Oscar Scherer State Park Osprey, FL (April 22 - May 6

Tuesday, April 22 - We packed up and left Collier-Seminole at 10:36 AM. It was 77 degrees and sunny. There was so much dew in the night that the underside of our tarp was wet. This slowed us down some while we dried things out. Our hawk friend came by and flew overhead making his screaching noise as though he was bidding us good bye. We decided to drive up hwy 41 (Tamiami Trail) because Oscar Scherer is close to it just south of Sarasota. The going was so tedious with many, many lights and shopping areas that we gave up that idea and went over to I-75. We had no idea that it would be built up that much the whole way. We arrived at Oscar Scherer about 1:31 PM after driving 121.8 miles. We got set up and went a couple miles north to a little Greek restaurant for dinner. It was very nice. We came back and took a walk around the campground and met a nice couple named Bonita and Henry from Tarpon Springs. They too have a pop-up camper and enjoy real camping. We exchanged some camping stories about places we've been.
Web Site of Oscar Scherer SP: http://www.floridastateparks.org/oscarscherer/default.cfm

Wednesday, April 23 - This morning we got up not too early and took our coffee walk down the trail that runs by the creek (South Creek). The scenery was wonderful. We also wanted to see how far it would be to wheel the kayaks to the launch. Not too bad. After pancake breakfast we put the kayaks on their new wheels and walked them about 20 minutes down the road to the picnic area where there is a launch. We went out about a mile and a half and fished in Blackburn Bay. John caught a nice snook, but released it because he has no way to measure a fish over 20 inches long. (See picture by clicking below.) After dinner we walked the loops. The campground seems to be about 1/3 full.

Thursday, April 24- This was a Wal-Mart day which is only a couple of miles north on Hwy 41, so we decided that on the way we would check out a couple of places to launch the kayaks. At the next light north, we turned on Blackburn Pt. Road and went about a mile to where there is a draw-bridge over a channel. There were nice parks on each side that had places to launch. These are busy areas for bigger boats, but it looked like there were places we could go to get away from them. We then did our Wally shopping, came back to camp, had lunch and went on about a 2 mile hike on the Yellow trail. The trail was soft sand and hard going in spots. It was pretty, though, and passed by "Big Lake". We rested there on an observation platform and enjoyed a small alligator that was swimming across. The weather has been outstanding. It got up to about 87 today, but very low humidity. Nights have been cool making sleeping great. No rain! Few bugs!

Friday, April 25 - This morning we talked for quite a while and exchanged e-mails, etc. with Henry and Benita who were heading out today. We also sat and waited for a couple to leave site 86 so we could check it out more closely. We made a reservation for that site for next December. After a late breakfast, we walked the kayaks down to the launch again and fished for a few hours. We did not go out as far as we did the last time and fished the channels . No luck. We headed back and fished on the way still without success. We were nearly back to the launch when John finally landed another nice snook. It was a few inches smaller than the one he caught on Wednesday, but still gave a nice fight. They are such great fish, but catching one in the slot (between 28 and 32 inches) is not easy. We had an easy dinner and a relaxing evening. Just before bedtime, Joan spotted an enormous spider. It was very fast, but John was able to evict it from the camper. He did feel a slight prick and noticed two fang marks on his thumb, but no ill effects so far. John looked him up online and found he was a huntsman spider. You can see him at: http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/spiders/giant_crab_spider.htm The article confirms that John will not suffer greatly from the bite as they are not poisonous. In this article: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/spiders3.html about a third of the way down the page under "male and female huntsman spiders" they say we should not have killed it because they eat cockroaches. Oh well. I think we both slept better knowing it was gone.

Saturday, April 26 - Today was a down day for us. We got up and went over to the nature center for a coffee. Folks are very nice there and very helpful. We enjoyed the exhibits. We then came back to the campsite and had a nice scrambled egg breakfast. It was nice to sit around the campsite and read and look up catepillars and spiders on the web. We took a couple of leisurely walks around the campground and to a campfire that the rangers here put on. The weather continues to be nearly perfect.

Sunday, April 27 - This morning we went to church at Grace UMC in Venice. The contemporary service was at 9AM and very well attended with about 300 people there. They had a lead guitarist, bass guitarist, conga drummer, and two vocalists. The music blend was very nice and the selection of music was good also. They started the service with the video clip of Steve Garvey showing how he would introduce Christ. It sturred a lot of excitement (view below). The message was also very good and was based on the book of Ezekiel and the dry bones. The pastor emphasized that God does not always prevent tragedy in our lives, but always promises to restore. After church, we went out to eat at Mel's Diner. The food was excellent and the service very good also. We took a short walk around the campground, which was much less crowded than yesterday and fished in Osprey lake in the evening. John had a couple of small bass on but they didn't stay hooked. We received a reply from Daniel at "whatsthatbug.com" and the caterpillar we took the picture of is an echo moth caterpillar. You can see it at: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/caterpillar_11.html nearly all the way to the bottom of the page.
Look at this one for a picture of the adult: http://bugguide.net/node/view/44676

Monday, April 28 - Today the forcast included showers, so we decided to take the kayaks out early to fish. We wheeled them down again to the picnic area and put in. In a few minutes we were greated by a bald eagle that soared fairly close overhead. We decided not to go very far down river due to the weather reports, and the fishing was very slow. John managed one trout to the boat. It is more humid today, so we moved around less. We did manage to take a walk down to the lake and there was a nice breeze there. It is 8:47 PM and it still hasn't rained, but it sure feels like it is going to any minute.

