Thanksgiving Day in the Forest

Woke up to a beautiful morning in the forest.  Walked around and visited with the guests and chatted about how wonderful it is to stand around the campfire on Thanksgiving Day.  Then I packed up the cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, green beans, giblet gravy and honey baked ham and drove over to the OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) Center to potluck with fellow camp hosts and trail workers.  There was plenty food there to enjoy, and the Interns got to stock up their refrigerator with the leftovers.  Wow!

Caroline called last night and left a message on the answering machine about how happy she would be if I made her the Old Fashioned Fruitcake.  I called her and told her that I was working almost non stop on the three Xmas outfits, and she insisted that I had enough time.  Okay, I will try but I am not promising anything.  I have to finish these three outfits before I make that fruitcake.  The fruitcake takes 2 full days to make and probably 3 days with this little Easy Bake oven that will only hold one cake at the time.  Oh well, if asked nicely we will do most anything for our kids.

Some of the Campground Hosts enjoying Thanksgiving dinner.

Hope all of our loved ones had a beautiful Thanksgiving, and now I am going to put my stuffed self to bed.

Betty is a Camphost at Mill Damn all by herself.  She is just the sweetest!

Working, Playing and Picnicking in Ocala National Forest

Billy Bringing out our picnic with Bill and Jane

(You can double click on a photo for a better view)

After a weekend of answering bear questions to our campers we got up early and hit the OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) Trails.  We took the Pipeline Trail, otherwise known as the Brown Trail, today and had a blast.  We ran into some of our fellow Campground Hosts who were performing maintenance on the trails.  At about the time we were looking for a place to picnic we ran into Jane and Bill who were also performing trail maintenance.  We all piled out and enjoyed a wonderful picnic.  Shortly after returning to the trail Billy and I ran into this huge "road block!"  He stopped and sat still for us to photograph and then promptly ran away when we restarted our engine.  He was magnificent and a very good bear!  (Good bear because he ran away from us when we made noise.)  We would have been in big trouble had we been WALKING around the curve when we met up with this fellow.  Certainly would have been justified in using the pepper spray on him if he had charged us.  Maggie was fascinated with his scent, but wanted to chase him when he ran away.  No worry, we had her in our arms and on a tight leash.

I have made much progress on the Christmas outfits.  There just are not enough hours in the day to enjoy the forest, perform our duties as Campground Hosts, keep up with our laundry, sew for the babies, and then grab a few minutes to lounge around outside by the campfire with a good book.  Last night we walked Caroline through the process of setting up her computer for Skype.  It was great fun to be able to talk to the boys and see them at the same time.  Skype is a great thing for these traveling Grandparents.  Life Is Indeed Good Today!

                                                           Maggie and I at the corral.

Patsy dragging the trail and Billy/Maggie coming up on her.

Billy, Jane and Bill studying the map to see if Billy and I can find our way out of the forest.

Oops!  Major roadblock straight ahead.

He stopped us to ask for directions, and we told him he was on the wrong road to NC or TN!

Posing for our camera and not moving away at all.

Today's the Day the Teddy Bears Have Their Picnic!

Another Fun Day in the Forest

We laid low over the weekend and watched football while relaxing.  Yesterday we had a mandatory Volunteer Meeting that we attended.  These early morning "wake up and go" were not figured into our retirement routine.  No problem.....we met lots of fun new people, learned a few things about The Forest and then went into Ocala to pick up Billy's new toy and trailer to haul it in.  I know.....how?  what?  When?  Whatever......Billy calls it a "tool" to add to his tool collection.  It can be called a Utility Vehicle or Off Road Vehicle; however, I call it a souped up go cart.  Whatever it is we spent three hours out on the trails (http://www.floridatrailriders.org/articles/ONF.htm) with it this morning and had a blast.  Maggie had fun, also.  I think she getting used to enduring new challenges every day.  I lost my bear whistle in the campground last night while we were completing our "rounds."  Rounds to document each one of our campers and ensure that they are abiding by "Safe Bear" practices and The Forest Rules and Regulations.  Billy and I looked all over for the whistle to no avail.  Billy said "that's great!  Now some bear is going to find it and blow on it all night to keep us awake!"  Thankfully, one of our fellow campers found it and returned it to us.  Got to rush and try to make some progress on these three Christmas outfits I am making.  Life Is Surely Good Today In the Ocala National Forest.

Marianne, Kevin and Jackson Visit for the Weekend

I had a "real" doctor's appointment finally on Friday and the results were that I have a fractured sternum without complications.  That was a real relief to know and thankfully I have some pain medication to get me through the next month of pain.  WOW!  I couldn't have been injured at a worse time.

