Annual visit to Circle B Bar Reserve

Puppy and I got up early yesterday and drove out to Circle B Bar Reserve, one of my must visit spots when I am in Florida. Hurricane Irma really damaged it. trees are down everywhere and the best part of the trail along the lake is closed.

I still enjoyed seeing some wildlife. For the first time I saw a Bald Eagle there. It was sitting in a nest that was mostly obscured by cypress trees in front of it. But still, I got to see the eagle.

Of course, I got to see lots of other critters.

I’m sure I’ll return next year. Hopefully this marvelous wildlife preservation area will be fully recovered by then.

At the corner of the Big Bend on the…

Puppy and I are wandering around in the south.  A 10 mile drive down a side road through the Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge will bring you to Saint Marks Lighthouse.  The wildlife refuge has both salt and fresh water and is home to quite a few species of wildlife.  The lighthouse marks the entrance to the Saint Marks River and is the 2nd oldest lighthouse in Florida.

ALLSTAYS Camp and RV app

I’ve talked about ALLSTAYS before. It’s my go-to app for traveling. In addition to all sorts of places to stay (campgrounds, overnight locations like Walmart or casinos, national, state and county parks and government land) it has important info for folks on the road like fuel and propane suppliers, low clearance bridges and steep grades, RV service and dealers and so much more.

A couple days ago, I was investigating BLM (Bureau of Land Management) locations. If you aren’t familiar with BLM, a large amount of federal land is controlled by them. And since it is public land, we all are entitled to use it. Numerous BLM areas allow “dispersed” camping. This is boondocking at its finest. And in most cases, it is free.

To get back to what I was saying, I found conflicting information. One source said that BLM managed Bastendorff Beach in Oregon was open but I could not find any information on ALLSTAYS supporting this. ALLSTAYS’ app has a feedback feature ( It’s a great process where we travelers can review and comment about various points on their maps) so I asked that they update and include Bastendorff.

Shortly, I received a reply from ALLSTAYS. It was from Adam L., the founder of ALLSTAYS himself. He was very courteous and explained that he had been contacted by BLM and asked to remove Bastendorff as camping was no longer allowed. We corresponded back and forth onece or twice and each time he was very helpful and obviously willing to work with ALLSTAYS users.

So, here’s my point: You can find entirely too much information on the Internet, the majority of it comes from questionable sources and the quality of the information is equally as questionable. And, everybody and their cousin is willing to sell you some app or access to their “special” website. How many of these apps and websites are regularly updated and how reliable is their data?

Here is the big question. How many of these apps and websites have a founder who is committed to actively making their produce work for you. One who will actually talk with you???

ALLSTAYS. Seriously, if you spend your time on the road, you should have the app in your phone. It takes a whole lot of uncertainty out of your life.

View Camp & RV in the App Store

Cheers and safe travels.

Paul and Heyleigh the wonder dog.

Video???

To be honest, I have never done any video imagery. It just hasn’t appealed to me. So, I am way behind the curve (again).
I think I want a way to easily record some video along my travels. After looking at this video stuff, I realized that I could film the trip and then I could film the subjects that I am shooting . And of course I can capture selfies of me and the dog doing our Art On The Run thing. And with the proper camera, I can even do so in the rain or under water.
The Cadillac of these so called action cameras is the GoPro line. Way too rich for my novice blood. After all, I may not care for this video stuff and toss it into the corner where it’ll sit until I stumble across it years later and sell it at a huge loss on eBay.
Which brings me to this. I picked up an SJ4000 camera with wi-fi for about a third the price of a GoPro. It comes with waterproof housing, all sorts of attachment gadgets and very little documentation. I figure I can experiment with it and learn if it is something I want to add to my bag of tricks.

This is this first video I recorded. The Sj4000 was suction cupped to my dash board of the Honda Fit while I drove up to the parking lot at Brasstown Bald.
I discovered afterwards that I missed one of those pesky clear vinyl protectors they stick to every screen, etc.. This one was covering the lens window in the waterproof housing which I happened to be using (though it wasn’t necessary). Imagine how much better the video might have been if I’d removed it.
Well, it is food for thought, isn’t it? I’m pretty sure I won’t become a threat to the accomplished videographers of the world!

Driveway camping

One of my friends has been busting my chops for not finding parks and such to “camp” in on my delivery journey. I figured that by visiting friends along the way we could catch up and at the same time, I could check out the RV in a controlled environment with “support” (tools, transportation, etc.) close by. We’ve dubbed it “Driveway Camping”.
I’m in another friend’s driveway just outside Ichetucknee Springs today.
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And, I may stop at one more friend’s driveway on the last leg of the journey home.
The drive from Tampa to Fort White yesterday was uneventful. Everything operated and handled as designed. This was the longest stretch we’ve traveled in the Rialta so far.
I do have one concern however. Matt sent me this photo of his driveway.

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Apparently something has run off or dripped from the RV. We had no low fluids at yesterday’s oil change in Brandon and I just checked levels with all being ok. I will be vigilant the rest of the way home, checking fluid levels often.
There is one fluid I can’t check. VW decided the transmission is not “user serviceable” and they sealed it with no dipstick. When I get home, I will change the automatic transmission fluid just to be safe.
I considered doing it yesterday in Brandon during the oil change but my old quick oil change place has changed hands and everyone there was complaining about being ripped off. Heck, I chose the budged $39.95 oil change and they tried to hit me with a $129.00 change using exotic oil. I said just stick with the program. 15 minutes and $48.00 later I was on my way.
We should be home in Blairsville in a couple days where I’ll begin an inch by inch check of the whole rig.

Peace out, Y’all.