How We Spent Our Summer Vacation

Once again I have found myself hopelessly behind in updating this journal. Here is an attempt to get caught up in one fell swoop. This is the tale of how we spent our summer vacation.

Missouri River Camping

Faithful readers last found us in mid April preparing to put-in on several rivers in southeast Missouri for extended camping trips. We did paddle four days and three nights on the Eleven Point River in the Mark Twain National Forest. After taking off the Eleven Point we drove to Van Buren MO and camped a night at the developed camp ground at Big Spring. Then we bought ice and groceries and put in for seven days on the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The water was relatively high, so we were able to put-in on the Prongs section of the Jack’s Fork River and paddled until the Jack’s Fork converged with the Current River. We spent 7 days and 6 nights on the river, taking out at Big Spring. It was a very nice float. The flow was less than it was when we were there three years ago, but it was a very nice level. The weather was very nice for both trips. The temperatures were mild, and we only had some light rain at one camp. We enjoyed the company of our fellow trippers: Wayne and Lynda and Harry. For those who would like to read more here is Wayne's account of the trip.

Hanging Rock State Park

From May 12 -17 we were camped at Hanging Rock State Park, attending the annual spring gathering there of the Lumber River Canoe Club. Hanging Rock State Park is one of the finest state parks in NC and is only 30 miles from our house. For the next four days we paddled successive sections of the Dan River. The Dan River is a jewel among Piedmont rivers, and we always enjoy paddling there. It has enough riffles and obstacles to be interesting and requires some maneuvering. It has outstanding views with high bluffs and thick rhododendron banks. We enjoyed good food and outstanding companionship with our friends in the Lumber River Canoe Club. Don Meece wrote a detailed report on the trip.


Down East NC and Lighthouse Tour

On May 27 we departed for a few weeks in down east North Carolina and the outer banks. Our primary objective was to attend a rally of the Southeast Country Coachers on Hatteras Island. Prior to the rally, SECC club members John and Lillian invited all rally attendees to visit and stay at their farm in Aurora prior to the rally. We ended up staying 7 nights at Old Hole RV Park, their private 15-site park, which is only available to friends. We very much enjoyed their hospitality. During our stay they hosted a spaghetti dinner, a pig pickin', a fish fry and a brisket dinner. The nights when there weren't fancy cookouts there were plenty of leftovers. Our stay there coincided with the Aurora Fossil Festival. Aurora is home to PCS, a huge phosphate mining and processing operation. The mine produces ore which is rich in fossils, particularly sharks teeth. Fossil hunting is not currently allowed in the mine, but PCS trucks over loads of ore to the festival site so people can dig through them looking for fossils. They also offer bus tours through their mining and manufacturing facility. I particularly enjoyed the plant tour, because I had heard a lot about PCS during my Air Quality career. They have a number of acid production plants and at one time were one of the largest polluters in the state. They also had the dubious distinction of being the most highly fined facilities in the state. Perhaps things may have improved since then. Most of the people in Aurora are dependent on the mine either directly or indirectly. I learned quickly not to tell folks that I used to work as an air quality regulator for the state. While staying at the "Old Hole" we made several side trips. One day we took the ferry across the Pamlico River and explored historic Bath, North Carolina's oldest town. On another day we drove to little Washington and visited with our friends Dave and Audrey. But mostly we just hung around the "Old Hole" and took it easy, listening to the juke box and enjoying the company sitting in the rockers on the front porch.

Finally we left the Old Hole and drove to Hatteras Island where we stayed 3 nights at Camp Hatteras in Rodanthe. We were camped on the sound side, and it was very hot and windy during our entire stay. There were about 20 other Country Coaches at the rally, and we enjoyed meals and happy hour with our motor home friends each evening. One night the club hosted a fish fry in the rally hall. On the next night we had an old fashioned weenie roast over a wood fire on the beach. It was very quaint and nostalgic. During the days we explored the OBX, mostly the parts south of our camp. We visited Cape Hatteras and climbed the lighthouse tower. There we saw a very interesting video showing the moving of the lighthouse almost 1/2 mile to it's current location. We also took the ferry to Ocracoke, where we walked around the island and visited the Ocracoke lighthouse, which is now open to visitors. We enjoyed a crab cake sandwich and a brew on the waterfront deck at the Jolly Roger Pub.

After the rally we moved about 15 miles north and stayed 4 nights at the National Park Service CG at Oregon Inlet. That CG has no hookups, and we were able to benefit from our solar array. From there we spent the days primarily exploring the OBX north of that point. We visited the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island and the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk. One day we drove as far north as NC 12 goes up the OBX to Corolla. There we climbed the Currituck Beach lighthouse. Finally, in order to celebrate the high winds that we had been enjoying, I bought a new stunt kite, a Prism Quantum, at Kitty Hawk Kites. I had bought a Trilby triple-ganged stunt many years ago and had been flying it some on this trip, but the Prism is a whole different animal. This video shows some stunts that Prism kites can do, and it is extremely impressive. I can do some pretty basic stuff, like loops, stalls and landings that are not quite crash-and-burns, but nothing like the stunts in this video. Check it out!

Finally, we visited the Bodie Island lighthouse, but learned it was closed for renovations, and we could not climb it. This put only a small damper on our quest to climb all the lighthouses on the OBX. Actually it was interesting to see it shrouded in scaffolding and canvas and to listen to the wind whistle and scream through the scaffolding. We'll catch it next time.

