EG Simmons County Park ( Dec 13-14)

Sunday - The truck did great following behind and we got into the same site (90) we had last year, with Skip and Shirl next to us. We also met our friends Joanne and Bill who have been here for awhile. We (mostly Joan) had more to do than normal, but typical for the first day getting things put it their proper places. We enjoyed a fire at S&S's.

We got up early, ate a breakfast bar, drank a slug of coffee and walked down to the point hoping to fish. The tide was out making it impossible to cast beyond the rocks so we walked back and drove over to the other side by a sand bar. The fishing was slow with only a small Jack Crevalle that John managed, but we had a nice outing anyway. We saw white pelicans, an osprey gathering nesting material, manatee, great blue heron, and cormorants working. We also talked to a young man named Mark, who showed us how to catch mangrove crabs to use to catch sheepshead. We had a minor disaster when a nearly full bottle of car washing soap fell over and leaked most of its contents onto the back seat carpeting it the truck. We got most of it up, but there was still some that remained. We went to a local car wash and detailer and their awesome manager took car of it for us and wouldn't accept any money from us. Thank you, thank you!

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O'Leno SP (Oct 25-Nov 1)

Sunday - We received disturbing weather reports and since we are situated on the tip of a narrow peninsula on the panhandle, we decided to go to our next stop early. Thankfully, we were able to get a spot for tonight (Site 16) and move into our reserved spot (Site 15) four days early. We treated ourselves by going out to the Great Outdoors Restaurant in High Springs and joyed a good dinner.

Monday - We woke up several times during the night because of acorns falling on the roof. We moved over to our new site, but were unsure if we could get level, as the site really sloped down in the back and towards the entry door. Even with ramps under the passenger side rear wheels it meant having the wheels off the ground. John went to the office and got us moved to site 21, which worked out much better. 

Tuesday - It sprinkled off and on all night and thru the day. In between we walked down to the river and John fished without getting a bite. 

Wednesday - We wanted to see where the Santa Fe comes back to the surface, so we drove over to River Rise SP, but being so humid we decided to not hike the 2+ miles to see it. Instead, we drove over to Ichetucknee Springs SP and checked out both the North and South areas. This is a popular tubing river in the summer and kayaking other times. It is a very clear, spring generated river, which makes it very interesting. Sadly, there is no fishing. On the way back we stopped at Alice's Restaurant for excellent fried chicken. 

Thursday - We decided to stay local today and hiked to the sink, a place where the Santa Fe River drops below ground and reemerges about 3 miles away. The last time we saw the sink it was very slowly turning, but today the turtles were not going for a ride. John fished a few places along the way with the Kiyose and a plastic worm, but only got a couple bream hits. It was a beautiful day and this is a very beautiful area. 

Friday - We went back to Alice's for a nice breakfast, stopped at the post office to mail a package, and picked up a few items at Winn Dixie. We brought them back and hiked the yellow trail that goes by the Sink and makes a large loop back to the other side of the suspension bridge. We went over to Butler, Fl to be with our friends, the Masts, and had a cookout with them in their yard. Four of the brothers and their families were able to be there to celebrate LaVaughn's 40'th birthday. We had a wonderful time with them as always and the food was great too. 

Saturday - We took a coffee walk down to the river and sat for awhile. We also did some packing and getting things ready for our return to Zephyrhills. 

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St. Joseph Peninsula SP (Oct 23-24)

Friday - It was a pleasant and uneventful 140 mile trip here, mostly on Fl 20 and 73. We saw two bald eagles on the way. It is sunny and quite warm, but our site (72) is shady. After dinner we walked over to the beach side and fished. John got broken off, then caught two good sized lady fish. We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
Saturday - We put the kayaks in at the picnic area and fished until the wind came up and chased us off the water. John caught a few pinfish that were too small to be anything but bait. We fished an inlet with the tide running and caught a bunch of pinfish, which was rather fun. We had to put a small piece of Gulp on a small nymph, and used the Tenkara rod. In the evening we watch USF in a disappointing loss to Georgia Tech.

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Topsail Hill Preserve SP (Oct 16-22)

Friday - It was an easy drive today, mostly thru Alabama, that was about 169 miles. We got in, set up and took a walk around a couple of the many loops here. This is a very nice campground with many fishing ponds, access to the gulf, and extensive bicycle trails. We are in the oldest section, yet the sites are quite nice. Sites in the newer sections are even nicer. We went to Stinky's Fish Camp for a very nice fried fish/shrimp salad for dinner. John had to call to change his supplement medical, which is like a root canal, so no fishing this evening.

Saturday - We took our coffee and walked the final loops and marked down sites we like. The new loop is wonderful. We then did a load of clothes at the really nice laundry and hung them on our First-Up. Next we rode our bikes on a paved bike path to Campbell lake hoping to fish, but the shoreline is too shallow. We can put the kayaks on the shuttle. Finally, we rode over to the beach, but didn't stay. It is very nice and about a mile from the campground. 

