Easter Sunday 4-1-18
Today was not our typical
Easter Sunday. No ham and au-gratin potatoes in the
crockpot.
Linda started reading the New
Testament in January for our morning devotions. It so happened (came to pass)
that today’ passage was when the women found Jesus’ grave empty.
Ida is leaving for her new
site in a co-op type trailer park. We
stopped by as quality control inspectors when she had everything hitched
up. She gave us the grand tour of her
camper. It is quite the item for one or
two people with all the little conveniences to make living simple. We wish her the best in her new
lifestyle. She pulled out around 1:30 PM. When we got back to our screen room we found
a thank you note she had snuck in when we weren’t looking.
What is all that noise down at
the boat ramp! A group of small racing
boats and hydroplanes were gearing up for the season. I had the chance to watch one of them run
tune up runs. These are high school aged
youngsters deep into serious competition. They were the only ones I saw working
on the boats. The oldsters stood by and
supervised. Yes, it didn’t help fishing
but, it was good to watch the young people so into something that challenges
their minds and skills. I shudder to
imagine the money involved as some had custom closed trailers to haul the
boats.
Monday 4-2-18
This morning was warm (low
70s) but this afternoon promises to be quite warm with a possible thunder
storm. We drove into the teaming
metropolis of Bunnell to use the library’s Wi-Fi. Then we took a break and visited Hot Diggity
Dog. Good food. Then back to the library
to add the pictures into the blog.
The highlight for the day was
going to the IGA for groceries. Now to
beat the rain back to camp.
In the afternoon there were
more racing boats at the boat ramp. I
went down and they let me take pictures.
These are the 20 cubic inch class of the American Powerboat Racing
Association. They are doing their
preparations for a race this weekend in Jessup GA. That would be fun to watch.
Just before sundown we sat at
a picnic table on one of the empty sites.
Our section of the campgrounds is empty except for our next door
neighbor. It is so quiet and peaceful as
the sky darkens and all of the night-sounds come alive. Back at our site we started our first
campfire and watched the sunlight fade and the stars appear one at a time.
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| The fishing tree |
Then there was a small wake in the water
behind our boat. It’s the little
resident alligator. It’s only about a
foot and a half to two feet long. As the
campfire burned we watched it slowly work its way along the bank. We watched it for at least a half hour making
its way silently through the blackness.
(Whoa…this is starting to sound like the screen play for the “Creature
from the Black Lagoon”.) Well it was a
creature in a black lagoon. As the fire
died and the mosquitos became friendlier we decided that’s enough outdoor
adventure for one night.
A few
powdered…mini-doughnuts…and……a………cup………of……..Sleepytime ………tea ……..and ……………..Z
Z Z
Z Z Z..
Tuesday 4-3-18
The morning was a-buzz with
the sound of race boats accompanied by the string trimmers and lawn mowers of
the park staff. All necessary but not
conducive to tranquility.
We went fishing on Dead Lake
with no luck. In the background the
sounds of race boats stirred the air. Linda
said “Let’s try some other place”. We
headed out of Dead Lake and cruised to the far southwest corner of Crescent
Lake. There we found stands of cypress
trees in small coves. With three miles
between us and the noise we enjoyed the quiet.
The only sounds were nature’s
gentle breeze, the call of an occasional bird or bull frog. All this being interrupted by the sound of a
splashing fish or of a lure and bobber hitting the water. The complete picture of serenity. Two small
gators kept a watchful eye from a safe distance
Suddenly, from a nearby island
about 50 yards away, a muffled thud and the four loud long screams of
Heron. A splash…Then total silence. A four second reminder that with all of
nature’s beauty there still remains the dark side of survival. As if nothing happened tranquility returned.
We returned to camp for lunch
and a nap to take up the hottest time of the day. Fishing will still be there in the late
afternoon.
Once again we were not
successful in our fishing endeavor. But
the time on the lake was so relaxing.
We returned to “alligator
alley” and fished for a while. In the
distance we could see four gators swimming just off shore. Then the sky started to darken off to the
west. Time to make it back to camp
before the rain arrives. On the way back
across the lake Linda said “I’m homesick for Florida and we haven’t even left
yet”. I told her “it’ll be here next
year waiting for us”.
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A Momma Osprey calls her displeasure at our intrusion.
The nest is in the top of the tall tree
|
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| A close up of the nest |
Linda looked out the window
and could see the sunset. It was
spectacular.
This will have been our last
fishing day on this trip as we have many chores to do including pulling the
boat out of the water and giving it a good bath. The black water does a number on a clean
boat. Tomorrow will be laundry and
camper clean up as we only have four days left.
Jim from GA, arrived about five minutes
after we did. He and I discussed a whole myriad of subjects and have most of
the world’s problems solved. Sleep well
tonight world.
Wednesday 4-4-18
Yippy
tie yie yae…Once again it laundry day. But with a twist. We have been using the laundry in Crescent City
and it’s only a half a mile from Three Banana’s. This is the same place we tried to get into
by boat last Thursday but the waves were too rough. Don’t you know on the day we drive over the
lake is flat.
