Don't Hate Us Because We're Warm...You've been Invited

     Well,nothing of huge import has happened here, which is as it should be. (Excepting, that we were waited on by ELVIS at the Walmart  today!!!)

We were shopping for cheap fishing gear for various Seans and Caitlins, and decided that the place in Jupiter that doles out these awesome bags with the purchase of a 3 oz.sinker might possibly not be in our price range.

So, we're in the middle of the 2nd of our back to back to back series of 2 wk. reservations here at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Here's a shot of papayas growing here at site 97. By the looks of things, we're not the only ones skirting the 2 weeks at a time rule. Some people were here when we arrived on the 21st and haven't budged an inch, like the couple in the vintage Airstream, whom I suspect of being the ones with the 24-30 second endless loop of music serving as their "white noise".
---Faintly Prokofian harmonically, with the lugubriosity of Gorecki, overlayed with a slight sheen of John Tesh.

I seem to be the only one of us that can hear this,which must mean I win the hearing contest. Good,I'll be needing the points when the hearing and memory events of the nearing-60 triathalon commence.

Had our friend Suzanne this week in the guest room---lots of fun. I do blame her "Alligator" and "Crocodile" concoctions (involving Cachaca) for some imperfect securing of the campsite at night. The good news here is that the new medicated Gordon didn't even notice the raccoon party raging outside.

Speaking of parties, we had some pretty rowdy (in a pre 11pm kind of way) Quebecois in this sweet ride. PARTAY EN FRANCAIS! Mercedes Turbo Diesel, I'd take the over on the 100K threshold.

Lots of other Canadians here as well. This sign belongs to Barb and Dave Henderson from Utopia Ontario. Apparently one needs a vacation, even from Utopia.

Have spent a few afternoons kayaking on the Wild and Scenic Loxtahatchee. Caught 8 of these,which I now know, thanks to my new handy waterproof,trifold guide to the fishes of Florida, are Jack Crevalle. (food value:poor)

Said cards were purportedly delivered to my brother's house by "an Asian man", with the printed admonishment "don't ask me again".Coincidentally,they were wrapped in my brother's signature graph paper....thanks Dave! Now I know that sardine #2, the one with the kissy lips and the high def scales was actually a triggerfish. (food value:good)

Lots of big birds on the river too; Osprey and Heron.

Stopped by a classic car lot on the way home from Walmart. Here's the latest object of Mark's affection.




OK, that's it for now. Remember,Don't hate us because we're warm.

Siri gets Existential

I read where Apple is hiring young writers to make Siri a "better conversationalist".
Well,unless they plan on exhuming Jean Paul Sartre himself for the job,they won't be beating THIS conversation:

Mark: What time is "Dish Nation" on in West Palm Beach?

Siri: I can't help you with TV

Mark: Why not?

Siri: I don't know. I've often wondered that myself.

Mark: You're a useless bitch, you know

Siri: I'm only trying to help

Mark: But you didn't

Siri: I don't know the definition of the word "I". Shall I search the web for it?


Huh?

Guess I can see where this is going. Just as one can now (for .99) choose one's GPS directives from  "Sexy Voice", "British Butler", or "Utter Fop"; Siri will now be overlaid with such options as "Henry David", "Jack" (Kerouach or Nicholson,you choose) or "50 Shades of Siri". Can't Wait!


So, obviously, we have some new toys at our disposal this trip. The personal hot spot is awesome. No more frequenting Ranger Stations or free Wi-Fi coffee joints. If only something blog worthy would occur.

I'm hesitant to dwell on the 80 degree temps, and our trips to the beach, considering what the majority of "you" (shall I search the web for it?) have recently endured temperature wise.

So, I'll just briefly run down the goings on:

Had a disappointing stay at the Kingsland Georgia Red Roof; not to fear, the Jacksonville option is a mere 40 minutes further down (and right off) 95.

Getting back into the Camping life:
     Step 1   Push Button
     Step 2   Rub hands together gently under warm air
     Step 3   Wipe hands on pants   *

Caught 5 fish so far, all different and all unidentifiable by me. The Asian gentleman fishing next to me called them all "Sardines", which only fooled me once.

Saw my brother David and wife Ann, had a nice dinner out, and set up our superbowl viewing...go 49ers!

Gordon's Prozac is working!

And finally, Dish Nation is on here at the ungodly hour of 11 pm.



*totally stole that one,sue me.

