Looking Forward to the New Year
Ahhhhh. A week of cold temps ahead.
When you live in Florida, you pray for the thermometer to drop below 70 degrees. So when sweater weather becomes a reality, you learn to take advantage of it while you can.
We enjoyed our Christmas stay at Fort DeSoto and hated to say goodbye to Christmas, 2000. But as we took down the Christmas lights, and packed things up, we were ready to head north to our next destination.
We decided to take the week between Christmas and New Year's off, and hit a few campgrounds within a 75-mile radius of Clearwater. There are so many places to choose from, and when it comes to finding just the right spot, it becomes a matter of how far we want to drive and what we feel like doing.
We took out our trusty old maps, made a couple of calls, and decided to venture north to Ocala for some hiking in the Ocala National Forest. This forest receives more visitors than any other national forest in the state, with primary access points to the Florida National Scenic Trail.
We were excited at the prospect of hiking with no heat or mosquitoes. For the first time in years, we packed a jacket, hat and gloves. The temperatures were unseasonably cold this time of year, and our trusty meteorologist predicted that temperatures would drop below freezing in the Sunshine State.
As we turned east on Highway 40 off Interstate 75, we started looking for our map to Lake Waldena Resort. We decided this would be a decent place to stay based on two important factors: First I liked their Web site and second, Lake Waldena is built around a nature preserve.
On top of all this, you have to be careful when you make a reservation at a Florida RV park. Since we have a few decades left till retirement, we prefer to stay at state parks or places where there's a lot going on. Many RV parks are designed for folks who like to be fast asleep by 10, and since we're usually looking for a little more than cards and shuffleboard, you have to call all the campgrounds on your list and ask all the right questions. If you plan to visit Ocala and you don't want to stay at an RV park, you can choose from among 3,000 campsites outlined in the Marion County Camping & Fishing Directory.
As we approached Silver Springs, we passed a lot of retirement parks and started getting worried. But when we pulled into the campground and parked next to the office, we got a feeling that this would be a great place to bring your kids for a few days. The lake is rather large and peaceful, and there is plenty of room to swim, canoe or paddle boat. It's just a quick walk to the campground, so you can see the lake rather easily.
OK, so Lake Waldena is more like a mobile home park than a campground. But it has a lake and a great spot for a community campfire, so maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Plus, how can you beat $14 a night for full hookup?
Once we got to the site, we were worried it might be a little too small and close to the neighbors. Our idea of a great spot is to spread out among the trees and enjoy a bit of privacy, but Lake Waldena isn't really set up for that. After we started making friends with our neighbors, however, we discovered it wasn't a bad place for snowbirds and a couple of nights might be kind of fun. Plus, folks made it a point to stop by and introduce themselves, and we enjoyed talking to people who enjoy the RV lifestyle as much as we do.
By this time of the week, it was starting to get cold outside and we were loving every minute of it. We started to reminisce about New Year celebrations from days gone by, when windshields would freeze over, cars wouldn't start, and we slept in socks and sweats. Since we both grew up in the midwest, we had some fond memories of ice, snow and subzero temperatures.
This made the campfires at Lake Waldena especially nice, since folks come to gather in the evenings to swap stories, exchange recipes and retell old war stories. That turned out to be the best part about our trip, and we met some of the most interesting people who had traveled all over the world.
If they weren't enjoying a communal barbecue or hanging out at the campfire, folks enjoyed taking a walk to the rec hall to play pool, cards or shuffleboard. We met a lot of nice people that way, and chit chatted with people about important RV stuff. One old timer told us to keep a few inches of water in our tanks to keep the pipes from freezing. This was good advice to us, since we hadn't really read up on this sort of thing, and temps were quickly dropping over our two-day stay.
On the day of our hike, we stopped by the Lake George Ranger District and grabbed some brochures before heading off to the forest. One of the rangers warned us to be careful, since deer season was in full force through mid-January. We carried some jackets and ponchos, just in case of rain.
As we hiked through the woods, it was really quite beautiful. The woods were much different than other forests, with all its huge palm trees, sand pines and lush oak hammocks. The blanket of pine needles under our feet was comforting, and the light drizzle provided a sense of peace and tranquility. We walked down to the boat launch near Lake Kerr, and it was wonderful to see a piece of Florida we had never seen before.
We headed back to the campground, enjoyed a late supper, and headed down to the campfire to swap more stories and say our goodbyes. We told ourselves we would visit the folks at Lake Waldena again, since it turned out to be a better place than we expected.
