We only saw one medium sized alligator that mostly ignored us. It was a beautiful day to share with good friends with only one mishap, a turned over canoe while getting in to come back. Clothes were dampened, but not spirits.
Withlacoochee River Kayaking Trip (Jan 27)
We drove to Nobleton and met Ray, Faye, Julie, and Barry for a kayak/canoe outing. We launched about 10AM and paddled a total of 8 miles. We saw a large number of birds, including hawks, egrets, herons, woodpeckers, and anhinga. We only saw one medium sized alligator that mostly ignored us. It was a beautiful day to share with good friends with only one mishap, a turned over canoe while getting in to come back. Clothes were dampened, but not spirits.
We only saw one medium sized alligator that mostly ignored us. It was a beautiful day to share with good friends with only one mishap, a turned over canoe while getting in to come back. Clothes were dampened, but not spirits.
Chassahowitzka River Kayak Fishing (Jan 14)
We went kayaking with Joan's brother Skip and his son Chad. They were using Skip's new Hobie kayaks that are peddled instead of paddled. We caught a lot of fish, but all were either too small to keep or not the eating kind. Most were ladyfish that are very bony, but fun to catch.
View pictures at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/ChassahowitzkaRiverKayakFishingJan14#
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
View pictures at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/ChassahowitzkaRiverKayakFishingJan14#
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Fort Desoto (Jan 4 - 8, 2009)
Monday, Jan 4 - We have decided to go despite the cold, but may wimp out at any time. We should be on the road by about 10 AM. It is now 31 deg.
We made it here fine and got set up quickly. After homemade pizza on the RVQ, we drove to some areas where we thought we could stay out of the wind and fish. We were somewhat successful staying in calmer spots, but reports stating that the dropping water temps have shut down the fish bite have so far proven true. We are having veggies done in foil and steak on the RVQ for supper. It is still very windy, but we are nice and snug inside.
Tuesday, Jan 5 - We were nice & cozy warm during the night, but the wind came up a lot. It was hard to sleep with all the blowing. We are glad that we picked a protected area of the campground.
We layered up and took a coffee walk around the campground loops. There are many more campers in the big unit loops. We came back to the camper and enjoyed hot oatmeal. Yum!
Wednesday, Jan 6 - It is sunny this morning and not as windy. We took our coffee on a walk again and enjoyed seeing more bird activity on the water. There were some nice snook down by the bridge near the office that were having their way with a school of finger mullet. Bacon and eggs for breakfast.
It was warm enough to put on the waders and fish in some protected areas. John got one good hit, but otherwise we came up empty. Later, we went over to Andy and Jody's camper for some smoked mullet that they had prepared earlier. They are hosts here who we met earlier this morning. The mullet was outstanding, done with three different spice marinades.
Thursday, Jan 7 - it was actually almost warm today, but since rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, we have decided to pack up and leave this afternoon. We figured out all the times necessary and putting in the kayaks today would not work. Instead, we fished from shore near the pet area. Due to the extreem temp drop, there were hundreds of huge snook holding in this area to stay in the warmer water. Sadly, they were not interested in eating. There were so hundreds of finger mullet right near them that they were not interested in. We arrived back home about 4:30 and had everything put away by 5:30.
View pictures:
We made it here fine and got set up quickly. After homemade pizza on the RVQ, we drove to some areas where we thought we could stay out of the wind and fish. We were somewhat successful staying in calmer spots, but reports stating that the dropping water temps have shut down the fish bite have so far proven true. We are having veggies done in foil and steak on the RVQ for supper. It is still very windy, but we are nice and snug inside.
Tuesday, Jan 5 - We were nice & cozy warm during the night, but the wind came up a lot. It was hard to sleep with all the blowing. We are glad that we picked a protected area of the campground.
We layered up and took a coffee walk around the campground loops. There are many more campers in the big unit loops. We came back to the camper and enjoyed hot oatmeal. Yum!
Wednesday, Jan 6 - It is sunny this morning and not as windy. We took our coffee on a walk again and enjoyed seeing more bird activity on the water. There were some nice snook down by the bridge near the office that were having their way with a school of finger mullet. Bacon and eggs for breakfast.
It was warm enough to put on the waders and fish in some protected areas. John got one good hit, but otherwise we came up empty. Later, we went over to Andy and Jody's camper for some smoked mullet that they had prepared earlier. They are hosts here who we met earlier this morning. The mullet was outstanding, done with three different spice marinades.
