Smoky Mountain National Park (May 11 - 15)

Monday May 11 - We left Trackrock Campground at 9:00 AM and arrived at Deep Creek Campground in Smoky Mountain National Park at 10:45 AM after driving 76 miles. It is cloudy and has been most of the day with a few sprinkles. We got set up and took the fly rods down to the creek, which is running quite fast. We threw in for awhile, but no catches. John got a couple of good hits, though. It feels good to be back in the pop-up again. This is a beautiful place. It got quite cool in the night, around 47 degrees. 

Tuesday, May 12 - We had breakfast, then drove to Tsali National Recreation Area, on Fontana Lake. This lake is in the middle of Cherokee National Forest and is not highly developed. We put in the kayaks and fished, but again no catches. We need to rig to get deeper here, or so the locals say. If we are going to use the fly rods here, we will need to get sinking line to get the flys down to where the small mouth bass live. We also checked out another boat launch and the campground here, which are very nice. The weather today is perfect. It feels great to have the sun shine all day.

Wednesday, May 13 - Wow, another mostly sunny day without rain. We took advantage and hiked a couple of the falls trails and fished a little on the way. We saw Indian Creek, Tom Branch and Juney Whank Falls. They are quite impressive with the abundance of water this spring. Pictures will have to wait, since John forgot to pack the cables to the cameras. John finally got to feel a trout at the end of his line. He caught a nice wild rainbow trout that was hiding behind a large rock. We also enjoyed watching some teens tubing down the river. It gave them quite a ride, a cold one at that. 

Thursday, May 14 - Fished the river for a while and caught nothing. Went out to lunch in town and had a nice Italian meal of lasagna and manacoti. Sat by a fire in the evening.

Friday, May 15 - Just enough rain in the night to make it more difficult to pack up. Friends are coming into Trackrock, so we headed back to get to spend some time with them. They will be staying two nights, so we can catch up and enjoy some sites around the area. 

View Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/SmokyMountainNationalParkMay1115#

Trackrock Campground - Blairsville, Ga (May 2009)

Friday, May 1 - We needed to make a trip to the grocery store, so we drove to Blairsville and stopped at Bi-Lo, a vegetable market, and Ingles. It rained a few times during the night and day, with a few thunderstorms in the evening. Thankfully, nothing severe here. John tied a few flys during the day and we fished awhile down at the pond. John caught a few medium sized bluegill on a topwater fly, and Joan lost a few. 

Saturday, May 2 - Rain, rain, rain....

Sunday, May 3 - Another great worship time, then lunch at Daniel's in Hiawassee. Wonderful!!! More rain in the afternoon and evening. Our summer neighbors, Chris and Sara, that we met last year showed up this evening and Tim brought their trailer up to their site, two up from us, and got it set up. Their two cats were very glad to be out of the car and able to explore around. 

(Pictures Added)

Monday, May 4 - It rained most of the day, so we read, watched tv, and tied flies. Nice and cozy in the 5th wheel.

Tuesday, May 5 - Finally, we got a break in the weather, so we headed over to Vogel State Park to do some fishing. There were still threatening clouds around, so we stayed close to the truck. We started by fishing on the main road side of the lake, but nothing. We drove over to the main parking lot and fished the creek (Wolf) that flows into the lake. John had a trout hit his fly, but didn't get hooked. We then walked over to the lake and Joan caught a few bluegill and had a couple of trout on, but they got off. John finally got in the action and caught a couple of trout. We ended up with two trout and three bluegill, which added to the crappie we had in the freezer, made a meal. John cooked them in two small cast iron skillets on the electric smoker/grill and Joan fixed potatoes and cabbage. Dinner was delicious. 

