Hanging out in Florida

Hi! Thanks for being with us in spirit.

Yesterday was separation day. Having grown weary of waiting for the bank to issue closing documents, we cleared everything out of the house that we were not leaving behind and packed it into Buttercup. We locked the doors one last time and gave the keys to the realtor.

By itself, this brought a flood of emotions. Relief in having some resolution that would end our stay in Florida (not that we don’t like FL, we do, but our minds are elsewhere). Anticipation in adventures to come. A bit of feeling adrift. As Marsha pointed out, we don’t have house keys anymore.

Linda and Don were kind enough to offer us a temporary home as we prepared to make our final launch. Since campsites are scare near Savannah during the weekend, we plan to stay in Lake Wales with them until Sunday.

Snorkeling down a river

While waiting, we headed to a place that was on our “wish we’d gone here list”. Manatee Springs is one of many Florida fresh-water springs, feeding into the famed Suwannee River.  Manatee is deep,  clear, beautiful, and has some fish and turtles to make a snorkeling trip interesting.  Before our swim, we launched the kayaks into the springs run and spent time in the river.  At the launch, I pulled what is now known in our family as the “John Frisch” maneuver. With one end of the boat on shore, I stepped in, almost sat down, and rolled over. Thank God for ziplock bags.

We kept hearing these big splashes, but we couldn’t see what made them. The water was clear, and we saw bass, sunfish, bluegill, catfish, carp, gar, turtles, and one alligator. Alas, there were no West Indian manatees in sight. We finally caught sight of the splasher. It was a silver fish between 1 and 2 feet long that was leaping about 6 feet horizontally and a foot up. We don’t know what it was.

Nearby Cedar Key is famous. We’re not sure why. It is a quaint little drinking town with a fishing problem. We tried to help out by diminishing the beer supply at a waterfront dive that had an outdoor peer for dining. The beer was good, but not the fries. Fries should be golden brown and crispy, not white and limp. Why is it that so few restaurants seem to understand this? Driving around, we found an establishment that offered live and frozen kayaks and also bait rental.  We did not rent any bait.

While camping at Manatee, we were able to test drive the gear. We learned some things. I am starting a new society call Dummies Organized to Promote Idiocy (DOPI). As the charter member, I felt obliged to do things like fail to tuck the tarp edges under the tent so water does not collect. I also was too lazy to put the cooler away in the car for the night. Naturally, it rained. DOPI me. Our foil dinners took forever to cook. We drank more beer while waiting, sitting under a tarp fastened to the car, living “the life”, basically bugspray covered semi-drunk campers waiting waiting waiting for the dinners to cook. Later,while trying to sleep, I heard a loud crash from the picnic table. Mini-bears had found our cooler. By the time I jacked myself out of bed and went out, a raccoon had gotten into a bag of frozen chili. DOPI me.

With things stowed in the car, I fell asleep only to be awakened by my bladder reminded me that beer is something one borrows temporarily. Fortunately, the rain had slackened by then.

Gear winners: the little broom and dustpan, the Eureka! Tent, the clothes line, the camp shower (a great handwashing station), and a silly little camp towel from sports authority that was wonderful in sopping out the tent from where I’d left the window open during the rain.  Sand was everywhere, and I learned that it splashes up the sides of everything when it rains hard.

From Manatee, we went to Fanning Springs (not great but another kayak opportunity).  Then we went to Ginnie Springs, a real find. There is a series of Springs, popular for cave diving. We snorkeled down the river, which we had never done before. Our shoes came with us tied to the float of the diver down flag we’d purchased at Walmart. The ranger at Manatee described  nearby Chiefland as a “squat, grubby, undistinguished little Florida town with a gas station and a Walmart, which is beneficial for us in equipping us to go into the wilds nearby”. We agree.

Next adventure stop – somewhere near Savannah. Stay tuned.