After another decent night sleep and leisurely breakfast, we saddled up and took another route, north of the campground this time. Being the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the place was full of hunters, so we kept off the main trails and tried to follow a GPS route I had created from Google Earth. Dozens of miles of trails here, and no one has a trail map of any kind. Even what I found on the internet was hugely lacking, with nothing comprehensive whatsoever, which is what led me to simply scratching out a route from Google Earth. We wanted to check out a primitive campsite on Trout Lake, as we're hoping to find a place to go tomorrow, when we have to leave Doe Lake, but that is still in the area so we can meet up with a friend of ours who recently moved from PA to Palatka. Trout Lake wasn't really accessible for an RV though, the tree limbs were too low for us to get in, so we had to find an alternative. We swung north around Trout Lake, missed a turn I had planned, but continued to follow trails until we soon came back to camp, barely an hour after leaving. Again, most of the trails were well traveled, though we did get off on one that was pretty overgrown, my Apollo had to push through like a bulldozer to clear the way. Occasionally we came across a downed tree, but I was able to move it or go around it. Overall, the ride was a bit too short for my taste, but it left us time to solve the other logistics problem of where to go tomorrow. After putting the horses away, we headed out in the van to a place marked on a map I had that was supposed represent dispersed campsites that allow horses. Our first stop where called the South Firetower, but when we got to where we thought it should be, there was only a clearing, not a tower, and there were wood posts blocking the entrance for anything wider than a small car, so that was out. I kept heading south to try to find a way back that didn't require us going back over the many miles of potholed dirt road we had just traveled, and came across an official campground known as Big Bass Lake. I drove in to look at the map on the kiosk, hoping it would confirm where we were and if the fire tower site was where we thought it was, and had a lovely chat with the campground hostess, who told me, yes, there USED to be a firetower there, but no more. After a few minutes, I asked if they would allow horses there, and she said, no one had ever asked, and she didn't see why not, but she called her supervisor, and then the top ranger, and they all agreed it would be okay! What a find! Every time I had called the office here, they insisted the only non-primitive horse camping was at Doe Lake, with a group, period! Anyway, we drove around, and Hubby found the perfect site for his satellite signal, plus it had a great little clearing behind it that would make a perfect, concealed paddock for the horses! Fabulous! We told them we'd be back by mid-day tomorrow, and went on our way, happy that we were able to so easily solve our problem of where to go for the next few days! Perfect! We went back to camp, fed the horses, and then I went off to the dining hall to listen to an advocate, named Michelle, for the Great Florida Cattle Drive 2016 that's being held in January, and which Hubby and I have already signed up for. I learned a few things I didn't know before, but mostly it was a repeat of information I already had. Because I wanted to talk with Michelle afterward, I hung around while the club had a meeting, learned a few more rather surprising facts, listened to them discuss the horse slaughter problem that is apparently prevalent in Florida right now, and then run off on some tangents, as most meetings tend to do. I finally had to leave because we hadn't eaten yet, and I knew Hubby would be cranky by now without food, so I asked Julie to ask Michelle is she would stop by for a few minutes before she left. Fixed dinner, and not long after, Michelle and Paula, (the good officer) came by and we ended up chatting for nearly 1 ½ hours! Eventually, they left, Hubby and I watched a quick one-hour TV show and headed off to bed.
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