Day 16 Thru 20



It's time to catch up a bit.

Day 16: Tuesday 3/14

Where did the sign go??

Today we are on our way to Ft Myers to visit our best man Casey and his wife Barb.    As I took the trash to the dumpster I noticed what I would call an extreme case of identity theft.  The sign for the Georgetown Marina has been stripped!

Northern Florida and the Ocala Forrest area is known for having quite a large bear population.  As we turned south onto FL19 we noticed this sign.  Later we saw a sign "bears for the next 33 miles".  As luck would have it we didn’t see any bears. (Darn)  Linda found out that one of the ladies in the campground spotted a bear about six miles up the road at the fish hatchery.  It crossed the road and walked into the woods.  Linda won’t go out after dark.

We took a detour to Englewood to see Gene McCoy and his wife Carol.  Gene and I worked together

at Keystone Aviation when we first moved to PA in 1978.  He is now retired from the FAA.  They moved to Englewood in May of 2016 and love it there.  Gene drove us to the beach at Englewood.  The winds were really up coming out of the west and the Gulf, that is normally pretty calm, had waves like the Atlantic.

Carol and Linda really hit it off well.  It was nice to have a reunion with Gene and meet Carol.

We arrived in Ft Myers just after dinner.

 

Day 17: Wednesday 3/15

We just chilled with Barb and Casey watching TV and playing games.

Day 18: Thursday 3/16

Dido…Except we ran downtown to the Ft Myers Yacht Basin to see Denise.  She took care of all our needs when we were there in 2012.  She even invited us to stay for the dock party but we had other plans.

Day 19: Friday 3/17

My aunt Nancy and her husband Bob, are staying at Pioneer Village RV Park right here in N. Ft Myers.  Today we are visiting with them.  Bob is part of the Horseshoe crowd and today they are having their Pizza Extravaganza.  The people were kind enough to ask us to join them.  

Nancy (blue) and Bob (orange)

After lunch we went back to Bob and Nancy’s trailer and played (a new to us) card game “Spades Rule”.  We had a great time with lively conversation.  Then it was supper time…What to do?  Nancy remembered that Steak and Shake was offering milk shakes at ½ price with a meal before 5:00 PM.  This is at 4:29.  “Oh it’s just down the road”.  Down the road is about 10 miles away in Cape Coral.  N. Ft. Myers and Cape Coral at rush-hour!!  We decided to each take their own truck and meet there.  I believe Bob may have made a new land speed record.  We hit the parking lot at 4:59. The girls made a run for the door and made it in before 5:00!  The hostess took her good old time seating us.   Nancy told the waitress that we made it in the door by 5:00 and asked if we could still get the ½ price milk shakes.  The waitress smiled and said she will ask the manager but didn’t see any problem.  We all laughed so much it was like a table of teenagers.  We certainly enjoy our time with those two.  We seem to have the same mind set on life.

Day 20: Saturday 3/18  Something happened to the camera and the pix are washed out!

We said good byes to Barb and Casey around 9:30 AM.  Linda wanted to see the beach at Siesta Key.  It’s rated the number one beach in the USA.  Siesta Key is about 75 miles up the Gulf Coast from Ft. Myers.  We arrived there around lunch time. There is a lot of traffic at Siesta Key and if you are in a hurry you’re in the wrong town.  The beach is beautiful.  It’s several hundred yards wide and over three miles long with the whitest sand you’ll find anywhere.  The sand is as soft as talc.  We had lunch at the City Park Snack Bar and enjoyed the salt air and beautiful view.  Linda gathered some sand to send in her friend Vickie’s birthday card.

Leaving Siesta Key we headed west on routes FL 72 to Arcadia and then FL 70 to meet US 27 north to Lake Placid.  A quick visit to Henderson’s Fish Camp to refresh our memories of what was there.  It's a maw and paw fish camp that has been there for years.  It’s on the eastern shore of Lake Istokpoga near the town of Lake Placid.

Traveling north we stopped at Boggy Creek RV Park again to refresh our memories.  Last year when we checked out the 40 campgrounds I didn’t take pictures.  Not like me I know.  Boggy Creek is more of a resort type RV park.  Lots of Live Oak shaded sites and all the amenities.  Linda really likes this one.  Boggy Creek is an area just outside of Kissimmee. (That’s pronounced Kis-sim-mee by day and Kiss-a-me by night).  Boggy Creek empties into East Lake Tohopekaliga.  I won’t even try to pronounce that one.  Folks in the area just call it Lake Toho.

