09 Ocala NF Deux

Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Hopkins Prairie Campground, Florida, United States
We left Miami after Cindy helped drop the kids off at their Pinecrest school. With gas stops, it took us over seven hours driving to arrive at Hopkins Prairie Campground in the Ocala National Forest (NF). We snagged a reasonable campsite and quickly made ourselves at home; we have a great view of the prairie, a fair bit of privacy and room to exercise Yukon chasing balls.
After our mile plus morning walk through the woods, we heard the sonic boom from a capsule heading from the Space Station for a landing in the Atlantic Ocean. There has also been lots of Air Force flights cavorting overhead – I'm guessing that training Ukrainian pilots has something to do with the frequency.
There are about two-hundred Rainbow people of all ages that have just setup camp across the prairie. Based on their reputation with many of the locals, mainly for thefts in stores, frequent police and NF Law Enforcement (LE) visits are occurring.
Hooked up the TV with rabbit ears so we could watch SuperBowl LVIII; it was a great game to watch sitting around our campfire. The Kansas City Chiefs beat San Francisco Forty-Niners 25 to 22 in an exciting overtime finish.
Early Monday morning I took Storm into Ocala to get the engine repaired; it will be a big repair bill to get the lifter(s) fixed on the passenger side of the Hemi-engine. I rented a Hyundai Elantra (not exactly the best vehicle for towing) for three days while the truck was in the shop.
On one of our early morning walks (just over a mile on the Florida Trail), Yukon dragged an Opossum out of the bush – the good news was he let the poor guy walk away after I asked him to drop it. For Yukon's Birthday, he got to unwrap a small cotton ball which he immediately destroyed and ditto for a couple of plastic Frisbees. However his Psychedelic Panda is still hanging in there. The “piece de resistance” was seeing him demolish his New York Strip steak spread out over three meals.
We finally connected with Joanie on her Applegate Horse Farm for a two hour visit. She seems to have bounced back from her bout with Long-Term COVID. Her Arabian horses and Fig the pony are all looking good but Yukon is not good around any of them.
We are always a little sad leaving Hopkins Prairie but we did our final walk on the Florida Trail before packing up and heading towards Tampa; stay tuned for a weekend Blog update in a bit. This was a relaxing two week stay.
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Comments

Debbie Bennett
2024-02-23

Jake's previous dog, Anja, was never comfortable around horses either. Also, snowmen spooked her.

tracy
2024-02-27

Whattcha holding in your hand? (in the picture of you holding Yukon)!!!!!! Have fun you guys!

2025-02-11

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