Doing the Shelterin' in Thing

We're into our second week of sheltering-in-place at Stone Mountain State Park.  The most dangerous thing we do is go to get groceries.  Donna cooks some meals for Doug which we do deliver and share.  I guess we'll be wearing our dust masks when we go out now.  Perfect!  No masks in stores that remain open to go along with no sanitizer, no toilet paper, no paper towels, no sanitizing hand wipes, and no nitrile gloves (which is surprising since we do have them since Donna uses them when we pick up and lay out our sewer hose.)  So dust masks it is!  Good for pollen, too.  At least we'll look stylish when we go out.

Otherwise, we take walks in the park.  We try to stay away from the busier trails.  We getting in four or five miles for some of our walks.  Just walking the campground gets you close to three miles. Campground does have people in it, but it's not that many.  Compared to how we normally see the campground when we're here, it feels empty.  Most campers are families with a few of us out-of-staters sprinkled in.  I think this works well for the state park in one way:  since they chose this time to refurbish a few of the more popular loops, there's not a lot of demand for campground sites.  Consequently, the workers can move about freely as they need to.

Since I'm complaining, it's clear we're doing OK.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.  I've posted a few pics of the campground for you to look at if you have the time.  Until next week, David

Stone Mountain State Park

Well it appears we'll be sheltering in place here in Stone Mountain.  The last of our appointments in Virginia were canceled.  Since we're trying to keep our trailer maintenance/repair appointments in late April, we plan to leave from here mid-April and head north directly to Elkhart, IN.  Voyageurs NP notified us today that our new date of arrival is June 7th, so we're thinking of heading further north and maybe find a place to sit on the north shore of Lake Superior for awhile once we leave the Elkhart area.  We'll just have to see how things work out.

New for Stone Mountain State Park Campground, they're renovating Trails C, D & E (picture above from fall of 2017 is of us on site 15 of Trail C).  Planned completion is during May 2020.  They're also adding three full-hookup pull-thrus on Campground Road.  So things are moving along here in the park.

Pollen is in full force, so other than the issues around COVID-19, things are more or less normal here in the park.

We got out to see Doug, and he seems to be doing fine.  We were also able to put four new tires on the truck today, so we've got that done.  Still need to figure out other remaining truck maintenance.  May be able to get that done while in Elkhart.

So as you can see, we're fine.  That's it for this week.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.  Until next week, David

Update

Late posting this week.  We're fine.  Currently sitting in light rain in Pelham, AL.  Normally here for a visit with Dad & Anna, but there's not much visiting going on with the current COVID-19 social practices in place.

We left Eustis, FL Tuesday and arrived in Pelham on Thursday.  We've visited Dad & Anna for a few minutes on Friday and plan to take bread to them later today.

 

Pictures are of Mount Dora, FL and were taken last Sunday while we walked around the town.  It was hot in Mount Dora last Sunday.  Today we're running heaters.  Yep, things can change in a week.

Like everyone else, we're waiting to hear what's coming next on shutdowns.  We're still planning to move later this week to Stone Mountain, GA if the state park campground remains open.  I'm hoping to at least get some needed maintenance done on the truck while there.  We need at least one new tire and would like to get all of the truck's four rear tires replaced, if possible.  We'll just have to see.

Lots of people are still moving.  Many are snowbirds headed back north.  The RV park here in Pelham empties out each day.  Our plans to continue from Georgia up to North Carolina and Virginia are still in place (meaning we haven't canceled reservations), but we know there's a good chance they'll have to be changed since Pennsylvania has put itself on lock down.  You see, we'd still like to make all our planned trailer repair & maintenance appointments in Elkhart, IN.  It's really, really long drive to get to Elkhart, IN from Virginia without going through Pennsylvania.

We expect things to get better over the summer, but return to similar commerce shutdowns in the late fall unless a COVID 19 vaccine is found.  That kinda makes me want to get as many repairs and as much preventive maintenance done as soon as we can so that next fall/winter we can sit wherever as long as necessary.

So here we sit waiting to see which additional state(s) prevent us from traveling.  If we don't make our trailer appointments, it'll be three years in a row that we've had to miss trailer repair/maintenance appointments for various reasons (usually a Lippert Hydraulic System failure).

As for this summer, our plans to work at Voyageurs Natl Park this summer are - at least mentally - on hold.  No one knows - they're closed.  We'll figure out what to do as things play out. 