 We arrived back at Georgetown at 10:30 PM.  Low and behold they have a new identity.

Day 13, 14, 15

Day 13:  Saturday 3/11

Ibis getting breakfast at the front of the camp grounds.

Not much to report on today.  The lake is smoooth today.  We were going to take a cruise over to Salt Springs on the other side of the lake. They say the manatees are in Salt Springs Run right now.  Linda, being the good First Mate she is, checked the weather and radar and realized we would be caught in some very heavy rain before we could get back.  Its only about 11 miles to the springs but the last five miles are restricted to slow speed due to the manatee protection zone which makes it about an hour and a half trip one way.  So it looks like this will be an adventure for another time.

Hey… This looks like a great time for a trip to Dollar General!

 Day 14:  Sunday 3/12

Thanks Brett and Alyssa.

Our Grandson and Grand Girlfriend wanted to get us a house warming gift for out "Teeny" Tiny House. They got us a waffle maker. Today we put it to good use...Chicken and Waffles!

If you ain't tried it ya don't know what your missing.

 


Chow Time!

Our favorite Sunday past time is NASCAR.  We watched the race in Las Vagas and one of our favorite drivers, Martin Truax, won.  The race was a good one with excitement afterward when Bush and Lagono had a boxing match in the pits. 

 Day 15:  Monday3/13          Mid 70’s, overcast with showers.

The laundry chute is full.

Today was a slow day.  We slept in and just kind of chilled.  After all, its laundry day and not really something to get overly excited about.  However, at home, Linda says she likes doing the laundry.  I think she enjoys playing with the machines…turning knobs…pushing buttons, and the folding is kind of an activity you don’t have to concentrate on and you can let your mind wander.  Folding towels becomes folding beach towels and the swish-swish of the washer is the waves crashing on the beach.  (I know, I’m really stretching this; but you get the idea.)

We hit the laundry in Crescent City.  Lesson learned…Never do laundry the day after it rained on the weekend.  It seemed like every lady in Putnam County hit the laundry because you couldn’t dry it on the line at home.  Linda noticed the dryers had several settings.  Cool, warm (cool) hot (cool) volcanic eruption (cool).  It took so long and cost so much (nearly $30) to wash and  dry the clothes (some of which we brought back to the camper damp) we are thinking about starting one of those “fund me “sites on the web! 

We took Big Blue for a bath to get the bugs of the grille…It started raining as soon as we left the car wash.

There is not a ripple on the river or the lake.  Actually this is probably not a bad day for fishing but I’m not big on fishing in the rain.

"Lil Fisherman" is second from the bottom.

 

 

Even the pelican and heron
 won't fly in this weather

 

 

 

Day 12:  Friday 3/10            Beautiful day; low 80’s with lot of puffy cumulus clouds.

 Today was a beautiful day to be on the water.  The lake had a bit of a chop so we headed north to explore the river and find what looked to us as good places to return to for fishing.

 

This is satellite imagery of Lake George and some of the St. John River.  We traveled to the top edge of the picture today 

Our travels took us from Georgetown Marina to about a mile and a half north of Turkey Island.  It was a distance of about 12 ½ miles.  The western shore of the river is undeveloped and there are stands of cypress all along the way. 

We stopped a few places to try the fishing.  While fishing above Turkey Island Linda and I both got a big strike from something.  It broke Linda’s line and mine got off the hook.  But it was exciting when it happened.  We watched as a Bald Eagle and an Osprey duked it out over territory.  It was quite the aerial duel.  Way to fast and furious for me to capture on camera.  The eagle was persistent and eventually chased the osprey about a quarter of a mile down river before it returned to the top of the highest pine tree in sight.  Eagle 1- Osprey-0.

Not long before heading back the “Laura D.” passed and tied up to the dock at Acosta Creek Harbor.  The rigging suggests that maybe at one time she may have been a research vessel.  Now it appears to be a private trawler.  This is the largest boat we have seen this far south on the St John. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Drayton Island Ferry with three pick up trucks onboard

On our way back we saw the Drayton Island Ferry crossing the river.  Drayton Island is directly across from the campground.  The island is almost three miles long and just over a mile wide.  The ferry is the only means to get a vehicle to the island.  While much of the island is undeveloped there must be around 50 to 60 homes there.

