In February, Sandy and I arrived at Osceola National Forest in Northern Florida. There are several campgrounds on the forest but, only one of them has facilities for campers. The rest are more like hunt camps. We are staying in the beautiful Ocean Pond Campground.
We came here because I applied for and received a volunteer position as an office assistant in the district office for the Osceola NF. After our whirlwind trips across the US last year, I wanted to see what it would be like to stay in one place for an extended period of time. The job comes with a full hook up site, mileage and propane reimbursement, free laundry and free bottled water and ice. The office job didn't last for very long though because there was a critical shortage of hosts for the campground and I agreed to give it a try.
Hosting gives opportunity for meeting a lot of people from all over the United States and Canada (so far) and with people come stories. A very nice couple from Michigan made a batch of cookies on one of their first days here and shared them with me and one of the other volunteers. They were always smiling and stopping to chat and made sure we felt appreciated for our hard work. Today they were leaving to continue their journeys but made sure to find us to say goodbye. It was then we found out the husband has cancer. He is nine months past his treatments and doing well for now. They were construction workers who followed the jobs from place to place in their RV but never had the opportunity to be tourists and sightseers. Now they are RVing for pleasure with a plan to see as much as possible while his health holds out. They insisted we pose for a picture with them for their memory book and it was an honor to do so. Here's hoping they get to cross off everything on their bucket list and more.
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