Thur - Jan 24, 2008
We left Juniper Springs early to stop back at the battery shop to see why my new batteries still do not have good capacity, they suggested ordering a bigger size which we could pick up next week if we are still in the area.
We drove to Inverness and did a 14 mi bike ride on the Withlacoochee State Trail, a 46 mi long paved bike trail the runs N-S from just South of Dunnellon to North of Dade City. Got to our destination in the Withlacoochee State Forest, Tillis Hill. A strange public campground that caters to the rich Florida horseman doing field trials with their dogs & horses. It has electrical hookups, it is in the middle of nowhere about 12 mi from the West coast. It's a nice wilderness experience only 50 mi North of Tampa. No one ever camps here as they require advance reservations and try to tell you that the dogs bark a lot.

Peg resting at the end of her bike ride

Homosassa Springs Manatee

Pair of Manatees

Sat - Jan 26, 2008
Another dreary cool day. Rain is forecast and temp's are in the 50's but we decided to take a drive to Homosassa Springs and find a place to launch our canoe. When the light drizzle stopped we parked next to a bridge and a resaurant that gave us permission to launch. We paddled upstream to the source of the spring. We had heard that about 50-100 Manatees winter here since the water is at a constant 72^oF. We saw people in the water swimming and paddled in that direction. All of the sudden a small Manatee surfaced almost under our canoe. We looked around and I'm sure we saw at least 20 gentle giants swimming in the area. It was very hard to get a picture from the canoe with the sun reflecting off the water, but I stole a couple of pictures to show you what they look like. The day got sunny and warmer later but then cooled and it rained lightly overnight.

Mon - Jan 28, 2008
Weather is warming up so we decided to stay two more nights night and go paddling on the Chassahowitzka River which is just south of Homosassa Springs. The last time here we saw some Manatees right where we launched but none were around this time. We paddled about 9 mi in the bay and up several small creeks. They said the high tide had just past but we sure found everything really low. I can see why there are not many power boats around here. You can barely get down the main channel. We saw lots of fish and birds and only one alligator on this day. It was very sunny and it got to the low 60's.

Wood Storks feeding

Heron watching us closely

Friendly Alligator smiles at us

Tue - Jan 29, 2008
We headed North about 50 mi to bike along the Withlacoochee Bay Trail, a portion of the Cross Florida Greenway. It's a 5 mi long paved trail that follows a canal. At the end you could launch a canoe and paddle in the islands and bays. We saw a large Otter swimming across the canal. Our plan was to then go to Rainbow Springs, camp and paddle up to the spring. When we got there we found out that the park was closed for remodeling, so we drove to Ocala to pick up the better batteries that we had ordered. We then headed south again back to the State Forest and found a camp site at Silver Lake park right off of I-75. It's a little noisy here but it is right next to the 46 mi state bike trail and on a lake which is a wide spot on the Withlacoochee river.

Wed - Jan 30, 2008
Finally things are warming up with partly cloudy skies and temp near 80. Felt like it may rain so we took a short 10 mi bike ride down the trail and back to camp. However it stayed dry.

Thur - Jan 31, 2008
We awoke to clear blue skies and it was supposed to hit 80^o today. We decided to paddle downstream from camp and if the current got too swift turn around and paddle back. We almost made it to the next town and decided to go around a mile long island, stopped at a youth camp for a rest and then headed back to the start. Paddled almost 10 mi in 3 1/2 hrs. No alligators today but lots of turtles and water birds. An air boat came by and almost blew Peggy's hat off and her paddle out of her hands, they sure are noisy.

Fri - Feb 1, 2008
Cloudy and 20% chance of light rain. After it warmed up we hopped on our bikes and headed for the trail. Peggy said, look at all those black clouds we better go back. I almost agreed. We turned around but I said let's go see the other campground a mile down a powdered limestone road. Just as we got there it started to rain, as we turned back it rained harder. Not only were we soaked but our bikes sprayed white limestone all over us. Peggy has not happy. Later in the day I took a ride by myself to a Winn-Dixie about 4 mi away and bought some food to cheer her up. Maybe it will be sunny tomorrow.

Sat - Feb 2, 2008
Saw my shadow this morning, I guess you guys should get ready for more winter weather. We canoed again going upstream this time, saw no alligators. Had a nice sleep in my hammock this afternoon.

Sun - Feb 3, 2008

Awoke to a heavy fog which cleared around 9:30 AM. We took a quick 14 mi bike ride on the paved trail to Nobleton and back. We then packed up to head South to Lithia Springs. It is a beautiful county park on the Alafia River, SE of Tampa. We got a nice campsite right on the river and the weather is supposed to be near 80^o all week. We also got good TV reception and watch the Giants win the Super Bowl. We may stay for the whole week before heading further south.

Peggy cleaning up dishes before Super Bowl

Nice campsite right on the river

Mon - Feb 4, 2008
We decided rather than shuttle the RV to Alderman Ford and paddling back to the campsite we would paddle upstream against a relatively strong current and small riffles up to Duck landing about 3 1/2 mi upstream and than have a slow float back to camp. It took us 1 3/4 hr to go upstream and 1 hour easy float back. Again no alligators but lots of big turtles and fish jumping all over the place. We plan to take an early bike ride tomorrow.

Tue - Feb 5, 2008
Went for a bike ride today through FishHawk Ranch which is a housing development with miles of concrete bike trails. Peggy stopped for a quick haircut and we did some grocery shopping. In all we pedaled 15 mi. It was a sunny 80^o day.

Wed - Feb 6, 2008
A very sunny morning and a forecast of temps in the 80's helped us make the decision to paddle in the cool river which is under a heavy canopy of trees for most of the way. We again decided to paddle upstream from the campsite for two hours and then have an easy float back. This time we covered a total of 9 mi, I guess we are getting in a little better shape. There was a 10% chance of rain, when we got furthest from camp it clouded up and a few drops of rain came down before it cleared again for the rest of the day. This camp has been so nice and quiet that we decided to stay through the weekend.

Thur - Feb 7, 2008
We got a call this morning from Bill Miller. He just dropped Cathy off in Fort Meyer and would catch up with us today. He got here by noon and Peggy decided to take advantage of having a extra means of transportation so we headed off to wash our 5 weeks worth of dirty clothers. We decided we will paddle the river with Bill tomorrow.

Fri - Feb 8, 2008
Light rain overnight but it cleared by 9 AM. We loaded up our canoe and Bill's kayak on Bill's truck and went to put-in at Alderman Ford which is about 9 mi upstream of our camp. We paddled back to camp under cloudy skies but temps in the mid 70's. The most interesting thing we saw was a Great Blue Heron kept going downstream ahead of us like they normally do. But at one point he wasn't paying close attention to where he landed and a small gator jumped high out of the water and darn near nabed him. It was the only gator we have seen on the river. The water level was on the low side which gave us lots of small fun rapids to run. I biked back 7 miles to the put-in to retrieve Bill's truck.

Sat - Feb 9, 2008
Cloudy skies and some chance of rain, but what the heck we need to show Bill around the great bike trails at FishHawk Ranch. As we got there we felt a few drops of rain but we pushed on and were able to paddle 12 mi and stayed dry. We will leave tomorrow and try to get a camp site at Myakka River State Park which is about 60 mi south near Sarasota.

Wildflowers along the Alafia River	Duck Landing rest spot on the Alafia River
Bill Miller paddling the Alafia River	Bill keeping a close eye on the big alligators

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