Thursday, Jan 7 - it was actually almost warm today, but since rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, we have decided to pack up and leave this afternoon. We figured out all the times necessary and putting in the kayaks today would not work. Instead, we fished from shore near the pet area. Due to the extreem temp drop, there were hundreds of huge snook holding in this area to stay in the warmer water. Sadly, they were not interested in eating. There were so hundreds of finger mullet right near them that they were not interested in. We arrived back home about 4:30 and had everything put away by 5:30.
View pictures:
Disney With the Grandkids (December 2009)
Monday, December 21, 2009 - We drove to Disney and met the kids and grandkids at Wilderness Lodge where they were staying. We did two parks with them: Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. At Animal Kingdom we spent time at Bones, did the Kilimanjaro Safari, and saw Lion King and Nemo. After a nice dinner, we took the boat to Magic Kingdom andwatched the parade and the fireworks, which were spectacular.
Back Home
Thursday, December 18 - We came home a day early so we didn't have to pack up in the rain that is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. We started packing at 6:30 and had pancake breakfast with the park volunteers at the nature center. We left at 9:47 and arrived home at 11:30 after driving 93.4 miles.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Oscar Scherer State Park (December 13-18, 2009)
Sunday, December 13 - We had to bring the camper back to the house and pack it this morning, but we were not in a big hurry. We got it all ready and were on the road by 10:24. It was 71 deg and foggy. We arrived at the campground at 12:33 and 82 degrees after driving 107.4 miles. We set up camp and droved over to Blackburn Point and wade fished for awhile. Nothing. We went to KFC and had dinner. This is a great site.
Monday, December 14 - After oatmeal for breakfast, we drove to North Jetty Park and fished from the jetty, the beach, and the shoreline by the channel, but still caught nothing. We did not see anything caught while we were there, and many people were fishing. We had delicious pork chops on the grill and veggies in foil for supper.
Tuesday, December 15 - Our explores for the day began at Venice Pier. We've concluded that we could not put up with the language and smoking that go on there. We'll stick to kayak fishing as soon as we are able. We then drove down to Casperson Beach Park, which is really beautiful. We fished for awhile from the bridge, then the beach without success. Next we drove to Shamrock Park which was also very nice, and finally Lemon Bay Park, where we will definitely do a kayak trip next time we are here. We met a nice couple who were putting their kayaks in at the launch and going to do some fishing. The gave us good reports on the redfish and trout fishing there.
Wednesday, December 16 - We drove north towards Sarasota and checked out Siesta Key and Turtle Beach. This is a good place to launch, but is much busier than the places we were yesterday. We had lunch at an open air restaurant and enjoyed the meal. In the evening we returned to Casey Key and had an ice cream cone before going back to North Jetty to watch the sunset. We have decided to leave a day early to avoid having to break camp in the rain. We don't mind camping in the rain, but don't like putting things up wet and having to open up again to dry out when we get back home.
Rodman Dam (Oct 29 - Nov 2)
Thursday, October 29 - Left Country Oaks Campground at 10:04 @ 74 deg. and arrived at Rodman Dam Campground at 12:45 @ 87 deg after a stop at Walmart in Palatka. We set up camp and road bikes around the area checking things out. We fished from around the boat launch and John caught a couple of bream.
Friday, October 30 - It rained in the early morning. After breakfast we drove to the dam and fished. Late morning we drove to Walaka RV Park and visited our friends Chris and Sara who are our neighbors at Trackrock. We had lunch at a local dinery and afterwards put our kayaks in for them to try on the St. Johns River, while we fished from shore. John caught a bream. We sat on their dock and watched the sunset over the river. The view from there was wonderful.
Saturday, October 31 - We put the kayaks in to the lake and fished along shore from the campground to the dam and caught a small bass each. John put the new rod holders on the kayaks and we watched a football game in the evening. We fished around the mouth of the channel in the evening and Joan caught a very nice bream.
Sunday, November 1 - We took the bikes to the dam and fished by the dam, but caught nothing. In the afternoon, we got things ready to leave in the morning.
Monday, November 2 - We left Rodman at 8:03 am @ 63 deg., stopped in Bela Vista, FL for breakfast, and arrived home at 11:22 @ 75 deg. The house was in good shape, but needed cleaning.
We were gone for seven months and put on about 10,000 miles total. We will keep this blog updated with local trips this winter, so stay tuned.
View Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/RodmanDam2009#
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