Lumber River Camp Out

The Lumber River Canoe Club is a very active club with trips scheduled practically every weekend. A traditional annual trip is the overnight trip from Fair Bluff NC to Nichols SC each July. Some years we make this trip and some we don't. This year we were able to make it. The only bad thing about this trip is that we need to meet for the shuttle at 9:00 am on Saturday, which means we have to get up about 4:30 am. That's right 4:30, in the morning. That usually means we can't party very hard on Saturday night. We had a very pleasant paddle punctuated with frequent swim breaks. The highlight of the trip was Don's new antique wood and canvas canoe. Don bought this canoe a few months ago and had paddled it on some day trips, but not on an over-nighter. At some point early on Saturday he hit a submerged cypress knee and poked a hole in the bottom of the boat, whereupon it started leaking like a sieve. Don is a trooper. He borrowed a bilge pump from one of the kayakers and started bailing. I think he will be looking for someone qualified to replace the canvas skin on the outside of the hull.

We camped at a large shaded sand bar on river left fondly known as "The Oasis" about half way between the state line and Nichols. There was an intense but brief shower shortly after we arrived, which helped cool things down a bit. There was more swimming, an extended happy hour and a shared meal consisting of heavy hors d'ouevres. Dorcas and I, as well as many other of the old folks, crashed early and slept soundly. Sunday morning we cooked a hearty round of breakfast burritos, a riverside standard. The paddle to Rice Field Cove Landing near Nichols was slow and easy, with more frequent swim breaks. On the drive home we enjoyed another tradition: dinner at Skipper's Seafood near Thomasville with our friends Wayne and Lynda. Here is Don's account of the trip.

Home Stuff

In between these trips we did a number of projects around the house and I discharged one civic responsibility. In years past by mid-July we would have already departed for our annual trek to the upper Midwest and Minnesota. This year however, I was summoned for jury duty on July 26. Bummer. I had been summoned earlier last year for a date when we were to be in the Florida Keys. I wrote a very nice letter to the clerk explaining our travel plans and our reservations and suggested a specific 3-week period which would be perfect and not interfere with any travel arrangements. They did postpone my jury service, but ignored my specific window and assigned me a totally random date. Luckily that date did not conflict with any plans. It turns out that my number was not called that time,and I didn't have to report to the court house. This time I figured if I tried to change the date I could end up with a worse conflict and decided to just roll with it. This time I did have to report. There were three jury trials scheduled that day. After sitting all morning and then going to lunch, about half of the pool (not me!) was called away for one of the trials. They never came back, so I don't know what happened with them. About 4:00 PM they said the other two cases had been resolved and we were dismissed. About a week later I got my check for $12.00. Such is our system of juris prudence.

Another project that has occupied much of our summer is our yard sale. To put it bluntly: our house is a mess. Dorcas and I are both hopeless pack rats. It runs in both our families and we have never been able to overcome it. We have stuff in boxes from when we combined our households more than 10 years ago. We have stuff in boxes from our offices when we each retired. We have stuff in boxes from each of our parents houses and my grandmother's house after they passed. Etc., etc., etc. So, we decided we had to do something. I am reluctant to just throw something away if it has some value. We donated some clothes and other items to charitable organizations, but we decided we would also have a yard sale. All summer we have been going through boxes, closets and drawers; pulling stuff out of the rafters and off the shelves in the basement and staging stuff in the basement for a sale. We scheduled the sale for Friday and Saturday Aug 6 & 7. We advertised in the paper and on Craigs list and put signs and balloons out on the road. We had the sale on our new concrete driveway (more about that later), which was perfect. Our road is a narrow dead-end road with little parking, but somehow most of Forsyth County came down our road and looked at our junk. It was a lot of work, but we pulled it off, unloading at least all the major/big items. We had a lot of traffic and cleared a little over $900. We certainly haven't solved the junk problem in our house, but we made some serious headway. Whew! I'm glad that's over! After we cleaned up on Saturday our friends Wayne and Lynda came over. We then dined at Foothills Brewing, had a few brews and attended a Winston-Salem Dash baseball game. The home team won. Life is good.

Motor Home Maintenance and Repairs

The tires on the coach were manufactured in Oct 2003. Motor home tires usually "age out" before the tread wears out. Conventional wisdom suggests tires should be replaced every 5-7 years, although there is a great deal of controversy and disagreement on this point. Some say you are courting certain death if you go over 5 years. Others say they have run their tires 10 years or more and to change them simply because they have a birthday is wasteful. The manufacturers waffle on the point but do suggest internal inspections of the side wall after about 7 years. In any case my tires are almost 7 years old. All my friends with 2004 coaches have just had their tires replaced, so I figured it was my time. Besides, my right steer tire had recently shown some abnormal and very serious wear on the outside corner. I called Bill Plemmons, the big RV dealer in town, and asked for their recommendation for a tire dealer and an alignment shop. They suggested Stokes Tire in King and Auto Spring Company in Winston-Salem. After long consideration I had already decided I wanted the same model tires that were on the coach now. This was unfortunate, because that is not a common tire and Stokes Tire had difficulty locating a set, at least from a distributor who could get it here within a week. I was in a bit of a time crunch with our upcoming trip. Stokes Tire finally located 6 tires, but they were not as fresh as I would have liked; in fact were not as fresh as he had promised when I ordered them. Two were manufactured in March 2009 and four were manufactured in October 2009. I really didn't want to buy stale tires, because they would have to be replaced again that much sooner (remember the 7 year rule?) But I had no choice if I wanted that model and wanted them before I left on my trip. So I took the coach to King to have them installed. I have never watched them install large truck tires. I don't know if they do it this way everywhere, but here it was a manual process. The coach was jacked at one wheel position and that wheel was removed. The tire was then removed and re-installed manually, meaning laying the wheel on the pavement and using tire bars and no iron tire machine. They could not spin balance tires of that size so they put a granular beads in each tire which will distribute as the tire rolls and provide balance. This process was repeated for each of the 6 wheels and took about 4 hours. I also had the brakes inspected while the wheels were off. They looked like brand new. The coach is equipped with an engine compression brake, or Jake brake, so the service brakes get very little wear. I won't say here how much the set of new tires cost, but it hurt. It hurt a lot.

