Croom Tract, Loop A

We were back out to the Withlacoochee State Forest today to hike the last of the three loop trails in the Croom Tract.  Loop A is 7 miles in length with a short, quarter mile connector trail from the parking lot.  Again, Tony and Diana were out there with us.  We’re liable to make hikers out of them yet.

Posted this photo yesterday and have now decided it is Yellow Star Grass

We learned many things before we ever got started on our hike.  The parking lot is the same one we’ve been using for all the Croom Tract hikes.  It’s located on Croom Road at the fire tower.  It’s a very large parking lot with a nice restroom and drinking water.  There is also a picnic area and across the street is a small campground.  There is a $2 per person day use fee to use these trails.

While we were still in the parking lot getting our things ready for the hike, a forest service truck pulled up.  Naturally, we chatted with the driver (John) for a few minutes and he was just full of information.  Perhaps the most important thing we learned was that there is an annual pass available at the District Ranger office (and maybe online) for $30.  The pass is good for up to 7 people per car.  We’ve spent more than $30 in day use fees already.  That will be something we’ll definitely purchase next winter.

Gopher mounds

He also told us that the large mounds of sand we’ve been seeing on our hikes are made by gophers.  We saw plenty of them today.

Thanks to you readers who confirmed our suspicions about wild hogs being responsible for the damage to and around the trails.  John verified that, as well, and he also said that armadillo will also root around in the sand.  The places we saw on our hike on Thursday I feel sure were made by hogs.  They were too widespread and too deep, I think, for it to be the work of armadillo.

As it turned out, John was the person who had laid out, built, and maintains the trails in Withlacoochee State Forest.  He told us how many miles of horse, biking, and hiking trail he had built during his 25 year career with the forest service and it was phenomenal.  Of course, he has volunteers who help maintain the trails now, but still it is quite an accomplishment.  Way to go, John, and thanks a million.

John was so interesting we had to drag ourselves away, but, alas, the trail was calling.  Besides, it was chilly this morning and I needed to get moving to warm up.  We crossed Croom Road for our trail and headed down (literally) the connector trail to Loop A.  We did our hike in the clockwise direction.  At the junction with the connector trail and the Loop, is a backcountry camping area.  It is very large and will accommodate many tents.  There is one picnic table, but several fire rings with logs or benches for sitting.  There is no privy and no water, but it is only a quarter mile to the parking lot with the restrooms and drinking water.


This hike was different from the other loops in Croom Tract in that there were several short hills we had to hike over.  Everything else we’ve hiked in this area has been essentially flat.  The hills were different and offered a little change of pace.  We hiked through mostly pine forest.

Our excitement of the day came at lunch.  We found a shady spot and spread our out ponchos to have a clean place to sit.  While we were enjoying our lunch, a couple of hunting dogs trotted down the nearby horse trail.  We didn’t see any sign of their owner, but they were obviously well cared for hunting dogs with tags, collars, and GPS tracking devices.  A few minutes later one of the dogs came back to investigate what we were doing.  He was a cute little thing and though he checked us all out, Gene was his favorite.

A mile or so down the trail after our lunch break, the other little dog showed up.  There was no sign of her brother and she followed us all the way back to the parking lot.  Since she too had a GPS, her owner was waiting for her when she came out of the woods.

We added the feather from Gene's hat to the dog's collar.

Since we had gotten free coupons for blizzards at the FMCA rally last week, we deemed it necessary to stop by Dairy Queen on our way home.  Another great ending to a successful hike.

That’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Upper Hillsborough River Trail

Today we drove south to the community of Zephyrhills to hike the Upper Hillsborough River Trail.  This trail is 4.6 miles one way through the Upper Hillsborough River Management Area.  The Hillsborough River runs through the area and the trail roughly parallels the river, but it is nowhere near close to it.