I thinks that's it for this week.  Like you, we're playing it by ear.  Thanks for dropping by, David

Lake Griffin/Silver Springs State Parks

Lake Griffin State Park

Donna at the Live Oak, Lake Griffin State Park

 OK, I'm late, but got some good pics.

We've been visiting with Dave & Mary.   Dave & Donna are kayakers and they've been out at least twice.  Donna & I visited Lake Griffin State Park for a walk through the swamp.  Yesterday, Terry came in for a short visit over the weekend.  Today, Donna grabbed Terry and we went off to Silver Springs State Park where Donna & Terry kayaked for a couple of hours.  I walked the state park and enjoyed the weather.  Besides someone had to take their picture kayaking!

It's warm here, but not obnoxiously warm.  You can tell by the pictures the type weather we've had.  So you can see we're having fun.




Covid-19, while on everyone's mind, seems to be taken in stride.  Picking Terry up at the local airport saw

Terry & Donna returning from their adventure

people being careful & aware, but not panicked.  Toilet paper still available in the local grocery stores.  We've noticed some people stocking up, but wasn't sure whether that was normal for them or not.  No one seemed to be stocking up for Armageddon as best as we can tell.

As always, we go along with the flow.  Donna does that nicely.  I tend to have to be dragged from time-to-time, but do - eventually - go along. 

Anyway, we're fine.  Terry seems to be having fun.  Dave & Mary are away for their daughter's birthday.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.  Stay safe.  Until next week, David

Springs at Silver Springs State Park

Silver Springs State Park

Springs, Silver Springs State Park

Donna gets up close with a Manatee

Maclay Gardens/Disney Springs

Maclay Gardens

Maclay Gardens

We made in to Tallahassee, FL just fine on Sunday and had a great visit with Randy & Shirley.  For Monday they took us to the Alfred B Maclay Gardens State Park where we walked both the flower gardens and part of one of the hiking trails.

On Tuesday we moved further south to Eustis, FL to visit Dave & Mary for a couple of weeks.  Today was our traditional visit to Disney Springs (Walt Disney World's shopping

Maclay House

area) where we spent lots of money on clothes and ate a lot of calories at Earl of Sandwich and Ghirardelli Soda Fountain. It's what we do.

So you can tell, we're having a great time.  Plan to be here another week or so.  Donna still needs to get more shopping and kayaking in before we leave.  Plus there's more recipes she wants to "test" on Dave & Mary.  Me?  I'm planning to play more with Dave & Mary's dog, Bailey, and maybe wash the trailer.

Maclay Gardens

Weather-wise, the trip has been fine but it's gotten hot since we arrived.  We expect it to be a lot cooler over the next day or so.  That's what "they" say, anyway.

So that gets you up to speed on us.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.  Until next week, David

Maclay Gardens

Disney Springs

Disney Springs

Disney Springs

End of Month Update

Middle Lake, Gulf State Park, AL

It's the last day for us this season at Gulf State Park.  Tomorrow we start our traveling season for this year.  If all goes well, we'll move eastward over to Tallahassee for a couple of nights before moving on to Eustis, FL on Tuesday.  That's the plan, anyway.  Final destination is to be in Voyageurs Nat'l Park by Mother's Day.

We've enjoyed our stay at Gulf State Park this year.  Donna got a lot of bicycling riding in.  I gained a few pounds.  Only had a couple of nights below freezing, and we seemed to miss the worst of the thunderstorms and never-ending rain.  Overall, it was a warm season for us.

Anyway, thanks for dropping in and checking up on us.  Until next week, David

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy "V" Day!  Mid-month update.  We're still at the state park here near Gulf Shores, AL.  Still walking/riding bicycles.  We're fine and weather seems to be a little warmer than normal for this time of year.  Most folks not complaining, though. 

For the first time visiting the park for our winter stays, we've had to move to a different campsite to complete our stay.  Since the park has started assigning specific sites, it's hard to get one specific site for our preferred length of stay.  Doesn't help that they don't return your phone calls/messages in November for the following winter season, either!  One interesting point is that we're in a different area of the state park's campground, and it feels as if we've changed campgrounds.  New site not a bad site.  We'd probably take it, again, if it was offered.

Otherwise, our stay here is getting short.  We leave March 1st if all goes well.  We plan to head out to Tallahassee for a couple of nights, then on to Eustis, FL for a couple of weeks.  That's the plan, anyway.

So hopefully, everyone's had a great Valentine's Day.  We'll touch base again in a couple of weeks.  David