After deciding to caravan together, Kyra, Louise and I left West tower, Osceola Nat. forest and stopped at Ocean Pond campground to dump our black & grey water tanks ($3). This is a nice campground with some water hookup located on a big pond so no boon docking - you pay a fee. We came over here a few days ago to take showers ($2) and check it out. It fit our needs so this was the 1st leg of our journey today.
We made a stop at Walmart for fuel, groceries and an early dinner. We also wanted to pick up the Thermocell to repel mosquitos and ticks.
Some of our fellow campers were using them at West Tower and they seemed to do the trick along with the home made spray
recipe Kyra gave us. It's a combination of Skin-so Soft oil, white vinegar, eucalyptus oil, and water. This works well, is all natural
and good for your skin too. Just spray it on all exposed skin.
We arrived at Apalachicola National Forest, Wood Lake, after traveling down a long, gravel road that was not in the best shape (this is a gross understatement). I actually had to use the 4 wheel drive on the Tahoe to get through a few of the "puddles".
Fortunately, there were 3 campsites left so we snagged them. There
are some trees here but also sun for the solar panels. After checking in with the camp host, we learned that there is another road to come in / go out on which is shorter and in much better shape. Wonderful!!!!!! All set for another 2 weeks of free camping.
We have spent a few days exploring the area. We checked out the other camping & hunt areas here in the National forest, (Hitchcock, Mack, Revel, Whitehead, Porter). Wood Lake is the best of all of them so we will be staying right where we are. The others are more remote, some nice level sites but little sun (not good for solar) and
NO or very limited cell service (1 G with 1 bar is not good). Take a look at the map.
Kyra & I ventured into Tallahassee for the day to explore, take care of some banking business for me and visit a Pilot travel center. The purpose of this was to take a shower. Since we have limited water in the RV's, we try to go to nearby campgrounds or some where we can use the showers. There's a fee for this but that's better than having to hook up your rig and take it somewhere to dump tanks & take on more water (which costs as well) more often than the 2 weeks we are allowed to stay here. The showers at the Pilot are just like a shower in a nice hotel. They provide towels and soap (you should take your own shampoo and wear shower shoes). The cost is $10-12 but well worth being able to stand under a HOT shower as long as you want. Pilot & Flying J are partnered so same thing applies to Flying J. You can even do laundry if you want. This is one of the things that non-RVer's take for granted every day, along with the unlimited use of electricity. One of the things Rver's (especially full timers) try to do is leave no footprint where you have been. This means you leave a site as you found it, as if you were not there. Haul out all your trash or use trash bins if provided,
disturb as little as you can (whether it be your neighboring campers or the earth). A good philosophy for everyone to follow as far as I'm concerned.
That's all for now. To my RV friends and bloggers, stay safe. To PA family & friends, I'm glad to hear it's warming up in Pa. I plan on being there Mid-May until the end of June. Then I head out west. Love to all.
