An Astronomical Day

The space shuttle Atlantis landed safely this morning. We were not able to see it pass over from our camp near Tampa, but faithful readers will remember that we did view it's launch on Feb 7.

The US military shot down a rogue US spy satellite over the Pacific Ocean today. Hit it on the first whack. China is worried. Let 'em sweat. After all, they've been sending us toxic toys and toxic dog food.

There is a lunar eclipse this evening and Dorcas and I are watching it as I write. It started at 8:43 PM and is currently in its totality. The eclipse will end about midnight. It was mostly cloudy all afternoon, but the clouds magically cleared shortly before the start of the eclipse.

Our Country Coach rally ended this morning. Country Coach service technicians spent several hours working in our coach. One tech performed a much-needed wiring repair. There was a completely severed cable serving the security system, and now that system is functioning again. While one technician was working on the security system I consulted with the other technician and received excellent guidance and advice on about a dozen other projects and repairs that I will perform at a later time. A stellar accomplishment.

In the morning we will move about 150 miles to the Atlantic side of the Florida peninsula and camp near Port St. Lucie.

Rally Ho!!!

Today we moved from Thousand Trails Orlando and are camped at Rally Park, an on-site campground at Lazydays near Tampa. We are attending a Country Coach owner's rally here. The rally is hosted by Country Coach Inc. but is also considered as an area rally for three Country Coach area chapters: the Florida Coast-Alongs, the Nor'easters and the Country Cousins, to which Dorcas and I belong. An early count showed 82 registered coaches. Rallies are a lot of fun. Good companionship, good food and drink, and good entertainment. Country Coach Inc. is subsidizing the rally to the extent that the rally fee is approximately equivalent to the camping charges. Country Coach expects to sell 8-10 coaches to rally attendees. If you buy a coach, after you negotiate your best deal, you spin a wheel to earn an additional discount ranging from $2000 to $10,000. Great fun and excitement, but Dorcas and I will resist the temptation to buy a new coach. Another great benefit at this rally is the complimentary coach service. Factory technicians will come to your coach and fix up to three items and spend up to one hour. With RV service rates here at $120/hour this is a big perk. We hope to get our money's worth. The rally ends on Wednesday, but Dorcas and I will stay at Rally Park until Thursday.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

We have been taking it easy here at Thousand Trails Orlando for the past few days. But today was a work day. Today we washed and waxed the coach. At 8:00 AM we started on the roof and washed the coach from top to bottom and stem to stern, finishing just after 10:00. In the middle of the day we took a break and did some easier chores. About 3:00 the real grunt work started. We had never polished the coach before, but we did today. Dorcas polished everything below the side molding about 3.5 feet high, and I did the rest. We finished up just before dark, and it's a good thing, because my arms were falling off. Today I was especially glad we had a 33' coach and not a 45 footer! The coach looks better than we have ever seen it. We will be attending a Country Coach rally tomorrow. Most of the coaches will be bigger than ours and some will be newer than ours, but ours will SHINE!

Happy Anniversary!!!

We are still at Thousand Trails Orlando and will stay here until Sunday when we will move to the Tampa area to attend a Country Coach Rally. Last night was a cool one, getting down to 40 degrees, but the forecast is for warming as we head into the weekend.

Today is Valentine's Day, but more importantly, it is Dorcas' and my seventh wedding anniversary. People have accused me of marrying Dorcas on Valentine's Day in order to kill two birds with one stone, meaning I had to buy only one gift for both events. In reality it was Dorcas' idea all along. There are a couple of other side benefits, however. First, it is difficult to forget our anniversary with all the Valentine's Day hoopla. Second, if (when?) I do forget Valentine's Day and our anniversary, I will only get fussed at once. But if that does happen, it will be one heck of a fuss.

Tonight we are going to dinner with friends to celebrate our anniversary and our friendships.

Disney Again

Faithful readers will remember our friends George and Jackie. We met George and Jackie while traveling in Montana last summer. They winter not far from our camp here, and Jackie works in the Magic Kingdom. Just before Christmas they invited us as their guests to several Disney parks. Today they invited us once again to visit Disney. We chose Animal Kingdom since we had only been there once, the year that Animal Kingdom opened in 1998. The weather forecast indicated rain, but we actually had pretty good weather. It did rain once pretty hard near the end of the day, but we managed to be inside during the worst of it. The highlight ride was Expedition Everest, a relatively mild roller coaster with a very fun theme and some interesting twists. At 200' "Everest" is the tallest "mountain" in Florida. We also saw some excellent shows. The Festival of the Lion King features music, high energy dance and acrobatics. Finding Nemo - The Musical features amazing puppets, original music and a strong story line. We had a great time. Can you not have great time at Disney? Thank you George and Jackie for showing us such a fun day!