A few days after installing the tires I went to Auto Spring Co. for an alignment. At Auto Spring Co they align wheels manually, the old fashioned way, rather than using a computerized machine. My coach has independent front suspension (IFS) and the camber, castor and toe-in are all adjustable. The guy put a device on each wheel with level bubbles and checked the camber and castor. He used a rod to set the toe-in, measuring the distance between each tire. It turned out that the castor on the right front was off by 7/8", which explained the sever tire wear I had recently seen.

I changed the oil and filter on the engine, an annual project. This task is not too difficult but it is rather messy. The crankcase and the filter hold about 27 quarts. I have made the job easier by replacing the oil pan drain plug with a valve so that I can easily stop the draining oil and empty my pan. Perhaps the hardest part is filling the engine with the fresh oil. There is very little clearance between the oil fill and the top of the engine compartment, such that you can't simple pour the oil in from the bottle. I devised a funnel with a long hose, and stand on a ladder. That seems to work pretty well.

I have had problems with my refrigerator seemingly since we got the coach almost four years ago. In February 2009 the cooling unit blew out, releasing its pressurized contents and rendering the fridge useless. This failure was caused by the manufacturer using steel tubing that was too thin and which would fail after a number of heat cycles. It was the subject of a recall, but the recall did not fix the underlying problem. It simply installed a plate to separate the explosive gas that would ultimately be released from the LP burner, so that when it did fail, it would (hopefully) not burn down the coach. Mine failed and I replaced the cooling unit myself with an aftermarket unit. It seemed to work fine for a while, but during the last 8-10 months it has cooled erratically, cooling normally for about a week, then soaring into the mid 50 degree range for a while, then cooling again. After much research and discussion with technicians, including the one who sold me the cooling unit, it was determined that this cooling unit had now failed. The cooling unit was still under warranty and the company agreed to ship me a replacement. The problem was that they were out of stock, and they could not deliver before my Midwest trip. CRAP! They offered to send me a similar rebuilt unit to install and use until I returned, after which they would send me a new unit like the one I had bought originally. This would give me a working fridge for my trip, but would mean I would have to change out the cooling unit twice. An all-day job for me and not fun. But I didn't have much choice, so they sent me the rebuilt unit and I installed. it. It worked for about a day then began to not cool so good. After monitoring its performance for a few days and trying a few tricks suggested by the dealer, he determined that that unit was defective too. So now I am days away from leaving on a 10 week trip, I've spent dozens of hours messing with it and I still don't have a working fridge. We have no choice but to leave home with a large cooler packed with ice food, and try to have a new unit shipped to us somewhere on the road. Oh the joys of RV ownership! This story will be continued ....

The Taj Mahal Driveway Project 2010

We bought a 25' travel trailer in 2000 and started practicing for retirement. I realized after backing the trailer down my steep driveway and around a sharp 90 degree bend and the lower corner of the house the first time, that I never wanted to do again. It was too stressful for Dorcas, who was the recipient of my irate rants as she tried to keep me from hitting a tree or the house. Soon I hired a guy with a Bobcat to cut a loop around the west side of the house back to the street, making for a complete circular driveway around the house. I put down several loads of gravel. but never really finished it. It wasn't perfect, but it was functional. One problem was that it was narrow, uneven and held water. It wasn't really a suitable place to park the coach. Consequently I usually parked the coach behind the house on the old driveway. That meant it was difficult to get the cars into the garage (notwithstanding all the crap in the garage where the cars would normally be parked; see topic above). And I still couldn't drive all the way around the circle because there would be the coach or another vehicle blocking the way. It was kinda like one of those little tile puzzles where you have move the tiles around in a frame to get them all in a certain position. It was also just unfinished. It looked bad, and I had plans in my head that would make it so much nicer.

So, after procrastinating many years, Dorcas and I decided to bite the bullet and finish The Driveway. We would smooth out the vertical transition as it rises to the street, pour a wide level pad at the bottom and build a decorative retaining wall on the bank next to the house. Folks who know me also know that when I undertake a project such as this, I tend to go all out and don't take any shortcuts. So it was with The Driveway. We ended up pouring 54 cubic yards of 3500 psi concrete, 6" thick with 1/2" re-bar on 12" center. As they say in the trade you only get one chance when you pour concrete. We put 48' of 15" reinforced concrete pipe under the driveway below the path where the gravel always washed out, with a formed concrete catch basin and cast iron grate. The lower pad is level, 24' wide and 35' long (short edge) to 45' long (long edge). It is wide enough to park the coach on one side and drive another large vehicle around it. In fact, I made the pad wide enough to park 2 motor homes side by side. We are also good if we upgrade to 45' motor home (heaven forbid!). I have also installed PVC conduits under the concrete for an electrical service panel and a gutter pipe. We included 5' stamped concrete aprons at the edge of the road at both the new and old sections of the driveway. There is a decorative stacked block retaining wall on the bank between the pad and the house, with block steps up to the front yard. Most of the grading and forming was done by a contractor, but I put in a fair bit of sweat equity. The wall, however, that was all me. It was very hot and humid and the blocks weighed more than 60 pounds each. Seldom could a block be set without moving it several more times before it was right. This was certainly the most difficult home improvement project I have ever undertaken; much more difficult than our painting project last year. Perhaps I'm just getting old.

