Day #115 – New Tire & Mayhaw Jelly

Perry FL

Since Kelly had purchased the bubbled tire from National Tire and Battery in Monroeville, we knew we had some sort of warranty on it.  I found the closest tire business that would work with us – Tire King in Tallahassee, over 50 miles away.  Since we hadn’t been near a city in a while, this day trip would also give us a chance to get some art supplies for Kelly and soap from Bath and Body Works for me.  It was a long day, with way too much shopping for me, but we accomplished all our tasks.

The folks at Tire King gave us a hard time because there was no record of our purchasing a road hazard warranty for the tire.  But, when they saw the bubble, and took the tire off the rim, it was obvious the tire was defective.  They replaced the tire and, in the end, we were very impressed with their customer service.

Kelly found a collection of colored pencils that will work for her blossoming hobby and I found new soap scents to keep us smelling good for another couple months.  Naturally, we also found a Japanese restaurant where Kelly basked in the joy of veggie tempura and I tucked in to some yummy tofu.

On our way home, we stopped at a road-side stand where we purchased some local delicacies.  The peanut brittle was different from any I’d ever had.  There was more brittle than peanut, but it was like lace and melted in buttery wonderfulness as soon as it touched my tongue.  Kelly bought some buttered pecans (pronounced pee-cans) that she said were very good.  Given my allergies, I’ll have to take her word on that.  We also bought some mayhaw jelly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayhaw), obviously made in small batches.  Mayhaw is a bush that grows only in swamps here in the South.  Its small berries are harvested by hand in spring and made into jelly that is sweet and tart - unlike anything else I've ever tasted.

Day #114 – Tire Troubles

Crystal River FL to Perry FL

Today we pulled up stakes and moved to Perry.  I was driving and things seemed to be going very well. 

About half-way to our destination, another driver gestured at me to roll my window down.  She yelled that my trailer tire had a bubble.  Oh joy and happiness.  We pulled into a big parking lot and started the day’s true adventure.

The tire had a bubble on it the size of a baseball.  I’d never seen anything like it.  We actually wondered whether we could limp into the campground, but barely voiced the words before accepting the reality of the situation.  We unhitched the trailer, popped it open, removed the wheel well cover, and changed the tire.  The sun was blazing hot; there was neither shade nor breeze.  We kept reminding ourselves that it was not a dark night; it wasn’t raining; we were in a very safe spot.  Still, we weren’t having much fun.  After changing the tire, we drove across the street to a tire business (spotted AFTER we’d already taken the tire off the trailer).  They checked the pressure for us and assured Kelly that she’d gotten the lug nuts on correctly.

We arrived at the Perry KOA sweaty and dirty, but pleased that we’d dealt with the problem.  I will be eternally grateful to that woman who spotted the bubble before it popped.

Day #112 – Homosassa Springs

Crystal River FL

Today was a long day in coming.  We’d been wanting to visit Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park (http://www.floridastateparks.org/homosassasprings/default.cfm) since we first pulled into town on March 2.  We had stopped by to “case the joint” and decided it needed a full day.  Today was the first day we could devote to this wonderful park.  We had heard there was a manatee viewing area – we discovered much more.

We started our tour with a 20-minute boat ride through a swamp to the wildlife area of the park.  Our captain, a park ranger, kept us entertained with stories, history, and interesting nature facts.

This is the only park in the Florida system devoted to native Florida wildlife.  We strolled through over a mile of paths as we viewed all the animals native to Florida.  This part of the park was staffed by volunteers, some of whom were quite knowledgeable about the animals.  We heard of the recent exploits of their female panther.  During an elementary school tour, she spotted a squirrel, attacked, and ate it.  Apparently the kids were pretty grossed out.

We also saw Lou, the hippo.  This park had originally been privately owned by a man who provided animals and “on-site” filming for jungle films such as the original Tarzan movies.  This hippo was a star in those films, plus a regular in the “Daktari” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daktari) TV series.  As I had been a fan of both the films and the TV show, it was nice to finally meet a star from them.

In the children’s museum, we finally learned what had frightened Kelly so badly that day we were kayaking at Linger Lodge.  Remember?  I was paddling, directly behind her, as she entered an area of reeds.  She heard a loud splash, felt something “BIG” go under her boat, and back-paddled so fast her hands were a blur.  After talking with the docents and viewing the displays, she decided she had probably encountered an alligator snapping turtle.

We visited the underwater observatory, where we saw huge schools of fish that moved in swarms, like I’ve seen only in the movies.  Unfortunately, none of our photos from the observatory is worth sharing.

I also want to mention the park snack shop.  They served all home-made food.  Since it was St. Patrick’s day, there was corned beef and cabbage like my father used to make – really good and restorative on a cool, windy, rainy day.

Day #110 – Legal to Drive & Yulee Sugar Mill

Crystal River FL

Gosh golly, I sure ticked Kelly off this morning.  All I did was sleep a bit late (not my fault Big Brother changed the clocks), require breakfast before leaving the trailer, and insist on a cup of tea.  I just couldn’t move fast enough or stay out of her way.  We were both nervous about our impending trip to the Florida Driver License Center and expressed it in very different ways.  I wanted to procrastinate and Kelly wanted to march forward.  We eventually got ourselves out the door and on the road.  [Kelly insists I mention it was 11:30 when we left the trailer.]

The Driver License Center was a welcoming place.  They started you off with one of those pull-the-tab-for-a-number and a list of what you need for a driver’s license.  I pulled #75; they were serving #58.  [Kelly insists I mention that all but one of the employees were at lunch for the first 45 minutes of our wait time.] While we waited, many people left in disgust.  Some auctioned their numbers to those still waiting.  Kelly got one and wasn’t pleased that I did not – she threatened to leave me there.  Some brought back lunch that just made my stomach rumble. A lot of people were missing required information and were sent away in shame.  As soon as all the employees returned from lunch, and the supervisor started helping, we both got new licenses without a hitch.  The woman who helped Kelly recognized our address as a mail forwarding service and added our personal box number to her license.  No such luck for me – very inconsistent.

After lunch, we drove over to the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park (http://www.floridastateparks.org/yuleesugarmill).  There was no visitor center or ranger on duty.  We walked around and took lots of pictures.  Before the Civil War, each sugar plantation had at least one sugar mill on it to process the sugar cane.  This particular plantation mill provided sugar for the Confederate Army.  The mill was run by a steam engine.  The engine was fueled with water from nearby wells and discarded cane.  Huge rollers pressed the juice from the cane.  The juice was heated in a very large shallow bowl.  The juice was ladled from one bowl to another, with more and more water evaporating at each stage.  When it got very thick, it was allowed to crystallize into sugar.  The leftover molasses was used for making rum.  The used cane was put into the fire to heat the water for more steam.

After our visit to the sugar mill, we stopped at the library to download our photos and write some blog entries.  We got back to the trailer long after dark.  Our crock potted sauerkraut and potatoes had smelled up the entire area around our trailer.  I was surprised we didn’t see a row of raccoons waiting with forks for their share.

[Kelly insists that I discuss her insisting.]  She thinks I’m making her sound pushy and she insists she is not.  Tomorrow brings me fresh new hope for an improved atmosphere.