January 19, 2016 - Old Town, FL to Horseshoe Beach, FL

We were still sound asleep at 9 am before we were awaken by loud banging on the side of our bedroom. It was Gracie and Jerry trying to wake us up.  They were on their way out and told us to use the shower in the garage and to be sure to lock the door after we were done.

We parked the Lil’ Home (LH) behind Hardee’s and went in the Jeep to go grocery shopping at Hitchcock’s.  The store had some special sales and that helped stretch our grocery budget, so we were able to buy few more stuff.

After checking GasBuddy app we found that Walmart Express in Cross City, FL had the cheapest diesel price within 20 miles. The diesel was at $1.71 per gallon. Walmart made an announcement last week on store closings in U.S. and Cross City is one of them. It is very unfortunate for the townspeople because it was open last year in he fall.  The store will be closed on January 28th.  After January 28 there will be only one small grocery store left in that town and it is not a great place to shop.  

From Cross City we took Route 351-A to get on 351 to Horseshoe Beach, FL.  The road has been repaved and the surface is much better, smoother and wider than the last time we drove on it.  

We were surprised to see that the city park/boat ramp was empty. Not one vehicle in sight.  We thought there might be two or three trailers, but no, there were none.  We were happy to see that our favorite site #8 is available and we occupied it right away.  

It was blustery cold and windy.  After hooking to the electrcity we turned the heat pump on.  We immediately fixed lunch.

Five juvenile bald eagles were seen soaring above the water.  Pelicans were nowhere to be seen.  There was a “convention” of turkey buzzards on the sandbar.  Seagulls were few.  Grackles, Red Winged blackbirds were hanging around nearby.

Juvenile Bald Eagle 

Juvenile Bald Eagle 

Grebe 

Red-winged blackbird 

Red-winged blackbird

Brown Pelican

Erwin went fishing for a while, but there was no bite or nibble.  He did not stay out very long, said he will try again later.

The sunset was lovely, but Edith wished there were some clouds along with the sunset.  There was a couple standing not too far from us admiring the sunset.  We got to meet with them, chatted a bit. They were from Lower Michigan and are renting a condo here for a month.

Gracie and Jerry arrived in the afternoon and we went to visit with them, chatted a bit, watched a movie “Savior” that was released in 1998.  Dennis Quaid was the main star in it and was a mercenary fighting for the Serbs against the Bosnians. It was a very good movie.

The furnace was running non-stop because it was really really cold and windy outside and it felt so chilly inside the LH.

The moon was waxing at 79% and the stars were everywhere, but Edith did not feel like going outside for night photography with all the winds.  Perhaps tomorrow night if it is not too windy.