All in all it came out extremely well. The steps are only half completed, I haven't completed all the final grading and I haven't wired my electrical pedestal. In October we will plant some new grass, ground cover and some shrubbery. I expect the last 10% of the project will probably take another year to complete. But it's looking nice!

Spring in the Ozarks

We have an annual tradition of doing a spring canoe camping trip in the Missouri or Arkansas Ozarks with our friends Wayne and Lynda. Today the tradition continues. Today we will put in on the Eleven Point River, a national river in southeastern Missouri. The plan is to paddle about 50 miles over four days, camping on the riverside. Then, we will take off, re-provision, and put in the next day on the Jacks Fork or Current River, in the same general area, for seven days, assuming the water levels are suitable. We have paddled on the Jacks Fork and Current Rivers several times. They are spring fed, clear green, and beautiful. They are known for good trout and smallmouth fishing. We believe the Eleven Point will be similar and the weather forecast is excellent. We are looking forward to another grand trip.

We will be out of touch for the next twelve days or so and will report when we return.

A Lazy Day on the Hillsborough

During the first six weeks of our winter Florida adventure, due to unseasonably cold weather, we only paddled one time. That was on the Weeki Wachee River and it was the warmest frigid day we had seen. Today, we paddled the Hillsborough River with our friends John and Susan. It has warmed considerably here in sunny Florida and this trip will mark our 11th paddle since we left the Keys in mid-February.

The Hillsborough River is very close to Lazydays. After an omelet breakfast at the Crown Club, We met John and Susan at the put-in at John B Sargeant park only 5 miles from our camp. It was a beautiful day to paddle. The water level was higher than we had every seen it due to recent storms. We put in at the landing, paddled out a short canal and turned right up Flint Creek. In spite of the high water there was little flow on Flint Creek. We paddled about a mile up Flint Creek before it narrowed and we turned around. When we returned to the Hillsborough River we turned right and paddled upstream about a mile. After about an hour of chasing alligators, turtles and herons we turned around and enjoyed a leisurely float. Between the high water and the warm sunshine, we saw dozens of snakes basking in the bushes. We also saw ospreys, hawks and roseate spoonbills. After a wonderful four hours and about eight miles, we arrived at the take-out at Trout Creek Park.

On the shuttle back to the put-in, we visited with our friends Joe and Jean Faulk, who operate a canoe livery service on the Hillsborough called Canoe Escape. We had hoped Joe and Jean would be able to break away and paddle with us one day before we left town, but business is booming now so maybe next year. After completing the shuttle we said goodbye to John and Susan who were excited about their upcoming trip. In two days they are flying to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands for a twenty day adventure. Dorcas and I beat it back to the Crown Club just in time for happy hour.

Coming Home to Lazydays

Wednesday night it was threatening rain, so we packed up most of our outside gear before we went to bed. Thursday we departed Thousand Trails Peace River about 9AM, just as it started to rain for serious. We drove north toward Tampa in intermittent heavy rain, but by the time we set up at Lazydays RV Campground (formerly Rally Park) it had mostly quit.

We bought our Country Coach at Lazydays a little over 3 years ago and have spent many nights here since then. When we bought our coach, they gave us a membership in the Crown Club, an exclusive club for folks who buy high-end coaches here. At the Crown Club we are wined and dined three times a day for free. Our membership expires next month (unless we shell out BIG $$$ for a new coach, which ain't likely) so we like to spend as much time in this area as we can while the gettin' is good. Lazydays is the largest single-site RV dealer in the country. They have thousands of RV's on site that are unlocked so you can look through them without being bothered by a salesperson. It's a wonderful place to hang out.

Staying at Lazydays is kind of like coming home, we usually see people we know having service done, buying a new coach, hanging out or just passing through. This time we saw friends, Dave and Rita in Lazydays RV Campground attending a rally; Jim and Luci in the Crown Club for service; and Rob and Bonnie in the Crown Club trading coaches. Small world.

Today, unsettled weather set in; it was a crappy day outside but a good day to spend in the Crown Club. It rained hard all day with high winds and thunder storms. The news reported tornadoes close by to the north and east. The forecast for tomorrow is excellent and we have a date to paddle the Hillsboro River with friends John and Susan.

Paddle Arbuckle Creek 2X

Arbuckle Creek is fairly close to Thousand Trails Peace River, but we have never paddled it. We have never been here when we were with other paddlers who could help us run a shuttle. Arbuckle Creek is frequently paddled by members of the Florida Sport Paddling Club, usually as an overnight trip. John and Susan had paddled the creek previously, but were very agreeable to paddle it again. On Sunday we decided to paddle the section from East Arbuckle Road to the bridge at Arbuckle Creek Road, a distance of about 12 miles. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. We drove about 30 miles east through Avon Park and unloaded the boats at the put-in. Susan and I ran the shuttle, and then we anxiously put onto the creek.

The creek was gorgeous, but the highlight of the trip was the wildlife. We saw numerous examples of the usual water birds. We saw many raptors including red-shouldered hawks, ospreys and a barred owl. We saw a herd of turkeys. We got a good look at an American bittern, which I'm not sure is rare, but I don't recall seeing one before. We also saw several raccoons on the banks of the river and in the live oak trees. However, the highlight of the trip was a great sighting of a Florida panther! John saw it first; its head was sticking up from behind some brush. At first we thought it was a huge house cat, but it was quickly obvious that it certainly wasn't a house cat. Then we thought it might be a bobcat, but it just didn't have the tufts or the ears or the shape to be a bobcat. Then it ran, and we could see it clearly, and we were sure. It was a panther. It had a full tail and was bigger than I expect a bobcat would be. After some research and after viewing some photos on the internet, we confirmed it was a panther. We believe the cat was not yet mature. He showed a few stripes on his face and some spots on his body, indicative of an immature cat. Dorcas got a pretty nice photo of his head, but she was unable to get another clear shot as he bolted from behind the brush and loped up and over the creek bank. This was a very fortunate and rare sighting. Most visitors and even native Floridians will never see a panther in the wild. After the paddle we returned via Sebring and enjoyed a muy grande dinner at Don Jose Mexican restaurant.

