Whitetail Ridge COE ( March 28-29)

Monday - It was a good trip here with no rain. All set up in site 34, which is on a small cove. After going to Piggly-Wiggly for needed supplies, John went down to the shoreline with a Tenkara with a greeny and managed to catch several nice bluegill. We may need to keep some of these for dinner. The weather is great with the wind beginning to pick up. After supper we went down to the boat launch to fish from shore. Joan let John do the catching tonight with a sunshine bass and a crappie which we kept and John filleted. They were caught on the Tenkara using the chartreuse weenie.

Wednesday - We went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday's and had an ok dinner. I would not recommend the one here in Lagrange, however.  We took tenkaras down to the cove by our campsite and caught a few bluegill and one really nice redear sunfish (shell cracker). We kept two, that John filleted and added to the others. It was another beautiful day, but bad weather is on the way here Thursday, so we are leaving two days early so we don't have to drive the last stretch in the rain.

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Cottonhill COE (March 25-27)

The Friday - The rain finally let up enough to get finished packing up and leaving. We had rain most of the way, but stopped long enough for us to get set up in site 33. We extended our stay here by a day so hopefully we don't have to leave in the rain again. On the way here we were making a turn and the uneven road caused us to sway sharply back and forth and threw dishes on the floor breaking one. We will probably avoid some of the back roads in preference to major roads in the future.

Saturday - The rain has returned. We are watching "Passion", which is a musical rendering of Christ's last hours. Nicely done.  

Sunday - Have a blessed Easter. It rained here all day.

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Florida Caverns SP (March 23-24)

Wednesday - The trip here was longer, and about our max at 200 miles. Thankfully, it was uneventful and pleasant. Being a travel day, we scouted out a nearby restaurant and had a great dinner at The Oaks. Joan had beef tips and John had smoked pork chops. Yumm!

Thursday - Our friends Jim and Suzanne came over from Three Rivers SP to join us on the cavern tour. Although this is a relatively small one, it had some formations like "curtain" that we have never seen before. It was a nice tour, but required a lot of stooping and care not to bump noggins, so might not work for everyone. We took s hike with them down to the spring and John fished, demonstrating a Tenkara, but didn't see any action. In the evening, a storm came thru and we were under a tornado watch, but there was only rain with a little lightening. 

Friday - It rained thru the night and morning slowing our departure. John waited for lulls to get the slides squeegeed off, dried and pulled in.

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Manatee Springs SP (March 21-22)

GMonday - We had a good trip here despite fairly strong head winds. We got into a nice site (57), got set up, and drove to Betts Big T Restaurant for an excellent dinner. We then did a Walmart run, and after we returned and put things away, we walked down to the springs. There were more people there than we have ever seen, but that might be because of spring break.

Tuesday - We typically do our water exploring in our kayaks, but decided to to a river cruise by the local concession here. It was very relaxing and fun. The weather was perfect and the scenery awesome on the Suwannee River.

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Lake Louisa SP (March 7-13)

The Monday - Well, it was bound to happen sometime. We were only about 20 miles from arriving when we had a blowout on the inside rear dually. Thankfully, we were right on a long right turn lane, so there was plenty of room. We called Giod Sam Emergency Road Service and were back on the road in a couple hours. We had a super nice Christian man come to change the tire. We were planning to get new tires as soon as we got back up to Blairsville, but this will hasten that. We got set up in a nice site (60), which has good shade and is a pull-thru.

Tuesday - We called Tire King and got an appointment for tomorrow, then drove over with the truck to make sure we could navigate it ok. We fished the pier on Dixie Lake in the evening and Jihn caught a bunch of little bream on the Tenkara. 

Wednesday - We got the tires replaced. It only took them four hours. We shopped at Home Depot and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Both were within walking distance with no major highways. In the evening, we met our friends Julie and Barry, and their friends Beth and her her son Jeff for pizza at Savros, near Lake Griffin State Park. We had a great visit and awesome food. 

Friday - We met John's pastor from DG, Jeff & Judy for lunch at Sarah's Greek Cuisine. We had a great visit with them and learned details of their health struggle last year and how God got them thru it. 

Saturday - Today, our friends Tom and Jane, with their dogs Mocha and Cupcake. They have the same motorhome we have, but a year newer. It was great catching up with them, but sad we will only have one day with them. 

 Sunday - Finally, the wind took a break, so we launched the yaks on Hammond Lake. Joan took the Kiyose with a dark finesse worm, while John used a Clouser on the 6 wt. Joan caught two barely undersized bass, while John lost his only take, which he said looked like a nice crappie. The wind picked up shortly after we got off the water, but it was a beautiful paddle. The kayak launch could certainly use some work, as it is quite mucky getting in and out.

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Rainbow Springs SP (Feb 22-Mar 6)

Monday - It was a three hour drive here using Rt 39 to avoid some of the construction on I-75. We got set up in site 14, which is nice and big. We ran into friends Tony and Linda and talked to them for awhile.

Tuesday - Rain threatened most of the day, but after a Wally run, we fished for awhile at the Ingles Recreation Area from shore. Joan caught a 16" LM Bass, which was going to be dinner, but John was putting it on a stringer when it made an escape move and got away. After dinner at the Front Porch, we went to the dam to fish again from shore. Joan managed to lose another bass about the same size without John's help. John caught a large bowfin, which are not good to eat. 

Friday - Most of our northern kayak group are in this area in the winter. We kayaked the river here. John fished while folks were shuttling vehicles and caught three small bass on the Kiyose and a shell cracker. It was chilly, but a beautiful day on the water. After, we went to the Front Door Restaurant. 

