A little more than eleven hours of driving yesterday I now find myself back in semi sunny, but warm, Florida. I actually made it out of Floyd yesterday by 8:00 in the morning. A sad moment to be sure, but like always, there is also a lot of anticipation any time a new trip is starting. Even if it does simply entail driving 634 miles nearly non stop.


   Well below freezing when I left Virginia, and it wasn't until I was clear into S. Carolina before it warmed up above 40, not until Georgia before 50 and well into Florida before it finally hit 60. It felt wonderful. Of course it was raining on and off all afternoon and into the evening, but it wasn't heavy and by the time I pulled into Otter Springs it was down to a fine drizzle. Esmerelda was safe right where I had left her in her spot next to the palm tree. It took about 30 minutes to get her all hooked up enough to take her over to a regular spot in the campground. First off was the need to hook her battery cables back up in the dark, but once done, the front light and the front jack all worked again. I found it a little harder to back up under the lip of the hitch in the dark, but after multiple tries, it finally got close enough and I could drop the trailer down on the hitch, hook up the lights, raise the scissor jacks and pull out.


   Had set up a site to pull into before going north last month, so it was easy to drive the 250 feet or so over to #18 and pull in. A pretty level site, it was easy to unhitch once again, level things up pretty well, and plug into the shore power pole. Or at least try to plug in. The breaker for #18 kept tripping off, but #17 was on the same pole, so it was easy to plug in there instead. Got it all straightened out once I stopped by the office this morning.


    Other than being humid and musty inside, Esmerelda seems to have weathered the separation well. I opened up the doors and roof vents and started up a couple of fans. I didn't get everything unloaded from the truck until this morning, and I didn't get all the truck gear out of the bedroom until then either. Lucky for me though, there was still enough room in there for me to sleep as well as for the spare trailer tire and all the water hoses and stuff. Got all of that stuff taken care of this morning and then took off for Chiefland to do some grocery shopping. I left nothing in the fridge or freezer when I left, so breakfast this morning consisted of crackers and peanut butter as well as a warmed up can of chili. Yum!!!


   The sun is shining at the moment and the temperature is suppose to be close to 80 this afternoon. I'm back in shorts and tee shirt as well as sandals, and it really feels good right now. Unfortunately my sinuses are still clogged, but they are feeling better. Still going to continue to snort salt water for as long as it takes, and hopefully that won't be that much longer. I'm happy to be back in the warmth and the sun, but sadly, I'm missing my friends up north and look forward to seeing them again soon.