 

 

 

Our son said one of the TV channels he watches advertises for Winn-Dixie.  Their motto is “The Beef People”.  He wanted us to bring back some steaks.  But we plan a detour through TN for a few days so the possibility of keeping them fresh would be a challenge.  So the next best thing… Pictures of 16 oz. rib eyes from Winn-Dixie on the grill tonight.  Close your eyes and just imagine the aroma of fresh beef cooking on the grill. 



YUM!

Mr. Heron keeping watch.

Half way out the slip and its only knee deep to a heron

While I was getting gas for the boat Linda took some pictures at the boat slip.  You can see how low the water is.

The fun part is trying to get on and off the boat.

 

Its only 7PM and Linda is out like a light.  This has been a big day for both of us.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Palatka...Lake George

Day 10:  Thursday 3/8  Palatka

This morning the wind was kicking up the lake at a pretty good clip.  Not a good day for fishing in a small boat.   So the decision was made to go to Wally-World (Walmart) in Palatka. It’s a 45 minute drive to Palatka from Georgetown.  I didn’t take the cameras along so I don’t have pictures of the ranch lands along FL309.  This area is very rural with a lot of agriculture.  There are herds of Black Angus that look quite healthy.  Even with the dry spell the pastures look lush and green.

Linda wanted to pick up some pepper-spray just in case the pit bull next door decided to get a bit over rambunctious.   We picked up a few other odds and ends and headed for home.  We made a stop at Big Boy’s Play Toys, a marina, and bought a larger anchor to hold us in the current and wind. 

The next stop was Corky Bells Seafood at Gator Landings in East Palatka.  Click Here for Corky’s photo gallery.  It was Thursday afternoon around 2:00 PM and the place was packed.  We were able to get a table on the deck facing the St. Johns River.  The food was terrific and the view of the river spectacular.   And, for a restaurant with all the atmosphere the prices were reasonable.  I had to get a Corky’s tee shirt so Linda got one too.  It has this picture on the back.   Ain’t we cool??

Down US 17 to Crescent City for a few groceries and then head back to camp for a nap.   I love my naps.  The other day I was so mad because I laid down early and slept straight through my nap time. Missed it completely!

 

 

Day 11:  Friday 3/9  Perfect day for fishing.

We were a bit slow getting started this morning.  I believe I may be having issue with some old lunch meat.  So once everything settled down we went out on the boat.  Adam, who is one of the owners of the campground and also a fishing guide, gave us some pointers were we might throw in a line. 



Linda just thought she had to catch this gator.

After about an hour we noticed an alligator surface about 50 ft. from the boat.  Linda for whatever reason kept casting her bait in the area we saw it submerge.  Then she gives me a grin and says, “He’s too persnickety about what he eats”.  I think she was truly disappointed that he didn’t go for it.  I can see us now pretending we are on the TV series Swamp People with me yelling “CHOOTEM Pooh Bear, CHOOTEM!”

Well we didn’t catch any fish but we had a good time. (Are you seeing a trend here?)

Airboat on Lake George

Just before we headed back the wind kicked up and we bounced the whole was back.  A bit wet but no worse for the wear.

Good News:  The Pit Bull family left while we were out in the boat.  I hope Linda doesn't practice with that pepper-spray stuff on me!

 

Georgetown, Sanford and Casadaga

Day 6: Saturday 3/4

We launched the boat and took a quick ride about a mile up the river.  The wind was out of the south at about ten and with the shallow water it was real choppy.  But the boat still floats.  It was the first time the boat was in the water for nearly two years.

My cousin Rodney follows our blog and noticed that we spent some time in Sanford.  Rodney and his wife Linda, along with their daughter Jeanie and her husband Mike, visited us on our houseboat back in 2012 in Ft. Myers, FL.  He contacted Jeanie, who now lives in Sanford, and gave her a list of possible phone numbers for us. In the evening we got a call from Jeanie.  (Apparently not all of the numbers were still good; Jeanie talked to some folks who had no idea who she wanted to talk to.)  She invited Linda and me to join them for lunch at their apartment tomorrow.  We’re looking forward to it.

