Off to Florida

Sunday, 1 December

Sprinty's trip to Florida was originally planned to start Monday, 2 December. Of course, Sprinty was not driving - Kris and Darrell were. After much thought weighing the pros and cons of driving south on Sunday, the BUSIEST travel day of the year, or tackling Atlanta traffic on the Monday after a holiday, we decided to start the trip on Sunday.

The weather forecast was also a factor in the decision as a cold front was to pass through early Sunday morning, bringing high winds and rain.

The pre-trip excitement(?) had us up earlier then normal. With Sprinty and the Toyota van all packed up and staged for departure, we were on the road by 6am. Sprinty enjoyed fairly light traffic through Atlanta and I-75 south of Atlanta. Just south of Atlanta, Sprinty ran into the back side of the cold front, so he got to drive in the rain for the next four hours until he got in front of the cold front just before Florida.

With uncertainty about the traffic, weather and driver energy, we departed with no specific destination in mind. When we stopped at the Florida Welcome Center for lunch,

we assessed the weather, traffic and driver (x2) conditions, and selected Rainbow Springs State Park Campground in Dunnellon, FL as a Plan A. A check of the on-line reservation system showed a handful of sites (out of 93) were available on a walk-up basis (ReserveAmerica does not usually allow same day reservations).

We also decided to get off I-75 and travel on US-41 as Google Maps was showing areas of backup on I-75 in both directions from Gainesville to the Florida Turnpike (where you would head over to Orlando).

As we planned to arrive by 2pm, we figured being away from I-75 and being a Sunday evening, we had a pretty good chance of getting a site.

Arriving at the campground entrance, we encountered a closed gate. Calling the phone number on the sign by the gate, we secured a walk-up site, and got the code to enter. As others were checking in and calling the Ranger, we were glad we weren't arriving later. As is typical, Darrell had several backup plans just in case, however, after 400 miles of driving, we were glad to be done driving.

The campground was nicely laid out as is typical of many of the Florida State Park campgrounds we have visited. The sites are spaced enough that you almost can't see your neighbors.

Rainbow Springs State Park contains the headsprings of the Rainbow River, one of Florida's largest springs. The park brochure says that Rainbow Springs is a wonderful mixture of Central Florida's natural and cultural heritage. It is a popular destination to swim, snorkel, tube, fish, canoe, picnic or stroll the gardens. When we checked in, the Ranger recommended paddling to the headsprings, which is upstream of the kayak put-in ramp located near the campground.

After getting Sprinty settled, we walked down to the swimming area/kayak put-in on the river. Very nice location to enjoy the 80 degrees.

We gave some thought to breaking out the kayaks as recommended by the Ranger, but the weather seemed a little unsettled. And sure enough, shortly after returning back to Sprinty, we had a brief rain shower.

Although the temperatures will take a dip tomorrow, we still enjoyed walking down to the river in shorts and our Keen shoes on the 1st of December.

Monday, 2 December

A chilly start for an early golf morning. Yesterday, we called the golf course located a few miles from the campground, and got a 8:54 tee time. The staff said there was a large group (16 or more) going off at 9am.

While 53 degrees is considered balmy by our more northern-based friends, combined with 20+mph wind it was going to make for chilly golf.

We arrived at Juliette Falls Golf Club in Dunnellon, FL just after they opened at 8am. Fortunately, we did not arrive before 8am as the development is gated at night, opening at 8am.

As we were checking in, we learned the large group were friends from Michigan. While a few now live in Florida (and host their buddies), the rest are winter snowbirds. Some of them were dressed in shorts, making us feel even chillier.

The Michigan folks said the greens were fast - and they were so right. A big difference to the Bermuda greens we have been playing is that these greens rolled so smooth. The difference took both of us more getting used to than 18 holes allowed.

Kris started off strong, so Darrell had to work hard just to make the turn one stroke back. Darrell briefly got ahead until Kris made a chip-in birdie on one of the Par 5s, and played the back nine in 5 over par. Later, we found out the slope rating was 128, making us feel a little better about the day.

The course was a jewel, and is on our "play again" list. It was a visually pretty course, in great condition. Here is a photo of one if the Par 3 holes.