Since this is an out and back hike, it is possible to park either at the northern end or at the southern end.  We chose to park at the northern end (near the junction with CR 54 and CR 35A) because that was closer for us.  There is no parking lot at this trailhead, but there is plenty of room to park on the shoulder of the road.  There is a parking lot at the southern end (on CR 535) which will accommodate about 8 vehicles.

The trail is blazed orange with a short three-tenths of a mile blue-blazed trail from where we parked the car to the junction with the main trail.  Florida Trail Association maintains this trail, as they do all the trails we been hiking in Florida.  So far, our experience has been great.  The trails have been well marked and junctions with forest service roads well signed.  The trails have been cleared of debris and vegetation has been cut back leaving the trail easy to follow.  The volunteers have done an excellent job.

Hard to tell from the photo, but the ground has been all dug up.
We can't figure out what kind of animal is doing this.

The Upper Hillsborough River Trail is a different story.  Within the first tenth of a mile we were confused about which way to go.  There were blazes in both directions.  By looking at the map, we were able to determine quickly we needed to turn left.  We almost missed the junction with the main trail after three tenths of a mile.  There was no double blaze nor a sign indicating we had arrived at the trail junction.  We just happened to notice a Florida Trail sign that was turned perpendicular to the way we were walking.  It clearly marked the trail junction, but only if you were coming from the other direction.

The trail is barely visible through the palmetto

We were glad to have our long pants on to save our legs
from the overgrown vegetation.

The trail was very twisty for the first mile and a half.  There were plenty of blazes on the trees, but they were not always visible from one blaze to the next.  Often we had to stop at a blaze and one of us would wait while then other scouted for the next blaze.  Usually, the treadway is very evident on the ground, but this trail was so overgrown and apparently gets so little use, we often couldn’t see the trail.

There was a lot of small limbs and palm fronds on the trail.  We took the time to move some of the smaller stuff off, but that did little to make the trail more visible.

Saw a couple flowers today, but I have no idea what they are.
I need to get a Florida wildflower book.

We walked through a few small areas of live oaks, but the trail mostly ran through saw palmetto and low scrub.  Our heads and upper bodies were out in the sun most of the day.  We really appreciated the slight breeze that was blowing.

At the 1.6 mile mark, we got to cross a railroad track.  We haven’t done that in a long time.  This was an active track, too.  We heard the train whistle several times during the day and saw the train on our return trip.  The trail also stayed close enough to the road that we heard a lot of traffic all day.  At one point the trail passes under the approach for the small Zephyrhills Airport.  We saw many small commuter planes pass overhead.  Had to be careful planning those potty breaks.

Crossing the railroad tracks.

This area is open to hunting on the weekends and we crossed several roads the hunters use to access the area, but unlike what we’ve seen in the Withlacoochee State Forest, these roads were not signed.  I think this trail may be closed during hunting season.

We got to the southern end of the trail a little after noon.  There was a picnic table there which would have been nice for lunch, but it was in the full sun.  We opted to spread our ponchos on the ground under the shade of a few live oaks.  After lunch, we retraced our steps to the car.

I’m gonna have to say this was a difficult hike.  The trail was hard to follow and we crossed several large areas that had been dug up by something.  If we came across an area like this in the Smokies, we’d say wild boar had done the damage.  I’m not sure if they have wild hogs here or not, but something had definitely torn up the trail.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Winter Chores

During the winter months of January and February is the time we set aside for the “winter chores”.  These are the chores which are hard to get done during the rest of the year when we’re busy traveling and hiking.  They include the cleaning out of drawers, cabinets, and closets, washing and waxing the rig, off loading things we haven’t used in a while, and various other tasks and maintenance jobs.

Gene is making progress on washing and waxing.  He’s gotten the roof washed.  Well, maybe that’s not much progress, but it’s a start.  I’ve cleaned out drawers and cabinets, but will make another pass to see if we can reduce that 300 pounds we’re over weight.

