It was Thursday morning, and our camping time at Ochlockonee River was nearly over. The first wierd thing we noticed when we woke up, was that some little creature or creatures had shredded portions of our picnic table cover. Probably squirrels, but who knows? It was pretty trashed and not worth keeping, so it went into the trash. After disposing of that, Gary drove down to the picnic area where he had fed the white squirrels on Wednesday. Strangely, there were none to be seen. He spent close to an hour down there looking for them, but the squirrels must have taken the day off. So, he came back to the campsite and got me ready to go. The plan was to go to a town called High Springs, where there is a big antique mall that Gary wanted to see. It was a fairly long drive, but we were on highways where we could make some good time. Somewhere along the way, Gary finally noticed what I had been trying to get his attention for for miles. He must not have properly latched my door, and it blew open as we were speeding along. He quickly pulled over to check me out. The door knob smacked hard into my sheet metal, creating a big round dimple. The drain cap for my kitchen sink put a big dent in my door. The impact damaged my door to the point that it would no longer close. I've gotta say that I was nearly in tears from the pain, and Gary was almost in tears seeing the damage. He felt SO bad for what had happened, and immediately got to work trying to tweak my door back into good enough shape to close. He worked wonders in a short time, and in addition to just having my door latch again, he also safety wired it to an eyelet that my previous owner had attached to the door frame. Gary apologized repeatedly to me, and I honestly felt worse for him than I did for myself. I know he didn't mean to hurt me, and I know he will make things right when we get home. For now, my door is working as it should, but it's going to need some serious repair. I'm a bit sore, but I'll be okay. We made our way to High Springs, but we arrived much later than we had planned. Gary had an hour and a half to get through the antique mall before it closed for the day. He was there until the last minute. We had no camping reservations for Thursday night. Since it was going to be a long drive from Ochlockonee River to our next stop at Lake Griffin, the plan was to simply stop at a rest area somewhere on I-75. But, he was stressed out from me getting injured and tired from not sleeping very well the previous night. So, after the antique shopping, he called ahead to a place we know and love, to see if they had any room for us. What place you ask? Paynes Prairie State Park! It would be right on our way as we headed south on I-75. The campground was full, but we got REALLY lucky. A nice couple camping there had a spare campsite that they weren't going to need, and we were able to buy it from them. Campsite #18 was all ours, and we were THRILLED to have it. Gary hooked up my power, raised my antenna, and put out my doormat. Since we would be leaving early on Friday, he didn't even un-hitch me from the van or put out my jack stands. You know how much Gary and I LOVE Paynes Prairie. Just being there in a familiar place made me feel SO much better after a rough day on the road. It rained most of the night, but we didn't care. We slept like rocks. Onwards to Lake Griffin, and not far to go until we get there. Let's hope it's an uneventful trip. Details soon!
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