Our huge site at Ocean Pond
We got to Ocean Pond Campground in the Osceola National Forest Monday. Since then we have spent 100% of our time catching up on the last four years with my sister Gail and BIL Mike. It is so wonderful to spend time with family we love and have missed for so long!
Gail and Mike are camped across the street from us.
Gail has drawn up plans for the house she wants and they are negotiating for land right now. What an exciting prospect! She had drawn plans for the beautiful Victorian home that they had before they moved to Texas. But this time she wants something small and simple — country style.
How wonderful it must be to know exactly what you want and be able to draw the plans yourself! She also has the gift of looking at bare land and visualizing how the finished home will look on it. And she’s a financial whiz. I think she got most of Daddy’s genes! 🙂
They are camping in the van that Gail remodeled into a camper. If you haven’t seen it, here’s a link to what she did.
Photo taken at Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park
Before we got here, we overnighted at Veteran’s Memorial State Park, as we often do on our way to Florida. This time it’s under new management and the rate is $35 a night. With our senior and annual park passes, it was still $28 a night. But the campground is in even greater need of repairs than it was last time we visited. It struck us as kind of seedy. So we’ll opt for a nearby Passport America park for $20 a night on future Florida trip stopovers.
Sheba is being so good this trip. So far! As long as she gets 3 good walks a day, she handles being tied up per campground rules pretty well. I’m proud of her.
Ron and sheba at Veterans Memorial
Little Sunny is failing fast. He is almost blind, almost deaf, and has trouble walking. So walks with him consist of a short stroll, then my carrying him the rest of the way. I suppose I should get him a stroller, but I’m not quite ready for that.
I am not at all happy with the photos my new phone takes. So I will probably start hauling around my Lumix when I want some decent shots.
There was one other Casita here, owned by people from Seattle. Then after dark another Casita pulled in and is parked on the street behind us. We’ll say hello to them tomorrow!
At least the leaf color was first rate!
Tinycamper's Blog 
judilyn
/ November 6, 2014Are you getting accustomed to the Lumix now? I still have my Panasonic FZ-150. Love the Zeiss lens!
Virtual hugs,
Judie
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Sharon
/ November 6, 2014Judie, I really haven’t used the new Lumix enough to feel confident. I do feel a bit more comfortable with it, though, and can avoid the gross mistakes I made at first. I am longing to take some of the macros like I used to take with my ancient SLR camera. Just need to get out and find those shots!
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John
/ November 6, 2014Enjoy your time w family in the midst of an impromptu Casita rally!
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Sharon
/ November 6, 2014Isn’t it great! 😀
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Marsha
/ November 6, 2014Love the trees reflecting on the water in the last photo. We’re getting colder weather here, and our Casita is tucked away for the season, so I’ll be living vicariously through your travels.
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Sharon
/ November 6, 2014Oh, dear, Marsha. We are such low key campers you might die of boredom living vicariously through our travels! I do promise to try to get some pretty photos up now and then! 🙂
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Marsha
/ November 6, 2014You’re camping; I’m not. I’m suffering withdrawal. We probably won’t be out again until May :-
Anyway, always enjoy your photos.
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Judy Crankshaw
/ November 6, 2014Don’t you hate to see a favorite spot (campground, restaurant, or whatever) begin that decline from which they never seem to escape? Seedy campgrounds aren’t good, especially at $30/night. The photos sure make it look like a nice location, though.
Glad Sheba has finally settled down – some dogs just take a bit longer than others. Jezzy has become a great camping pal – loves to hike with us when we’re allowed to take her along, yet accepting of being left behind when we go off without her for hours. Hope this good time with Sheba continues. Hang on to Sunny as long as you can make his life good for him – sounds like he still is giving it a go! Darn pets! Why do they have to get old?
I think you Casita folks are taking over the world. We usually see one in every campground, although it’s rare for us to stumble across another T@B or T@DA. Isn’t is funny how we all feel that we’re in this big fraternity?
Happy Camping, Sharon. You SO deserve a goo trip.