(Pictures Added)

Wednesday, May 6 - Rain, rain, rain...We read, tied flys, watched tv, and in between took walks. We are under a tornado watch, so we are keeping an ear to the tv, computer, and cell phone for warnings. We will head for the washrooms if necessary.  (Update) We  got a temporary break in the weather, so we went down to the lake here to fish for awhile. Joan quickly caught an 11 inch largemouth bass on a beaded pheasant-tail nymph fly. John caught some small bluegill on the same pattern. More rain this evening. Yippee!!!

Thursday, May 7 - Thankfully, the sun shined most of the day, so we could dry out our storage area that sprung a leak. It was not from the rain, but a connector on the hot water heater bypass valve that had a small crack in it. We were able to get a part for a temporary fix from the local RV parts supplier to hold it until we get a new valve from Heartland. Meanwhile, we will have to heat water on the stove or microwave for dishes. We also had a leak under the kitchen sink that was due to a loose sink trap gasket. John tightened it and several other loose connections there and in the basement area adjacent to the storage. The factory could do a better job in this area. We are going out for pizza with neighbors (John & Jan and Chris & Sara) this evening in Blairsville. 

Friday, May 8 - We were experiencing another break in the weather after morning storms, so we drove over to Lake Winfield Scott for a little fishing. We hoped we could launch the kayaks, but the weather looked too unpredictable, so we settled for fishing the banks. John started things out by catching a small perch, then Joan topped that with a nice trout, which we released. Later, John caught a nice bass next to shore with a small topwater fly, followed by several bream in various spots. In between, we had lunch on a bench by the shore. This is a beautiful lake in the Chattahoochee National Forest, and is only about 15 miles from our campsite. 

View Pictures:  http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/TrackrockCampgroundMay2009#

Trackrock Campground - Blairsville, Ga (April 2009)

Wednesday, April 08 - We packed up this morning in the cold (38 deg) and were on the road at 9:30 AM. We avoided going through Atlanta which added a few miles, but had a beautiful drive through Rome, Elijay, and Blue Ridge, Ga. The drive was 221.4 miles and we arrived at Trackrock about 2:40 PM. The temperature was about 60 degrees which was nice for all the moving of stuff we had to do. While we were setting up, John & Jan, who are the hosts here that we became friends with last fall, came over and greeted us. We gave them the grand tour. We got everything set up and had a nice dinner at our dining table for the first time. We will post some pictures soon. The site is very nice, with a good view of the lake from our patio.

Thursday, April 09 - Today we woke up to quite cool temps, but it warmed up nicely and allowed us to finish transferring things from the pop-up, get the 5th wheel organized the way we want it, and clean, clean, clean. It was nice to be able to take a break and go out for pizza with John & Jan at Downtown Pizza in Blairsville. We are getting to know where everything is in the 5th wheel and are enjoying it greatly. (Pictures Added)

Friday, April 10 - There were severe thunderstorm warnings for the area today, but nothing severe has happened, thankfully. We got some nice rain and a little thunder. We went down to the office and got our mail, and took a nice walk around the campground. The hills step up the level of exercise benefit to our walks. The road up to the Hilltop Circle is particularly challenging. We have gotten most of the major work done to getting settled in, so we are taking it more easy today. (More pictures added)

Saturday, April 11 - Considerable severe weather passed through the area late yesterday, which kept us glued to the weather reports, but thankfully most of it missed us. All is quiet this morning, and the sun promises to come out. 

(Evening) - We got about 1 minute of sunshine today, but at least the worst of the weather is gone. We drove into Blairsville and stocked up with groceries and a few other necessities. That pretty much finished off the afternoon. 

Sunday, April 12 - We pray that you all have a joyous Resurrection Day. He is risen!  He is alive!!! We went to Meeks Park outside Blairsville for a sunrise service that was jointly hosted by the local Lutheran and Presbyterian churches. Even though the temperature was about 32 deg., we had a great time, and didn't get too cold. After breakfast, we went to the "Hole in the Wall" restaurant in downtown Blairsville for an excellent breakfast and to thaw out. 