On a fun note Marianne, Kevin and Jackson arrived Friday afternoon for a weekend visit.  We went to Bass Champions for a wonderful dinner and then sat around enjoying one another's company.  We have eaten a few times at Bass Champions and they have never disappointed us.  (http://saltspringsfl.com/bass-champions)  Saturday we watched a few disappointing football games and Marianne, Jackson and I went in to Silver Springs for some warmer clothing for Jackson.  For lunch we all sat around the campfire and grilled weenies, marshmallows and made S'Mores.  Wow!  Marianne prepared and served us a wonderful dinner of homemade spaghetti.  Kyle (Forest Ranger) stopped in with his dog Baily to enjoy an outside dinner with us.  Jackson and I took a few walks through the forest and Jackson enjoyed the freedom of being able to run and play without having to hold someone's hand.  Yes sirree......"Life is Good Today!"

On Sunday, after a breakfast of almond French Toast Jackson and I went for another "hike" through the forest.  After which, Jackson fell asleep on "Big Daddy's" lap while we each lazed around and relaxed.  Oh yeah!  A good time was had by all.  We just learned that a bear in the Hopkins Prairie area of the Forest walked up to a campsite with folks sitting around the campfire and took their cooler.  This is a BAD BEAR who may find himself trapped in the near future and then Hopkins Prairie area will possibly join us with the "no soft-sided" tents allowed.

FL Black Bears Beware-Billy and Jane are certified to use pepper spray!

Billy and I woke to a house that was too quiet on Monday morning.  Maggie began her "there is a bear outside my window bark" but we didn't see anything.  Shortly afterwards we saw a BIG Bob Cat walk by the motor home and into the woods across the street.  After reading about their habits (http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/bobcat.php?lb_v=7) we realized that we should be honored to enjoy such a good look of one.  What a wonderful weekend in the forest!

Jackson on his "Beep Beep"

After a fun day in the Forest

This is exactly how our Bobcat looked

Aggressive Bear Class!

We had a somewhat busy weekend with a few campers in here for black powder hunting.  Everybody was really nice, and we enjoyed the company.  This morning Billy and I had the growth experience of getting up early to be at a 8:30 am Safety Class which lasted six hours!  Before we left for the class, Billy walked across the street to use the potty "house" while Maggie and I stayed in the motor home.  Maggie alerted me with an unusual sounding bark that a big black bear was in front of our motor home between us and Billy in the crapper (about 25 yards).  I tried to call him on the cell phone to alert him to be careful when he came out of the potty.  Silly me!  I know our cell phones don't work out here.  Never mind!  Thankfully Billy heard the tone of Maggie's bark and assumed that she was barking at a bear.  When we got to class we discovered that it was a safety class on aggressive bears and the use of pepper spray.  We learned quite a few facts that we did not know.  We knew that a black bear will pop his/her jaws/teeth, bluff with the head, snort and run back and forth and bluff with the feet to warn a person before he/she attacks.  We knew to back away slowly and not to turn our backs on the bear and run.  We also knew to make a lot of noise and wave our arms to intimidate (yeah right!) the bear.  What I didn't know was, just like with dogs, you should not make eye contact with a bear until you are prepared to take the last resort option of using pepper spray, a club, a shoe or whatever is handy!  In a last ditch effort with a Grizzly Bear you should play dead; however Black Bears eat dead animals.  If you are cornered and unprepared you should "fight for your life."  I learned that our 400 hundred pound bear visitor this morning is classified as a "bad" bear because he/she calmly turned her head and looked at Maggie on the dashboard barking to beat the band, and then she/he just lumbered slowly away.  A good bear would have run away or climbed a tree.  Also learned that nursing cubs sort of purr like cats so if we hear a purring while walking around think we should go the opposite direction.  Also learned that cubs playing squeal and make a sound like babies crying.  After extensive instruction on the use of pepper spray we were issued our own can of pepper spray, a holster, and a whistle.  We each had to demonstrate how we back down a bear.  Sorry, no photos, but sticking your tongue out at the bear won't work!  Also, learned that Billy did the correct thing early this morning by driving through the campground and notifying our one camper that we have a curious bear wandering around the park.  Then we were educated that we need to fill out a bear report incident report for each bear that we see, for each bear scat that we see, and for footprints.  Paper work!  But it all makes sense!  I would SO HATE to see one of these beautiful black bears be "put down!"  You may ask...."Why are you there?"  We love it.  We are very "bear aware" because of the bears around our house in Panama City.  They just seem to be more concentrated in this National Forest, and we are responsible for the education and bear safety of our campers.  These Florida Black Bears are truly magnificent animals.  We just need to educate folks on how to "live" with them.

A quick update on my sternum, lack of pain medication and doctor's appointment.  Our new doctor received the XRays and CAT scan and the nurse called and spoke with Billy yesterday.  The nurse said that it looks like they will have to refer me out to an Orthopedic so they gave me an earlier appointment for this coming Friday!  Yikes!  I just want the pain to go away.  Wish I could call Michael Jackson's doctor!  Just kidding!

Thanks for stopping in to visit.   As always "Life Is Good Today".  Nighty night.