Saturday - Today was the annual Heartland, Vermont Days at Golden Corral in The Villages. We have been going as long as we have been married and Joan longer. It is always great to see everyone and get caught up, and also to meet others for the first time. Afterward we went to Barry and Julie's place to visit and let John fish in their pond. He managed one nice bass. 

Sunday - We really enjoyed the contemporary service at the UMC Church of Dunnellon. The pastor has a great sense of humor and love of the Lord. After a very good lunch of blackened basa sandwiches at Swampy's, we checked out places to launch around Crystal River. We decided on the Archeological Site on the river. John fished a few spots and caught a too small trout, a small ladyfish and a small mangrove snapper. We hope to find some bigger ones tomorrow.  

Monday - We launched at the Archeological Site and headed up a creek, where Joan got a redfish on that quickly ran and broke her off. John only managed a few ladyfish. It was a beautiful day and a nice paddle. There were several boats with folks fishing, but not a lot of catching. We threated ourselves to grouper sandwiches at Charlie's Fish House before heading back. The basa sandwiches at Swampy's was better. 

Tuesday - We put the kayaks in at Blue Run Park across from Swampy's and went upstream a bit to fish a large inlet bay where we have seen action. Joan lost a nice fish and John caught a couple small bream, but it was slow. We used Kiyose and Tenkara rods. Anyway, it was a beautiful day on the water. 

Thursday - We had trouble deciding where to go today since we have it been very successful. We started out at the Ingles Recreation area and decided to pick up three Wally bags of trash fishermen had left there. We then fished, but nothing. Next, we went over to the spillway, but nothing there either. Next we went all the way to the end at Yankeetown and ate our lunch, but did not put in because the no-see-ums drove us away. Finally, we went to the dam and launched the kayaks. After fishing about an hour with no bites, we went to a shallow bay and John landed a 12" crappie. We thought we had found a pattern, but never caught another. It got quite windy. 

Friday - We kayaked the Silver River with the group. Some of us put in at Ray Wayside Park and paddled upstream to meet others who put in at the state park and paddled down. When we met after about three miles we turned around and finished paddling with the current (much easier).  We saw the monkeys that have made a home along the way. There is no fishing on the river.

Saturday - We had dinner at the China Wok with our friends Mike, Christina, Fred, and Holly. This was the best Chinese food we have had for a long time. 

Sunday - Great worship this morning followed by fishing with our new friends Fred and Holly before they left to go back home. We also showed them Tenkara fishing. In the evening we had dinner with Mike and Christina and fished with them down at their dock. Mike caught a lot of bream and shell crackers on the Tenkara while John caught a nice bass on the Kiyose.

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Little Manatee River SP (Feb 9-22)

Tuesday - It was windy but not too cold for our move. We got here about 11:15, and were able to go directly to our site and set up. We ran into Dave and Pat, who were on their way to Publix. We were able to do a couple loads of laundry. We went to a dinner and talent program at our church this evening, put on by the youth group, and greatly enjoyed both.

Wednesday - It was cool, but the wind didn't pick up until after the campfire coffee. We checked out River Oaks RV Park near Ruskin, but although the people there were very nice, the sites just don't have enough space. We did discover a good place across the stress to launch the kayaks at a county park. No restrooms though. 

Thursday - We knew the boat ramp was closed, but we thought we could still launch the kayaks at Ft. Hamer Park. Sadly, when we got there, we find out the whole park is closed. We decided to stop for lunch at Popies Restaurant and go up to Apollo Beach and fish from shore. It was crowded there with many people fishing, and there were manatees all around. We saw a few fish caught, mostly jacks, but also a few pompano. Sadly, it was only casting practice for us. 

Friday - We launched the kayaks in at Emerson Point to fish. We tried several areas with little results. John finally caught two 13 inch seatrout about 100 yards off the launch. Reports from other fishermen were similar. 

Saturday - We stayed around camp today and hiked down to the nice park we found on the river. John fished with the Tenkara and caught two bream and a talapia. 

Sunday - We enjoyed another great service. Skip and Shirl arrived around noon, and after they got set up we walked to the lake and down to the river. 

They then came over for chicken and rice done in the Dutch oven. 

Monday - The four of us drove over to Medard County Park to visit our friends Bil and Joanne and possibly put the kayaks in there. It was too windy to do that, but we had a great visit, went for strawberry shortcake and fished a little from shore and the fishing piers, but no fish. In the evening, we enjoyed spaghetti with Skip & Shirl. 

Tuesday - We all decided to wheel the kayaks the approximately 1/2 mile to the lake here that nobody fished. After two hours of hard fishing? The only catches were two two bream caught by Joan and John. We have concluded that the lake is not worth the time. 

Wednesday - The four of us went back to Medard County Park and this time launched the kayaks to fish. John led the catching with two large blue tilapia and a large crappie, which we brought home and and enjoyed along with Shirl's beef stew. All were delicious. This area is a bird watchers dream, with many types of herons, pelicans, terms, etc. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. 

Thursday - We said goodbye to S&S this morning. In the PM we drove to O'Brien's Farm for our last BLT and strawberry shortcake for this season and to pick up veggies. They are doing another controlled burn here so we cancelled a hike down to the river. John doesn't do well around too much smoke. 

Friday - We tried Apollo Beach - nothing, then EG Simmons - only saw a few undersized trout caught. It was very windy, so no kayaking. 

Saturday - Big changes may be coming to our park in Zephyrhills, so we drove there to attend a meeting. Details to follow. 

Sunday - Quite sad that this was the last worship service here at UM Church at Sun Cty Center. Wonderful people. A beautiful day today and we visited with several fellow campers.

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