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Sharon
/ November 6, 2014Judy, the location is wonderful. The State Park is part of the Lake Blackshear Recreation Area that includes golf course, conference center, marina, etc. So I think the state park was a poor relation, and I am thinking that maybe the resort management has very recently acquired the campground.
If so, they will probably make major improvements, then charge a premium to camp here. That’s my best guess at what’s going on. So far I have a lousy record of predicting the future, though! 😀
Yes, Sheba has come through with flying colors. I can leave her in the trailer without worrying about it or her. Little Sunny just sleeps while we are gone. My only fear is that he might not wake up sometime when we get back. At least his slow decline is giving us time to process eventually saying so long to him.
We SO needed this trip. It is starting out slow because our main thing right now is spending time with family. When it starts getting cold in N. Florida, we will probably head farther South.
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cozybegone
/ November 6, 2014It must be wonderful to be with Gail again….so happy for you. Glad Sunny getting out and about as the old Casita pro. As for Sheba…takes a bit to adjust but how quickly they adapt. Who wouldn’t being back out on the road 😉 Enjoy your time…woohoo!
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Sharon
/ November 6, 2014Carla, it is just heaven being with someone who knows all your history and you can just laugh and think things are hysterically funny due to shared memories that make no sense to anyone else. Sisters are truly a gift from God!
I am picturing you in your new right reigning over it like Queen Bee! So happy for you and Jerry!!!
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Kim
/ November 6, 2014Great to catch up with family. Poor little Sunny, what a sweetie he is. Look forward to hearing more about your trip.
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Sharon
/ November 6, 2014Hi, Kim! Eventually we will meet my Mom’s new husband. I’ve heard good things about him — and that he has two fish ponds. We will, of course, try them out. 🙂
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happytrailsga
/ November 7, 2014Oh I am so happy to hear you are out camping!! What fun it must be to reconnect with Gail and Mike!! We have some friends that told us all about Ocean Pond…can’t wait to experience it!!
Your Sunny sounds just like our Casey She is nearly 18 and she is deaf and mostly blind. She doesn’t travel well any longer thus we don’t either. Haven’t had the Casita out in several months. We would love to think we could make it to Florida during the winter to escape the colder weather of Georgia.
Gail did a fantastic job on her van!!! What talent 🙂
You guys enjoy your time together and enjoy camping!!!
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Sharon
/ November 7, 2014We are delighted to be out! And camping with Gail and Mike is icing on the cake. It makes me feel like “who needs a house anyway?” 😀
Fortunately Sunny still loves to camp. He does get confused sometimes so we keep a very close eye on him. Mostly he sleeps inside the trailer.
Oh, I do wish you could make it to Florida this winter!
I’ll pass on your comment about Gail’s van to her. It really works well for them!
Thanks for the good wishes! Hope you can get out and enjoy your Casita again soon.
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David Kemp
/ November 7, 2014Hi Sharon. Since we last communicated a lot has happend. We decided it was time for a larger camper and have a new Oliver 23.5 on order. The Casita sold in two days and is being picked up today. One of our first trips planned in the Ollie is to Savannah GA and Ocean Pond is on the route we will follow. Do you have a favorite site there?
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Sharon
/ November 7, 2014Wow, David! Congratulations on the new Oliver! You really went first class all the way!!!
We like site 11 best as it is huge. But I don’t think there is a bad site here. You can’t make reservations, so it would be best to arrive on a weekday if you want an electric and water site. You could stay in the beautiful water-only sites if you are having solar panels installed on your Oliver.
Again, congratulations! And do get out and enjoy that beautiful new trailer!
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David Kemp
/ November 7, 2014Thanks for that info. We do plan on a lot of camping in the Olli…especially in the Summer when it is hot and humid here in Florida. We like our Florida campgrounds a lot ..in the winter. Asheville looks like a great area to spend some time so we are planning a good month up there in Mount Pisgah Nat Park. I will post photos of the Ollie at emeraldcoastcamper.com and there are a few there of it in production.
Be blessed.
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Sharon
/ November 7, 2014David, I am looking forward to seeing the pictures of the Oliver! And I’d love to read your opinion of Mt. Pisgah. We hope to get there next year when it’s way too hot at home.
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