REAL PADDLING

  


The Sun burned through the fog just in time for our launch on the black smooth waters of the Withlacoochee. Dave and Eileen were continuing their role as tour guides; this was their secret favorite paddle and alligators were assured. Osprey and Ibis greeted us at the start.  Vultures circled and little herons waded among the cypress knees.  The hardwood trees were starting to bud out, but there was not a single insect except a half starved dragonfly.

The main river has cabins upstream and a friendly bank resident pointed out the only gator we would see all day. Then there was this guy, but not nearly as grisly as the white crosses mounted in trees at several turns,  Memorials to drunks lost to nighttime air boat crashes, he confirmed.

But there was the more whimsical...

 Downstream,  we entered preserve land and paused for lunch.  

Gum Springs rises nearly 5 miles from the river and braids its way through lowlands seldom over a foot above water level.  We entered Gum Slough not sure which braid would take us upstream. We  weren't prepared to hurdle or hack our way through blow downs, but we got lucky. We wound through passages that doubled back and overhung our boats, but there always seemed to be a way.  The water ran clearer here, less time for the spring water to pick up the tannin stain characteristic of swamps. Meanwhile every turn showed us glimpses of wildlife -- hawks, Ibis in flocks, a huge owl repositioning away from our voices,  little yellow warblers and many more too shy to give us a long look.  It was tranquil, mildly adventuresome and deeply satisfying to be in such a beautiful place with perfect weather and good friends.

Getting Acquainted with Quaintness

Cedar Key?  Its funky...laid back...QUAINT... 

We hear this from everybody.  

We found crowds of grey heads like us  (many on motorcycles), boat trailers, B&Bs, condos and bars, lots of bars, a wall of restaurants blocking the sunset and one bumper sticker of the laid back variety...

Oh we found some QUAINT...

...and some QUAINT that was perhaps past it's "Sell By" date...

But we also found what Patty likes best about coastal towns...

...Huge twisted Live Oaks festooned with Air Plants, ferns, Spanish Moss and sometimes entwined in Trumpet Vine.  We found this grove had "captured" a sky blue and salmon colored Bed and Breakfast.

We left with visions of summer nights looking out from one of those upper story windows....
 .....and with our Quaintness Quota satisfied.

ADVENTURERS AND ADVENTURES

 Eric was climbing the long shallow hill to the campground when we slipped by his loaded touring bike.  He was still grinning after 85+ miles.  In the campground, we enjoyed hearing about a lifetime of cycling adventures -- a full year around the world with his wife, big loops out Washington DC and this trip from the Keys to Silver Springs Maryland.

Eric packing in the early morning fog and demonstrating the super lite gear (and sunny disposition) which allows him to cycle tour while the rest of us are holed up in a motel or camper.

On this day's ride Eric encountered a Polish gentleman who claimed to have been the US Olympic Cycling team coach.  We pooled our vast encyclopedic knowledge (and then checked Wikipedia) to discover that he had indeed shared the trail with the great Eddie Borysewicz .

 

 

 

Paddling --finally

The Head springs of Rainbow run were developed as an "attraction" in  pre-Disney Florida.  There were gardens of native and exotic plants, man made "waterfalls", the usual glass bottom boat rides, and stone paved walking paths. 

It is a state park now and nicely restored. We toured it during the chilly days last week, but we AND EVERY OTHER WATER LOVER IN THE AREA welcomed the sunny weather today. 
 

We joined Dave and Eileen and a flotilla of canoes, kayaks, dive boats, standup boards, water taxis and assorted other floating apparatus for a run from the campground launch into the Spring reserve. Sunny Sunday meant Wildlife sightings of a whole different kind, but everyone was good natured and glad to be out.  The otter sightings we had hoped for will have to wait for a weekday.

Rainbow Springs

Here we are in Rainbow Springs State Park near Dunnellon, one of Florida's Premier Parks.   You know you are  in a premier park cause you paid $30 and the roads are paved and the spotless gravel pads are level.  The bathhouses and all physical features are first class. There are few trees, but the spacious sites in the B,C loops are well separated by natural greenery about shoulder high. 

So we are "Big Rig Friendly" here and the multiple slide set have clear satellite shots.  Is is just me or does it seem that the bigger the rig, the smaller the dogs?


Most importantly this park has Ranger Cynthia, who, despite reduced hours and staff, can welcome campers with the most thorough briefing we have ever had, answer the phone and sell ice nearly simultaneously, smiling warmly all the time. 

