February 10 - 11, 2017 Salt Springs & Daytona

Randy by Salt Springs


 

We moved south due to not being able to get reservation at Stephen Foster State Park (or any other state park) over weekend and we couldn't get into Disney campground till Sunday. We stayed at Fisherman's Cove RV in Tavares, FL.  We didn't care for the campsite which was on the side of a hill, but it was just for 2  nights. We did find a great Italian restaurant to eat at and went to Brownwood which is a shopping and entertainment area for a development called The Villages which is a group of communities in the Florida area.  In the center of the area is a square were they have live music surrounded by restaurants and shops.  Joyce found a spice shop and it was fun to see all of the spices and teas they sold. Most of the vehicles around the square were golf carts.  I don't mean golf carts I mean FANCY golf carts.  We saw a Mustang and Thunderbird, just a few to mention. Everyone just drove their golf carts up to the square, and the carts were parked EVERYWHERE!

Fisherman's Cove

Orange grove

Gotta have a golf cart

Too cool

Mustang

Brownwood entertainment and shopping

Center of Brownwood sqaure (live music)

Spice store

Walls of spices and teas

The next morning we decided to drive up to the Ocala National Forest with just the truck to check out some of their campgrounds.
Salt Springs campground is a nice area with springs that fed out into a lake.  This campground is a "walk-in only".  What that means you have to be there and if there are any open sites you get one.  You can't reserve these.  It makes it difficult to get a site if you are 5 hours away when one opens up.  Once you get your site you can stay there for 21 days without moving. So it is difficult to get into even with one of the rangers giving Joyce some hints. One of the campgrounds we checked out, we felt uncomfortable trying to just get the truck thru the sites. Another campground that had been recommended, only accepted RVs under 34 feet. Our fifth wheel is 35 &1/2 feet, so we didn't even drive thru.

Springs that feed the lake, the water was so clear.

Great Egret

You can see the water coming out of the caverns that feed the lake. The springs are 74 degrees.

Had some BBQ

We ended up heading east for the Daytona Beach area which is on the east coast of Florida.  This is the Atlantic Ocean side.  We made it to the beach so Joyce could say she had her feet in the Atlantic Ocean this trip.  Daytona Speedway was nearby and Joyce wanted me to go by it.  I was there when I was a teenager.  We drove around the roadway that circles the speedway and stopped at the museum where they have tours of the race track.  We got there too late for a tour, but looked around the souvenir shop. Joyce offered for us to go to the races but I didn't want to spend the money for the tickets let alone for the campground fees which they raise HIGH for Race Week.

Welcome to Dayton Beach

Joyce got her feet in the water again.  Look at that smile.

Oops!  Got a little to far out, a wave got her.

Daytona Beach pier

Daytona International Speedway

Drove around the speedway (outside)

Don't think I can fit through that window anymore

Another penny for my collection

Ready for 2017 race season

Tunnel under the track

View from road around the track

It wasn't in our game plan but seeing the Ocala Forest and then the other extreme Daytona Speedway (just an hour away) was amazing.

Next day we hooked RV back up and headed down the Florida Turnpike for Fort Wilderness Campground at Disney...