Day 7: Sunday 3/5

This morning we headed south to Sanford.  We arrived at Jeanie and Mike’s a few minutes after noon.  Linda told Jeanie to keep lunch simple; like samitches …Jeanie fixed Ceaser salad, pasta shells marinara with meatballs, homemade corn bread, plus homemade brownies that Becca and Michael made.  We ate like kings!  It was sooo good.  (Have you noticed I like to eat?)



Jeanie holding Gracie, Michael, Becca and Mike.

We really enjoyed spending the afternoon with them.  They gave us some pointers on things to see and do in the area.  It was nice getting to know them better.  Now they don’t seem like distant relatives but like a real part of our family. 

On the way back to Georgetown we decided to take a side trip to Casadaga (House of Daggers).  This small community sits about six miles southeast of Deland.  I first heard about it in the late 70’s when a man I worked with, who graduated from the same school I attended in Daytona, told me about his motorcycle trip with friends from Daytona.  Somehow they turned down a side road and ended up in the town of Casadaga.  Everyone stared at them as they stopped at the small store for some refreshments.  They asked the man behind the counter why they were being watched.  He told them everyone who lives here is some kind of spiritualist or medium.  They were not used to strangers snooping around.

Well apparently things have not changed much in fifty years.  There may be a few new houses and now there are some signs in front yards advertising their craft.  But it seems very much like what was described to me so many years ago.  We were so amazed at what we were seeing we didn’t take any pictures…But then if ghosts are invisible and vampires don’t have a reflection, the pics wouldn’t have come out anyway!

Day 8: Monday 3/6

Today it is too windy to go out on the water.  So today will be land based activities.  We explored some of the small towns in the area.  Fruitland, Welaka, Pomona Park, Lake Como, Crescent City…All have the usual verity of palms and scrubs with huge Live Oaks with drapes of Spanish Moss and Air Plants.  It’s a laid-back lifestyle with unassuming people who accept you for who you are.  It feels like home.

Every little town has a Dollar General.  Even if there is no post office there is a Dollar General.  I think it must be a state law.  But they are convenient; especially since the nearest town of any size is fifteen miles away.   Walmart is thirty miles!

Day 9:  Tuesday 3/7    Temps in the high 70’s. Breezy at times.

This morning the wind is very light and not a cloud in the sky.  We took a quick trip to Dollar General in Fruitland about five miles up the road.  I mean what’s a day without a trip to Dollar General? 

Keeping and eye on us.  Were is Momma??

We packed a lunch and headed out to the lake.  The wind was out of the south and coming directly up the lake so the water was a little choppy.  So we headed up the river and fished along the banks.  It was a beautiful morning.  While we were casting along the shore we noticed that we were being watched by two guys wearing black and white strips.  No, they’re not escapees from the local jail; two baby alligators sunning on a tree trunk in the water.

About 1:00 PM the clouds started to gather and the wind picked up.  As we turned the one bend in the river we could see rain about ten miles away on the south end of the lake. No fish, but a great time.

Typical shoreline on the St. Johns River

Linda was impressed with this large Cyrpess

This afternoon is time to chill.

Trip to Georgetown, FL for fun and fishin'

Day 1: Monday 2/27/2017

We were on the road around 7:45 in the morning.  Our son decided he was going to escort us to the state line.  The weather is beautiful… A great day for traveling.  About fifteen miles into our trip US 15 was shut down for what must have been a bad accident.  We gave hugs and kisses and sent him back home.  The detour was about thirty miles paralleling US 15 but through small towns and low speed limits.  In all we lost about an hour and a half.  This is going to put us in Lumberton, NC right at dark.  Not the best for the first time we have to unload the boat out of the trailer.  But, it is what it is…       

        

The KOA in Lumberton was nice and they assigned us a pull-through site that was 100 feet long!  We could just push the boat out the back and everything would be ready to reload in the morning.  We got a good night’s sleep.

 

Day 2: Tuesday 2/28

We had everything loaded and were southbound around 9:15.  Again another great day on the road.  We arrived at Kingsland, GA (one mile from the FL line) around 4:00 PM.  Plenty of day light to get everything set up.  They also gave us a long site.  All we had to do was pull the front of the boat trailer up to the rear corner of the camper.  At the end of the day even the TV dinners tasted good.  We lucked out because the Carolina’s were forecast to have thunderstorms but we apparently beat them down the road.

