earthdancer

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr, this Florida gal had to put on a pair of warm socks and a sweatshirt just to look at all that snow in your photos! And to think, your photos and our photos were taken at about the same time and we are in warm sunshine and short sleeves! I froze the few days we were in Hohenwald ...... brrrrr....... guess Florida has thinned out my blood! Your photos were great, I spent one winter at the Grand Canyon and another winter in Telluride CO, so I met snow a time or two in my adult life..... nice to look at... but...! I grew up in it raised on a farm in Northfield NH, but moved to Florida when I was 9 ! As a kid, it was fun in the snow........ skating, sledding, all that fun stuff. As an adult.... all that and icy roads too! LOL! Great photos. Thanks for sharing! Geri

Hi Pete and Oscar!!! Chuck and I wish you well with your new hatchling! I remember how excited Chuck was when we were outside the Oliver Plant looking for a parking place! "Ollie" was all he talked about all morning. You are gonna love the people at Oliver. Everybody we met there was friendly and made us feel like part of the Oliver family. Great folks. I hope you get to spend the night at the Thousand Trails Campground where Robert put us up! Word of warning, take groceries with you, that general store doesn't have much of anything but wow, they fix one heck of a wonderful breakfast for about $3.50 !!! If you ever end up in our corner of the world, you are more than welcome here! Geri and Chuck

Tom, here are a few photos, just for you!

I should have mentioned, it was Sherry I saw with a camera and I know she took a few photos as well! Here are a few more.

I saw you with a camera too..... surely you have a few more photos you can add??? Chuck and I will head down there Sunday, the 30th. Hope to see you there soon! Anybody else up for joining us at Withlacoochee ??? I am adding a few more images here, and on the flickr website posted in my signature. Geri

Withlacoochee River County Park in Dade City Florida is one of the hidden gems of Florida. Florida has always been known for it's outstanding state parks, but sometimes there are smaller, less flashy but no less beautiful gems known as County Parks. Worth seeking out. When you enter the park, go to the end of the road to the Ranger's office and pay $5 per night you intend to stay. Then he will direct you to Ma's Big Way Road and you will turn left there onto a huge field where Native American Pow Wow's are held several times per year. That is why you will find a big prayer/dance circle near the center. There is a big one coming up on Mothers Day weekend, so don't plan to camp there then..... but it is a wonderful Pow Wow to attend. It is the last one of winter and many will return to the northern states they reside in. This is one of the largest Pow Wow's in Florida, and in my opinion, one of the best! Full beautiful dancing regalia, the most amazing drums, lots of arts and crafts and demonstrations. Plenty of good food, usually including gator bites and fry breads. As you turn onto this big empty field, you are free to find yourself a spot under one of the few shade trees in the area or out in the open! I have attached a few photos, but if you go to my flickr website listed below my signature, there will be more photos there of this park. This park is very easy to find You can google it, or mapquest it or if you are still confused you can PM me or Sherry (seadawg) for more specific directions. She and I have decided to wait for you to ask for specific directions because we don't want to ruin this beautiful park with hundreds of huge motorhomes coming the same weekend we want to rally! Let's kind of keep this our little secret at the Oliver family forums! Grin. However, because there are plentiful open spaces, bring your kites, your model airplanes, your solar panels, your bikes, your kayaks, your hiking boots and your barbeque grill. Also bring your manners and clean up after yourself. The park is ok about small dogs on leashes, but clean up after your dogs too please! I will add a few more photos to that flickr link below as I get time to edit the photos!

Tom, if you be patient about 24 more hours, I will post more photos of the park and the rally than you can shake a stick at! I will give full directions from several directions. But if you can't wait, Google: Withlacoochee River County Park, Dade City, FL and you will get the info you need. Best part about this beautiful park, it is only $5 per night and that includes water and electric! No Showers, no fancy swimmin' hole...... just a beautiful river for fishing or kyaking and trails waiting to be hiked. I don't wanna give it all away here, but I will post photos of the park and all the details in the fairly new "Campground" thread on the front page. It really is a park worth visiting and not that far off I-75 in Central FL. Geri

Here are the first two toasts raised at the first ever NON-sanctioned (but more fun than any old "sanctioned") Oliver Rally !!! I will post more photos later, but I want to do them over on the "Campground" thread, because this is really an awesome campground, perfect for a small rally... well any size actually. Lots of space. But after days of fun I must return to work, but as soon as I can get the photos edited and up, I will send you specific details of how to get to this hidden gem of a park and hope to see all of you next year ! Geri

Ok, I admit that I don't know exactly what I am talking about... but won't that add too much weight to the tongue for the jeep to pull safely ? You got to remember I got the Casita Club phobias drilled into my psyche! Nothing against them, but I remember so many posts about adding weight to the tongue..... is Oliver that much safer ? Geri