Gene’s project for today was to paint our step.  It hangs out there in all kinds of weather.  Not only does it get very dirty, during the year it starts to rust at the corners.  A good cleaning and fresh paint has been on his list for some time.  The step looks like new with one coat of paint.  Another will be applied tomorrow.  Sure hope I remember to step on the stool when I go out the door rather than on the fresh paint.

Also on the agenda for today was to get Peanut’s blanket washed.  Like the laundry facilities in most campgrounds, washing pet blankets is a no-no.  One of our neighbors recommended a laundromat in Bushnell.  We loaded up all the laundry bright and early this morning and headed to town.  With Peanut’s blanket, an afghan, the sheets, plus our clothes and towels, I had 4 loads.  It’s almost a miracle to find 2 free washers in the small laundry facility here at the park.  I decided to avoid the frustration by doing it all at the laundromat in town.

The laundromat was awesome.  It was new--new building, new equipment.  Everything was very clean and everything worked.  But this was Monday, wash day all across America.  It was packed.  I got my laundry in because there were about a million machines, but it was difficult to walk between washer and dryer for the number of people milling around.  Plus it was expensive.  I paid double what I would have at the campground.  I’ll have to take Peanut’s blanket up there, but I won’t do my regular laundry there again.  Nice is nice, but dollars are dollars.

Our resident Florida sandhill cranes.  They're a handsome couple.

We enjoyed visiting with friends at the Super Bowl Party.  There were some mighty fine chillies to be sampled, as well.  It’s hard to eat just a few bites of ten different chillies.  There were a variety of other snack foods also which resulted in that stuffed and bloated feeling.  Emma’s mama asked for the recipe for the 7-layer Mexican dip.  Here’s the abbreviated version of what I sent her.

First layer--bean dip
Second layer--8 oz sour cream mixed with half package of taco seasoning packet
Third layer--guacamole.  I make my own, but store bought is fine
Fourth layer--grated cheese
Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh layer--chopped tomato, sliced or chopped ripe olives, and sliced green onions.

Yesterday, I served it in a baking dish, but a 10 or 12 inch round serving platter makes a nice presentation.

We’re excited to welcome Lady Dyna Rider as our latest follower.  She and her husband, TM, are dreaming of retirement in 2015 when they’ll be traveling in their 5th wheel.  Thanks for tagging along, y’all.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Back at Sumter Oaks

The rally is over and we’re back at Sumter Oaks in the same spot we were in before we left.  All the same neighbors are still here.  It’s like old home days and it’s good to be back.  It’s especially good to have electricity again.

Hawthorne of some type, I think.  Spring is happening.

The last thing on our agenda before leaving the rally was to have our motorhome weighed.  I was pretty nervous about how that would turn out.  Since we live in it, it’s about as full as we can get it.  Besides all the stuff we have, we’re stocked up on groceries, as well.  The pantry, refrigerator, and freezer are FULL.  We emptied what little bit of fresh water we had left, but all of the fresh water we had used was sitting in the waste tanks.

We were pleasantly surprised with the results.  We were only 300 lbs overweight--all of it in the front.  The rear axle was perfect at 5000 lbs on each side.  Been wanting to do that for several years so were glad to have to opportunity to get it done.

Found this in the trail this morning.  The nickel gives you some sense of the size of the snail.

This morning we both needed a little leg stretcher.  We tried to walk as much as possible at the rally, but still only had about a mile and a half for the week.  We were anxious to find a trail to hike, but with other things on our to do list for today we wanted something short.  The 3.5 mile Silver Lake loop at the Croom track was perfect.

Notice the vultures in the top of the tree.

Just drying their wings, I guess.

We actually parked on the loop where the trail crossed Croom Rital Road which was only a few miles from our campground.  There really isn’t an official parking lot there, but the shoulder on the west side of the road is very deep and the grass has been cut.  There is room for 4 or 5 cars.  The Florida Trail crosses the road from the east, then crosses the Withlacoochee State Trail (a paved rail-trail conversion great for biking), then enters the woods.