Monday, April 13 - Wow! We were awakened early this morning to very strong winds. We had just put up the screen room that we have and the wind destroyed it. Thankfully, we did not experience any other damage. There were a couple of trees down in the campground, and a couple of folks lost awnings. All is calm now. When we went to bed, nothing was forcast on the weather channel for this area. It has been rainy most of the day, so we took the opportunity to do a couple of projects on the inside. It is amazing how dirty a brand new camper can be. (Pictures Added)

Tuesday, April 14 - We drove into the neat little town of Blue Ridge today. They have many shops that cater to folks looking to furnish their cabins. We found a wool blanket to put on the livingroom floor that really brightens up the room. We also bought a covering for the bed and matching pillows. Actually, the covering is really a fabric shower curtain, but it works perfect. The pillows were in another store and amazingly, are the identical pattern. The weather is supposed to improve this week, and we might actually see the sun. We are sure enjoying being in the mountains, and the drive over to Blue Ridge was beautiful. 

Wednesday, April 15 - Hope your taxes are done. It is a beautiful day here, with temps in the low 60s and clear skies. Today was laundry day, and Joan did most of the work. John made up for it later by digging up an area around a tree on our site for a garden. We also did some cleaning up around our site, clearing away leaves and sticks and putting some of the rock back on the driveway. (Pictures Added)

Thursday, April 16 - We drove up to Murphy, NC today, which is only about 23 miles north of here and stopped at Lowes and WalMart. We picked up some gardening things, and armed ourselves with cleaning stuff for the 5th wheel. It is quite dirty from the weather it has faced lately. We started a little garden around a tree on the side of our site. It looks quite nice. The ride there and back was beautiful. We also stopped at a campground that we had considered for a site for us to stay, but concluded that we are better off where we are here. The weather has been really beautiful, with some rain expected on Sunday. 

Friday, April 17 - A good night and a beautiful morning. Today was clean the outside of the 5th wheel day. John got up on the roof and got that cleaned, along with the trim area along the roof line. We put gutter extenders (a short piece of plastic) on the gutters to direct the water away from the sides of the camper. This helps to not get black streaks down the sides. We are going to finish washing the sides next week. It really looks better already. 

(Pictures Added)

Saturday, April 18 - We got up early this morning and headed over to Vogel State Park, about 9.5 miles from the campground, for their anual volunteer clean-up day. After breakfast, we were given the job to clean all the plaques on the nature trail. After that we helped spread mulch. We had lunch, then spread dirt around the beach area. At about 3pm, we took our weary bodies home to rest for awhile. This evening, we will go back for a banquet dinner. 

(Pictures Added)

Sunday, April 19 - We went out for breakfast at the Mountain Cafe in Hiawassee, then went to Sunday School and Worship at Hiawassee U.M.C., where we have been several times before when we have been in the area. It was nice to be welcomed back by many friends we have made there. After a great Sunday school class led by Van, we totally appreciated a wonderful blended worship service. The music, led by our friend Hope, was awesome as usual, and the message challenging and inspiring. We were invited to stay for the fellowship luncheon even though we didn't know to bring a dish to pass. We were able to sit with Irene and Bob and renue our friendship and catch up with news. We feel very much at home here as we do with the entire area. What a blessing, indeed. 

Monday, April 20 - There was considerable hazardous weather in the area last night, but all was quiet here with just rain. Something got into the garbage cans near our campsite during the night that was large enough to get the can out of its holder, but we never heard anything, and we couldn't find any tracks. There are bear in the area. 

Tuesday, April 21 - A major advantage of having a 5th wheel for our northern home is being able to have friends over for dinner and have plenty of room if the weather doesn't cooperate. Because of the wind that was forecast, we thought we would have to eat inside, but thankfully, it was very pleasant at the picnic table. Irene and Bob, our friends from Hiawassee U.M.C. graciously agreed to come out and visit us, take a hike around the campground, and join us for dinner. We had a wonderful time getting to know them better and sharing the day.  

