Spring Cleaning and a delivery

 

I awaken early, feeling excited about the day! 

No, I’m not looking through a window seeing sunshine and desert views, but this is my first day of spring!  Warm enough to  start on the Casita cleaning and the day Amazon has promised to deliver a few toys!

Our tiny home desperately needs a good bath, some wax and a through cleaning inside. 

I start inside with removing all of the cushions, bed covers and  memory foam laying them out in the driveway to soak up the abundant sunshine.  Have I ever aired them (must be a southern term) before?  Nooo!

This is a good time to display the insert that hubby made.

 

The three sided box is the sun streaming in around the blinds.

We are blessed to be able to sleep together, comfortably, in the small Casita bed.  This insert helps  tremendously as I am the one on the inside, the one that must have some base to be able to crawl over the dead sleeping husband in the middle of the night.

Cleaning the blinds and the spills on the floor were my main objectives, but once started, I realized that there was really a lot that needed attention.  Vacuumed and scrubbed while hubby hung on a ladder washing the top.  Yellow pollen from all the Florida pines was covering the trailer!

Later, while inside taking a break, I heard the distinctive sound of a delivery truck stopping in front of the house.  Excited, I rushed out and met the man in the yard.  (No, we do not often get packages.)

 

RV Sue, (do I really need to post the link?), has partnered with Amazon and has recommended items for camping and home.  This was our first order….many other items are on the wish list and can wait for later.

The sewer hose is on Sue’s list.

The Sleek is something I ran across in Florida…a couple from Maine had one.  They bought it for their wilderness home with a poor Verizon connection and brought it along for their winter escape. 

Not too sure if this is my answer for better coverage….will not be able to recommend it until we go deeply into the Alabama outback next week. 

Plan to add another antenna if it does not do the job!

Before bedtime, I could not wait.  Tore open the boxes and hooked the Sleek up, suctioning the antenna to the glass deck door.  Although we live in the middle of a city, we are in a hole between two ridges and only get 3 bars of Verizon coverage. 

The phone immediately jumped to 5 bars!

(Please excuse photography!  I need to to work on my indoor night skills!)

Plan on one more day of Casita cleaning, then, Alabama here we come!  Can’t wait to see old friends!

Looking Back--FL Trip

What a difference a week (and 500 miles) makes! 

Last Saturday morning the sun was shining, balmy breezes blowing and I was in a tee shirt and shorts.  Cold, icy and low thirties are greeting this  day….I’m wondering if I will have the fortitude to get out for a hike later?

It’s been a difficult week, weather wise, as we have only seen the sun for a few hours.  Trying not to get down in the dumps, focusing on the next trip and promises of 60 degrees next week.

Spent the week going through two months of mail, paying bills, getting hair cuts and reconnecting with our cats, family and friends.  Thank you, Shonda, for being a great foster mom…both of our babies look great!

Another first!  Movies in the morning! After a doctor’s appointment yesterday, at 10:20 AM, we went to see Silver Linings Playbook.  Great show!  Love this retirement thing…

Now the boring stuff!  As promised, gas and lodging expenses have been tallied.  Food costs are about the same traveling as at home with a little less restaurant dining while camping.

We drive a 2002 Toyota Tacoma, pull a 2002 16' Casita and carry two 12’ kayaks on top of the truck.  The kayaks effect our gas mileage…averaging from 15 to 16 miles per gallon.

Total mileage was 3100 miles and gasoline costs were $672, paying from around $3.50 to $3.97 (once!)  We started in the Florida panhandle and went as far south as Venice.  Subtracting our normal (home) monthly expenditure for gas, $150… the trip gas costs were $372.

Camped for 60 nights with sites ranging from $40 (two nights) at Mexico Beach down to $0 at a friend’s house.  We averaged $29 per night for 6 days at Myakka State Park.  The higher fees were paid so we could spend quality time with old friends….a great return for our investment!

We enjoyed ten nights in the Florida State parks with the price ranging from $22 to $29.  Loved the wildness of the parks but felt crowded in the campgrounds and wished they gave some kind of break for out of state senior citizens….FL senior residents camp for half price. 

Thirty-three nights we paid $12 or less.  Our favorite places were secluded and without hookups, Dorr Lake and the primitive area of Salt Springs, both in the Ocala National Forest.  Total cost for camping was $799.00, averaging $13.32 per night.

Also bought a new battery, $98, and one trip to a RV repair, $95.

What would we do differently?  Spend more time camping without hookups, invest in a new tv antenna, get a cell booster and don’t forget to pack the inverter!

What mods did I enjoy?  Our new clothes line and the high rise kitchen faucet.  Had no idea that both would constantly be used!

We have loved our time in the Casita….wish I could make being at home as much fun as being gone!

Come on Spring!  It’s time to get ready to go again!

 

First Timers at Wal-Mart

 

We are home!  And, for the very first time, we spent the night at walmart, something that I have been very hesitant to do!  I’ve been just plain ole chicken, worried that something unpleasant would happen.  In retrospect, we would not have chosen a Saturday night as there was quite a bit of noise with kids partying and engines racing but I never felt threatened.  And all was quiet after a while.

It was difficult to leave paradise….as some of our northern neighbors called Salt Springs…but it was time.  Thought that we could miss the rain if we left Saturday because showers were predicted for FL on Sunday and Tennessee on Monday but I forgot about middle Georgia where it poured buckets on us.

Our last days in FL have been pleasant with beautiful weather and I got involved with something that I never, ever imagined myself doing.  I have said before that I do not do crafts!

 Yes, I made a pine needle basket!  Thanks to Margaret and Nancy and their patience with me!

