December 15 - 25, 2022: Alexander Springs Campground/Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest

 We left Sarah's Creek Campground for Ellijay, GA on December 14, made it to a rest stop on I-40 westbound just east of Asheville, NC. On our way to Ellijay on the 15th we stopped at a food store in Blairsville and then a package store in Ellijay before our final destination of my brother-in-law's vacation home.

We had a nice visit with family in Ellijay and helped out with some chores. I helped cut up some downed trees, with indoor painting support and reprogramming remotely controlled great room window shades. The plan was to stay in Ellijay until December 23 but with a major cold front threatening the possibility of black ice during that time frame, we left a day early on the 22nd heading for Florida.

On our way to Florida, we stopped by for groceries just south of Atlanta. After stopping at a rest area near Valdosta GA on  I-75 southbound for dinner and our regularly scheduled family video, we stopped for the night at the I-75 southbound Florida Welcome Center. Jane didn't appreciate the Christmas music played outside all night but it didn't bother my sleep.

After leaving the welcome center, we made it to the Alexander Springs Recreation Area, by around 1:00 PM. The campground had plenty of vacancies. The cold front was just making its impact felt. With the subfreezing temperatures predicted for the night, the campground staff set up the water faucets to drip and put up signs for the campers to leave them in that condition. It was quite a weather contrast to our visit last year around the same time of year when temperatures were warm enough for us to take a dip in springs.

Here is the camper at the campground:

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When we first arrived, the temperatures were still mild so we opened up the camper to air it out. We then took showers because of the impending drop in temperatures. The bathrooms are usually well ventilated with ceiling fans on for warmer temperatures which don't go well with warm showers. The high temperatures the next two days were only in the 40s so we hunkered down except for our weekend exercise routines. We didn't feel the need to explore since we visited the campground last year and swam at the springs at that time.

On Sunday, Christmas day, we left the campground for Jane's parents and a holiday dinner at my brother-in-law's Florida home. We had just seen everyone in Ellijay GA except for a nephew living in the Orlando area who is the son of a different brother-in-law. We plan to stay at Jane's parents for the week and then her brother's FL home for a week after that. We had reservations at a nearby state park, Lake Louisa, starting Wednesday the 28th, but we cancelled those reservations. We received updated plans for the first part of January from in-laws that reside in FL and elsewhere that led to our change in plans.