Dorcas and I decided to paddle on Arbuckle Creek again today. Unfortunately John and Susan had left Thousand Trails Peace River and moved up to Thousand Trails Orlando, so we were on our own. We decided to put in at the same place we had put in on Sunday, but paddle upstream instead. We would paddle up as far as we could go or until we reached Lake Arbuckle, whichever came first, then turn around and return to our put-in. We found the current was not very swift and we made good time. After about 1.5 hours we arrived at the head of the creek at Lake Arbuckle. We paddled out into the lake and around to the right where we found a very nice paved canoe landing with a dock and a restroom. While Dorcas was in the restroom I walked over to what looked like a ranger station. There I found an armed uniformed guard who informed me that I was on military property and had to leave. He was actually very polite, but we quickly finished walking Matilda and left. We paddled back the way we came enjoying the fact that we did not have to fight the current. We saw a number of alligators on the paddle. Several gators were apparently recent mothers and had many baby gators on their backs. I wanted to pick up one of the babies, but Dorcas thought it was a bad idea and wouldn't let me.

We arrived at the put-in/take-out after a 6.2 mile round trip paddle. The only house on the creek was at the take-out where we saw a man in the yard just as a red-shouldered hawk swooped down towards him. It turns out that a pair of hawks were nesting in a tree in the yard. The man had been feeding them turkey necks, so they kept a close watch whenever he came out into the yard. He went back into the house, got a fresh neck and threw it into the air. The hawk dived for it and caught it in mid air and returned to his nest. Cool!

Paddle Peace River 2X

A few days ago, I struck up a conversation with Dick, our back door neighbor at Thousand Trails. Dick had noticed our boats and wondered if we wanted to paddle on the Peace River. He had met another couple in the park, and they had made a tentative plan to paddle a short section of the river the next day. We had not paddled in a while and were raring to go, although the forecast for the next day was not very good.

It rained in the morning, but the forecast for the afternoon was better. It was still a windy, cool and dreary day. We put in at the public landing in Wauchula and shuttled the cars back to Thousand Trails where we would take out. With us, in addition to Dick, were Bob and Paula, kayakers from Long Island. Dorcas and I had paddled this section of the river several times before, but had always put in at Bowling Green, about 8 miles further upstream. Given the weather it was probably just as well that the paddle was relatively short. It sprinkled a little and we had to work a bit to keep the wind from blowing us off course. When we arrived at the take out at camp we had covered just a little under 4 miles.

Shortly after arriving at camp we were surprised to find our friends John and Susan had arrived at Thousand Trails. We had met John and Susan at another Thousand Trails park several years ago and had run into them several times since then. We found that we have much in common: we all paddle, bike, tent-camp, and we have similar views and philosophies. We also both belong to the Florida Sport Paddling Club and have some common friends. We had paddled with John and Susan last year, and made plans to paddle with them again while here together.

So it was that today we paddled another section of the Peace River with John and Susan. We decided on the section from Fort Meade to Bowling Green, which Dorcas and I had never paddled. It is always fun to paddle a new section of river! We drove to Fort Meade and located the put-in at the Fort Meade Recreational Park off US 98 after a little aimless wandering and after talking to some locals.

The day was much nicer than our previous paddle on the Peace. It was perfect paddling weather, warm and sunny. We saw a few gators and most of the usual wading birds as well as ospreys and red-shouldered hawks.

Our most unusual wildlife sighting was a cow stuck in the mud at the edge of the river. The cow was stuck up to her neck in the soft mud and could not get out. It was obvious she had been there for some time and was quite tired from the struggling. We had heard some shooting and some ATVs a short distance downstream, so we knew some people were close by. John got out and went to find someone that could help. After a few minutes he returned with a man and two young girls. One of the girls said "Oh no! it's Sandy!". It was clear that the man did not know how he was going to get the cow out of the mud, but he thanked us for letting him know about it and left, presumably to get more help. I hope Sandy made it. Before leaving he warned us that folks were shooting skeets across the river around the bend, and he would go let them know we were coming through. Thanks!

It was a wonderful day on the river. We took out at the bridge near Payne's Creek State Historic Site after the 14 mile paddle.

Highlands Hammock State Park

We finally had a nice warm sunny day and decided to visit Highlands Hammock State Park about 20 miles away near Sebring. It was an excellent day to cycle so we packed up the trikes and Matilda and headed towards Sebring.

Highlands Hammock State Park has a very nice paved one-way loop road through a hardwood hammock and an off-road bike trail around the perimeter of the park. We first took Matilda for a brisk trot/ride. We started off on the unpaved bike trail. She was good for a while, but seemed to poop out after less than 1/2 mile. So we turned back to the car to park Matilda in the shade for the remainder of our ride. We then toured the campground, which looked like a very nice place to stay. There we connected again with the perimeter bike loop and biked the eastern portion of that trail. The surface alternated from hard-packed sand and grass, to short stretches of soft sand. We passed the primitive camping and managed to make it back to the parking lot without getting stuck.