We are just a short portage (portage carts furnished free) to the Rainbow Spring run -- 500 million gallons of crystal clear 72 degree water slipping daily past the launch. There may be more car top boats here than people.  We all want to paddle, but it is 50ish, overcast and blowing hard and it is KILLING US!

We have amused ourselves with short bike rides and shorter walks.  Lunch with friends Eileen and Dave was a delight, and Dave has a few more adventures planned as the weather warms.  We learned that shopping anywhere the first few days after the retirement checks come in means long lines, but lots of friendly banter. We found that Don Pepe's has the same menu of any Mexican restaurant we've tried, but does each item better.  (We went back twice to verify.) The men's club at St Johns Catholic Church were trained in the Friday Fish Fry tradition of the North and brought their skills South in retirement.  

OK THE SUN CAME OUT AND IT'S LIKE A  DIFFERENT PLACE!      

Campers are out of their boxes and interacting, kayaks are launching, boys are fishing --it's Florida.

   Today we biked  the last five miles of the Withlacoochee bike trail along the aborted Cross Florida Barge Canal. (R.I.P.) It was sunny with just enough breeze to discourage little bitey things.  Dolphins were fishing close to shore at the end point on the Gulf and the parking lot had both an active Osprey nest and a Horned owl with fuzzy chick in residence in an abandoned eagle or Osprey nest.

WOOL SOCKS AT THE BEACH

The overnight "drenching" rain paused while we hitched up in Montgomery, but it drizzled THE WHOLE, LONG, DREARY, BORING WAY to the Gulf, through the area appropriately called The Dead Lakes.  The Ranger at St Joseph's Peninsula State Park wasn't sympathetic.

"It rained so hard and so long this morning that the Sand has Puddles!"

Again we were blessed. Our site did  NOT have a pond and we made good use of a slight pause to unhitch. Cozy inside, we watched the cabbage palms whipping outside and the wind driving sand against our bedroom window.

A blissful night.  Hot homemade soup and crusty bread, home baked cookies...electric blankets.

The morning was sunny, windy and 40 ish. When the queen awoke, she could survey her realm of Sable Palm and Pines through  sparkling windows.  The News from afar was all about the Weather.  Emissaries from Wisconsin, Michigan and far away Nova Scotia had tales.  Birders and fishermen reported sighting nothing.  Record breaking numbers from home were cited, but the little lady from Pennsylvania in her red ski wear, silenced us all.

"Two inches of Snow, followed by an inch of sleet and ice pellets for the rest of the day. THAT was right here, in the campground, by the Gulf of Mexico, in January."

 She was unanimously acclaimed the "winner" of this bullfight and awarded two ears  and the tail.

For our part, we bundled up, walked the  campground (counting four more Airstreams) and the beach long enough to confirm the reports. No fish, few birds, and a single rather bewildered Alligator. 

Notice, even this little guy is wearing socks on the beach today. 

Sunset is approaching and, in earlier visits, we might have expected folks clutching stemware and vino to appear at the end of the boardwalk. Tonight, perhaps a Thermos and a couple stout mugs.  

Welcome to Florida.

Sub Normal Temperatures and Sub Optimal Dental Equipment.

 For far too long we have been frozen in place at Montgomery dealing with sub normal temperatures and sub optimal dental equipment.

..folks we saw around town questioned why we were STILL here...(we thought they got over that "Yankee" thing forty years ago.)  Fellow campers reported forays South only to be turned back by frigid conditions and maxed out camping in the State Parks.  We hatched a new plan.  We would settle in and watch the Winter Olympics, down multiple bowls of Blue Bell Ice Cream and cuddle on the couch. We would clean out the storage building, make friends with the folks at Goodwill, rearrange the closets.  We might even get the taxes filed early.  (One can always count on Snowbirds streaming North starting Mid March to face off with the IRS.)  In our new plan we will tow South, avoiding spots frequented by Spring Breakers and have the state to ourselves. We will turn north only when the Neotropical migrants have passed.

“No, no! The adventures first, explanations take such a dreadful time.” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass


So as the hitch-up-and-go moment draws nearer ... lab tests, new glasses, haircuts, an intense line of thunderstorms... an interesting paradox confronts us.  We really want to disappear below the I-4 corridor in Florida where warm temps predominate, but that would mean passing by  favorite places in the Panhandle where we have found bliss, White Squirrels and Manatees, Tupelo Honey and beautiful St Joseph Peninsula State Park.

WE ARE HEADING FOR THIS...

 

WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO AVOID