Back to Thousand Trails Orlando

This morning our friends Jim and Ann departed for home and Dorcas and I departed for Thousand Trails Orlando. But prior to leaving Blue Spring State Park, I put the canoe in at the end of the spring run for one last romp with the manatees. Unfortunately, due to the recent warm weather, there were very few manatees in the spring, and none wanted to play. Dang.

We covered the 60 some-odd miles south and west on I-4 without incident and arrived at Thousand Trails Orlando just before noon, where we found a nice shaded spot in D loop. We will be here until Sunday February 17, and then we will move to the Tampa area to attend a Country Coach rally. In the meantime, we have no definite plans for the week. We probably will not paddle. We will likely bike a day or two, visit with friends, do a little RV maintenance (maybe give it a bath) and just relax for a bit. Retirement is good. We are getting into this snowbird thing.

Paddle: Rock Springs Run

Rock Springs Run and the Wekiva River is one of the finest paddles in Florida. Ironically, it is less than 15 miles from downtown Orlando. The "Real Florida" is not as remote as many folks would think. For the last paddle of their trip, we took Jim and Ann down the Rock Springs Run, just north of Orlando. We put in at King's Landing, about 1.5 miles below the spring head. We then paddled upstream about 1/2 mile along the recently cleared Emerald Cut. We stopped at the point where a downed tree blocked further upstream access. We turned around and enjoyed a leisurely float down the run. Near the end of the run we paddled upstream once more into Wekiva Spring. We took out shortly thereafter at Wekiva Marina. This a very popular run, but we were the only ones on the river this day. Heaven.

We saw a number of fair sized alligators. On one log, we saw three young gators stacked one on top of the other. Momma was watching from the bank about 20 yards back. We passed very close to another very large alligator on the bank. As we passed he slipped into the water, but instead of disappearing, he swam towards our boats and then stopped and waited for us to leave. This is fairly unusual behavior and not a little disconcerting.

We worked Jim and Ann pretty hard this week. We paddled 4 of their 5 days, and got up pretty early each morning. We did some upstream runs, some windy runs and some long runs. This practice is not unusual for Dorcas and me, but Jim and Ann are not accustomed to this kind of abuse. They thought they were on vacation. In recognition of their spunk and grit, Dorcas and I presented Jim, Ann and Sunshine with a certificate for successfully completing and surviving Myron and Dorcas' Central Florida Week of Rivers 2008. Congratulations!

5-4-3-2-1 BLASTOFF!

The launch of the space shuttle Atlantis had been postponed at least twice during the past three months due to fuel sensor problems. It had been rescheduled for 2:45 PM on February 7. It turns out that we would be camping only 40 miles from the launch facility on that day, so we put it on our calendar. According to news reports the fuel sensor problems had apparently been resolved. However, the weather forecast was less than ideal. Early in the week NASA had predicted a 60% chance that the mission would be scrubbed due to clouds and rain. Last night and this morning the weather had worsened such that there was a 70% chance of postponement. What the heck, we had not planned any other activities today. Jim and Ann had mutinied when I suggested another paddling trip. Dorcas plotted us a course to Sand Point Park in Titusville, where we would have a relatively unobstructed view of the launch. We arrived about an hour prior to the scheduled launch and parked our lawn chairs in the shadow of a cabbage palm. As the zero hour approached the clouds magically disappeared. Right on schedule the shuttle Atlantis departed for the International Space Station. What luck! Dorcas' power of positive thinking pays off again.

Paddle: Juniper Springs Again

Earlier in our trip between, Christmas and New Year, we had paddled Juniper Springs run. On that day there must have been 25 boats at the put-in waiting to put onto the run. Today there was only one other boat at the put-in. It was a beautiful day, but the park was nearly deserted. Moral: don't run Juniper Springs during a holiday week. The put-in is just below the spring head and is only about eight feet wide at the start. The crystal clear creek runs through a lush canopy of palm and fern, over a white sandy bottom. About 2/3 down the run, the run opens up into a grassy marsh called the Juniper Prairie Wilderness. We saw many turtles and numerous birds, but no gators. Jim and Ann got a lot of practice making tight turns in their canoe, and mastered the art of bow and stern draws.

Paddle: De Leon Springs SP and PANCAKES!

De Leon Springs State Park has a lot going for it. It is a pretty good paddling destination, but the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant also has all-you-can-eat pancakes all day long. What more could you want, you say? Well, there is also entertainment! Each table has a griddle built into it, and you actually cook your own pancakes. We took turns ruining each others pancakes. After gorging on ugly flapjacks, we put in for a paddle. We paddled down Spring Garden Creek and towards Lake Woodruff through Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. We saw a number of fair-sized gators and a multitude of birds. The most common birds today were coots, a funny-looking white-faced duck. There were thousands of them.