This area is under water in wet weather.

Part of our hike was along the orange-blazed high water trail and another part along the blue-blazed low water trail.  Since there are drought conditions in Florida right now, we were able to make a loop using these two trails.  During wet conditions areas of the low water trail would be under the Withlacoochee River--not a place I’d want to be.  Today, however, we were able to enjoy the walk through the cypress knees and view the river well within its banks.

The trail passed a canoe camp and this sand beach.

Withlacoochee River

To help us enjoy the super bowl, there will be a chili cook-off this evening.  Several are bringing chili and the rest of us are bring goodies to go with the chili.  I’m taking that 7-layer Mexican dip.  I rarely have leftovers when I take it anywhere.

So, I guess I better get busy and get the dip made.  Thanks for tagging along.

More FMCA Fun

The fun continues here in central Florida.  The weather has been just perfect for the rally.  That was a big concern for us, but we needn’t have worried.  An RV is somewhat like your car; sitting in full sun, it can heat up in a hurry.  Although cats love to be warm, locked up in a sweat box isn’t healthy.  Parked on a runway in full sun, 80 degree temperatures each day, and no electricity to run the AC was a concern.

The temperatures have been in the low 80s each day and we are definitely in full sun, but there has been a wonderful breeze flowing through our open windows to keep the air inside moving and more comfortable than it would have been otherwise.  Plus, we were parked with our awning side to the afternoon sun.  The breeze wasn’t so strong that we couldn’t deploy the awning to keep the sun off the side of the coach.  Things have worked out great.

There are a few renovations we’d like to make in our small motorhome so we’ve been attending the renovations and upgrade seminars.  There have been three; all pretty much the same but presented by different vendors.  If your can dream it (and pay for it), you can do it.  There is no job to small or too large--the sky is the limit.

We have a couple things in mind.  One, which happens to be the most popular renovation of all is removing the carpet and installing new flooring of some type.  The new vinyl tiles are attractive, easy to care for, light weight, and don’t cost an arm and a leg. The other thing on our list of changes is to get rid of the sofa and have some type of computer desk installed along with a Euro chair.  We’re still rolling that idea around in our minds because the sofa is our second bed which we use from time to time, especially when one of us is sick.  Plus, it has a huge amount of storage underneath.  It’s gonna take a lot of hard thinking to give up storage.  Anyway, we learned what we are thinking about is possible, got a few other ideas, and all three seminars were well presented.

Gene also went to a seminar on fixing stuff with glue.  In the hiking world, duct tape is the fix it medium of choice.  There is a saying out there that 80% of all problems can be solved with duct tape.  It’s hard to convert a duct taper to glue and Gene was just not impressed.

The big rally event for Thursday was the parade.  All parade elements were present--color guard, fire truck (in this case an ATV), candy throwing (along with a few Mardi Gras beads), old cars, and horses.  That was fun.

After the parade, Tony and Diana came by and we drove into Brooksville for dinner.  From dinner, the day went downhill rapidly.  The low tire pressure monitor light came on in the car.  Gene pulled into the nearest parking lot to check the air pressure.  Down to 12 pounds in the front driver’s side tire.  He opted to change the tire instead of calling for roadside assistance.  The changing went well, of course, because he had many helpers.  Tony, Diana, and I had loads of fun; Gene not so much.

This morning he took the flat tire in to be repaired.  It was the same tire that was damaged on the Dempster Highway in Yukon last summer.  Now there are two patches in that tire.  At least the changing of the tire was in a clean, well lit parking lot, not on the side of a gravel road 300 miles from civilization with grizzly bears roaming around in the woods.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

FMCA Fun

The rally got into full swing yesterday.  There has been plenty of activity on our runway.  So much so that this morning when we went out we were surprised to see motorhomes stretching along both sides almost to the end of the pavement.  There are three runways being used for parking.  If they’re all as full as ours, there’s a crowd here.  However, most people who mention the crowd in conversation seem to think attendance is down.