We then biked the paved loop road which was an excellent ride. The loop road passes through a dense hardwood hammock for about 3 miles. Numerous short hiking trails lead from the road. Traffic was light, and we cycled the loop twice. After our ride we returned again to the parking lot near the cafe, lusting for a cup of wild orange ice cream, but no, not today. The cafe was closed this day. Dang. We did tour the adjacent Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) museum. The CCC museum celebrates the CCC in Florida and the US. The CCC was instrumental in developing many public works projects during the 30s and 40s. Finally we retrieved Matilda and hiked some of the short trails. There we saw several armadillos and got a short glimpse of what might have been a wild hog.

A few days later we returned to Highlands Hammock State Park and biked the park with our friends John and Susan. We biked all the routes we had biked previously, except we explored more of the northern section of the perimeter bike trail. The rangers had warned us that this section contained a bit of deep soft sand, but we did it anyway. This was not a particularly wise decision; the rangers were right. We made it though, with just a little bit of dragging our cycles through the soft sand. We ended up at the cafe where we had a long belated cup of wild orange ice cream. Yum yum!.

Thousand Trails Peace River

Thousand Trails Peace River in Wauchula is a unique park. It is in a much more remote locale than its sister park near Clermont, and has only about half the number of sites. The scenic Peace River circles the southern perimeter of the park, which is both a curse and a blessing. Of the 400+ sites in the park, about half are in the flood plain of the Peace River. The river has flooded these lower sites five times in the last 12 months. These sites in the flood plain have no sewer connection. Consequently new arrivals at this park perform an interesting dance I call the "Sewer Site Shuffle". Upon arrival at the park all the sewer sites up on the hill are always taken. New arrivals therefore choose a site in the bottom lands, and their name goes on a list for a sewer site as one becomes available. The next day a list of available sewer sites is posted at noon, and at 1:00 people claim the best sites in the order in which they arrived, and commence to move their rig to that new site on the high ground.

When we arrived yesterday afternoon it was raining hard and 45 degrees. Not unusual weather for Florida this year, but not the greatest conditions in which to set up camp. They put our name on the list for a sewer site, and said it might be several days before our name came up for a better site. Dang. We managed to find a site in the bottom lands that looked hard enough that we would not sink up to our axles, and waited out the rains. By 4:00 the skies cleared and it turned into a beautiful day.

Today dawned sunny and mild. Even though our chances were slim, at noon we went up to check out the list of freshly available sites and began our rendition of the "Sewer Site Shuffle". We walked through the park making notes on the available sites and prioritizing our choices. We ran into dozens of others, notepad in hand, also performing the dance. At 1:00 all the hopeful souls gathered and, as we expected, our favorite sites were claimed by those who arrived ahead of us. Finally, just as we were about to give up all hope, our name came up. There was only one site left that we had deemed moderately acceptable, but we took it. We could have passed on the site and moved up on the list for a better choice tomorrow, but decided to take it, so that we could get settled. We didn't want to spend another day doing the "Shuffle." By 2:00 we were moved and set up on our new site.

What we didn't realize at the time is that the site we chose is directly across from the sewer dump station. All those folks from the lower forty (those who refused to participate in the "Sewer Site Shuffle") were constantly parking their rigs in front of us to dump their waste tanks. Additionally folks were towing their "blue boys" up to empty them and the park's "honey wagon" made twice-daily visits. We got a real education on the various and creative techniques of amateur waste disposal. It wasn't pretty. The worst part is that with large RVs parked in the road at the dump, there was little room for other large RVs to pass. Our row was on the exit route for the park, so there was a fair bit of traffic. We made a point to park our car (the trikes which stick out about a foot on each side) well off the road. Our next door neighbor parked his truck about a foot out into the road. I guess he wants a new truck. Still, it was a bit unnerving watching RVs pass so close by through the windshield. Yet another rendition of the "Sewer Site Shuffle".

Swamp Cabbage Festival, LaBelle FL

Before arriving here we didn't know what a swamp cabbage was, but learned prettly quickly it's a pretty big deal in LaBelle. It turns out that LaBelle's annual Swamp Cabbage Festival started today, our last day at Whisper Creek RV Resort. We checked out of Whisper Creek at 9:00 and parked the coach a little closer to town so we could catch the Swamp Cabbage parade at 10:00. It's a good thing that no police emergency occurred this morning, because every police and emergency vehicle in the whole county was in the parade. And they were all real proud of their sirens and their horns.

We knew we couldn't leave without eating some swamp cabbage. We learned that swamp cabbage is the heart of the trunk of the cabbage palm, aka palmetto palm, sabal palm or swamp cabbage tree, the state tree of Florida. We ordered a fritter combo which included alligator fritters and swamp cabbage fritters. They were hard to tell apart just by looking, and they both tasted like chicken.

As the parade was ending it began to rain, so we made a break for the coach and drove about 75 miles north to our next destination, Thousand Trails Peace River near Wauchula. Our only regret was that we missed the armadillo races. Dang!

Paddle Fisheating Creek

We belong to the Florida Sport Paddling Club. Occasionally we are able to hook up with the club for a paddling trip. Fisheating Creek has been on the FSPC calendar for about six months running, but there has not been any specific date posted. The creek is hard to catch with adequate flow and the trip description says that the trip will run whenever the creek comes up.

Fisheating Creek is pretty close to our camp in LaBelle, so we thought we would check it out. The creek and the surrounding lands are owned and managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. A concessionaire operates a campground and livery service at US 27 in Palmdale. The water level was so low that they were not shuttling canoes up the creek. A check of the gauge showed the level was 1.57 feet and dropping. Other paddlers have suggested the minimum acceptable level is 3 feet or higher. We decided to put in at the campground and paddle upstream and/or downstream as far as we could.