Paddle: St. Johns R., Hontoon Dead R, and Snake Ck.

We put in at the mouth of Blue Spring for a paddle down the St. Johns River. We could see about a dozen manatees at the lower end of the spring, so before leaving the spring we played for a while with the manatees. One young manatee stayed with us, rubbing the bottom of our boat and letting us pet him. Great fun! We then headed north on the St. Johns River. It was a beautiful warm sunny day, but alligators were scarce. We saw a few small ones, but no big ones. After about an hour we arrived at Hontoon Island State Park. HISP is accessible only by boat, but is not as remote as I expected, since it is only 100 yards across the St. Johns River to a major marina and resort. We talked to a ranger there who explained that most of the big gators had been killed during a recent hunt, where the state had increased the number of licenses issued. We lunched at HISP and decided to return by an alternate route. We turned south down the Hontoon Dead River and then cut back to the St. Johns via Snake Creek. This route had less motor boats and we did see a few more gators. We had a great all-day paddle of about 9 miles.

On the Move: Destination Blue Spring State Park

Today we moved about 60 miles north and east to Orange City. We are camped at Blue Spring State Park, one of the finest manatee viewing spots in all of Florida. Unfortunately it has warmed significantly during the past week and the number of manatees in the spring has dwindled. The ranger said that two weeks ago there were over 200 manatees in the spring, last week 50 some and today only 22.

Our friends Jim and Ann arrived about 4:00 pm. We will be here until Saturday then return to Thousand Trails Orlando.

The TREK Continues

This morning we moved a whopping 20 miles north to Clerbook Golf and RV Resort. We are attending the South East TREK Fun Club Winter Rally. Some readers may remember that we previously owned a Safari TREK. The TREK is a very unique motorhome; it is a compact coach with no discrete bedroom. The bed lowers from a recess in the ceiling over the living room area. Due to it's unique design TREK folks are a bit more close knit and dedcated to their brand than owners of most other makes. We have maintained our membership in the SETFC and are still welcome at the rallies, even though we now own an SOB (some other brand). There are about 45 coaches registered at the rally. We will be here until Sunday, and then move to Blue Spring State Park near Orange City where we will meet our friends Jim and Ann.

Paddle: Hillsborough River (once more)

If it's Wednesday it must be the Hillsborough. For the third Wednesday in a row we paddled on the Hillsborough River. The Hillsborough is a wonderful river. Joe Faulk of Canoe Escape claims it's the best river in the world. When questioned closely he hedges and says it may be merely the best river in the northern hemisphere. In any case, it is a great river. If you are ever in the Tampa area and want to paddle the on Hillsborough, drop in at Canoe Escape and let Joe and Jean set you up.

Today we paddled with our friends Wayne and Lynda from NC and Joe and Jean Faulk, proprietors of Canoe Escape. The weather was warm and mild, with some clouds. The water level was about 12" higher than when we paddled last Wednesday and almost 20" higher than we paddled two Wednesdays ago. We put in at Sargeant Park and took out at Trout Creek Park, about 8.5 miles down. We again saw all the usual birds as well a few pretty fair gators. Just before taking out we paddled up Trout Creek. Trout Creek is a very deep, slow-moving creek and an excellent place to see some gators.

Paddle: Withlacoochee River

Today we paddled on the Withlacoochee River with Wayne and Lynda, and Bob. We put in at Trail's End Camp below CR 42 near Floral City. We paddled downstream a couple of miles (although there was no flow) and then turned south into Jumper Creek. We lunched at some high ground that featured some magnificent live oaks and some citrus trees. Most of the oranges were sour, but we did find one tree with sweet oranges and another tree with some pretty good tangerines. We gathered about half a bushel of fruit before departing. We saw a few gators and a number of wading birds, but the real treat was the raptors. We saw dozens of red-shouldered hawks and almost as many ospreys. A few were munching on fish. We also saw a great blue heron eating either a very large fish or a medium sized snake. Whatever it was, it was flipping and flopping and was probably too large to swallow. The temperatures have finally warmed up a bit and we had perfect weather today.

After our paddle we stopped at Lake Louisa State Park to visit friends who belong to the South East TREK Fun Club. These friends were having an informal pre-rally to the official SETFC rally that starts on Thursday. We were treated to some snacks, adult beverage and fun conversation.

Paddle: Homosassa River

On Sunday our friends Wayne and Lynda relocated from Ocala National Forest down to Silver Lake Recreation Area and joined our friends Bob and Donna, and Bob and Cheryl. On Sunday afternoon we drove over there to visit and to plan some more paddling trips. After discussing several paddling options, it occurred to us that we have lately undergone a fairly severe cold snap here. When it gets cold the manatees come into the warm waters of the Florida springs. Homosassa Springs is one of their favorites, so that clinched it. We would paddle at Homosassa.