 

Day 3: Wednesday 3/1

Microwaveable Jimmy Dean’s for breakfast and load up to hit the road.  We had good traveling the whole trip.  We arrived in Georgetown, FL around 3:30 in the afternoon.  While theoretically impossible; these folks found you really can stuff eight pounds of mud into a five pound bag!  I didn’t remember the camp sites being this small when we check them out last March.  32 RV sites, 7 cabins, 41 slip marina, laundry, office/bait store, maintenance buildings and a boat trailer parking area on about two and a half acres.

 

The people who run the campground are very friendly and helpful.  She even took down the neighbor’s laundry and wash line strung out from their trailer and tied to the pine tree clear across our site.  Oh well you’ll have this in a big city.

 

There was a lot of curiosity about the trailer with a “boat-in-the-box” as one guy put it.  Several of the neighbors came over to check it out after we were set up.

 

Then the neighbor on our right, Doug, warned us about the pit bull that jumped him when he was getting something out of the bed of his pickup.  Suddenly he felt something jump up and grab him around the waist from behind and started chewing on him.  The dog is from the neighbor on our left.  The owner called the dog off and he let go.  Doug mentioned that the dog needs to be on a shorter leash (he’s on about twenty feet of cable). Without any apology the owner said “Well ya don’t have to worry ‘bout nobody bother’n with your truck”.   

 We are too far up stream to have any tidal influence on the river, however, there has been a dry spell in the area and the river is way down.  Like six inches of water in our slip.  This might be a problem.  The docks are fixed (not floating) and it will be about a five and a half foot drop into the boat.  I’m not sure how Linda will make it in and out of the boat.  When she would be standing in the boat her head would be even with the dock.  Oh, I forgot to mention that they assigned us slip number 4.  Our neighbor Doug said that is the slip his boat is in.  They gave him slip number 4, two weeks ago. 

 

This may be an interesting month.  Have you ever noticed how the anticipation is usually better than the reality?

 

Day 4: Thursday 3/2    Temps in the high 70’s.  They have been having record breaking highs.

This morning was a trip to the grocery store.  The closest supermarket is in Crescent City about fifteen miles away.  Winn-Dixie is the old standby in grocery shopping in FL.   In the afternoon I let Linda beat me in a card game of Minus-5.  Actually she whooped my butt.

 

The rain we out ran in the Carolina’s caught up with us this afternoon.  It really poured for about two hours.  Good.  Maybe the river will come back up…Yeah, right.

 

Day 5: Friday 3/3       Temps today to be only in the mid 60’s very windy.

Linda likes to watch House Hunters on TV.  One of the places they featured is Sanford, FL.  That went on the bucket list.  So this morning we set out for Sanford.  The trip took us straight through Deland.  Linda used to go to the courthouse in Deland when she worked land title and abstract work during my college days in Daytona Beach.  Like everything in FL nothing looks the same.  The growth around Deland is staggering. 

 

I lived in Sanford back in 1959.  We lived in a small trailer park on Lake Marion.  Can’t seem to find it…Maybe that’s because the bridge for Interstate 4 is there.  The power plant where my dad built a smokestack has converted from oil to natural gas and the stack has been removed.

We arrived in Sanford at lunch time and found Wolfy’s at the marina on the lake.  They put out a lunch special of smothered chicken, mashed taters, and a vegie medley. As Andy Griffith would have said “It was GooOOOood!

 

Sanford is a beautiful town.  The lakefront has been turned into a beautiful park that must be

about a mile long.  The old down town section has fancy brick inlayed crosswalks and the town is neat and tidy.  Nothing was as I remembered it. (Hey, that was nearly 60 years ago… I can’t recall what we had for breakfast this morning)

I have a second cousin, Jeanie and her husband Mike who moved to Sanford about five years ago to work with a youth group.  They fell in love with the town.  We can see why.

From Sanford we headed east on I-4 to Daytona.  We drove up to the outlets for some shopping then to Ormond Beach.  We found the trailer park we lived in back in the early 70’s.  Yep, it’s still there.  Then we drove down to the beach so Linda could walk along the water and listen to the waves kiss the shore.

 

It’s about an hour drive back to Georgetown and we just beat the rush hour back to the camper.  All in all a great day.

 
This evening I tried to add pictures but this WIFI is WAYSLOW (when it works at all) and won't upload them.  Life is Good.