Good choice for a mural ! Kokopelli has always been the traveler.. the lover.. the symbol of fertility. All good things. This is a beautiful art piece and will look wonderful on "Wonder Egg" ! You chose well. Now.... you must learn to play the flute ! Kokopelli has always been my symbol for earthdancer. I have always had the feeling that he was also dancing on the planet gently and with great joy. Geri

nice map Mountainborn! Yes, the bridge is the quarter circle in the upper left as it gracefully enters Apalachicola from the east. It is also highway 98. That dark upside backwards "L" shape is one of the marinas in town. The big white building to the right or at the end of the bridge curve is the Franklin County Courthouse. If the image could be adjusted down just a bit, you would see the road to Water Street, where folks could park next to the shrimp boats. Too bad you are not gonna be here this weekend! The Eastpoint Fire Dept. is raising $$$ with a big barbeque rib cook-off! YUM! Lots of good eats around here! Geri

Overnight stays are quite common on the side streets and parking lots of Apalachicola, FL. I have heard that you can camp under the bridge for $5.00, but if you need just one night here, lots of motorhomes go down to the waterfront aka Water Street, and pull up right next to the shrimp boats. You could also pull into the parking lot behind the building where my shop is on Ave. D, 2 blocks from the bridge. Most folks around here are mild mannered and friendly and we know a good per centage of our money is tourist oriented, so we don't tend to chase too many people away! Geri

Mountainborn, I love the poem from your grandmother. I guess I have read it 10 times already! You were certainly loved by her! What a wonderful way to earn a handle. Ok...... enough about you...... you gotta tell us the story behind your wife's name, "butcherknife" ! What's up with that ??

Dusty, If I can learn to tow, anybody can! SeaDawg's advice was excellent. The only thing I can add is that when you back up, keep your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel..... then turn it the way you want to go. When you put your hand at the top, you have to turn the opposite direction, and that was always confusing to me. Once I learned the hand at the bottom of the steering wheel trick, backing up is still... well a challenge, but not nearly as hard as it used to be. Geri

Well, ok........ here goes. earthdancerimages became my business name as a photographer.... hence the "images" on the end of the name earthdancer. I spent most of the 80's traveling around the southwest, primarily AZ, living in a cabover camper on my GMC pick up truck. I was boon docking before I knew there was a name for it! I lived mostly in the AZ state forests and worked in nearby towns. My main source of employment was at the Grand Canyon every summer. Worked several jobs, either waitressing or at the GC Trading Post Gift Shop, or at the GC Campground in Tusayan ... anything to keep money coming in. I love the canyon and hiked it often. I met several Navajo families while I lived there. One couple lived out in the woods near me. I even spent some time on the Navajo Reservation and spent one day herding sheep! (Which I nearly lost !!! My handle coulda been Bo Peep !) A Navajo man and I was talking one day about my lifestyle, and he said I was "dancing gently on Mother Earth", earthdancer was born. At the time, one of the ways I was making money was making jewelry.... beaded earrings. They became "earthdancer earrings" and I sold them from Tucson, Sedona, Jerome to Grand Canyon ! As my photography hobby grew, it became earthdancerimages. I've been earthdancer for 25+ years now. I have always loved camping..... so it seemed to be the perfect handle to hang onto. Geri

SeaDawg! I am totally amazed at the creative way you put together the suction cup wall behind the sink! I want to do something like that in my Casita! You have inspired me, just have to go out of Franklin County to find a Target, Walmart, or even a McDonalds! So maybe when I meet Chuck down in Dade City.... I will find one. I know there is a Walmart in Dade City... not sure about Target. That may have to wait for a Tallahassee trip. I hope I get to meet ya'll in Dade City too. We will be there, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday nights at the Pasco County Withlachoochee River Park. This could go on the campground site as a neat place for only $5 a night with water and electric hookups! It is also used for Native American Pow Wow's several times a year as it is in the middle of the Creek reservation. The river is quite beautiful with ancient oak trees dripping in spanish moss lining both sides of the river. Also bald cypress is abundant there. Hope to see ya'll and a Tar-jay soon! Geri