Wednesday, April 22 - Today we went on an explore of Cooper's Creek National Recreation Area, which is part of Chatahoochee National Forest. We were mostly looking for areas where we could access creeks for fly fishing. We found some good ones and fished them a little, but didn't catch anything. We really enjoyed the beauty of this area, which is only about 20 miles from Trackrock. We hiked a short trail that was full of spring wild flowers. Some were familiar, such as trillium, mayflower, wild geranium, and Solomon's Seal, others not. 

Friday, April 24 - We drove through Blairsville and fished at Meeks Park on the Nottley River. We saw many very large fish that John thought were carp. Just for fun, he threw a white wooly bugger fly and let it sit on the bottom in a deep hole and low and behold one of them took it and proceeded to give John about a 15 minute battle. He finally landed it and got its picture.

(Picture added) 

Saturday, April 25 - Today, we went to a local winery (Crane Creek) that was hosting a benefit wine tasting for several local charities and organizations. We decided they didn't have anything better than the box wines, but enjoyed talking to folks there, especially those at Trout Unlimited who were giving fly tying and fly casting demonstrations. We plan on going to their next meeting and deciding if we will join. It would be a way to learn local streams and techniques as well as meeting people with common interests. 

Sunday, April 26 - We really enjoyed the worship service at HUMC (Hiawassee United Methodist Church) today and felt the Lord's presence very strongly. We went out to lunch afterwards with a group of about 20 to Young Harris College, where we enjoyed an excellent buffet. We heard about a biking/hiking trail near Jackrabbit National Recreation Area Campground about 10 miles north of Hiawassee on GA 75 that we wanted to check out, so we headed there after we ate. We decided to hike the trail first and make sure it was negotiable by a couple of old fogies on our mountain bikes. It looks like it will provide a challenge, but should be doable. We hiked the middle loop that was a little over 3 miles long. We met several bikers, including kids, on the trail. It was a beautiful day today and we are feeling very grateful for the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful part of the country. 

(Pictures Added)

Monday, April 27 - We drove over to Duke's Creek Falls trail today and hiked the 1.1 miles down and back. This is an extremely beautiful falls, one of the best we have seen. It was especially nice, of course, to have some water in it, which is something we have not had for some time. While we were down at the falls, we fly fished the pools it created and both caught fish. Joan caught a nice 6" rainbow, and John caught the same and a 9" rainbow. We then drove down to Raven Cliff Wilderness Area and fished Duke's Creek there. Joan caught another nice 6" rainbow. On the way home, we checked out a couple other areas, but did not fish them. We were about 17 miles from Trackrock. The road we took there (Hwy 348) passes over the Appallachian Trail at about 3400 ft. The views from overlooks on the way were incredible. 

(Pictures Added)

Tuesday, April 28 - Today was a get caught up day and chill day. We (Joan) did laundry and we (both of us) fished the local pond here. Joan caught a small bluegill and John caught its grandfather. He was the biggest bluegill John has ever seen in person. He succumbed to a green/red wooly bugger that was given to us by the folks at Trout Unlimited booth at Crane Creek Winery on Saturday. John also caught the fish yesterday on this same fly. I guess they know what they a doing there at TU. 

(Picture Added)

Wednesday, April 29 - We drove into Young Harris and Hiawassee and stopped at Mountain RV and picked up a couple of items we needed at their fairly complete supply store. We then went to Towns County Beach Park and fished from shore. We both caught a few bluegills and Joan lost a nice bass. We were both using the red/green wooly bugger, which continues to be very effective. The leaves here continue to fill in the campground and make our site more and more cozy. The weather forecast was for possible showers today, but we didn't get any. 

