Homosassa, final

Spent the day with Smith.  We went to the big local flea market for breakfast and shopping.  Found lots of good junk.  Bought some more Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey, plus some goodies for the cowboy shoots (cable clamps & 50 cent paint rollers) and small items.  Took Smith up on his offer for washing at his house.  Followed all that up with some casual dining down the road.

About the only remarkable thing was that I noticed something when I got into the truck... there's MUD on it! 

We didn't take a single photo all day, so this is a pretty dull blog tonight.

Heading up to Gainesville FL tomorrow.  We have reservations at a state park.  We also arranged to meet up with David & Gale at a campground in NC on Thursday.  We'll camp with them a few days before making the trip north when the weather is right.  Well, OK, just not snowing.  😎

Homosassa 2

Smith came along for the ride to Gainesville and watched me buy a truck.  Yup, finally found what seems to be the right one.  2013 Ram 2500 diesel.  Looks mighty fine, drives nicely, peppy.  Should haul the camper well.
It took a couple hours to pull all my gear out, red lights, siren, radio etc.
And another hour spent on the paperwork.  FL paperwork is not bad, it was just the financing & insurance.  I was preapproved for the loan so that went easy after we reached someone to talk to. 

The new and the old

Cedars Lake RV Park, Homosassa FL

Got to the park in mid afternoon, nice easy ride.  The park is nothing to brag about, it is a mobile home park/RV park that is mostly permanent/seasonal sites.  They have a few sites that are not presently occupied by the regular tenant and they rent them out for short term.  Three days here and then we'll begin the final trek north.  Planning to meet and camp with David & Gale in NC on the way.

Smith met us here & after some talking we went out to dinner at "The Freezer" for a big basket of shrimp.  Delicious.

Going truck shopping tomorrow.  Who knows, there might be some good pictures tomorrow night. 

This morning a pair of Cardinals were hanging around our camp 

Need I comment?

Cedars Lake camp

So we went to dinner, but guess what Carlene found

Eating "out" is so nice!

Seminole State Park, Donaldson GA

Easy drive down to Georgia.  Pretty uneventful day, which is fine for a driving day.
On our way to Homosassa FL to visit Smith.
This is a pretty park on a nice lake.  Very comfortable. 
As usual the cell service stinks.  It won't let me load any photos.

Lake Lureen 2

Tookk a hike this morning around the end of the lake to the dam and back.  Easy trail of about 3.6 miles.  Saw some ducks and geese again.
The park is very quiet now.  We are alone on Loop C, essentially have a private bathhouse.
Came out to get propane so I'm writing this early.  That way I don't have to drive out to post later tonight.

A unique form of trail hardening.  Yes, shingles, nailed down on the trail.

Lake Lureen, Coker AL

Lake Lurleen State Park, Coker, AL

Kind of an overcast day and it did not reach much into the 60s.  But we got across Mississippi and into Alabama.  Nice state park on a lake, but once again it has no WiFi and lousy cellular internet service.  I am posting this by driving out of the park to find a useable cell.  I have intermittent cell/data but not enough to make this blog work.  Even if it worked it is like filling a tanker with a garden hose.  So I still am not catching up on the two missing nights.  And only one photo of tonight’s camp.  We will be here two nights.

It started out as some of the flattest farm land I’ve ever seen.  Kansas is downright hilly by comparison.  Eventuall that gave way to some low undulating land and finally small hills.  The truck didn’t have to downshift for climbing a hill until noon.  This part of Alabama is nice rolling hills with a mix of farm and forest. 

Supposed to get into the 70s tomorrow and we’ll do some hiking in the park.

Leyton Percy State Park, Sat-Sun

Spent two nights at Leroy Percy State Park in Hollandale MS.  OK park, nice site.  Supposed to have trails but we could not find a map posted anywhere, no handouts and no staff on the weekend.  Nice big locked office.No camp host either.  We were on our own.  And cell service was so marginal that I doubt we could have made a 911 call, no WiFi or internet.  I had to walk out to the gate to send an email.  We like remote most of the time.  We did not anticipate it there.

Spent Sunday touring around Greenville MS.  Found the old part of town, found a levee that runs for many miles up and down the river.

The town says they have a long history with tamales so we found one place open to try them out.  Nothing to brag about but they had a good logo.

Caddo Lake 4, final

Went back to Jonesville to check out the T.C. Lindsey & Co store.  It was worth it, half store and half museum.  A lot of old merchandise from long ago that didn't sell in the day and is now on display.  Plus a fair amount of antique tools etc.  The store is the oldest general store in Texas, has been in continuous operation since 1847 and in the Vaughan family for several generations.  We had a great time talking with them, and of course that started with us living in Jonesville.  Very fine friendly folks.  The elder Vaughan woman, I wish I remembered her name, has been to VT and has hiked some Appalachian Trail.

Ate lunch by Caddo Lake in LA, figured out where we are going tomorrow and made reservations at Leroy Percy SP near Hollandale MS.  Yup, we'll be east of the Mississippi tomorrow night.

In the afternoon we went to the Louisiana State Oil & Gas Museum in Oil City LA.  A free admission with another friendly lady to send us on a self guided tour.  It was after 3 and she was closing at 4 so we didn't take a really long time.  Still interesting and we saw everything we wanted to see.

Follow all that with a walk around the campground.  It seems pretty full tonight.  Yes, it's Friday night and should be more full.  Appears to be a father-daughter group here.  Lots of 10-12 year old girls on bicycles riding all around.  And a lot of men, who generally seem to know each other. 

For those who have been asking, I did not buy a truck.  Still looking.

Yup, DDT

Give me a break, I've only been retired 4 years, some instincts are still strong!  These are some real Classics!

Nice comfy dentist's chair.  I like the spittoon.

Cotton bale

The shoe section.  I remember that shoe salesman's stool

The Oil & Gas Museum

A Waterfront camp site in the closed section of the park.  They had some flood damage earlier.

Caddo Lake 3

Hiked most of the trails in the park this morning.  Nice easy walk.  Not a lot of trail.  Only took a couple hours.

This afternoon we took a drive through the wildlife reserve near here.  Lots of flat woodland.  Also some history.  During WW II Monsanto had a munitions plant here.  By the end of the war they had made some 400 million pounds of TNT at this site.   It reopened during Korea under different management.  It must have had some later use because we found one building with a room full of paper records stacked to the roof.  Some of it had fallen to the floor by the locked steel rail door.  It was from Morton Thiokol in 1986.  It seemed to be 30 year old payroll stuff.
Then on to the Jonesville Country Store, but they closed at 2 so we didn't get to see it.

So goes another day at camp.

 On the hike this morning:

Dogwood tree in bloom

An old CCC pavilion

This afternoon:

The end of the road, looks like it once went through here but the water level is higher

Downstream view

Wisteria

Caddo Lake 2

Spent most of the day truck shopping.  The old Ram is getting pretty rusty, so since we're in the salt-free south I want to look around at another truck.  I've done a lot of looking online.  Found one in Shreveport and got to dickering.  Have not bought it, but still considering it.

Had a hike around some of the trails here at the park when we got back.

Arrived in Jonesville this morning.  Texas that is

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