Whoopers Night Herons, and Black Drum, A nice Day on the Water

Our friend George had caught his limit of black drum and red fish , while wade fishing, and of course we had to try fishing his area from the canoe! So we headed to Big Tree, launched the canoe and quickly drifted to one of George 's spots. Anchoring to an old post we cast our lines and waited patiently hoping the fish would be there.
The wind picked up, rocking the canoe and a fish actually took off, thrashing my pole against the gunnel. I fought the fish but finally lost it. Deciding the wind was becoming too strong we headed for shallow water, struggling as the wind blew us sideways.
By using the oar as a push pole we struggled to gain control, and finally did. Waves broke against and over the side of the canoe, but it was shallow and we gained the upper edge. It was a long, hard, and slow battle but we finally reached a cut where we could escape the wind and actually enjoy a bite of lunch.

Entering the cove we flushed four night herons and cast our poles into the back of the cut.
Renita handed out the sandwiches and had no sooner started to eat when a fish tried to pull her pole into the water.
Dropping her lunch she fought the fish and finally got the upper hand as she guided it into the net, a nice seventeen inch black drum. Casting  into the same spot, we went back to eating and a pair of whoopers flew right over our canoe. Renita grabbed the camera and snapped a few images hoping to catch them in flight.

Just after she put the camera away her pole jerked violently and she was onto another fish. This black drum was a little larger and as she fought it it actually pulled us away from the shore and towed us for a bit before I beached the canoe and netted her fish. Did I mention  it was her fish again?
As we continued to eat another pair of whoopers flew by and then Renita had another fish on. Now we had enough for dinner. My pole was getting bites too but my fish were little bait stealer's and that was ok as we are a team and the fish all go into the same deep fryer.

Finally finishing our lunch, the fish stopped biting and it was time to head back to the truck. Leaving the shelter of the cove we stayed shallow and reached our take out point. We were both tired from the exertion but we had had a full day of whoopers, black drum, and night herons. Who could ask for more? Clear skies.

Down In Del Rio, Broke Down That Is!

We had just finished a three hundred mile leg of our trip to Quartzite. There we were planning to meet friends and have a good time sharing stories with our fellow Escapees,(An rv club not a gang of hardened crinimals). As I was setting up Renita walked over and said, "What's that hanging down?"
See she was just as charged and tired as I was as she had driven part of the drive. I glanced behind the rear wheel and then glanced again as I saw the metal bar hanging down. Now there hadn't been anything hanging down as I had checked before we left Fulton. Laying on my back I crawled under the fifth wheel and oh my it was half of a broken spring! I mean it was gone along with the other three leafs. The support brackets were also broken along with the spring on the other side.

Looking further I realized how lucky we were. The tires had been wearing on the frame and there were only two support members left, keeping the axles attached to our fifth wheel. Yeah, I said attached. We had been driving and we could have easily have lost our axles!
So I walked over to the rv park manager and asked him if he knew a good repair shop, after telling him about our troubles. He recommended the welding place down the road and even called the place for me. He went on to say that he had seen a lot of rvs with broken suspensions. He said that a few years ago the rv manufacturers had gone to a cheaper Chinese steel. Hmmm, imagine that.

The next day we drove the house to the welding shop. It was only half a mile away. There Corey came out and crawled under our fifth wheel, where he exclaimed, "Oh my!" He keep pointing and looking and pointing and looking before telling us he could rebuild the entire suspension, and rebuild it better then before.

So he ordered the parts and as you can see the springs are a heck of a lot heavier then the old ones, five leafs instead of four. Furthermore the brackets are massive instead of the thin metal brackets of the original Lippert components. The new suspension also raised the whole fifth wheel up one and a half inches.
Looking back we both realized how lucky we had been. Part of traveling full time is having break downs but this could have been a stopper. We could have lost the whole house. Having spent our Quartzite money on repairs,($757 for the new suspension and $600 for new tires), we needed to go back to Fulton. There we have some shows and classes to teach where we hope to recoup some of the costs. At least we now have a heavier duty suspension for our summer trip to Alaska. Clear skies.

ps If you have a fifth wheel be sure to add, checking the suspension to your pre trip checklist. I know I will be adding it on mine and not just a casual glance.

