Gary and I welcomed in 2012 at Lake Griffin State Park near Leesburg, FL. We had one of the nicest campsites in the place, but the park itself was a bit of a disappointment for Gary. First off, Lake Griffin is only accessible by water from inside the park. There are three very short trails (10 min. walking time each at the most), and hardly any place to ride a bike. About the most exciting thing to see is a huge oak tree, supposedly the 5th largest in the state. Do people actually go around from place to place and measure trees? Gary had picked the park because of it's proximity to a car show he wanted to go to on Sunday, and the enormous Webster flea market on Monday. As for me, I enjoyed our campsite. It was on a small loop away from most of the other campsites, and it was peaceful and quiet. We arrived on Saturday, December 31st. It was unusually hot (near 80 degrees) for our first two days, but only in the mid 60's on Monday. When we left on Tuesday, it was 43 degrees. Crazy changes in the weather, that's for sure. At least it was sunny the whole time, and there was no rain. I feel sorry for our friends up north that don't have beautiful weather like we do. This is the best time of year for camping when you live in Florida. Gary bought a few odds and ends at the car show he went to, including an original Yankee Turnflex taillight lens like I have on me for $1. His REALLY good finds came on Monday at the flea market. I'm not sure what all he bought, but I know he was pretty excited about a vintage metal cooler he got for $45. The fun he had at the places he went, more than made up for his lack of enthusiasm about our campground. On our way home, we cruised through Ocala, and Gary spent some time there at one of his favorite stores, Harbor Freight. We've been camping a lot since Halloween, but I'm sad to say that our road travels have to end for awhile. Gary has three major projects he wants to do before the intense Florida heat returns. I'm hoping that he gets busy quickly and things go smoothly. If he does, there's a good chance we'll be off on another adventure or two before long. The best I can hope for for now is some camping here at home in the yard or in the garage. We'll see how it goes.