Last Calls

Well, it seems our little travel blog has outlived its title. " Swamp Loggers"  apparently aired its last episode sometime during last years action packed trip. Of course there is no dearth of quality inspiration from the same er...swamp: "Here Comes Lucy's Boo-Boo's", or, in a nod to Gabe's current place of employment,"Fish Nation--That's What We Dis-em-Bowel!" are both begging to be chosen. However,being both technologically challenged ( how DID I do that logo thing???) as well as downright lazy, and not wanting to lose EITHER of our followers, we soldier on unchanged. Call it nostalgic.

Once again,the RED ROOF gods are casting their scarlet rays upon us. We've managed to parlay their 40th Anniversary Sale into 3 nights lodging on the way down for a grand total of $72.98. Plus tax,of course.

So, after gathering a 90 day supply of all the required pills,potions and nostrums for ourselves and the dogs,we're off tomorrow!

Once again, we're toting tent and Aerobed, in case anyone wants to join in the fun for a few days.
Jan. 21-Feb.28= Hobe Sound (airport=West Palm)
Feb.28-Mar.9= Tampa area
Mar10-Mar.21=Panhandle (airport=Tallahassee or Panama City)
Mar22-Mar30= Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina

Shoot us an e-mail or a call on Mark's cell.

We'll keep you posted when and if something bigger than a breadbox happens.

The Back Roads

Due to the unexpected weeks gap in our schedule,we decided to blow off the last week in Jacksonville at Little Talbot Island, and head for home. We could have improvised, but to be honest,we were both getting a little sick of being literally attached to to dogs 24/7.

Given the fact that we are highway averse, and that towing the Manor limits us to 60 mph anyway, we set off on the small roads,taking the Wiregrass Parkway heading to Valdosta Georgia.

Mark and I have developed a little love affair with Georgia on these trips,and I believe we haven't really seen anything yet. This particular road was a gorgeous drive, although I couldn't say the same for the next days section from Valdosta to 95 just south of Savannah. We even passed through the "historic" town of Boston, touting its mini marathon in October. Next year we plan to explore more.

Scored a 2 night reservation at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet South Carolina, which would merit a return visit if it could be determined that the mid 80's temps weren't totally aberrational. ---A very dog friendly park; for the first time in 3 years we actually got to take the beasts to the beach IN the Campground.

After an overnight in Richmond VA,we decided to avoid the dreaded DC/Baltimore loop by taking 301 up the western Maryland Shore. All was well until the Maryland State line; beyond that to the Cheasapeake Bay Bridge was utter torture. What we did was akin to someone becoming enamored with Route 1 along the Maine coast, and then deciding to drive to New york City via Saugus, Norwood and New Rochelle.

Once across the bridge,301 was GREAT,all the way to the Jersey Turnpike, so next year we will tweak by taking 95 1/2 way around the DC loop to 50 directly.

Caught a great night's sleep at Larry's in NJ, and made it home the next day.

Left the wilderness of Cape San Blas,excited to try the one new to us park on this years trip. We passed through Panama City, home of St. Andrew's St. Park, which was the very first place we camped in the teardrop in 2010. The park is outstanding, but Panama City and Panama City Beach is a pit to be avoided unless you are a young spring breaker,intent on participating in the annual balcony fall olympics. (Sorry,that was cold)

Beyond Panama City, there are several parks stretching West: Grayton Beach, Topsail Hill (---which we planned to recon for the future;this one was a formerly private facility donated to the state,which allows no tent camping,has a swimming pool,shuttle trolleys to the beach and a shuffleboard court. Now that I write this...hmm...) Henderson Beach in Destin, and finally Fort Pickens ,west of Pensacola and part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, which is shared by Florida and Mississippi. (Boy,Alabama really got screwed on this shorefront deal)

Our destination was Grayton Beach, which turns out to be an absolutely beautiful, VERY upscale town---think Sanibel/Captiva,but a little less stiff/upper crusty. At least that was my impression in our extremely brief stay. Why brief? Turns out that dogs are NOT allowed, even on a leash, to be on any beach in any of these counties to the West of Gulf County. Residents of Grayton Beach participate in a lottery for the privilege of paying hundreds of dollars for a permit to bring their leashed dogs to the  beach before 9 and after 7. Violations=$1500.00. Thus,we beat a hasty retreat.

Forgot to put a title on this one,but I guess I'd call it Wicked Witch of the West.

Time

Spent the rest of our week in Cape San Blas relatively uneventfully.

I tried out the Kayak in the bay,and ended up with a dozen croakers and another shark,which,after it jumped and caused me to drop the pliers in the drink, is now swimming with my lure in his mouth.
St.Joe Bay has a summer scallop season where you can wade or snorkel to collect a couple of gallons of little bay scallops a day.

