Campsite

Just returned from Alachua County Fairgrounds, Gainesville, Florida.  We went up for the weekend, leaving on Friday evening and returning only a couple hours ago.  The weather was excellent; warm all day, and a nice breeze would come through during the evening, cooling off the night just right.  We stayed at the fairgrounds since the local Amateur Radio Club (GARS) was having a Hamfest there, and while Laura and Emily did their thing around Gainesville, I checked out the gear at the Hamfest, and hung out at the trailer.  More can be found on my Amateur Radio Page.

Sandy

Some locals told us about a great pizza place in Gainesville, Satchel’s Pizza.  If you’re ever in Gainesville and get a hankerin’ for some pizza, check this place out.  Great food, neat atmosphere, great service, and the deserts are outstanding.  Definitely worth a stop.

Sandy enjoyed the surroundings.  She rarely gets the opportunity to run around without the chain on.

We’re back from our second trip to Tomoka State Park.  The weather was fantastic the entire trip, perfect for lounging around all day.  Oh sure, on occasion I’d get up out of my chair and go for a walk around the campground, but for the most part ol’ Sandy (our dog) and I just napped the day away.  Now that’s my kind of camping!

I tried my hand at taking some video this time; thought I’d change it up a bit from taking pictures.  So here’s some shots of our campsite, followed by a walk around the park (being towed by Sandy).  You’ll see how dense the vegetation is in this CG, the park area (community building and playground for the kids), and a few animals along the way.

Enjoy!

Update: I, unfortunately, had to remove the video.  There seems to be a problem with the amount of time it was taking to load the web page.  I’m testing some other options for video and when I find a solution I like, I’ll put video back on the site.

I added shelves in one of the two closets next to the bed.  The shelves are in place, but they are not complete.  I need to lightly sand the shelves and apply a few coats of polyurethane for strength and durability.  Plus I want to radius the edge of the support braces.  But for a CG mod, not too bad.  You can see the mod here.

Tomoka River

Yes, we are back at Tomoka State Park.  We originally planned on going to Lake Louisa S.P., a CG that we had not been to before, but Laura really enjoyed our last (and very brief) outing to Tomoka S.P. that we decided to come back up here instead.

This time we’re in site #100 (a couple of weeks ago we were in site #5).  Site #100 is nice; lots of wooded areas around you to divide you from the other campsites.  Lots of cardinals around this park; most days are spent listening to them as they make their way through the trees.

I did manage to take a few more pictures (below) yesterday from the park.  The river & boat launch area are very nice, and there’s a general store on the premises that has a few sundries, some fishing items, and you can get some prepared food (sandwiches and such) here.  You can also rent a boat and take it out on the river for the day.  On most days you’ll find a few fisher-people around the docks and in their boats.  The area is very nice; the river flows through a swamp area which gives the place a lot of character.  I’m sure one would find all kinds of interesting animal life in the area if they took a boat out and around the swamps.

I also included a picture of the sign at the boat launch/store area.  Might be difficult to read in the reduced 800×600 px. format that I use on my blog.

I brought my video camera along on this trip and hope to put up my first video entry.  I’m sure I’ll have to spend some time editing it first, so look for it in a few days.

Well, time to get back to some serious relaxin’

Later!

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Linx Leveler

Well, here’s the review on the Linx Levelers that I said I’d write.  I wanted to snap a couple of pictures of them to include in the review before publishing.  The Linx Levelers are ten plastic webbed (for reinforcement) blocks that come in their own storage bag.  These blocks are stackable and because of their shape they lock together quite well.

Linx Leveler

They are amazingly strong, a tribute to the engineering that was built into the webbed design.  They are light; they don’t weigh much at all.  And they are versatile; there are plenty of uses for these blocks around the campsite.

Linx Leveler Under Tires

On our current trip I used the blocks to level our trailer from side-to-side.  They are just the right size; they fit under each tire perfectly yet they are small enough so as to set one between the tires before moving the trailer onto the blocks.  Because of their size, they span enough ground so they do not bury themselves into the dirt.  Here in Florida, we have very sandy soil, and the Linx Levelers do very well on this very loose ground.

Linx Leveler Under BAL

I originally purchased one set of Linx Levelers to try out and I was so impressed with them that I bought a second set.  I haven’t had to use the second set yet, but I’m certain that there will come a time that I’ll be glad I have ‘em.  When I arrive at a campsite, one of the very first things I do is to check the side-to-side level of the trailer.  If I see that I need some support on one side, I place the support under the wheels and set the trailer to as close to level as possible.  On this trip I found myself needing to level the trailer, so I placed one block under each wheel on the port side of the trailer.  This brought the trailer to near perfect level.  After that, I placed one block under each of the four BAL levelers.  This left me with four blocks left to place under the tongue jack.  This was perfect for all the pressure points around the trailer that needed additional support.

Linx Leveler Under Tongue Jack

At first I wasn’t too crazy about the blocks constructed of a bright orange, but later realized that they will be difficult to miss when packing up.  So that turned out to be a good idea as well.  All in all, I can’t really find anything about these blocks I dislike!  Maybe a bit pricy at around $30.00 a set, but really not all that bad.

So I give these items a thumb’s up!  Because of how versatile these blocks are, you’ll find plenty of uses for them.  For example, we’re probably going to open up my second set tomorrow and use them to level out a picnic table next to our trailer.  I’m certain they’ll do the trick!

I recommend you get a set of these and keep ‘em in your RV.  I’m convinced you’ll find plenty of uses for them to justify your purchase.

Link:  Linx Levelers

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