We start our days off with free coffee and donuts.  As you might imagine, that’s a popular place in the early morning.  While coffee and donuts are being served, the Frustrated Maestros perform.  We sip our coffee while we listen to the performance.  The problem with that is that you have your coffee in one hand and your donut in the other.  If you have a powdered donut, powder gets everywhere.  This morning, I had powder from the tip of my nose all the way down the front of my navy blue shirt and on down to my shoes.  At least they were white.  Then I had no hand to brush it off with.  We noticed there were little puddles of powder on the chairs and all around the floor.  By Saturday, it’s gonna be a real mess around here.

Coffee and donut tent

Gene is onto electricity.  He had that multimeter class with Mike last week and he attended the Basic RV Electricity seminar yesterday.  He’s spent more time talking with the RV medic about electricity than anyone else.  He bought the book and read all about it last night.  We may not learn anything else at this rally, but we’re gonna have electricity down pat.  He did report that the seminar was very good.

The Frustrated Maestros is composed of the band

And the singers.

We spent much of the morning today walking through new and used RVs for sale.  We’re not interested in another RV, but I like to look at what’s out there.  Gene does it because I want to.  There were a couple of well used coaches that were fun to go into.  One was a 1976 GMC.  Restoration had begun, but there was still plenty to do.  The $20K price tag was attractive, though.  My favorite was a 1994 Prevost.  It has been very well cared for, only about 50,000 miles and a price tag of a mere $119K.  Sweet.

1976 GMC

Inside the 1994 Prevost

Just pretending.

We’re parked about as far away as we can be from the seminar and vendor tents.  It’s not a problem and we’re enjoying the walk.  There are golf carts and shuttle busses running constantly, so getting a ride is easy.  Yesterday afternoon Gene was walking back from the seminar and must have looked pathetic because the “handicapped” cart stopped to give him a lift.  I thought that was pretty funny until this morning when the same cart stopped to give us both a lift.

Strolling the vendor tent

That’s it for now.  Thanks for tagging along.

Set Up at the SEA Rally

We got a slow start this morning.  Having only a 30 mile drive to the rally location, there was no need to get in a big hurry.  We finally left the campground about 11 AM.

The Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) Southeast Area (SEA) Rally is being held at the Hernando County Airport in Brooksville.  We are now parked on one of the runways.  I thought this was an old airport not in use any longer, but I can see the tower out my window and there are planes landing and taking off on other runways nearby.  It’s a little intimidating.  Surely, they know were here.  I take comfort in the fact that there are a couple hundred RVs on this runway with us.

We are in full boondocking mode and are enjoying that so far.  We can, if we want, run our generator 16 hours during the day.  It’s always nice to have that option.

I was impressed by the guys who volunteered to assist with parking.  They all have on plenty of orange--orange vests, orange hats, some even with orange shirts.  Reminded me of our orange hats we wear hiking during hunting season.  I’m sure there are no hunters around here, so I’m thinking all that orange is a commentary on RV drivers.

We hitched a ride on the shuttle over to the information tent to pick up our “welcome packet”.  It was full of paper and an unsharpened pencil.  I don’t know of a single RVer who carries a pencil sharpener.  The paper was advertisements and coupons.  The most exciting coupon was for $$ off on ice cream at Dairy Queen.  You better believe we’ll be using that.

Also included in the “welcome packet” was a list of seminars.  We’re a little disappointed.  Well, maybe a lot disappointed.  There was very little we are interested in.  Most are what we call infomercials.  They are there to sell you something and, for your convenience, they also have a booth in the vendor tent.

From the few people we’ve spoken with, the crowd is down.  That’s not surprising, I guess.  The RV industry has taken a hit during the economic downturn.

No matter; we’re here and we’re gonna have a good time.

So, I think that’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.