Black Drum , Fishing in the Sailboat Channel in Aransas Pass

While I had never fished the spot, I had seen a boat catch a black drum there a year ago and I was getting desperate as daylight was burning. Casting to the edge of the drop I set my pole in the canoe. I hadn't had any luck in my other secret spots,(there are no secret spots in the sailboat channel).
Suddenly my pole doubled over and the fight was on. I knew at once it was a nice fish and visions of grilled black drum danced through my head, now if I could only land it. At last I slipped the net into the water and I had half of a dinner, a nice 19 inch black drum.
I had just finished putting the fish on a stringer when the other pole took off and I soon had that one secured in the net. Like clockwork the first pole doubled and I realized I had a really big one on this time. The drum made four runs, and as far as I am concerned black drum fight a heck of a lot harder then red fish.

The fish was just over the edge of a oyster bar and I worried that it would cut my line but I finally got it into the shallows and eventually I led the twenty five inch fish into the net. Some nice people in a small boat watched me catch the fish and then left in a great example of sportsmanship.
Then a guide boat came in with three clients. The guide proceeded to drop his anchor right on top of where I was fishing and then threw lines across mine. I yelled at him and he said sorry and then continued to be a jerk. He was proud of his boat and the name "All In" was adorned on the side. I felt sorry for the paying clients to have such a poor guide and so I stoically waited as we got tangled again and again.
I lost a red fish as it ran and became tangled in a line that one of the clients had cast across me. Didn't matter really as it was small and the guide finally pulled his anchors and moved off my spot. Soon I lost another drum and then caught and kept my fourth fish of the day.
Now I used to do the occasional guide thing in Wyoming, but I would never do what had been done to me. The old saying is is that many guides are people that have a boat and don't have a job and sadly I would have to put this guide in that category.
A Texas friend told me that it bothers him that guides make money off taking people out and catching and killing fish and that perhaps the state of Texas should regulate them better and charge them for harvesting any fish from public waters, ( a typical guide here charges about five hundred bucks a day for three clients and a guide can easily harvest several thousand fish in a year). Its an interesting point and one that does have some merit.  Clear skies

ps I grilled the black drum on the half shell and it was the best!

Sarasota, Americas Best Beach, Not!

It seems like everywhere we go we see a sign proclaiming a spot as Americas best parks, best scenic highway, best food, or Americas best beach. While Sarasota has a beautiful beach it certainly isn't the best beach, In fact I would have to rate it unacceptable.
See it has all the perquisites for a beautiful beach, white sand, blue water, shells for the beach combers, but it also has limited parking and beach access areas with no restrooms or change areas. Yup you heard me right, no restrooms!

It took us about an hour to drive from Treasure Island to Sarasota. We arrived on one of the busiest days, New Years Eve. and there was absolutely no parking to be had. The one major parking area was smaller then the ones at Fort Desota and so we ended up paying fifteen dollars for a spot near one of the beach access areas.
Walking through the crammed and small beach access parking lot we were greeted by the site of a beautiful white beach with squeaky sand. See squeaky sand is the result of a beach composed of pure quartz sand and it literally squeaks when you walk on it.

Surprisingly we found an area to set up our lounge chairs and it didn't take long before we were off and wading in the surf. I passed two teenagers who had their hands full of large sand dollars and so of course  I started to look myself. It really didn't take very long before I found a really nice complete sand dollar and one that was huge and still alive. A little further I even found a beautiful mollusk, which still contained its inhabitant.