If any of you end up in the Florida Panhandle, I highly recommend St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, just south of Port St. Joe, on Cape San Blas! It's a beautiful state park with both pull through and back in campsites, full bath facilities and 2 campgrounds to choose from. My favorite is the one right on the water, just walk over the dunes to the beach and inhale that great salt water aroma that cleanses the soul! Here is a link to my website that shows photos of that campground: http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthdance ... 406170680/ Here is the link to the campground: http://www.stateparks.com/saint_joseph_peninsula.html Here is a note....... as beautiful as St. Joseph Peninsula State Park is, it isn't pet friendly. No pets are allowed on the beaches. However, the next beach is Indian Pass Beach and the pets are free to wander without leashes there. It is also 4-wheel drive friendly if you stay off the dunes! Just a bit east of St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, about 15 miles, is Indian Pass. At the very end of Indian Pass is the Indian Pass Campground. Great little campground right on the water with the beautiful St. Vincent's Island right across the bay. You can get a ferry over for $15. St. Vincent's is a wildlife refuge so you need to carry everything you will need for the next few hours because the ferry won't come back for 4 hours! That includes toilet paper! Bring a few extra shopping bags too...... you will want to pick up all the shells you find, there are some really nice shells over on St. Vincent Island. Here is the link for info on St. Vincent's Island: http://www.fws.gov/saintvincent/ Here is the link to the Indian Pass Campground. http://www.google.com/search?q=Indian+P ... =firefox-a One Sunday, a few months ago, Chuck (tumblweed) and I had a picnic lunch at Indian Pass and watched as a pod of dolphin played in the water just a few yards from us! If you decide to visit my neck of the woods..... let me know and I'll tell you all the neat places. Oh...... another good campground..... St. George Island State Park, right across the Bay from my place is beautiful too! hahahahaha.... I can keep you camping here for a few weeks with all the neat places around here! Geri

That was great! I remember it as a kid too....... glad to know it's still around making people laugh! Luci and Desi were great!

I know right where that is and I don't need a GPS to find it either! It's on that road to Haigler Creek! On the left... down a slightly sloping hill !

I have a Casita, not an Oliver, but apparently it had the same slippery cushion problem! The previous owner solved it by putting velcro on the cushions under the seat and on the back wall where the back rest cushions belong. She did both the small dinette area and large dinette area that way and I have inherited no problems of cushion slippage!

If I remember right....... there are several markers along the way to Haigler Creek about the range wars. First is on the left and I think the other 2 were on the right side of the road..... but when I last passed through, it was pretty overgrown with summer grass and almost impossible to read from road..... but being snake cautious I opted to read what I could from the road and keep my feet outta the grass ! I promise, this is a good place to visit. True, it's more than a bit out of the way... but isn't that what camping is all about, finding those hidden gems ??? Surely someone else reading this thread has a "hidden gem" camping spot they would like to share with us ??? Thanks for the map too..... !!!

Mountainborn, I know you & Butcherknife have done a lot of traveling in the Mogollon Rim area of AZ. Have you, or anyone else on this forum, ever discovered Pleasant Valley? The town of Young sits at the base of this valley... 9 miles of paved road and a great little restaurant at the south end of town called The Antler Cafe. At the north end of town, after the dirt road resumes you will see an old timey bridge in the right and a sign saying "Haigler Creek". Turn left and pass thru some beautiful remote AZ countryside for about 12 - 20 miles (I never was good at judging distance!) When you get to Haigler Creek, it is boondock at it's best! You can watch the trout hiding under the rocks! See wild turkey come around about dusk and pretty much have the place to yourself! Last time I was there they had installed a pit toilet, but that was about it! To get there from the south....... go to Globe and head up highway 88 towards Lake Roosevelt. There will be a sign "To Young" and highway 288,turn right and it will lead you up the well maintained, breath takingly beautiful dirt road drive through the White Mountains. If you are coming from the North, from Payson, head east on highway 260. You will come to a bump in the road called Kohl's Ranch and look for the Young sign Highway 288 and head south. From either direction you will be passing in and out of the White Mountain Apache Reservation. From the south, the dirt road is about 60 miles and from the north it is about 40 miles to the town of Young. I suggest you go in one way and out the other as the scenery is amazing! I hope to go there again very soon! Geri

Sherry, you are welcome to stop by here anytime! I live in a campground right on the St. George Bay. I am 12 miles from Apalachicola, where I have my own business, a frame shop and mini gallery and I am about 8 miles from St. George Island State Park. The campground here is nothing fancy....... there are others around here prettier, but it's reasonably priced. If you are interested in a grand tour, I'll be glad to offer it! Let me know and I'll give you my cell number to call when you get in the area. Keep me posted on your Oliver progress! I am excited for you ! Geri

Here are my additional requests that I asked Jim Oliver and the ever-so-capable Robert Partee if they could add: 12 - Cell phone signal amplification system Wow, Chuck needs to know that this is an option in the Oliver! He mentioned today that he was starting to look for something to amplify his phone and wifi !

Thanks for the great welcome Mountainborn! I'm glad you like the photos! I love your home state of Arkansas and have visited there often. I love the Coleman Crystal Mines and the Crater of Diamonds State Park. At least 4 trips from Florida to Arizona have paid for themselves thanks to the crystals I mined at the Coleman mines! I'd pay $10 a day to mine crystals, pay $3 for the powder to mix with water to clean them up then go to Sedona and sell them all ! Hahaha Creative Traveling 101 ! Thanks for your efforts in getting a good forum going here. Geri