Ocala National Forest called us again after we turned down Shanty Lake and offered us a very nice position at Doe Lake Group Site. We'd just have to watch over one site that was mostly used by equestrian clubs. I was in heaven! I love horses so much that I thought I was one growing up. Pictures are at
Doe Lake Description 
But then it got confusing. We got offers to camp host at Gold Head Branch State Park, Juniper Springs with Recreation Resource Management of America (a great company to work for; apply at
RRMofA Employment Application or
http://rrmofa.com/ ) then four offers in one day from the Forest Service. Next Jolene called from Manatee Springs State Park with an offer to run the Ranger Station a few days a week in return for a spot with hookups. We spent a few day at this remarkable state park in January 2010, so that was completely exciting. And church was an easy bike ride into Chiefland, which was an important feature. Then on September 23, 2011, we got an email from a ranger in the Everglades offering us the job at the Nike Missile site. But the job didn't start until December. (We should have asked, because we thought it started
October 1st, like all of the other offers we'd received.) We also got an offer from Bahia Honda State Park on this same day. I told Bob to turn it down: too hot and too buggy! Besides, I'd miss the family reunion that was planned for October 8th. He seemed devastated...saying that would be his dream job of all time.
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Manatee Springs, complete with Manatees....of course
Here's a sample email we received: The Ocala National Forest has immediate openings for volunteer campground hosts at the following campgrounds: Delancy West - available now - April!, Hopkins Prairie - available October 15 - April 15 |
October 17, 2011, brings another 24 hours of rain. Our RV is sinking in the quick sand, as Bob inspects our neighbor's new half-acre lake. We've got our rocking camp chairs set up under the Gumbo Limbo Trees, but there's no using them today. We've been watching NOAA radar images for days. Bahia Honda Key has been lit up in dark orange bands... Scary enough to stay home from church and skip the 7-mile bridge ride in a cross wind! The storm is just getting some real muscle when Bob says to grab our $1,200 Sony HDR-DX550 camera and wade out to take some footage. I don't know.... It's mighty wet out there.... Handycams don't like soakings. 