One of the signs posted at the golf course offered a great perspective about the game of golf:

We finished in under three hours, and still had no specific place planned for the night - just several ideas. Darrell decided the first priority was to take advantage of a Cyber Monday deal for Sprinty stuff, then have Kris pay up for golf. We laid in a route to Zephersprings, FL, which was enroute to our ideas for a camping spot for the night.

While we enjoyed our post-round treat, we reviewed the weather forecast, camping options, and golf options. A quick check of GolfNow found a Hot Deal near Lakeland, FL, which narrowed our campground options.

One of the choices was a county campground, the Edward Medard Campground in Plant City, FL. It had a 5-star rating on AllStays app (rare), and did not take reservations. We called and the staff advised they were only half occupied .

On the way, we stopped for gas for Sprinty and the Toyota. Trying to buy diesel, Darrell had his credit card declined, followed by a fraud alert text. Sorting it out later, the credit card fraud detection system alerted on the Cyber Monday purchase for Sprinty (from Reno, NV), and shut down the credit card. While a minor inconvenience, we celebrated the protection effort and the amazing customer service to get everything cleared up.

When we arrived, they gave us a list of available sites and let us drive through to pick one. Normally $24/night for a water-electric site, it was just $18/night with Darrell's veteran discount.

Tuesday, 3 December

Based on the forecast low temperature of 40 degrees, and another cool, windy day, we picked a later tee time. Golf today was at Bartow Golf Club in Bartow, FL, just south of Lakeland, FL. We selected it as it was along the general route, was near Lakeland (where Sprinty is spending most of February) and the GolfNow Hot Deal rate of $20/person.

We arrived a bit early, and when we checked in, the staff said we could go ahead and tee off. As expected, we were behind a men's league, so the first 15 holes were pretty slow. The last two groups of the league players were having a tough day, which made it slower than usual. By the end, they were two to three holes behind their buddies. With nice weather, we just enjoyed the beautiful day. And other than the league, there was almost no one else playing, so no one was waiting behind us despite being so slow.

We started off even, until Kris found a sand trap. Darrell made the turn ahead. On the back nine, Kris played stronger, while Darrell played steady until the final hole. Despite a poor last hole, Darrell retained honors on the day.

Bartow, FL, also had a Starbucks nearby for Darrell to enjoy paying up for the first time in several outings.

We used the time to confirm availability at our Plan A choice for the night, at The Resort Florida, an Escapees Co-Op Campground in Wauchula, FL. Escapees Co-Ops are Escapee member owned and operated campgrounds. When leaseholders are away, they usually put their sites in the pool to rent out to other Escapees Club members. And all the Co-Ops have a few sites set aside for dry camping, usually at a lower cost, but limited to 7 days. One of our projects was to check out this campground to assess if we wanted to become a leaseholder in the future.

Sprinty enjoyed a quiet night adjacent the back fence separating the campground from a cattle ranch.

Wednesday, 4 December

With the main event of the day being check in at the Riverside RV Resort in Arcadia, FL, Darrell and Kris decided to enjoy a breakfast diner in Avon Park, FL. We left Sprinty at the Co-Op campground, a new experience for us to have a separate vehicle to do excursions sans Sprinty.

After breakfast, we toured the Sebring area checking out golf courses and the Highlands Hammock State Park Campground. Our Plan B for wintering in FL this year included staying at the state park. We found several golf courses that seemed reasonably priced.

After venturing around Sebring, we went back to the Co-Op to wake Sprinty up from his nap and head on down to Arcadia to check in at Riverside RV Resort. Sprinty is in a standard site (full hookups) for the next six weeks.

After getting Sprinty settled (all of a few minutes), Darrell spent most of the rest of the day setting up his new laptop, a Cyber Monday casualty.

Sprinty's next planned adventure is in mid-January. In the meantime, he will be resorting it up at Riverside RV Resort, partaking of the kayak club outings, golf club outings, bike club outings, pickle ball, swimming, long walks, good eating, movies, meet new friends, enjoy old friends, and a couple of upgrade projects. This will be a new experience for the three of us - it will be the longest period we have used Sprinty as just a house without driving it for golf, shopping, or travel. The previous record was 5 days, the last time we stayed at Riverside RV Resort in January 2018.