outside downtown, instead of heading North on 44, I went South, and what a lovely drive it was. No real traffic to speak of, wildflowers along the highway, and sights like this one:

I pulled off the road to take this, running across the street and once there, stepping right in the middle of an ANT bed!!! Jumping and slapping at my feet (in their new Keds, I might add), I managed to get out of there with only minor bites, and a few blurry pictures! 

Our next stop was O'Leno State Park, a lovely heavily wooded park, filled with all manner of trees and loads of blooming dogwoods. What a treat it has been to go to North Florida this year and see the dogwoods!

The most interesting feature of this park is the Sante Fe River which, if you can believe this, runs along nicely only to disappear underground and resurface about three miles away!!! The suspension bridge, built by the CCC, was off limits as they were repairing part of it.

Following the path adjacent to the river took us through an area where a controlled burn was still smoldering:

Soon we came to this:

And that was that. The river just plain stopped. This looks kind of eerie, and to tell you the truth, it was. Here's a little close-up of the top left of the algae covered water:

Yup--a gator and a turtle! Although there is a swimming area, after seeing this, I'm not so inclined to want to do so.

Onward to our next stop--Ginnie Springs, just outside High Springs. Long ago, along with some other folks, we camped alongside the Sante Fe River at this private park. Here, the river is lovely and wide with some brave folks tubing on what I'm certain is very cold water:

Much prettier, right? There are over 2,000 camp sites! During our short visit I saw loads of them filled with yellow wildflowers.

Plus, no gravel--a very good sign! We're definitely going to return for a longer visit soon.

Are you tired of these little travel posts? I'm not. I want to go more and more places to see what there is to see! Bruce left early Tuesday morning for California. As you might expect, I had loads of chores to do, a bicycle to ride, shopping, ordering, and so on. The Santa Monica Seasons 52 is finally just about done, however, a few snags popped up yesterday, forcing Bruce to stay another day. Now, after all the misery that project has given him, it only seems right that he should eat their first meal served to the public, don't you think? Last night, a final hurdle was crossed at his Century City Seasons. A long- delayed, and I mean long, water feature is finally doing it's thing; Bruce and cohorts ate dinner there to see it in action. Whew--another thing to cross of his list.

Me, I'm thinking of going out to see the Bay Hill Golf Tournament today courtesy of our son Bill. I'd better get moving....