Chattanooga September 11-14, 2008

I went on an airplane on September 11th. It was a little spooky, but no one's going to terrorize a plane flying from Clearwater to Chattanooga. It was my first time on Allegiant. They are a no-frills airline and I was impressed. Some guy with stripes on his shoulders was behind me on the staircase to the plane and he was teasing me about taking photos. So I teased him right back about "flying this bus." He was Captain Josh, but he said that First Officer Laura would be doing the driving today. She did a fine job and got us there early. I'll be flying Allegiant again.














My main reason for the trip was to visit with my friend, Pat, and paddle some white water with her. Pat wore me out! We went to dinner on Thursday night, she had to work on Friday (and so did I - so much freelance that my laptop made the trip, too). Friday night we took a little hike up to Glenn Falls, then went to Nightfall, a concert downtown. Saturday morning we got up and headed for the Hiwassee, we paddled, got back to Chattanooga in time to head out to the Art Hop (without cleaning up first), then on Sunday we went to breakfast and the Sunday Morning Market before dropping me off at the airport at 1. Whew!








Glen Falls had very little water in it, but the cliffs were amazing. Florida Girl's not used to seeing this kind of thing. I hiked up part way to the top and got some shots in the pools above the falls. It was a really nice hike. Earlier that day Pat's neighbor, Bill, had explained to me that I could get there from his back yard. I attempted it, but lost the trail. He told me to go back and check it out on Google Maps. That's when I found out there was an easy trail a short drive from the house. Pat and I opted for the easy trail.

On Saturday night I was whooped and needed a good night's sleep. I fell asleep around 11pm and just before 5am I heard glass breaking in the kitchen. I asked "Are you all right?" no answer, so I went in to check it out. Ricky the Raccoon had come in through the cat window and was attempting burglary of the dog food. He couldn't get out the window in the kitchen, so we had a photo op. No rest for Annie! I had to take pix cause I didn't think Pat & Kelly would believe me.

It was a fun trip. When I got home, I had to sleep for 14 hours! Hooray, Pat!

Weeki Wachee September 7, 2008

So we got up early again on Sunday and headed for the Weeki Wachee. The meeting time with Jim and his friends was 9 am, but Jim is always late so I was working toward 9:30. We got there first. After shuttling and such, we got on the river around 11 and lallygagged, swam, snorkeled and played on the river. It was a gorgeous day, quite hot, but we didn't care because we could just jump into the 72º Fountain of Youth and cool off.

Shell Key September 6, 2008

We traded in Wayne's 9 1/2 foot Hobie for a longer 16 foot version so his boat would be better suited to paddle with my 16 footer. This was the new Hobie's maiden voyage.

We put in right before the entrance to Ft. Desoto, paddled north through the bayou to the beach on the north end of the Key. It was early, so there were few people out and there were unspoiled bird tracks in the sand (and lots of them). On the way I found a mangrove tunnel that I just had to explore.

We lallygagged around the island stopping to swim, snorkel, collect shells and the like and were off the water by 1pm. It was nice, but VERY HOT. So on the way home we pondered what to do on Sunday. Should we paddle, or put the boats up? We decided to paddle Weeki Wachee where the water is nice and cool. Later that evening I got an email from my buddy, Jim, asking if I wanted to paddle the Weeki Wachee. It was meant to be.

My Birthday Cake

I recently had a birthday and my co-workers made me the most creative cake. Check it out... It's a "kayake"!

Kayaking in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior, Wisconsin

I spent August 7th through the 11th in Wisconsin, kayaking in the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior. It was almost perfect! The only things missing were Wayne and Tiffany. If they had been with me it would have been absolutely perfect. I flew up on Thursday, rented a car in Duluth and drove 90 miles to Bayfield, WI. I lallygagged on my way stopping to have lunch at a roadside bar and grill. The cheeseburger was delicious, just not sure what part of the 'cow?' it was made from.

The countryside was beautiful and my route mostly followed the south shore of Lake Superior. I stopped at most of the wayside parks to take photos. I took over 500 shots and it was hard to decide just which ones to post here.

The weather was wonderful. It was like a warm winter weekend in Florida - clear sunny blue skies, crisp air and cool nights - Perfect Camping Weather!

Wildflowers were blooming everywhere. I didn't get the names of all of them and I don't have an Audubon book for Wisconsin, so just enjoy their beauty, I don't know their names.

This one is called fire weed or horse tail.

I suppose this is a daisy.