The ramp is at Picnic Lake and there appeared to be plenty of water there. We started out upstream and soon came to the head of the lake and ran out of water. After a short drag over a gravel bar we continued paddling up the shallow meandering stream. While the water was very shallow we did not have to the exit the boat again. It was a rare beautiful day, warm and sunny. After about a mile we stopped for lunch. While sitting on the creek bank Matilda wandered away and started barking. We investigated and found her barking at a river otter. The funny thing is that the river otter was not retreating; he was barking back at Matilda and approaching. This is not normal behavior for a river otter. Usually they pop up for a look see and then disappear. We had recently watched a TV news report about a man who was walking in a suburban area and was attacked and seriously injured by an otter. It was later determined that the otter was rabid. So, we were suspicious and not a little afraid of this otter. We reined in Matilda, while the otter watched us eat the rest of our lunch and posed for a few nice photos. We continued upstream for about another mile and then turned around. Our otter had disappeared. Shortly before reaching our put-in we saw the first alligator. We continued past the put-in and explored the area downstream from the campground. We passed under the railroad bridge and the US 27 bridge and into Principal Lake. At the end of the lake the creek narrowed down again, and we entered the best 'gator hole I have ever seen. We saw about about 30 alligators in a 100 yard section of creek. A few were of pretty fair size. Many were moving around and swimming back and forth in front of and behind the boat. It was exciting and a little scary. We made sure Matilda was well down inside the boat and continued through the hole. After about a mile the creek became very shallow again, and we returned past the Gator Hole and back to the put-in.

It was a wonderful day to paddle, and we had a great time. We ended up paddling about 6 miles. We are looking forward to coming back to Fisheating Creek when the water is up and paddling some longer sections. Maybe a camping trip?

Going LOST

We are parked at Whisper Creek RV Resort near LaBelle. We had never heard of Whisper Creek until we stumbled into their booth at the Florida RV Supershow in January. They gave us a three-night coupon, and it is conveniently located between Naples and Wauchula, two of our planned stops, so here we are. Whisper Creek is an established park, primarily consisting of permanent residences, but they are currently marketing some modestly priced (<$50K) deeded lots in a new section. I figured that since they were giving out coupons they wanted to show off their deeded lots, and that we would be parked in that section. But no ..... we were parked in a tiny strip of soft sand between two manufactured homes. After we parked we talked to a permanent resident who had previously rented this site. He helped us find the power outlet, which was conspicuously absent, and told us it was the smallest site in the park. Besides that, they had recently used a tractor to clear some brush at the rear of the site and the ground was rutted and the grass torn up. It was a mess. But we were there on a complimentary stay, so I didn't want to complain. When we saw the new deeded sites, they looked quite nice and that area was practically deserted. I can't understand why they put us on such a terrible site. It was not necessary and certainly did give us a poor impression of the park.

Since buying my trike I have been much more excited about cycling, so we have been on the lookout for good cycling trails. LaBelle is very close to Lake Okeechobee and the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST). The LOST is a 110-mile trail that circles Lake Okeechobee, reportedly the second largest freshwater lake in the lower 48 (I assume Lake Michigan is the largest, and Lakes Superior, Huron, Ontario and Erie don't count, since they are bordered by Canada???) Today we drove to Moore Haven which is the closest trail head to our camp. Our research had indicated the trail was unpaved. We discovered that the section north from Moore Haven was indeed grass/gravel, but the section south was paved. Cool! We headed south. As we headed counter-clockwise towards Clewiston we enjoyed a brisk tail wind.

The trail is located on top of the Herbert Hoover Dike, the impoundment structure built by the US Army Corps of Engineers that circles the lake. The dike is an impressive structure about 30 feet tall and provides good views of the lake and neighboring farmland. Well, in truth we never actually saw Lake Okeechobee. All we saw inside the dike was the borrow canal created during the construction of the dike and an endless sea of grass. I guess there is a big lake out there somewhere, it's on the map, but during the dry season it's hard to find. We biked 10 miles south almost to Clewiston before we turned around. That's when we remembered that brisk former tail wind. The 10 miles back to Moore Haven must have been at least 20 miles. I'm sure Dorcas' odometer must have malfunctioned.

We finally arrived back at the trail head and loaded up the trikes. From there we visited the Ortona Lock and Dam, located about 15 miles west of Lake Okeechobee on the Caloosahatchee River. We watched a few large recreational vessels lock through. The Corps of Engineers also operates a campground here that I have wanted to check out. The campground was very nice and clean with large level sites. From the campsites you could watch boats lock through up and down the river. As is often the case, we ran into some friends camped there (small world again!). I expect that we may spend some time in this park next year.

Knocking Around Naples

Our first full day at Signature Resorts was spent enjoying the luxuries we have been without for the last three weeks and basically doing essentially nothing. We explored the resort, and Matilda sniffed all the pups. The park is bordered by Henderson Creek, which provides direct water access to the Gulf of Mexico. The more exclusive sites are creek side and designed so that your coach faces the water.

On Saturday we drove into Naples for biking and lunch. We went to a local bike shop to see if there were any good bike trails in the area. It turns out that there aren't. The bike shop guy said that the "Orange Blossom Special" a famous passenger train that went from New York to Miami and inspired the song by the same name, once ran down the main street in front of the shop. When they abandoned the tracks, instead of building a rail-trail, as many other communities have done, they 6-laned Main Street. Bummer. Naples, like many Florida cities, is fairly bike friendly, with a number of dedicated bike ways, or more commonly, wide bike lanes on the road. He pointed us to a few routes that are popular with the locals. We chose to ride an area along Gulf Shore Boulevard. On our 10-mile ride we had expected nice views of the Gulf of Mexico, but all we really saw were the fronts of luxury condominiums. It was still a very nice ride.

