Monday, November 17, 2025 – Travel Day to River Rise, High Springs, FL

Hey Darlin',
Got moving around 8:00, was leaving camp just before 10:00 (it's great when the horse containment is someone else's paddock so I had nothing to deconstruct!), and had an uneventful drive to River Rise. With a stop at O'Leno State Park to get my permit and gate code and a short drive to the Preserve, I was finished parking in my site by noon and fully set up within 90 minutes or less. Got involved with a conversation with a rider, which delayed me a bit, but I then took a quick drive down to Alachua to drop off the UPS package of my Amazon return (the circuit board I didn't need for my furnace) and was going to make a Walmart stop, only to discover there is no Walmart here, that the nearest one was another 15 minutes farther south in Gainesville. Since I didn't have much to get, I opted to go to the nearby Publix instead. Got back to camp around 3:00, put everything way, and was sitting down enjoying the afternoon when I got involved with another conversation with some guy who just stopped by my site and started talking (I guess I must just look like a good listener, though I wasn't trying :-)), and eventually settled down for the evening. Despite them having a barn here, I put my horses on their highline, which is more convenient for me, and because I'm worried that a stall would limit their movement, especially Apollo, and he'd get too stiff. At least on a highline, they have to move back and forth between the water in the middle and the hay bags on each end. I've half decided to just stay here two weeks, though I'll have to move sites, so that I minimize the amount of driving. I don't really have to go down to Green Swamp yet, since that's my destination in January anyway, so it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to get there any earlier. It keeps me going in the right direction, anyway, southward, until it's time to come back north! Besides, I rather like this "back yard," though I can't get very much sun here for my solar panel, but it's very woodsy and feels like old Florida, and I'm close enough to a water spigot (at least this week) for my hose to reach. It will be a different story next week, but if I fill up everything before I move, it should hold be for the week, and if I need more, I can always get some at the barn in my truck tank. Nothing I haven't done many times before! Headed for bed soon, my love! Good night!