So showing Renita and Jenny my finds, Renita took some images and then I released the creatures back into the water. I gently tossed them past the point that a wader such as myself would be able to see them and collect them.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in growing agony as my bladder filled and yet we waited and waited, hopping to see a green flash. Lots of people left, but at sundown there was a rush to the beach by fellow sun worshippers. I heard the group next to us talk about the green flash but as the sun set we didn't see one.
As soon as the sun set we headed for the parking lot and a business with a public restroom. Most places had signs that said, paying customers only and so we ended up buying some candy bars. We had to wear out wet clothing back to Jenny's place and so it was a wet and uncomfortable drive home.
So all in all we had a fun day but I would have to rate Sarasotas beach as one of Americas worst. Anyplace that caters to tourists and their hard earned dollars needs to provide restrooms or at least ports potties. Its a health issue after all! Clear skies.


ps before I get junped by Sarasotas Chamber of Commerce, I would like to add that I walked a considerable distance in seach of public facilites, all to no avail or should I say no relief!

Canoeing the Peace River in Search of Megladon!

The days plan was to head east to Payne Creek Historic State Park. There we wanted to check out an rv park for future trips and to launch our canoe in the Peace River. We hoped to be able to dodge alligators while searching for sharks teeth and mammal bone, and even fossilized invertebrate remains.
The drive was only about seventy miles but it was amazing as we passed groves of oranges and fields filled with tomatoes and strawberries. You hear about all the fresh fruit and produce being grown here but it still doesn't sink in until you drive by miles and miles of groves and farms.
Arriving at Bowling Green, after checking out a nice rv park, we followed the signs to Payne Creek Historic State Park. There we paid the three bucks to get in and stopped at a deserted but open visitor center that told of life here during the Seminole War.

A short drive took us to the canoe launch site and we headed upstream for the fossil beds which were shown as being out of the park. The current wasn't to bad and we didn't see any alligators. The biggest obstacle was the snags from sunken cypress. The paddle was beautiful and it reminded me of the cypress trees and Spanish moss in Louisiana. Renita took images of a juvenile white ibis and a little blue heron waded nervously as we passed.
It didn't take long before we reached a rapids, formed as the river flowed over a limestone outcrop. Beaching the canoe, Renita pointed out the numerous fossil invertebrates and she soon had a bag bulging with the days treasures.

Jenny was the first to discover fossil bones and their were really quite a few, but we had to leave them as we didn't have the necessary permit. I had brought a shovel, for digging for sharks teeth, but we didn't have a sifting screen so we spent our time surface picking.
Time passed to quickly and we loaded back up and pushed the canoe into the fast water. Avoiding a nasty snag the float down river was really a gently passage under cypress and live oaks, all festooned with their long beards. Its amazing really, how fast you can retrace your steps when floating down stream and although we stopped and looked for finds we didn't add anything to our collection.

As we unloaded our canoe three people arrived in a small flat bottom boat. They were soaking wet and had several shovels and a huge screen for sifting debris. They kindly talked of their day wading in the river and sifting mud and even showed us their treasures, including a mammoth bone and a medium size fossil megladon tooth. He asked if we had found any teeth and he gave us several small ones from his fossil cache bag!
It always amazes us how kind people are and we have been blessed with meeting so many as we have traveled as full timers. Now we know that we need a sifter, a bigger shovel, and my chest waders! It was a good first day on the Peace River. Clear skies

Connections, An Easy, but Cold, Day at Fort Desoto, Florida

We have a friend who writes a good blog, http://chasingthe70s20.blogspot.com/.   See he and his wife, Marsha are set on one goal, to find a place where its currently in the seventies.However it seems like that were ever they go it suddenly turns cold and so I am wondering if they are headed to south Florida.
A cold front passed through on Monday and last night the low here in St Petersburg was about 40, brrrr.It had been so pleasant here that I hadn't brought any cold weather clothes, but luckily I had my gore tex and was able to layer enough clothes to head out for a day of exploring at Fort Desoto.
We plan on coming back here next year, for November and December, so we are checking out areas to camp. The campground at Fort Desoto got good reviews and it really is a beautiful place with large sites on the water, and it even had a dog area so we thought it would be a great spot. Anyway we thought that way until we discovered it costs 41 dollars a night for a county campground!
Our daughter took us next to the actual fort and as we walked through it I discovered that the troops destined for Cuba, during the Spanish American War, had all left from here. I stared at a photo of Theodore Roosevelt and it was so amazing to feel the connection as we had visited his National Park last summer. Its such a long way from North Dakota to south Florida and here we were. It reminded me of other connections, including standing at Lewis and Carks graves and earlier visiting their winter camp on the coast in Washington.