Spent an afternoon backtracking to St. George's Island to check it out for next year. Cape San Blas juts west into the gulf  from a place called Indian Pass,and then turns and runs South to North for 15-20 miles. Thus its Gulf beaches are oriented to the West, which combined with the wind make the water often murky.Considering what's in there...

St.George's seems to be an "older"place, which probably means it's been a longer while since it was destroyed by a hurricane. Shopping options seem SOMEWHAT more plentiful than the one option on Cape San Blas: the Trading Post. Actually,I can't say enough about this little place. Everything you need,and they will order you what you want from a store in Mexico Beach. Mark and I ordered up 2 Filet Mignon that were priced well below anything else we'd seen in the State. ( I found grocery prices in Florida to be very high, which is saying a lot, considering where I live.) Friendly people, a good coffee shop w/homemade donuts on the weekends and a full line of liquors.Plus bait and tackle.

At any rate, the plentiful sugar sand and clear turquoise water at the beaches on St. George Island didn't disappoint. Lots of waves too,but could have just been an anomaly.

It's probably a good thing that this area is pretty much a place that time forgot, because Lord, were we having issues with the time. Firstly, we'd just had the ever confusing time change to whatever time we're on now. ---"Spring ahead" said Mark. "That means when I wake up at 6:30,it will be 5:30"
Umm...no,I don't think so. But I couldn't SWEAR you're wrong.
Then we noticed that our GPS was underestimating or overestimating our arrival times by an hour , depending on our direction. THEN we noticed that it was staying light VERY late.
It was checking Mark's phone for the time that REALLY threw us for a loop. Turns out the park operates in the Eastern Time Zone,but that the line,by satellite,was somewhere between the gate and our campsite. In fact,the towns of Port St Joe and Mexico Beach run shuttles on New Years Eve so that you can have twice the fun.

I suppose normal people (meaning those that have any reason at all to actually know what time it is) might have figured this out sooner, but Mark and I realized that 2 years ago we spent an entire week in Panama City (about an hour? or was it 2??) and never once realized we were in another Time Zone.

Philosophical Question: If your campsite is in the Eastern Zone and your TV station is in Dothan Alabama, and Desperate Housewives is on at 9 Eastern, 8 Central...

Revenge of the Catfish

Left Gainesville (Tebow Town! In fact,for you college football fans,we Red Roofed it just minutes from "The Swamp")intent on avoiding Rt.19 and the town of Chiefland--both odious. Thus we made our way to Florida's "Forgotten Coast" on Rt. 27 to Rt.98. The drive was actually beautiful and relaxing,even though as we made our way through 7 or 8 different counties, we were treated to a viewing of each one's own correctional facility,nestled in the pines. Logging country gave way to oysters,turpentine production and Tupelo Honey (Ulee's Gold) as we skirted the coast along Apalachee Bay past Alligator Point and St. George Sound.

We'd visited our destination,St.Joseph Peninsula St. Park  on Cape San Blas 2 years ago---the COLD year. This time temps remained in the 80's,as they'd been in Tampa. This place couldn't be more of a contrast to Fort Desoto though...just VERY rural and natural. Supplies were 22 miles away in the town of Port St. Joe...a familiar routine for us.

The park has frontage on both the Gulf and the Bay, which set up to be a fishing paradise for me.
Well...
Day 1 of surfcasting I caught the same whiting I'd been catching way down in Hobe Sound, and a shark. Not a sand shark,or dog fish like we have on Cape Cod,but an honest to goodness I'm -really- pissed- off- to -have- this -hook- in- my- mouth- and -be -flopping- on- the- sand Shark.

Day 2 of surfcasting,I caught,you guessed it, a Catfish. Buoyed by my success in freeing the last one in Tampa,and armed with pliers,I deftly removed it from the hook,and then proceeded to drag it back into the water,by the tail,being careful to avoid those nasty whiskers.

 Allow me now to share the information I've gleaned from my too-little-and REALLY too- late research:These little bast*rds are among the biggest pests in the ocean. They are called hard head catfish,and have nothing to do with their freshwater cousins. The ugly whiskers are NOT the weapons...THOSE are located in slimy venomous spikes on both the pectoral and dorsal fins...DUH...back by the tail.

Let me attest to the wallop these things pack: what amounted to a 1/4 inch paper cut,sustained THROUGH a glove , bled PROFUSELY for a good  5 minutes,numbing my entire hand,( not enough!)and totally spazzing out my forearm and bicep. I was starting to get a little worried,thinking of the croc hunter and all, so consulted an observer to my little "dance".
"Oh,you'll be fine" he said..."but most guys have thrown up by now"