Unfortunately it took a lot of 3 or 4 days and my blogging and internet time took a back seat.  But you can tell that I am very pleased with myself and got in touch with my (imagined) Cherokee roots.

We had a blue sky and bright sun for our travel today…arrived home at 11:30 AM with enough energy to get most of the important unpacking done.

Searched the yard this afternoon for signs of spring!  I love to see my old plant friends return.  Can’t wait for the warm weather to come and stay.

Japonica

lenten roses

grape hyacinth

A Florida trip wrap up will be coming soon with accounting on gas and camping fees….just need to get some rest and a little TV time.

Spring is Coming: Life is Good!

Today is a perfect warm breezed day at Salt Springs campground!  It’s around 75 degrees and the balmy air is inspiring me to do absolutely nothing!

Here in the northern half of Florida signs of spring are all around.  This dogwood in bloom is a great reminder of the coming April display at home.  The red maples that were budding here in January now have their new leaves and little wildflowers are peaking through the pine needles.  Purple azaleas are displaying full blooms in many of the quaint old neighborhoods.

For the past week we have been in the primitive section of Salt Spring cg roughing it without hookups.  There was no room in the electric section and, surprisingly, the waiting list for electric sites was 3 pages long!

The price is right at $9.25 with the senior pass and the privacy and quiet during the week is excellent!  Surviving the past 3 day holiday weekend is another story!  The campground was full of children screaming, dogs barking, and youngsters partying. 

But they are all gone now and serenity has returned.

This is our last week.  The trek home will start soon…still trying to decide whether just to stay here and enjoy this special place or to leave early enough to explore some places on the way home.

With our current state of mind, we will probably do like the sunbathers above and just stay here.

Resurrection fern and lichens

More Springs and thoughts of home

 

Is it time to go home?  That’s the question that I’m asking today.  The clues are there….I’m tired, impatient and feel deprived.  Two nights ago my husband and I got drawn to a Chinese buffet and gorged like heathens. 

I am missing the news…even though the online stuff looks like nothing has changed except a big blizzard and the pope resigning.  And missing some of my mindless tv programs like Revenge and Nashville.  And missing a good, solid internet connection.

So today finds me in Chiefland, FL’s library….on a perfectly beautiful Tuesday afternoon!  If I am very truthful…I could do what I am doing online in the Casita, but I need a little break from my sweetie….maybe hours more than I have!

So sad that I need my space….he just bought me an early Valentine present, a tiny box of chocolates from Walmart as who knows how far we will be from a store come 2/14?  (Tiny at my request.)

Sunday we left our great little campground at Lake Dorr driving across the state to Manatee Springs State Park joining two other Casita owners camping here.  It has been fun helping one of them get introduced to her new trailer as this is her first outing.

The spring is also beautiful and the short run winds up at the Suwanee River.  But, we are just about springed out and have no interest in kayaking.

 

The water here is deeper than Salt Springs, our normal swimming place, but it does not entice me to get wet.

The Suwanee River from the Manatee Springs boardwalk.

Backing up a little…..our week at Lake Dorr was wonderful.  The privacy soothed me after camping with neighbors too close!

These guys were our neighbors last week.

graceful Sandhill crane

 

We named him Clyde, the Beggar Catbird!

Every meal had him at our side with his piercing eyes wanting a handout.  We don’t feed the wildlife but he was hard to resist!

Another Spring!

Also took a short paddle on Alexander Springs which was less than 10 miles from Lake Dorr…..the pictures are beginning to all look alike.

 

Tomorrow we return to the Ocala NF…hoping to get back into Salt Springs cg, but it may be full.  Not really ready to head back home…the 4 letter “s” word is in the forecast!

Maybe another meal out will make everything better!

Lake Dorr and a new battery

 

After having a great week at Myakka River SP we wondered where do we want to be for the last part of our winter get away?

Don’t quite understand the pull but here we are back in the Ocala National Forest, dry camping at Lake Dorr.  I felt like I had entered another paradise when we drove in on Sunday afternoon.  The camping loop was so quiet, a welcome change from the weekend chaos at the  state parks.  There’s not much here….a campground with about 30 sites, less than third full, and a boat launch with a few picnic tables.  And the big beautiful Lake Dorr.

 

And the price was right!

We looked for a site to accommodate our solar panels….the sites all had sun filtering through the tall pines.

The pines were interspersed with palmettos….the sites were spacious and private and the bathhouse looked new.

This was the first time in a long while that we could leave the blinds up at night….no neighbors!  Above is our back yard.

 

Our solar system had been living in the back of the truck for weeks.  I had wanted to use it but we had electric hookups everywhere that we had been.

We jumped right in and got it set up, but, wait, something was not right!  Last year I always saw a 13.1 V or more coming up on the monitor.  It was reading 11.6! I unhooked everything and checked my wiring…tried again and got the same results. Gave up as the sun went down. 

It was cloudy the next morning and I was through fooling with that cursed battery.  It had been overheating for the past three weeks…once got so hot that my pillow was warm on the bottom!  (Yes, the battery was in a ventilated enclosed area accessed from the outside like most Casitas.)  So off to Umatilla where we found a NAPA store….so far I am pleased.

 

Wish I had bought a new battery weeks ago! 

Update on the refrigerator problem….

It seems that the propane regulator was not applying enough pressure.  We have had great cooling since Gist RV adjusted it.

Currently doing laundry in Umatilla just so I can finish this post!  It really had been a long time since we had washed but a depleted laptop prompted this laundry visit.

Enjoying being close to a few stores after being way out in the boonies for weeks.   Treated ourselves last night and drove five miles into town for a McDonald’s ice cream!  Simple pleasures that we always take for granted, like ice cream and long hot showers, are so much more appreciated after their absence!