Thursday, April 30 - This was an exploring day around Blue Ridge. John needed some fly tying supplies that we could get at Unicoi Outfitters there, so we combined the trip. We stopped at a few recreation areas on the lake, the first one being Morganton NRA. They had a nice campground there, and a boat launch where we could launch the kayaks. We then headed over to the dam and fished the tailwaters for awhile. They were generating, so there was considerable flow. John caught a small rainbow on a topwater caddis with a yellow foam indicator. We headed into town and had a hamburger at Sue's. The burger and fries were very good, but the cole slaw was not. After finishing our meal, we stopped at the outfitters, where the lady remembered that we were the couple who last year had won the raffle for the free half day on their trophy waters. The young man was very helpful getting John what he needed. Finally, we drove down a gravel road that took us to the headwaters where there was a delayed harvest. That means that it is single hook only, no live bait, and catch and release. This is a very beautiful river, that will be great for wade fishing. We talked to a fisherman named Steve, who was very helpful and even gave John a few flies to try. He also goes to Florida in the winter. 

(Pictures added)

View Pictures:http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/TrackrockCampgroundApril2009#

Whitetail Ridge COE Campground - LaGrange, Ga (3/30 - 4/6/09)

Monday, March 30 - We got up about 7 AM, packed up, and were on the road headed to LaGrange, Ga at 10:10 AM. It was a beautiful drive with many flowering trees in bloom including dogwoods and azaleas. We tried to stop for lunch at a truck stop in Alabama, but it was far too smoky. They showed us the non-smoking area, but it was just as smoky as the main room, so we left. We had a sandwich on the road and arrived at the campground at 3:40 PM after driving 251.9 miles. There are not many campers here now, but it is supposed to be full by the weekend. The lake, however, is very full of water. We had dinner, showered, and setteled in for a quiet evening. We have decided that we will not try to drive so far again, because it is very tiring to break camp, drive nearly 5 hours, and set up again. This happened this time because we could not get into Cottonhill Campground near Ft. Gaines, Ga.

Tuesday, March 31 - It rained off and on all day today, but we were able to get in a nice walk and fish from the boat dock and shoreline. We caught a few bream, but none of them big enough to keep, especially two that John caught that were only about 1 1/2 inches long. It was fun anyway. The weather people are calling for some more rain in the night that is supposed to stop about noon tomorrow. The pollen is really thick here. There is a coating over everything which got stirred up when the mowers came around with their blowers cleaning off the streets. So far we have not had any problems except for some sneezing.  

Wednesday, April 1 - We got the forcasted rain in the night which was fairly heavy, but no wind and little lightning with it. We finally were able to get the kayaks out, which we were able to launch from our shoreline. We fished the bay that is closest to our campsite and managed some small bream and one nice bluegill that John caught. A few more of these would have made a nice dinner. We went out again in the evening after dinner without success. John had one on that slipped away. We have new neighbors who went out for crappie, but only managed a couple. We are expecting more storms tomorrow evening that are predicted to be strong. We will have to keep a close ear on the the tv, cell phone, and weather radio. 

Thursday, April 2 - Another storm rolled through during the night and woke us. Even though there was little wind, the rain was tremendous, and there were a couple of really good lightning strikes. Thankfully, they missed. It rained most of the morning and got quite windy early in the afternoon. We had to tighten some of the lines from our tarp and lower the awning. There are some substantial storms headed this way for our evening entertainment. We would really love for them to go north of here. (Some pictures added)

Friday, April 3 - Yet another storm in the night. This time it was brief, but contained a powerful wind gust. Again, thankfully, everything stayed in place. This morning the sun is shining once again and promises to warm us some. There is a washing machine and dryer in the restroom building and Joan is going back and forth doing a couple of loads. We were quite tired from the previous nights antics, so we decided to not take the kayaks out and fished from the boat ramp and dock instead. John caught a very nice crappie (see pictures) and lost another one. We brought it back to camp and John filleted it. We sat in our recliners in the evening and enjoyed the view of the lake from our front yard. 