Tuesday, April 29 - We went to bed last night fully expecting it to rain in the night. There was a cold front moving through, but all it did was lower the humidity some. This was a welcome relief from the heat of the last couple of days. Still, it is not as hot as it will get in a few weeks. We did our coffee walk on the South River Trail and stopped at the office at the front gate and picked up some information on Volksmarching in the area. Joan had done a lot of this while stationed in Germany and was interested in what was offered here. After a pancake and sausage breakfast, we got on the bikes and headed for the Legacy Trail that is part of Florida's "Rails-to-Trails" program. the trail runs through Oscar Scherer SP. This railroad was the one that originally brought the Ringling Brothers Circus to Sarasota as their winter home. We went about 3 miles and then went onto the Stoneybrook Nature Trail. This is also paved and goes through a wetland. In all we biked about 7 or 8 miles today. After supper we enjoyed sitting by the lake for a while.

Wednesday, April 30 - After our coffee walk and breakfast, we wheeled the kayaks again down to the canoe launch and headed out to open water. The bald eagle greated us once again on our way out. We got out there fairly quickly and headed over beyond some islands and let the wind blow us toward Casey Key. John was the first to score with a couple of ladyfish. Then Joan got a nice redfish that was just an inch shy of keeper size. It put up a nice fight, but she prevailed. In just a few minutes John caught its identical twin. After a while more fishing the duet landed on an open area on an island and had lunch. John then realized that he did not have Joan's fishing license on him so we decided to head in. It was about 3:30 by the time we got back to camp. The weather today was perfect, with much lower humidity and a nice breeze. We are going to do some laundry early in the morning, then head out again. The flats where we fished were very nice with very minimal damage from boats.

Thursday, May 1 - Today marks the beginning of our second month. The time is going quickly. This morning was laundry morning and we got it done quickly, had breakfast, then wheeled the kayaks back down to the picnic area for another outing. We headed to about the same place that we caught the redfish yesterday, and it didn't take too long for John to hook up with a nice one that was 21" long and weighed just shy of 5 pounds. It has been a long time since we have had fresh fish, so this one went into the bag. Joan soon landed a nice 17" spotted sea trout, but since we already had dinner in the bag, this one went back in the water. John then landed another redfish that was about the same size as the ones yesterday. We made our way back in and prepared our fish dinner. John fileted it and cooked it on the RVQ in open foil with olive oil after breading it in Italian breadcrumbs. He also added some lemon pepper seasoning. It was delicious. Joan says redfish is her favorite, while John prefers trout or bass.

Friday, May 2 - We had some errands to run in the morning so we headed a little north towards Sarasota to stop at WalMart to get a propane refill and a few odds and ends and at Staples to get Joan a planner like she got from one in New Hampshire last year. However, that must be something that is done only at certain Staples and this one didn't have it. She was able to find a suitable replacement at WalMart. We then dropped off our supplies, had breakfast, and headed off again to find the place where the Lipazzan Stallions perform. We didn't take any pictures of our own, but you can see them at: http://www.hlipizzans.com/ This is the end of their dress rehersals before hitting the road and the performances are free, except for a free-will offering. They are located very near Myakka City, which is little more than an intersection. On the way there we passed through Myakka State Park, which looked very nice and a place we need to camp some time. It is huge, but out in the middle of nowhere. The performance of the stalllions was excellent and educational as well. The performance was outside and all the shadey places were taken by the time we got there, but still fairly comfortable. On the way home we saw a sign for an Italian buffet at the Old Myakka Church, so we decided to give it a try. The food was outstanding and even good enough that the Saratoga County Paramedic crew showed up for dinner. The people were very friendly and welcoming. In the evening some neighbors (Meat and Mary Ann and Brenda and Neal) joined us at our campsite for a nice time of chatting. We had a great time with them.

Saturday, May 3 - We had a quiet day around camp today. We had coffee down at the nature center again and took a couple of walks. In the evening we watched a video that John had recorded earlier from the educational channel on Appalachia. It was excellent. There are two more segments.

Sunday, May 4 - This morning we went to the contemporary service at Christ United Methodist Church in Venice. Memorial Hall was nearly full with many young people, but mostly folks about our age. The music was much louder than any contemporary service we've been to and should attract a younger crowd. We talked to several people who were very warm and friendly. A lady named Linda sat with us. This was the first time she had been to this service, but she has attended the other service for awhile. We both really liked the pastor and appreciated his message on "Abiding in the Vine." Of course, Jesus said that he is the true vine. After the service we went into downtown Venice looking for a restaurant, but didn't find one to our liking. We walked towards the beach and looked around. We talked to a lady who was walking and she told us of several restaurants she has tried. We decided to try Captain Eddy's in Nocomis. It was very good. We both had the fisherman's platter, broiled. We then drove to a boat launch on an inlet off of Robert's Bay. It is very busy with people launching and landing their boats. We sat on a shady picnic table all afternoon and into the evening and were joined by our neighbors Meat and Mary Ann for awhile as well. If you have never spent time at a boat ramp, we highly recommend it. It is great entertainment. You never know what will happen next.

Monday, May 5 - Today was a start to get things ready to leave day. We cleaned the kayaks and put them back up on the truck, John put away the RVQ, and Joan did some inside cleaning. We enjoyed talking with Meat and Mary Ann during the afternoon and spent the evening with Brenda and Neal and had a real nice time at their campsite. They live in Lakeland, not too far from us.


View Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/OscarSchererStateParkOspreyFLAril22May62008