Back Into The Sauna

It's good to finally be in White Springs, FL again!

We arrived at Kelly's RV Park early afternoon on the 5th. As soon as we started setting up our site we were quickly reminded how humid and how much more intense the sun is here in Florida. We're not complaining because we lived in S. Florida for years and love this kind of weather. But after being in 40% humidity and a UV index of 3, it's an adjustment to suddenly step into 95% humidity and a UV index of 10.

Our departure from the Flower Mill RV Park in Taylors, SC was delayed by one day due to very heavy rains. The front that caused the flooding in Nashville, TN moved through the Carolinas on the third resulting in heavy downpours and high winds. We have driven through that kind of weather before and swore we would never do it again unless absolutely necessary. It's not safe and it's not fun. So we just waited for the weather to improve and enjoyed the fact that the full-time RV lifestyle allows that kind of freedom.

The first leg of our journey was on I-26 to the Jolly Acres RV Park in St. George, SC. It was a pleasant four hour ride with clear roads and blessedly light traffic around the Columbia, SC area. We stayed there for one night enjoying through our front window the peaceful setting of a farm pasture with cows and. The park was well maintained with level sites and a great rate of only $16.00 with our PassPort America discount. The only drawbacks were a rooster from the farm and a bird outside our window that never shut up throughout the entire night. There's nothing like waking up every two hours thinking that morning has arrived and it's time to hit the road again.

Still a bit sleep deprived, we headed South the next morning on I-95 towards Jacksonville, FL. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I-95 is right at the top of my list as one of the boringest stretches of drives anywhere. Except for too many billboards advertising the same things every ten miles, there's nothing to break the monotony. Every time I drive that stretch of road I'm reminded of the quote by Charles Kuralt who said, "Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel the country from coast to coast without seeing anything."

After a brief stop at a Flying J in Brunswick, GA to fill up on gas ($3.00 per gallon!), we headed West on I-10 outside of Jacksonville for a much more scenic drive to U.S. 41 and then North for six miles to our stop here at Kelly's.

It hasn't taken us long to fall in love with this place. It is a very well-maintained RV park with many permanent and long term residents. The property is surrounded by woods of Southern pines, palmetto palms and oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. The access roads are paved, the sights spacious and level with full hook-ups and the people are openly friendly. We have a fast wifi connection, crystal clear spring water, a paved patio area under our awning, on-site laundry facilities, a 24-hour clubhouse with a very large library and a short one mile walk into the town of White Springs for miscellaneous supplies. When we do need to stock up on major items, there is a Wal-Mart just ten miles down the road in Lake City. The best part is the monthly rate is very reasonable for this part of the country. We are booked in for a month, but are already discussing extending our stay for much longer.

Next week we plan to further explore White Springs, walk the extensive trails around the area, work on regaining our tans and enjoy the peacefulness of this place. We'll move at a slower pace than we have over the past five months because, once your back to living in a sauna, the only way to survive the Florida conditions is to adapt a local attitude and just slow down.

copyright 2009-2010 Lane A Geyer
photos by Deb