Saturday, April 4 - Finally, a quiet night. We slept like rocks and woke up to the sound of many, many boats on the water. With the weather cooperating and being the weekend, all the crappie fishermen in the area are here to try to fill their live wells. It is a little cool this am, getting us ready for the predicted 30's on Tues. & Wed. mornings.  We did our morning walk after breakfast, delivering our trash to the dumpster and then hiking the other loops.

Taking advantage of the nice day, we headed out in the kayaks for a little fishing. The lake was a little rough, as there was a bass tournament going on, and the the fishermen were zooming from one spot to another with one of those spots being a cove very near to our campsite. The best is yet to come with an overnight tournament that consists of fishing for carp from AIRBOATS!!! For those that don't know, airboats are the loudest and most obnoxious craft there is, and to think we will be able to hear them all night.  

Sunday, April 5 - Our worst fears were realized with airboats racing around the lake near the campground. We were not able to sleep much past 3AM. On the way to church, we complained to the host who wasn't able to sleep much either. He said he would be talking to the ranger to see if anything can be done to prevent future tournaments like this one. The worship service was nice and they have a new pastor. The music was familiar, but nice and the pastor's message was very personal and relevant. It began raining when we left, and promises to rain all day and night. We were planning on moving to Sweetwater Creek COE Campground on Altoona Lake tomorrow, but will most likely delay our departure for at least a day. 

Monday, April 6 - We had a quiet night except for the wind coming up. It has cooled off significantly and the wind continues. There is talk of snow fluries tomorrow. We extended our stay here until Wednesday when we will leave for Trackrock Campground near Blairsville, Ga. Meanwhile, we will be getting things ready to leave. Joan has been looking up things to do this summer while we're in the Blairsville area. 

See picture at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/WhitetailRidgeCOECampgroundLaGrangeGaMar30Apr062009#

Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park - Niceville, FL (March 23-30, 2009)

Monday, March 23 - We got nearly everything packed on Sunday, readied the house to leave, and were on the road by 7:40 AM. The truck and camper are crammed tight. We drove 368 miles and arrived at the park at 3:15 EDT. We got everything set up and finished dinner just in time to take a walk before it got dark. This is a very pretty park with large sites and nice access to the water for our kayaks. Every site is filled with hopefully considerate people. We met a nice couple with two kids (David, Diane, Taylor and Savannah) from Illinois who are here enjoying the warmer weather for spring break. 

Tuesday, March 24 - We had a nice quiet night's sleep and woke up to a beautiful, but breezy morning. We took a walk down by the boat launch and met and visited with a nice couple (John & Wendy) from Canada. We enjoyed trading favorite spots with them. We came back to camp and had pancakes & sausage for breakfast. Because it was so breezy, we opted to leave the kayaks on the truck and put on waders instead. We were somewhat protected near shore and really enjoyed fishing this way. Sadly, we only managed one pinfish that John caught on a glass minnow fly. These fish are commonly used for bait. We took a break in the afternoon and dozed in front of the tv. After spaghetti dinner, we took our flyrods down to the boat docks, but jeven though we enjoyed the beautiful evening on the water, we came back empty.

Wednesday, March 25 - After breakfast we went on a hike on the Rocky Bayou Trail, one of the trails here in the park, and another along Puddin' Head Lake. We fished a little, but came up empty. The weather is changing with considerable wind and clouds. We are expecting several inches of rain over the next couple of days. It was just too windy to get the kayaks out yesterday or today. Today is John's son Corey's birthday. Happy Birthday Corey! After dinner, we went for a walk around the campground and stopped to talk to our neighbors who are here in a large family motorcycle group. The couple we were talking to have a campground in Georgia near the Florida border near exit #1 off I-95. We found out they used to camp at Trackrock for about 35 years and know the Alexander family very well. We wished them well and headed over to John & Wendy's and shared their fire and had a nice time visiting.

