Visitor Center Volunteers - Why not?

We got a surprise visit today from Ranger Eve Shackleton, U.S. Forest Service assistant recreation program manager (17 years) a ranger at Rainbow Springs, who came to Florida in the 9th grade (after a divorce....her mother's).  Eve brought the two top people in the Forest Service over Visitor Centers.  We had the best time sharing our life experiences.  We'd all served in the Air Force, were amazed at the wild people who come to The Ocala (like very weird men from Minnesota in white vans), appreciated spiders, and wished all mosquitoes would die.  Bob got out our bug zappers and we enjoyed killing the little swarmers as they interrupted our conversation over and over.  

Salt Springs strip mall Visitor Center



Shanty Pond Campground
$3/night for seniors



We were asked if we'd like to man the Visitors' Center at Salt Springs over the winter.  That sounded great, as we'd already learned we'd get a free spot across the street at the AL&L campground where we'd already been welcomed into a close, fun-loving, activity-rich community.  But then we learned the Forest Service wasn't going to pay the $6 a day and planned to put us at Shanty Pond Campground, on a dirt road south of town.  Bob said he wasn't going to watch his RV sink in the mud and muck anymore...and that we'd need a Forest Service vehicle to drive into town if we parked out there.   I knew we wouldn't hear back from Eve.  There is no money in any Forest Service budget anymore.    Our insistence on having the nice camp site was not going to be a reality.  Click here for Campground Volunteer Host Positions offered by the USDA, Forest Service.

Salt Springs is the BEST in beauty and friendliness!

People usually come here to swim, but the campground was a gift to the public from a private owner who stipulated it be developed for the RVing community...with FHUs and spacious sites.  The other 14 campgrounds in The Ocala are all primitive.

View looking towards Salt Springs along Salt Springs run, where the water

 from the spring flows along a tidal creek to the Gulf of Mexico.

Salt Springs Run (to Lake George)

Our cute neighbors' A-liner.   They were out in their Kayaks

Salt Springs sandy paths made for challenging biking (lots of fish tailing in the sand)

We saw a boater almost run over several Manatees in the Run...

but our yelling got him to slow down.