Today we put in at a public ramp a mile or two below the spring. The paddle from the ramp to the spring was pretty dull as we passed along houses, resorts and marinas. But when we approached the spring, it was all worth it. First we saw something very unusual. We saw what looked like a tsunami coming straight for us. There were about a dozen large waves that suddenly appeared and, after a few seconds, just as quickly disappeared. A volunteer manatee watcher later explained that there was a female manatee who was "in the mood". The lady manatee apparently had chosen a suitor and the losers got exited and went on a manatee stampede. Very exciting. When we got to the manatee area there were manatees EVERYWHERE! Homosassa Spring is actually located within a state wildlife preserve. There are barriers to prevent the wild manatees from entering the spring, so they hang out just beyond the spring run. We were able to paddle among them as they swam by, around and under our boats. After playing with the manatees for about an hour, we paddled over to Margarita Grill, tied off our boats and had a very nice lunch. After lunch we paddled a short distance up the Halls River and then returned to the ramp.

Biking the West Orange Trail

We have been criss-crossing with our friends Dave and Audrey during our whole stay in Florida, but so far we have had little chance to actually do anything with them. Last week we made a plan to bike on the West Orange Trail on Saturday. Cool!!! Well, come Saturday the weather was less than perfect. The forecast was cool and cloudy, with a 50% chance of rain. What the heck; sometimes you just have to go for it. We made a plan where Dave and I would start on a connecting trail on Lake Minneola and pedal about 8 miles, then we would meet Audrey and Dorcas the County Line Station at Kilarney, the official start to the West Orange Trail. Together we biked another five miles to Winter Garden, "the land of pleasant living", where we lunched in a nice little Italian restaurant. From Winter Garden, Dave and I biked a few more miles eastward on the trail to Chapin Station, while Audrey and Dorcas returned to County Line Station. It was a very pleasant ride and a very nice trail. Winter Garden is very quaint and scenic. The town had converted the area down the middle of Plant Street, the main drag where the tracks had run, into a very nice strip park about three blocks long. While we did get a little drizzle, the weather was not as bad as the forecast. There were several bike shops along the trail that had a number of very unusual bicycle configurations. We saw triple and quad tandems, tandem recumbents and tandem three-wheel recumbents. Dorcas test-drove a recumbent. I don't know if she liked it or not, but we didn't bring it home. We are looking forward to biking the West Orange Trail again.

The weather here has been a bit cooler than normal much of the past week with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s and 50s. Tonight and Monday night the lows will be near 40, but it will warm significantly later next week. We are looking forward to more stereotypical sunny Florida weather.

Photo of the Week

I felt bad after trashing Dorcas' Element on the Alexander Springs shuttle. So I took it to town and had some modifications made. Momma was less than thrilled.

Paddle: Alexander Springs again

Our friends Wayne and Lynda had been hoping to come to Florida for a week or two and meet up with us for a bit while they were here. They finally escaped NC just before the storm this past weekend and ended up at Alexander Springs CG in Ocala National Forest. After a fierce game of cell phone tag, we finally touched base with them, sort of. They left us a message on Wednesday telling us where they were, and that they intended to paddle Alexander Springs run on Thursday. Since they had no cell service there, Dorcas and I drove up there this morning to surprise them and paddle with them. They were amazed and happy to see us. It was a beautiful sunny and warm day. We set up our shuttle at the public access on river left. I had not been down that road in over two years. It was poorly maintained then, and they have apparently not graded it or improved it in the last two years since. There were about a hundred swimming pool sized pot holes along the road. Most were too wide to go around, so I just drove through them, hoping the water in them did not swallow the Element. We finally completed the shuttle and put in at the spring head. We saw more gators than I have ever seen on this run. We also saw the usual assortment of herons, limpkins, and anhingas, with a few red-shouldered hawks to boot. After the paddle Wayne and Lynda made us daiquiris, grilled us steaks and fed us chocolate. To quote Wayne in a previous trip report: "Almost perfect!"

Paddle: Hillsborough River Gator City

We had paddled on the Hillsborough River a week ago. On that day it was cool, breezy and overcast. We saw many, many interesting birds, but only a few alligators. Today was relatively warm and sunny, and we saw less birds but many more alligators. Go figure. We paddled with our friends Bob and Donna, and Bob and Cheryl. While on the river we ran into our friend Ken, who was guiding an Elder Hostel group down the river. The river level was 8"-10" higher than when we paddled the river last week, due to two pretty heavy rains in the last four days. There was one tree across the river which had to be dragged over. That tree was not there last week and probably came down during the storm last Saturday night. One of the members of the Elder Hostel group said that tree was the best part of the trip. Weird.