Thursday, March 26 - We heard wind high in the tree canopy and some rain in the night. John received a couple of weather warnings on his cell phone of sever thunderstorms and a tornado warning. We got dressed and walked around the campground to make sure that folks had all gotten the warnings. Several had not including our new friends John & Wendy and David, Diane, Taylor, and Savannah. Many campers met at the restroom building to watch it pass by. There was heavy rain and lightning, but thankfully not much wind. This weather is forcast to continue for the next couple of days. We sure wish they could get some of this in Tampa where it is severe drought conditions. We took it easy in the afternoon and it rained nearly all day. We drove into Valpariso and had dinner at the Boat House Restaurant. We got the early bird specials, which were sirloin tips and rice. It was excellent. After dinner we went over to Lincoln Park and tried to fish but it was way too windy and chilly. It looks like there is more severe weather on the way. We will keep a close ear on the weather radio and watch the weather channel. 

Friday, March 27 - There were tornado warnings, heavy rain, and lightning early this morning and rain and lightning all day today. We watched dvd's that John had recorded from cable earlier. The rain finally let up enough to take a walk around the campground late this afternoon. Most of the sites are occupied by Airstreams that are apparently here for a club outing (nice choice of dates.) We will be staying close to the weather alarms on John's cell phone and the weather radio tonight for a repeat performance. We will head down to the restrooms again if there is treatening reports. We will be very happy to see an end to this rain. 

Saturday, March 28 - There were no tornado warnings during the night, but we were under a watch and John received many, many messages from weather.com on his phone. Finally, about 2PM the storms passed and the sun came out. We took a nice walk and a hike on one of the paths near the boat ramp. It was great to be able to get out without the unbrellas. Wendee and John joined us to watch "It's me or the dog" on Animal Planet tonight. We think they picked up some ideas on handling their dog, Slider. 

Sunday, March 29 - We stopped at the "Coffee House" in Niceville for a very nice breakfast, then went to the First U.M. Church for a contemporary service. It was truly an outstanding worship experience. They have three contemporary and two traditional services as well as a wide variety of other ministries each week. We will surely return there when we can. We stopped at Wal-Mart in Fort Walton to pick up necessities and did some packing today. A couple who are campers here informed us of flooding on Walter F. George lake near Fort Gaines, and the closing of one loop at Cottonhill Campground, causing the other loops to fill with campers. We have decided to jump up to Whitetail Ridge in LaGrange, Ga tomorrow. 

View Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/FredGannonRockyBayouStateParkNicevilleFLMarch23302009#

Wekiwa Springs State Park - February 16 - 23, 2009

Monday, February 16, 2009 - We got all packed up and headed out this morning at 11:28 AM. Our Garmin directed us to take State 471 up to 50. We got about 15 miles from hwy 50 when our right trailer tire blew out. John managed to get it over onto the shoulder safely, so we unpacked enough stuff to get the jack out and began changing the tire. A nice couple stopped and assisted with this effort. Our thanks to them and to God for sending them. John was struggling with getting the car jack to lift the wheel high enough, and the man who stopped had a trick that worked perfectly. We got the tire changed and decided not to try to continue without a spare. We called the tire place where we had just purchased new tires for the camper a little over a month ago and he said to bring it over and they would fix us up. Sadly, when we got there, they said they do not have these in stock and would not have them until tomorrow. So our trip has been put on hold until tomorrow. Bummer!!!!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - Finally, we got underway. We went over to the tire place and picked up the replacement for the one that exploded yesterday. After they put the new one on, we headed out at 10:53 AM at 62 deg. and arrived at here at Wekiwa at 1:02 PM at 70 deg. We got set up and drove to Tavares for dinner with Joan's Vermont classmates at Angelo's Italian Restaurant. We had a great time and an excellent dinner with Julie, Barry, Judy, and Laurel. Our campsite here is very spacious and nice. Pictures coming tomorrow. 

