Rainbow Springs SP (Mar 8-21, 2017)

Wednesday - Short trip here from Crystal River. We got set up and waited for our friends Sam and Paula to arrive. After they got here and got set up, we headed to The Front Porch for dinner. It was great to get caught up with things in Georgia.
Thursday - Today the four of us biked the Withlacoochee Bay Trail four miles out to the Gulf. It was a beautiful ride and we were treated to dolphins and pelicans feeding on bait fish. We all had dinner at our place.
Friday - Today, the four joined our Friday kayaking group on the Rainbow River, a beautiful stretch of crystal clear water. We saw otter, cormorants, turtles, ibis, wood ducks, and fish. John caught many small bream while the group went up to the head spring, then joined the group down river to the take out at Blue Run. We ended the outing with lunch at The Blue Otter.
Saturday - The Fab Four needed a slightly less strenuous day, so we went exploring. Sam did the honors of driving. We chucked out Yankeetown, Crystal River Preserve State Park, Fort Island Trail Park and Beach, and Gulf Coast RV Park where J&J stayed in November for possible use next year by S&P. We had a very nice lunch at Crackers, although we couldn't sit outside due to it being too crouded. John thinks the grouper sandwich here is nearly as good as the Blue Gator and much better than Charlie's. It was a gorgeous day.
Sunday - The two of us are battling allergies or upper respiratory junk, so we chose to stay home from church this AM. The weather is iffy as well so we stayed close and took a couple walks around here. On our evening walk down to the river we were treated to a bald eagle catching a fish. It flew quite close to us.
Monday - The temperature has dropped here considerably, and the wind picked up, but the four decided to bike anyway. We parked at Blue Run in Dunnellon and biked both ways to the end on the trail there. We also hiked around the lake on the nature trail, then went back to the Front Porch Restaurant for dinner and to celebrate Joan's Birthday.
Saturday - We have been laying low, fighting of upper resperatory crud, we figure set off by oak pollen, which is very high now.
Monday - We took it easy again today and met Sam and Paula at Swampy's for dinner.
Tuesday - We are still feeling the effects of oak allergies, but are managing to function. We made a Wally run, then took the bikes to NCL to leave them there. We said good byes to friends and blew leaves off the patio for the last time. In the evening we met Sam and Paula at the Front Porch for dinner.

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