Sunday - Since it was cool today, John took the opportunity to replace a roof vent that had gotten brittle and cracked. We have had the part for awhile. Joan also cut John's hair. There have been many units leave and others come in to replace them. It is really pleasant here today. 

Monday - We drove to Destin and fished at a park by the bridge. It was very windy and difficult to cast a fly rod. There were several others there using natural bait, but we only saw a few pinfish caught. We consoled ourselves by stopping at Crust Pizzaria for thin crispy pizza, which John likes better than Joan. We needed to restock our supplies, so we stopped at Walmart. When we got back to the campground, John felt a need to fish some more, so he tried a couple of the local ponds. He talked to someone who had caught a bass yesterday, so felt challenged. After going almost all the way around the first lake, he landed a nice bass. Soon after he caught another smaller one. 

Tuesday - We drove over to Grayton Beach State Park and first tried to cast on the beach. Joan had a small one on that she lost, but since that was the only action after an hour, we decided to launch the kayaks on West Lake. We saw some mullet jumping, so we figured there might be some saltwater fish to catch. Wrong! We enjoyed our paddle despite the wind, but no hits. This is a beautify area and the campground is nice too. We think we still like where we are better, but this will make a good 

backup. 

Wednesday - We fished the stingy ponds and had little action. John had a nice bass take, but not hooked. John talked to a ranger and found out that you can only launch kayaks from the park at Campbell Lake and not our own, because of their fear of invasive species being introduced. We always clean ours, but understand that not everyone does. 

Thursday - We made a run to a very nice local Publix and stocked up for our next stop that had nothing nearby. Joan fixed some chicken salad and cleaned up the inside while John worked outside.

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Cottonhill COE (Oct 14-15)

Wednesday - We had a good trip down with no surprises and got set up in site 29 about 2PM. We ate the bass we caught yesterday, which was delicious. We used a seafood seasoning our friend Laura sent us. Yum! We fished in the evening, but only managed a few small bream. The mornings have been cool and afternoons perfect.

Thursday - We tried to watch tv in the morning but an armadillo had rooted around the site and bumped the dish, knocking it off the door stops we use to level it. We drove down to East Bank Day Use area to fish. The weeds were thick here too, but we figured plastic worms would allow us to fish around them. Even though we saw bass, we couldn't get them to bite. To console ourselves, we had yummy steak for dinner.

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Whitetail Ridge COE (Oct 12-13)

IMonday - We started out with some fog, but it quickly burned off and turned beautiful. It was a nice, but a little long trip here, but well worth it. Our site (48) is awesome, and the lake is even more beautiful than we remember. After dinner, we took our Kiyose rods with plastic worms to the boat launch area. We both had action, but John managed to land two 12" spotted bass. We listened to a pair of horned owls in the evening.

Tuesday - We had a front roll thru during the night bringing showers and some thunder, but it didn't last long. We drove over to the  Horace King Recreation Area that is next door to the campground. Joan caught a bunch of bluegill on the Tenkara and a small wooly bugger while John caught a couple of spotted bass on a plastic worm. After dinner we went back to the boat launch and continued the same, except this time John used a yellow/white Clouser and the fly rod. We kept all (5) spots and one rock bass and fileted them for dinner tomorrow. The weather was perfect today.

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Smokemont Campground GSMNP (Aug 24-27)

Monday - We had a good trip over and came through the Nantahala Gorge, encountering more 18-wheelers than we remembered. Maybe we will return through Franklin on US 441 to US 64. We met up with our friends Bill and Jean and they invited us over for delicious Low-Country-Boil. It was quite warm in the afternoon, so we put our chairs on the creek bank and watched the water go by. The water is very low, so our expectations for fishing are not very high.

Tuesday - We put our wading boots and inserts on and wet waded up from our site. John caught a nice brown trout in the first five minutes, which raised our hopes, but probably shouldn't have, with only a small rainbow and Joan losing one as the only action for the day. We met our neighbors Bill & Kay across the road, who are from Okeechobee, Fl., and chatted with them. In the evening we had Bill & Jean over for chicken & rice we prepared in the Dutch oven. It has cooled off nicely, which is making for great sleeping. We are running the generator for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, which seems to be working. 

Wednesday - We got up early, put our boots on and hiked to where the road crosses the Oconalooftee River and comes into the campground. We fished a nice hole under the bridge and saw a few trout, but could not get them to bite. We fished a few other promising areas, but had the same result. We are not seeing other fishermen, which is very telling.

Thursday - We went on a hike this morning on the Bradley Fork Trail that follows the creek of the same name about two miles up from the campground. We saw some bear signs along the way, but no bears. John brought the Tenkara Rhodo and tried an olive Woolley Bugger in a few good spots and only got one good hit for his effort. 

Friday - We had a good trip back to Trackrock, but this time avoided the gorge and took US 441 to US 64. There were a couple of steeper and longer hills, but we didn't have to worry about 18-wheelers not staying in their lane. It is good to be gone, but always great to be back.

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