Sunday was another lazy day; we hung around camp and enjoyed some rare warm weather. On Sunday evening the resort hosted a Jimmy Buffett beach party featuring a very entertaining singer who impersonated Buffett, Elvis, Johnny Cash and dozens of other singers. He used many wild costumes and zany props. At the show we ran into some friends from NC who are in our Country Coach club. They are staying at another resort nearby and came over for the show. Small world!

On Monday we spent the day at Collier-Seminole State Park, a few miles down the road. We had hoped to do some triking, but the only dedicated bike trail was fairly sandy and soft, not a good choice for our trikes. We did enjoy triking around the park roads and through the campground, however. We also had planned to paddle the Black Water River canoe trail through the mangrove forest in the park, but it was an extremely windy day, so we passed on that trip. We had a very enjoyable day wandering around the park. As we were leaving I saw a yellow rat snake crossing the road. There were cars coming from both directions, so I blocked traffic with my trike so the snake could safely cross the road. I probably saved its life, although I'm sure I irritated a few drivers. Hopefully this good deed will bring me good karma in the future.

Tuesday was our last full day in Naples and paddling was in order. We backtracked to Everglades City and the Everglades National Park. We had a choice whether to paddle in the bay or on a creek. We chose a bit of both. It was a calm day, so we first paddled out into the bay towards the islands between Everglades City and the Gulf of Mexico. We paddled over a mile to Sandfly Island and through Sandfly Pass, a route motorboats use to reach the Gulf. We circled the island and headed back to the mainland. On our way back from the islands two dolphins passed very close to the boat. Instead of paddling directly back to our put-in, we paddled up Halfway Creek for several miles. After a few miles we turned around and returned to the ramp. It was a very enjoyable paddle of about 10 miles across open bays and mangrove forests.

After our paddle we stopped in at Everglades Isle, a luxury RV resort on the Barron River. Last February we talked to Country Coach friends that had been wined and dined by this resort for weeks at a time. They said we really need to get down there, but, by the time we found out, they were no longer offering all the freebies. We knew it was the fanciest RV resort we had ever been to. When it opened last year it was offering RV lots at up to $850,000, but I was told they had slashed prices to just over $500,000. Still a little out of our price range. When we walked through the resort we saw a Country Coach. Next to that one was another one, then another one. It turns out there were almost 20 of them and we recognized about half. No one seemed to be at home, so we headed over to the clubhouse where we figured they were enjoying happy hour. We know our Country Coachers; we figured right. There we found a number of friends who had been holding an informal rally. We stayed for a little while and were invited to dinner, but had to decline since we had to get home to Matilda. Small world strikes again.

Today we leisurely packed up and prepared to drive 73 miles north to LaBelle, our next destination.

Back into Civilization: Naples FL

We pulled out early Friday morning because we knew we would have a long day. We had about a 4-hour drive to our next camp just south of Naples, but we had several stops we wanted to make along the way. Our first stop was the Royal Palm area of Everglades National Park near the Homestead entrance. When we pulled into the parking lot at Royal Palm, the first thing we saw was a dead buzzard hanging from a tall pole. At the base of the pole was a sign indicating US property and no trespassing. We learned that buzzards are a nuisance in the parking lot, often damaging vehicles. Healthy buzzards will shun and avoid ill or distressed buzzards, so it is believed that this practice repels buzzards. It didn't appear to be working. There were black vultures all over the place. You basically had to shoo them away as you walked down the sidewalk. The lady in the gift shop was excited because a ranger was bringing in a fresh buzzard, which is thought to be a more effective repellent than a less-fresh buzzard. The main attraction at Royal Palm is the Anhinga Trail, a short boardwalk trail through a sawgrass marsh and over a winter water hole. I have never seen so many birds and alligators at one time! The birds were particularly photogenic because they were so used to people and were not at all bashful. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the trail, taking photos and dodging all the folks with their tripods and monster lenses.

Our next stop was at Shark Valley in the northern part of Everglades National Park just south of the Tamiami Trail. Shark Valley features a 15-mile loop road through the sawgrass prairie that leads to an observation tower. The NPS operates a tourist tram to take visitors around the loop, but the loop road is also an excellent bike route. The western half of the loop is arrow-straight and follows a canal that was dredged to provide fill when building the road. The canal is teeming with alligators and birds. The eastern half is more natural as it meanders through the sawgrass. This ride was the most enjoyable ride we have done since getting the trikes. I really can't describe the sensation as you trike past a 10-foot alligator, sunning on the paved trail, at eye level only a few feet away. Some idiot tourists approached to within a few feet of the gators to have their pictures taken. Good candidates for the Darwin award.

We took several hours to bike the loop. It was dusk by the time we arrived at Signature Resorts in Naples. Signature Resorts is another of those ritzy places that sell RV lots ranging from $150K to $360K. Overnight rates run from $80 to $100. The resort is brand new, and they had their grand opening only a week before. We would not normally pay to stay at a place this expensive, but we got in on a coupon special and were able to stay 5 nights for less than the usual price for one night. Sweet! After coming from a place where we had no TV, no phone, no internet and no external power, it was a bit of a shock to now have cable TV, wi-fi, water, sewer, 50A electric, heated pool, hot tub spa, exercise room, game room, clubhouse and free continental breakfast. This is the life. We are watching TV for the first time in almost 3 weeks. Wow! There are Olympic games going on! On Saturday we endured a brief low-pressure sales tour, and are now free to explore the Naples area, an area we have never previously visited. Now back to Alex Trebek ....

Photo of the Week

Who says the Everglades are flat?

We had to stop halfway up the hill to the pass in order to acclimate to the altitude, but we took it easy and made it without too much difficulty.