Kayaking- Silver Spring River

Silver River Paddle                                                                                        6 miles

2:29 moving time, 3:37 elapsed time, 2.4mph avg, 9.6 max speed

 We had a relaxing morning as the Silver Spring River is just a few miles away. Scotty took the truck to the take-out and I was able to walk around the park since we’re staying at the State Park. This park was started back in the late 1800s. There are meandering paths many small gardens. I saw pink azaleas, some hanging Spanish moss and other well manicured garden sites. There is also a patio That surrounds the head springs. There are also glass bottom boat that still run up and down the springs for a few miles. 

Scotty and I met back at the kayak launch. After several yards we turned right and went down the Fort King paddling trail as we have never been this way before. We paddled along with two women that lived in Florida and we’re also out enjoying the weather. It was an absolutely beautiful day, in the 70s with bright blue skies. We got out into the main channel and made our way down. Today we saw many alligators sunning in the marshy grasses. One of the women pointed out the black birds that often sit in the trees.We always thought they were cormorants. But cormorants are the black birds with a curved beak at the end and anhingas have a straight beak. We saw many people on the river today, many of them old retired folks like us. It probably was the most crowded we had seen this river. Too bad these old folks weren’t home watching soap operas. We ate lunch at the campground dock Where many other people had the same idea. The thing is on the silver river there is no where to pull over so this was the only chance we had to actually get on shore. We knew this was a short paddle so we were taking our time anyway.Soon after the 4 mile marker, we saw the monkeys.We stopped to enjoy their antics and then finished up and took out at Ray Wayside Park. Once back at the campground we cleaned up and sat outside for a while. We then cook dinner and relaxed. Another great retirement day.

Scotty's Bike Ride - 4.32 miles

Silver River Paddle - 6 miles

Kayaking - Ocklawaha River

Ocklawaha River                                                                                10 miles

3:17 moving time, 4:08 elapsed time, 3.0mph avg, 8.5 max 

We had a lazy morning, eating breakfast, hanging out, waiting until it got a bit warmer. We got in the river and it was about 60degrees out. We got into the river at 11:30 at Gores Landing and took out at 3:30 at Eureka West.  Scotty took the truck to the take out and rode his bike back. Meanwhile, I walked around the small rec area and out into the road. The river looked like glass and had that dark quality from the resin in the water. There appeared to be a good flow. This river was so darn calm, I felt brave enough to take my phone out of the pouch to take photos. I was able to get some good videos today. We saw many ibises, only a few turtles and many small alligators sunning on logs. This river has lots of creeks off the main channel. We only paddled up one of the earliest ones on our trip. It was the right one to pick as we saw monkeys again. These monkeys were much more skittish and stayed back in the woods. There’s no place to pull over, and we wouldn’t anyway  after seeing the alligators. At lunch, we wedged our kayaks along shore and ate in our boats. At the end, we could hear traffic, but the river kept turning. We’d hear traffic on our right, then left, then straight ahead until we finally saw the bridge which was just before the take out. The twists were not just at the end, but though out the whole paddle. This was a new Florida River for us, but we really enjoyed it. 

Scotty's Bike Ride - 7.6 miles
Eureka West to Gore's Landing

Ocklawaha River Paddle

Kayaking - Juniper Springs

Juniper River                                                                5.8 miles

1:12 moving time, 3:40 elapsed time, 4.8mph avg, 6.0 mph max

 We headed over to Juniper Springs on an overcast day with the temperature in the high 60’s. We were very surprised to see that the entrance fee had risen dramatically since we were last there. It cost $38 to enter the area and to launch our 2 boats. Scotty took the truck down to the take-out and rode his bike back 8 miles. Good weather for a bike ride in Florida. As the volunteers said they’d watch our boats, I decided to walk around the springs. There!s a beautiful spring and a Mulhouse by the visitors center. It was built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The water goes from the spring and feeds into Juniper River. I walked on a path past the mill and found the tent campsite. I was surprised to see RVs beyond them and walked around the camp loops. It wasn’t long until I was totally disoriented! This is a good time to have a phone with a map! I found my way back after a 35 minute walk. We got into the River at 20:15. I said I didn’t need many photos today as i already had lots of photos of this River. 10 yards down, I was pulling my camera out to photograph a woodpecker. Not long after that, we saw a deer on the bank staring back at us. Neither of us got a picture. The current in this River moves your boat quickly and it’s hard to simply pull over for a picture. The water was low just like the volunteer had told us. We also noticed a lot of trees down, but sections were cut out to allow the passage of boats. We saw many turtles laying on logs and they were all very big. We passed several alligators, one being particularly big and there were 3 baby alligators nearby. Just another beautiful day on a beautiful river!

We followed up with a trip to Lena’s restaurant at 2:00 where we’ve eaten several times before. There were only 2 other parties in the restaurant so we felt safe during this time of Covid. Scotty had fried fish and shrimp, fries, onion rings, cole slaw; and I had broiled scallops, baked potato, coleslaw and onion rings. Oh my goodness, the scallops were sweet and just delicious. Afterwards, we drove to scope out tomorrow’s paddle. We got back to the trailer and it’s simply wonderful to have our small, little home waiting for us!

Juniper River Paddle - Can you see it's in the wilderness with a lost signal??  :)

Scotty's Bike Ride - 8.36 miles

Kayaking - Silver River, Fl

 Silver River, Fl.                            2.8 miles

Avg Sp 3.0 mph, Max Speed 6.5 mph, 2 hours, 84 degrees

The photos say it all today!

Camping - Silver Spring State Park, Fl

Silver River                                                                    2.84 miles

57 min moving time, 1:56 elapsed time, 3.0mph avg, 6.5 mph max

 We slept with the windows open and it even felt chilly when we woke up. We had breakfast, then walked around the lake (2.61 miles) to the visitor’s center to check-in and to check-out. We’re efficient like that. 🤣 I can already see that I’m going to like this RV living. It was great to wake up, look out the door and see the lake right there. And packing up the trailer was so easy, much easier than tent camping. We bought some ice from the camp host. Our not-so-cool refrigerator will not take away from an already cool adventure!

View from our door.

I thought our RV looked big parked in our driveway. But, it’s a matter of perspective. Look at our camp neighbor!

We got to the campsite at 3 and were  in the Silver River by 4!!

Silver River - Up and Back

Camping - Seminole State Park

Rainy and 65 degrees when we left Clarksville.

 We’ve started a new adventure. We have a new travel trailer; a Micro Minnie 2108tb. We did a ‘trial run’ in our driveway, but now we’re off for 9 days of camping. We pulled into Seminole State Park which is near Donelson, Georgia, Lot 19 ($38 night with the 20% senior citizen discount). Being married to an older woman has its perks!  We arrived at 6:30 just as the sun was setting. We did see a pretty sunset as we were driving towards the park and a bald eagle flying! We’re not directly on the lake like the lower numbered lots before us. We immediately started cooking dinner - frozen beer battered fish and sautéed zucchini. We also cooked some chicken. The refrigerator and freezer are not very cold so we thought it best to cook up some of the food. We tried troubleshooting, but couldn’t find the ‘wire’ mentioned in other posts. We did have a full frig so we took out all food that didn’t need refrigerating.