On Friday morning I got up early and headed to Living Adventure to start my trip. We spent the morning learning to paddle and doing rescues before heading out for 3 days and 2 nights on the lake. Everything about the trip surpassed my expectations. Both guides had numerous certifications including ACA, wilderness first responder and food management. The kayaks were all nice fiberglass boats and we learned a lot about the flora, fauna and history of the area.

The scenery was amazing. It's nice to go somewhere that looks so different from where you live. The beaches and springs of Florida are beautiful, but it sure is nice to see something different. Not only was the view beautiful, but the temperature was nice and it smells like Christmas up there with all the pine trees.

This is called Honeymoon Rock. It's just off of Hermit Island. Our guide, Joe Ku, had so many interesting stories about the people and history of all of the islands. You'll have to take a trip with him to hear them all. I highly recommend it. Let me know if you want to go. I definitely want to go back!

That's me, squeaking through a crack in the cliff.

One of Joe's interesting stories involves a black bear who I choose to call Brownie. Shortly before Joe arrived with his tour on Hermit Island a few weeks ago, a group had fed a brownie to this bear. They did it hoping to get the bear to go away. Unfortunately, Brownie took a liking to chocolate and was hanging around for some more. Joe got to dance around a tree with Brownie as his tour took off in the kayaks. Everyone (including Brownie) was OK, but now humans are not allowed on Hermit Island because Brownie will come looking for more nummies.

This is a Beaver Dam that was near our Saturday Night Campsite on Stockton Island.

This is our guide, Ben, exiting a small cave.

This is our guide, Joe, rolling a double sea kayak with a passenger - amazing!

I think these are mushrooms. I didn't taste them to be sure ;-)

These guys showed up at our Friday Night Campsite on Oak Island right at sunset - perfect timing!

A groovy purple flower that was on the grounds of Living Adventure. Gail, the owner is an artist and her garden shows off her creative nature. An artist-paddler? Sound like anyone you know? It's a good combination if you ask me!!!

A raspberry that was growing outside of my hotel room. There were berries everywhere. In fact, our campsite on Oak Island was in the middle of a berry patch. Joe said it was to keep the bears away. They would have to eat through all those berries to get to us ;-)

I think this is a Stargazer Lilly (from the grounds at Living Adventure).

Wisconsin seems to be a very eco-friendly state. There was a recycle bin next to every trash can. I was almost at the airport for my trip home when I pulled up behind this guy at a stop light. The bumper sticker says that it's powered by bio-diesel. Rock On!

Until the next adventure, Take it easy,

Anne

The new "Summer Home"

On Friday I closed on a sweet deal, 2 acres in Hernando, FL. The lot is cleared just enough. There are plenty of trees and a driveway about halfway onto the property to a nice clearing that's hidden from the road for camping and/or whatever we please! At the spur of the moment, Friday night we decided to go camping up there. It was midnight, so I suggested we sleep and head out in the morning. It's only 100 miles from home to the new property, so we hit the road early and were up there with plenty of time to drive around the area getting a feel for our new recreation areas.

Our first stop was at Fort Cooper State Park. We had the place to ourselves. We walked around a little and looked at the lake, but we were excited to get to the new place, so we didn't stay long. The lake was really low due to the drought, but it sure was beautiful. Next time we will stay longer. It looks like there are a lot of nature trails and a historic fort to see.

Normally the Lance-leaved Arrowheads grow in the water, but this one was hanging out on the beach. Even though we've been seeing a lot of rain, Florida is in a drought. Rivers and lakes are low.

Once we reached the neighborhood we got out the GPS and went looking for the local water hole. We drove around the neighborhoods just checking out the scene. At one point there was a sign stating that there is no access to Blue Spring from this road. Blue Spring??? Yeah!!! So I took a note of our location and decided to find it on the internet. The Smiths and Wessons had lots of signs saying no trespassing, so we turned around. This amazing old oak was just down the road from the Smith and Wesson place. 

After driving around the neighborhood for a while we headed up to where State Road 200 crosses the Withlacoochee (South) and quickly found a boat ramp. This ramp is less than a mile from the ranch. Once I got back to my Google I found out that Citrus Blue Spring is just 2 miles up river from that ramp. Nice!

This Pale Meadow Beauty was blooming on the bank right near the boat ramp. In fact, there were wildflowers everywhere. On Friday I even saw a Purple Passion Vine growing on the property. There were none blooming on Saturday, or you'd be seeing a photo of them here.

That's it for this weekend. Until next time, take it easy!

Anne

www.moonlightdesigns.biz