The guns here never fired in anger but the Civil War history for the lighthouse on Edgemont Key stood proud as a testimony to the Union soldiers who used it to warn the blockade ships of a contraband runner. Another place told of the three hurricanes that came ashore here in the twenties and thirties, destroying the light house and most of the forts buildings.

After leaving the fort Jenny wanted to show us North and East Beach. Both places had huge parking lots that were almost deserted as a cold wind blew from the north. We carried our easy chairs out to the waters edge but it was mainly an exercise in futility as it was too cold to do much else than watch the brave wind surfers.

Fort Desoto park is really a nice place and a place that we will enjoy when we come back next fall. It has lots of possibilities for fishing and has a beautiful bike path. Its too bad it is so expensive and so we have to cross it off the list of places to stay during next years return. Clear skies

Manatees at The Tampa Bay Electric Company

Being in south Florida, we of course wanted to see some manatees and so we looked at several possibilities before we headed out to the Tampa Bay Electric Companie's Manatee Viewing Center.
We arrived there at the same time as a cold front and had hardly gotten our rain gear on before we were met with a tropical downpour, the likes of which we have never seen in Wyoming.
Still we had to try and see the manatees so we fought the crowds pouring into the spaces underneath the covered walkways and braved the pouring rain. They were there, a group/herd/pod of about thirty manatees basically sleeping and occasional coming up for a breath. They looked like a bunch of floating brown bags with the occasional swirl of a tail.

A volunteer was giving a lecture under a covered area so we headed there to see the display of manatee bones and to get a respite from the rain,(I was already quite soaked as my five year old rain gear had performed miserably). He had a skull and flipper bones, along with several ribs which had been broken by a propeller strike.

He explained how a damaged rib regrows badly and eventually punctures a lung causing manatee mortality. I asked him about annual mortality rates and he said that about three hundred a year died from idiot human boat operators and net and fishing line entanglements. We also learned how manatees are identified from the scars from propeller impacts and sadly all had strike marks.
With varying estimates of 2500-5000 manatees one wonders how much longer the species will survive. As the cows reproduce only every two to five years, the math doesn't seem promising and it is another case of too many humans as another species may disappear from the Florida coastal area.

We enjoyed watching the manatees as they woke up from their siesta and started to actively search for food, some even looking below the deck upon which we stood. It was amazing to see such large mammals slowly move about the restricted area. Renita told me she had read that they were capable of achieving a speed of twenty miles per hour but it didn't seem possible in such a large animal,(they can weigh up to 3500 pounds).
Later we walked down a pier that took us through a mangrove area and explained the difference between red, black, and white mangroves. It didn't take anytime really to see the obvious differences and so now we could appreciate even more the day we spent canoeing the mangrove tunnels at Weedon Island Preserve.

Another volunteer told us that the numbers at the power plant grew to as many as two hundred manatees during a cold spell and also directed us to a speaker where we could actually hear the manatees talking. Their communications sound like a series of clicks, much like dolphins, and of course it was hard not to anthropomrphize the sounds into human conservation subjects.
It was an enjoyably day, even though I got drenched, and as we walked back to our truck a lady got out of her car and asked us, "Did you see any manatees?" We told her there were lots of manatees and that she should park her car and go watch them. I wondered how many she needed to see to make the short walk to the viewing area and mused that we would have been happy if we had only seen one.
Clear skies