Three Banana’s advertises as
“World Renowned”. There is a sign in
the dining porch that says “This ain’t
Burger King. You get it our way. Since
1956”. Well, their way is pretty
good. Linda’s Chicken Caesar Wrap was so
full of chicken (probably a complete breast) there was hardly room for the lettuce
and cheese. They had a Fish Ruben that
caught my attention. Two large fillets topped
with Cole slaw and provolone cheese placed inside Texas toast. No room for deserts.
When we arrived I spotted a
Maul float-plane at the dock. They were
loading up and getting ready for takeoff.
I just had to get pictures. I told Linda to order my iced tea and I should
be back before we have to order. I’m not
sure the waitress was too pleased. When
I asked her forgiveness for leaving the table to get a picture, because I used
to work on one of them, I got a cool “Yeh, she told me”.
We are doing some of our pack
up chores a little early. There are
showers forecast for Sunday and loading up in the rain would be a bummer.
Tonight’s
fare was also from a world renowned chef.
The great Hector Boiardi
(A.k.a.
Chef Boy-ar dee). His Ravioli is to die
for!
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| A fire starter made by our friend Bill |
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| How long until the cracked frame breaks in two? |
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| Another beautiful sunset. |
Thursday
4-5-18
Today
is Boat Appreciation Day. Or to put it
another way we are pulling the boat out and giving it a thorough cleaning. There is a price to pay for boating in black
water. The Litl’ Fisherman’s waterline is covered in dark brown scum and below
the waterline, green grass-like something.
It’s not too hard to scrub; just inconvenient. It especially seems like a a chore when your
home lake is nearly crystal clear and a quick wipe with a wet rag does the
trick.
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| This crazy cardinal kept attacking the bird in the window. |
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| The Skipper going Rub-a-dub-dub. |
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| Yuck! |
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| Gilligan helps the Skipper |
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| No more of that Gilligan crap! |
After
the boat was cleaned we went for lunch at Bull Creek. Linda likes the chicken wraps better there
(and their not even world renowned).
Then
it was time to take down the screen room.
Now what do we do? I haven’t had
a banana split in years. According to
the GPS the nearest Dairy Queen is in Ormond Beach 30 miles away. It’s only 18 miles to Steak-N-Shake in Palm
Coast…No brainer… S-N-S here we come.
Shuckie-Darn; they only have milk shakes. That’ll have to do.
We
drove aimless around Palm Coast until we crossed a toll bridge which took us to
the barrier island. Headed north we came
to Marineland. Further north the road
paralleled the Intracoastal Waterway bringing back memories of the boat trip in
2011/12. Finally we turned around at
South Beach Grill where we met up with Harry and Kathy a month ago.
Back
at camp we spent the evening playing Minus5.
Linda won 51 to 103.
Friday
4-6-18
There are those
tender moments when in the deepest recesses of my heart, I truly want to
strangle the idiot who developed Windows 10.
When it forces an update it royally screws things up. We went to the library to catch up on the
blog. A new update was being downloaded
and the computer would freeze.
So
we left the library and headed up to see Fort Matanzas.
We stopped at Bings Landing on the ICW. Linda shot these Pix.
We
stopped at the beach at Marineland.
Then
we passed the area where the ICW meets A1A
Then
we arrived at Fort Matanzas. It was a
small Spanish fort intended to be the first line of defense in case French or
English forces try to attack St Augustine from the south. It is also the location where about 250
French soldiers died at the hands of the Spanish. The French from Ft Caroline (Jacksonville)
trying to reach St Augustine ship wrecked in a storm. The battered French forces decided to
surrender to the Spanish. The Spanish
brought fifteen to twenty French to shore in longboats. When out of earshot the Spanish massacred all
of the Frenchmen. Thus the name
Matanzas; Spanish for slaughter.
Recently
the area was devastated by hurricanes Irma and Mathew. There is still recovery work being done in
the park. The ferry to the fort is not
running. However, one of the rangers
gave us a hint to walk up a path along the river and we could arrive on the
shore straight across from the fort while it is mid-tide.
The
path crosses a salt marsh that is dry at low tide and filled at high tide. You could tell the tide line by the thousands
of holes made by Ghost Crabs. Anyplace
left dry at high tide had no holes.
Anyplace under water had crab holes.
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About half the foliage is missing from these
Live Oak due to hurricanes
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Linda
found this house design intriguing.
Back
in Bunnell our last lunch at Hot Diggity Dogs.
Then pick up some items at the IGA.
After
our nap the computer was up and running on its own just when it was too late to
make it back to the library. What did I
ever do to your Mr. Gates??
Saturday
4-7-18
The
day started out great with breakfast at Bull Creek.
By
leaving a day early there is no need to hurry to meet the checkout
deadline. Everything went pretty much as
planned until we put the boat in the trailer.
Somehow the cable slipped off the drum on the winch and jammed it and
something inside the winch broke. At least
the boat trailer tires were inside the trailer.
With a lot of growling and grunting I got the boat in place for the tie
downs.
We
were on the road by 12:30 PM headed for I-95.
Traffic was heavier than we expected. I missed the I-295 beltway so we got a scenic
tour of Jacksonville. We arrive in
Kingsland, GA about 3:30 in the rain and called it a day.
