Home in sunny Florida

So far, so good here at Salt Springs Recreation Area 35 miles east of Ocala. We have been here just over one week and the weather feels good:  not too hot and not too cold.  It certainly is a beautiful campground built by the Army Corp of Engineers.

^{The sidewalk leads to the salt springs that flow at a rate of about 50 millions gallons of salt water daily at a constant 72 degrees.  I love the moss draped live oaks.}
Like so many other federal campgrounds, Salt Springs is managed by a private contractor.  American Land and Leisure does a fine job.  The first day we were here we had an electrical problem and they came and fixed it within 10 minutes of our reporting it. Sandy and I might do a camp hosting stint with them sometime this year at one of they many camps in other states.  We’ll look into that later.

Morning mists can’t hide the three grebes looking for food.

These three guys were also hoping for some food to come their way.

On the property is this mysterious-looking and neglected two-story residence. It seems to fit the image of old Florida.

Ferns are everywhere.

This artesian spring has supplied fresh water to residents for a couple hundred years.  The Schedule 40 PVC pipe is a 20th Century improvement.  The water is cool, clear and delicious.  We re-filled all 8 of our gallon water jugs.  We use this water for cooking and for making coffee and tea.  We usually buy water from the machines in supermarket parking lots.
 
This section of walkway is part of the 45 minute walking trail around the camp.
Yesterday we drove into Ocala to have lunch with one of Sandy’s sister and her husband, Sharon and Chuck Dewey.  They have a Montana fifth wheel and are at an RV park in town.
 
On the way back we saw a sign that advertising Eggs and Citrus.  We drove down the longest, narrowest driveway ever and emerged into a genteel and lightly neglected farm yard with two big labs and orange, grapefruit and cumquat trees around.  We bought about 10 pounds of juice oranges, two grapefruits and two Temple oranges, plus a dozen freshly laid eggs for $3.50.  Wow!

This emu curiously followed us down the farmer’s driveway.













I’ll end with this early morning shot of the salt springs.
Stay tuned.