November 9-15, 2014

Gold Head Branch SP, Keystone Heights, FL

Sunday-We woke up to cooler temps this morning.  It warmed up a little during the day but it was still cool enough to need a light jacket when I sat outside reading in the late afternoon.

We discussed going for a walk “in a little while”-but we never did.  Lazy, lazy day.

Monday-Monte went off to work at 7:30 while I stayed snugly under the covers until 9AM. 

I spent a very frustrating few hours on the computer researching health insurance plans.  With open enrollment fast approaching I wanted to compare plans to the current plan I have.  BUT our wifi is so slow-several times I got the “page cannot be displayed screen” and it ended up taking me 4 hours to do what should have taken less than an hour.  SHEESH!

Tuesday-I discovered something interesting this morning when I went to unlock the door so I could take a walk.  IT WOULDN’T OPEN.

I was still sleeping when Monte left for work so he locked the deadbolt.  Well it turns out that if you lock the deadbolt with the key from the outside it cannot be unlocked from the inside.  So I was stuck inside until Monte came home at 1PM.

He felt awful when he came home and I told him I had been stuck inside all morning. 

In the late afternoon I took a walk down the road that dead-ends at Lake Johnson-well what used to be Lake Johnson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is hard to believe that one could actually launch a boat from here. 

Hey, what do we have here?  Sweet!

 

 

Instead of walking back the way I had come I took a trail that lead down to Little Lake Johnson.

 

I noticed deer tracks-they looked fresh. 

 

 

 

When I reached a clear path up to the road I took it-I would have liked to take the trail as far as I could around the lake but I hadn’t brought any water with me and I was getting thirsty. 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday-

While Monte was working I prepared our contribution for the volunteer Thanksgiving pot luck dinner beginning at 6PM.

 

 

 

 

I got all the ingredients out for my Chocolate Lasagna aka Sex in a Pan that included chocolate pudding, crème cheese, cool whip, sugar and milk. 

 Ideally the dessert should be placed in the freezer for an hour to set but the pan is too large for my freezer so I settled for placing it in the fridge for a few hours.

At 5:30 we headed over to the rec center. 

We were among the first guests to arrive so Monte’s help was solicited to help carve the turkey. 

 

 

 

 

There was so much food. 

 

 

 

 

 To say we overate is an understatement. 

Thursday-

I rode my bike down to Sheeler Lake and took the path down to the water.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also went down the stairs at the ravine and took the same trail Monte and I had hiked last week.  It is two miles round trip. 

 At the one mile point I opted to take the short trail leading to the road and walk back along the road. 

While I was walking a movement on the road caught my attention.  It looked like a moving turd.  Upon closer inspection I saw that it was a moving turd-being pushed by a beetle.  Too funny.

Friday-

We drove 20 miles to the closest Walmart and WinnDixie to grocery shopping.  Having to travel so far to grocery shop is one of the things we had to get used to since taking to the road.  When we still lived in our bricks and sticks house we were spoiled having nearby stores-the closest supermarket being within walking distance.

Saturday-St. Augustine

We got a fairly early start on the hour drive to St. Augustine.  Having lived in Florida for many years, Monte and I have visited St. Augustine many times, separately before we met and together since we met.  So we weren’t really all that interested in doing the touristy thing. 

The main reason for our trip to St. Augustine was because it has the closest Camping World to our location.  We wanted to purchase a Hydro Life Water Filter Kit. 

We will be work-camping at Little Manatee River State Park during the winter months.  We know from our last stint at the park that the water tastes awful.  We estimated we spent $5.00/week for bottle water.  The filter cost us $74 so it will only take four months to recoup our money by not having to buy bottled water.

Our route to St. Augustine took us past farmlands and beautiful streets with lush canopies. 

 

 

 

 

After crossing the bridge over the St. Johns River we made our way to Camping World. 

I managed to get Monte out of the store within 30 minutes (that is amazing considering in the past he has typically spent a couple of hours just walking around.) And another amazing feat was that he only bought the filter and a kit to fix the waste ball seal in our toilet that is leaking. 

As we were pulling out of the Camping World parking lot, Monte noticed there was a Gander Mtn. store.  He asked if I would mind if he took a walk through. 

 I stifled my groan and said, “Sure”. 

I was going to say that I would wait in the car reading but thought better of it-I knew if I waited outside Monte would lose track of time and I might be sitting in the car for an hour.

A half hour later we were on our way to the historic section of St. Augustine. 

 

 

 

We figured since we were in the area we might as well hang out for a couple of hours. 

 We were lucky to find a metered parking spot in front of the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.  The parking rate is $1.50/hour.  We thought two hours would give us plenty of time.

The Bridge of Lions spans the Intracoastal Waterway connecting downtown St. Augustine to Anastasia Island.  The bridge got its name because of the pair of Medici marble lions that guard the bridge.  The drawbridge was up to allow sailboats to cross.

 

 

The Castillo was built by the Spanish to protect their empire in the Americas.  Construction began in 1672, making it one of the oldest standing structures in North America.  Although the fort has undergone many renovations over the years it appears today much as it would have looked at its final completion in 1756. 

 

We timed our arrival at the fortress perfectly because we only had to wait a few minutes for the firing of the cannon by re-enactors in period dress.  The blast was loud despite my covering my ears with my hands.  And immediately the air was filled with the smell of smoke.

 

 

Monte showed his National Parks Senior Pass at the booth (a savings of $14) before entering through the Sally Port, the only entrance to the fortress. 

We stopped in at the book store so I could stamp my passport before taking a quick tour.

 

 

The sound of drums caught our attention as the period dressed re-enactors passed us.

 

 

 

 

We only spent a few minutes up on the bastion because it was quite chilly and windy.

 

 

Still having over an hour left on our meter we decided to take a walk around downtown past shops and restaurants. 

 

 

We also stopped in this magic shop just in time for a free show.

 

The pizza displayed in the window looked good but we had pizza last night so we passed.

In the early days of old St. Augustine, pirates haunted the waters surrounding the city and their influence is still evident in some of the shops.

 The delectable aroma of fudge drew us into this shop but we resisted the temptation to buy any of the exquisite chocolates.

 

We were fooled by this “mannequin” until I noticed a slight movement. 

Sure enough he was real.

  Monte had to get a closer look at what was on his phone.  He was taking pictures of the surprised expressions of the people passing.

Monte being his goofy but loveable self:

 

 

 

Some of the other shops:

 

 

 

 

We made it back to the car with just a few minutes to spare on our meter.

Our next destination took us across the Bridge of Lions to Anastasia State Park.

We passed on going to the lighthouse because we had already toured it a couple of times in the past.

 After introducing ourselves to the ranger on duty and telling her we were currently volunteers at Gold Head Branch SP, we requested a pass to take a quick drive through the park to check it out for possible future work opportunities.

The ranger informed us that because of its location, Anastasia is a very popular park and there is a long waiting list for volunteers.

We took the main park road that ends at the beach parking lot. 

 

 

We also checked out a couple of the campground loops. 

Before leaving the park we found a couple of volunteer sites.  Both areas were a little tight for our size rig but we thought we could fit. 

On the way home we stopped at Subway for dinner.  By the time we arrived back at the entrance to Gold Head Branch SP it was pitch dark making it seem much later than 7PM.