Ft. Clinch SP (Feb 1-14)

Monday, Feb 1 - We left at 9:07 and 55 deg and arrived here at 2:11 and 59 deg after driving 220,2 miles. We stopped at the Mason Jar rest. in Dona Vista north of Eustis for a nice brunch. We got set up and discovered that the shower was leaking. It apparently froze and cracked during our recent cold snap. John removed the faucet and we will try to get a new one tomorrow. Meanwhile we will have to use outside water and heat it for dishes in a pan. This is minor inconvenience. We commented how much easier this all will be in our new rig. We have a nice site (48) and feel settled in. Even with the abundance of trees, John was able to get a satellite signal.

Tuesday, Feb 2 - Today's main goals were to get gas, food, and a new shower faucet. All three were accomplished and we now have water and meals for the week. We walked down to the beach and fought the wind to fish for awhile, but came back without a hit. It rained most of the night, but was just cloudy all day and still on the cool side.

Wednesday, Feb 3 - We took our usual coffee walk and went down to the river to see if the fishing might be possible, but it was way too cold and windy. We decided to take a hike after pancake breakfast to stay out of the wind. We hiked around Willow Pond, then over to the beach on the Atlantic side where the other campground loop is. We are glad we chose the Amelia River Loop instead, because it would be way too windy on this side. We drove to a couple of places where we were told we could launch the yaks, but were not impressed.

Thursday, Feb 4 - A little warmer today and the sun shined awhile. We checked out Little Talbot SP and stopped for great pizza at Raffone's Brick Oven. It rained this evening.

Friday, Feb 5 - A cold front that brought heavy rain kept us close to the camper today. Thankfully there was no violent weather. At least we had several fishing shows recorded. We also got some odd jobs completed.

Saturday, Feb 6 - The campground nearly filled up today despite the weather. It was very windy today, but as long as we stayed around the campground and in the woods, it was quite pleasant. The sun was out most of the day which made us feel good. We went on a guided hike with a group of campers with a volunteer with the park. He was very knowledgeable and interesting. We both learned a lot about the local flaura and fauna. We went down to the beach and while bracing ourselves against the wind, watch a large ship come down the Mary's River and head out to the Atlantic.

Sunday, Feb 7 - We attended a wonderful contemporary service at a very warm and friendly United Methodist church nearby.

Monday, Feb 8 - We drove down to Jacksonville Beach to meet friends, Laurel and Judy, at Joe's Crab Shack. We had a great lunch and time with them there, followed by a refreshing walk on the beach.

Thursday, Feb 11 - It continues to be quite cold, but not as windy as yesterday. We take a couple of walks during the day, but have been unable to get out and fish. We have stayed very comfortable in the camper with our little space heater. At least it hasn't snowed here.

Friday, Feb 12 - It rained all day, except for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. We stayed inside, except for taking a trip out to have dinner at Barbara Jean's Restaurant near the main bridge over the Amelia River. It was wonderful. Joan had turkey with dressing and John had grilled catfish. We were stuffed when we finished. Many of the sites here have built in swimming pools. Ours is soggy, but no major pool. There is still a chance of snow tonight. Wonderful!

Saturday, Feb 13 - The sun came out about 11AM and things got dried out. We got some things cleaned up and put away and enjoyed a hike along the beach and back thru the woods. A couple we met here (Lee and Mary Jo) came over in the afternoon for snacks and we really enjoyed their company. They are from the Adarondaks.









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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.
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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.
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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.

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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.


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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.


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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.


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