We camped here last year, so if you want to see some of the settlement buildings, etc., check out last year's posts. Today, it rained in the early morning, so we weren't in any hurry to get outside. When we did, the sun was out, but the temperature had plunged into the high 60s.
There was a Koreshan bread baking demonstration scheduled, but when we got there, it was all over with. They changed the location and altered the schedule because of the weather, so by the time we got there, we missed it. We walked around the park and shot a few pictures for your enjoyment.
We bought some groceries and ice and beer after going to Wendy's for the WiFi connection. Later, we visited with some folks from Ontario who had a 1990 Aliner. Why didn't I take any pictures? I don't know!
Tonight, while I was grilling the shish-ka-bobs we bought, I thought I's take a self portrait. I'll leave you with that.
We got up this morning, showered, ate breakfast, and were pulling out of the campsite by 10:30. Instead of heading straight for the gate, we drove back to the Cypress Swamp and too one more walk along the boardwalk there. What a beautiful place, but still no alligators!
It's only a two hour drive to Koreshan, so we took our time, stopping frequently, at first, to check the wheel hub that got hot the other day. I'm happy to say that it remained virtually cool to the touch.
We made a stop at McDonald's to use the WiFi and grab a bite for lunch. then it was about an hour to our destination.
We arrived at 3:00, set up camp and familiarized ourselves with the location of the bathrooms and trash receptacles. After that, we relaxed with our friends, Beer and Wine until dinner. After dinner, we attended a campfire slide presentation about the history of the Koreshans. Then it was back to the camper to watch TV. Yes, we're actually picking up a few channels.
No nap today, so I'll probably be watching TV with my eyes closed.
That's about it for today. More tomorrow.
Marsha was up early this morning, but I rolled out about 9:00 and headed for the shower. I got back to camp and ate breakfast, then went out and chatted with the neighbor for a while.
The the chewed up tire that I posted the other day turned out to be a case of tire failure. The guy had AAA come out and change it this morning and, upon closer inspection, we could see that there was severe tread separation and fractured steel belts. I still like the story about a vicious tire eating critter that invaded camp and did the damage.
The other day when we got to the park, the right wheel hub on the camper was REALLY hot and I could smell hot brakes when I got out of the car. We had just stopped for gas about ten miles back and everything was fine. Between the gas stop and the campground I had to hit the brakes pretty hard to stop when a light suddenly turned red. So, today after breakfast, I jacked up the right side of the camper and spun the wheel. It looked and sounded OK. Maybe the brakes stuck when I stomped on them and freed themselves when I backed into the campsite. Even though I greased the wheel bearings before we left home, I gave them another shot today, just for good measure.
We chilled the two wild oranges we found on yesterday's hike and ate them after lunch. They were pretty sour and tough inside; mostly juice and seeds. The smaller of the two contained 34 seeds! I guess that's what you gotta do when you don't have a fruit farmer to help ensure the survival of your descendants.
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Nap time.
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After my nap, we walked around the campground, then drove down to the Cypress Swamp just to see how far it was. Two miles, just what I thought. On the way back, we saw a litter of piglets foraging along he side of the road.
We bought some firewood on the way back to camp so we could have a fire on our last night here. After a nice steak dinner, we sat around the fire. Wow! It's 10:45. Time for bed!
This morning as I was coming back from the shower house, my neighbor was pointing to some something under his rather large (compared to our Aliner) 5th wheel camper. When he saw me, he motioned to me to come over and asked if I had ever seen anything like this. I had not! See the picture below of the large area on his tire where rubber used to be! He has been camped in the same spot since January 1 and just noticed the missing rubber and exposed steel belts, some of which were also chewed apart. He stood back, scratching his chin and said, "Looks like road hazard to me." I said, "good luck with that!"
After the pancake and home made biscuit breakfast, we visited with neighbors for a while and conducted a couple of tours of our camper before setting out on our hike at about noon. We passed by some of the trails we hiked on Tuesday and found new ones to explore. The Cypress Swamp is at the far end of the park, at least two miles from camp. So, we walked the four-mile round trip plus several trails. We got back to camp about 3:30, so here I am.
No time for a nap before the spaghetti dinner at 5:00, so I'm just filling the time drinking beer. More later!
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It's 6:10 and we're back from the Spaghetti dinner and have driven to the Chamber of Commerce office to see if, unlike the other two places we've tried in this town, they have decent Internet speed. So here goes!