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - After a good nights sleep, we started the day by taking our coffee and tea on a walk down to the springs. They are about a mile from our campsite along a nice trail. We were also able to check out the kayak launch and make plans for taking them out later in the day. On the way back we spotted a doe and her fawn and Joan managed a few pictures. We had oatmeal for breakfast, then drove over to the launch, put the wheels on the kayaks and walked them down about 200 yards to the water. The area is among the most beautiful we have seen in Florida. The water is crystal clear and the bottom is full of rocks, submerged logs, and vegetation. We saw some fish action, but were unable to catch anything. John thinks most of the fish were tilapia, which do not take artificial baits much. Fishing was also made quite difficult because of the high number of canoes passing by us. We talked to a couple, Dan and Jackie, who were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary by canoeing like they did when they first met. Many more you two. 

Thursday, February 19, 2009 - This morning, after our morning walk, we watched the weather channel radar to follow the line of rain that was proceeding the most recent cold front. The rain did not last long, so we went down to sand lake with the fly rods to see if we could catch a fish. There was only a few places where we could access the lake and struggled casting in the strong wind. We spotted a pair of bass which were spawning on their bed and John managed to put a fly on the bed and had the female on for awhile, but she only had hold of the hairs on the fly and let go. When we came back to camp, the couple (Pat & Dick) were here that we met at Cloudland Canyon State park last July. We will be having breakfast and joining them for a pot luck with a camping group they belong to. 

Friday, February 20, 2009 - Today was a nice, cool hiking day. We first hiked down to the campground entrance to get a picture of the entrance sign. On the way back we stopped by the ranger station to see if there are fishing areas on Prevatt Lake in the park. The ranger did not know. While we were there we met a couple (Joan & Joe) who were getting an extention of their stay by moving to a site where there was a cancelation. We headed back to camp and were stopped by a photo op. of a pileated woodpecker doing a serious number on a pine tree alongside the road. While Joan was taking its picture, Joan & Joe walked up and we talked some more. They are here in Florida for three months escaping Wisconsin winter. After breakfast we hiked the 1.1 miles to Prevatt Lake, but although we enjoyed the view of the lake, there were no areas open enough to fish. We hiked .9 miles to Sand Lake and fished there for awhile, but only got a few hits and no fish. Finally, we hiked the 1 mile back to the campsite and had dinner. After dinner we joined the R-Vision group around their fire and met some nice folks. 

Saturday, February 21, 2009 - We made it through and stayed warm during a very chilly night in the low 30's. It was still quite cool when we went over to join the group at Dick & Pat's site for breakfast. The food and conversation were excellent, and by the time we were finished, it had warmed up considerably. It is supposed to be near 70 today and for next week. We returned in the evening to Dick & Pat's for a potluck dinner with the R-Vision group. Again, the food and conversation were excellent and we had a great time. 

Sunday, February 22, 2009 - We took a coffee walk, had and oatmeal breakfast, then hiked over to Sand Lake again to do a little fishing. This time we brought a spinning outfit to see if we could change our luck. John managed to catch the bass that was on the bed, but nothing else. We came back to the campsite, had dinner, packed up a few things, then sat by the fire for awhile. 

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

New Big Horn Fifth Wheel

In our attempt to help the economy, we went to the Tampa RV show this week and purchased a 2009 Heartland Big Horn 3385 RL fifth wheel. We do not have a truck to pull it, but instead will have it delivered to the northern GA or western NC mountains to serve as our northern home in the summer. We have kept our pop-up camper to use for camping here in Florida or in the area around where the fifth wheel will be, such as Smokey Mountain National Park. We have not had an opportunity to take any pictures yet, and the unit will be stored at the dealer until it is shipped, but here is a web site from the manufacturer so you can see pictures of it.

 http://www.heartlandrvs.com/product.html?id=2&name=Bighorn&section=gallery&cid=14

We can't wait to begin to use it.