St. John's River, FL

We got a little fishing done! Curt Anderson invited us out for an afternoon on the St. John’s River. 

Captain Curt

The shad were running and he thought it would be fun for us. He is out fishing several times a week, so he let us catch the fish today. Barbara and I tied at five shad apiece, but she says she got the biggest one. It was hard to argue since it did not quite get all the way into the boat to tell. Should we count those? 

I also caught two sunfish and a speck, so I am declaring myself King of the River for the trip.

Use both hands, Curt. I think I have a whale!

Oh, another shad. It FELT like a whale!

We loved the chance to get out on the water. Thanks Curt!

Mercedes Ready to Tow

Well, we finally got the towing equipment installed on Mercedes, our 2005 Wrangler Unlimited. On New Years Eve we had Camping Connection in Kissimmee, FL remove the Air Force One (AFO) auxiliary braking system from our Honda Pilot along with the Blue Ox baseplate that the towbar connected to. We elected to do this rather than buy a new Air Force One system that would have allowed us to pull either vehicle. These systems are quite expensive, so we decided to reuse the one from the Honda.

We returned on January 7^th to have Camping Connection install the Blue Ox adapters and the Air Force One. Blue Ox produces these adapters for those who wish to fabricate their own baseplates or modify existing third party bumpers to use with the Blue Ox towbars. We chose to do the latter after discussions with Blue Ox technical support. The adapters were mounted inboard of the shackle mounts of the Bestop HighRock bumper on the jeep when we purchased it. It is a solid 3/16 steel frame mounted bumper built to support winch operations. It is plenty tough enough to act as a towing platform. At this time we had the electrical and air fittings mounted to the lower edge of the bumper. Enough slack was left in all lines to allow these items to be relocated to the top of the bumper once a winch is installed and suitable mounting locations could be determined. For now they are in a more exposed location, but our off-roading will be limited until other modifications such as a suspension lift and winch are installed.

Below the adapters are the breakaway switch, air fitting and light hookup.

AFO Operating Unit under hood.

AFO Brake Actuator attached to brake pedal.

Completed hookup.

Ready to Roll!

The thirty-mile test tow back to storage proved everything works as well as with the Honda. Next month will provide another checkout as we take the coach to Gaffney, SC for annual maintenance service.

New Addition to Our Travel Family

After several months of searching I finally found and purchased a 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon to tow behind the motorhome and explore western state trails. The 2005 and 2006 versions of this vehicle were recommended to us by seasoned off-roaders  for its wheel base length and engine and transmission combination. The Unlimited version has ten inches longer wheel base and a bit more leg room in the backseat. Unlike the 2007 and later versions, this Unlimited is a two door and has a straight six engine rather than the newer Jeeps V6. The Rubicon model signifies that it has upgraded off-road capabilities over the standard Wrangler.

It turns out that this particular vehicle is a Sahara model, as well. This Unlimited Rubicon Sahara trim package was built to publicize the Universal Motion Pictures film Sahara. One thousand numbered versions were built, and this is number 486. That does not make it run any harder or perform any better off-road. It just makes her another pretty face.

We call her Mercedes. We have friends who have purchased incredible Mercedes sports cars at this stage of life. This is all the better we could do to keep up. But hey, the top goes down and we can enjoy the open road just like them.

OK, their tops go down by themselves at the push of a button, and they do get twice the fuel economy. I will give them that.

Mercedes

Fort DeSoto, FL Day Five

The weather today had a hard time making up its mind as to what it really wanted to do, but in the end it turned out to be pretty good. There was enough sun to dry things out so I took the opportunity to put most of our carpets and other camp accessories away while they were still dry. Storms were forecast and I dread putting wet gear in the storage bays since there is not much airflow and I did not want to get that musty smell that never goes away. Now if it rains tonight there is only the BBQ stuff and some chairs to worry about, and they can go in the Honda to be dried out at home. Oh, wait, the dog. Well I need to have room for Nia so I will enlist Curt help to take some of the damp items home for me.

Curt got a couple of trips out on the kayak chasing fish today, and for the most art it was sunny. I got out for a little exercise on the kayak too. As usual I did not start the mapping app when I left so this only shows the return trip. It was about four miles round trip, so it felt like exercise with the bonus of being a great time.

As the clouds started to roll in late in the afternoon Curt and I took a moment, and a beer, to consider dinner. 

Steaks won! They were terrific!

Heading home tomorrow.

Fort DeSoto, FL Day Four

A great thing about last night’s campfire was leftovers. Today we had a reprise of last night’s pizza and it was every bit as good as it was last night.

The weather changed on us today. The sun never really came out, and by noon the wind was blowing pretty strong. We went over to the two fishing piers and Curt got a line in the water, but had no luck. We also tried the deep water beneath the access bridge, but again not even a strike. The flag in the background of this shot of Curt is a very large “Garrison”. It takes a good bit of wind to get this flag going, but as you can see it looks starched. The wind must have been 18-20 knots.

Barbara continues to enjoy her river cruise, and according to this Life360 App screen shot she is in Austria.

This evening we drove over to Ted and Linda Seefeldt’s home for a nice lasagna dinner. Once there the weather really got nasty. Luckily we were eating under the cover of their pack patio. The lightening put on quite a floorshow, but we did not get wet at all.

Tomorrow and the next day are forecast for more storms, so we will see how much we will have to write about.

Fort DeSoto, FL Day Three

Sorry no pictures for the day. The weather was cool and foggy for the majority of the day. I did get out on the kayak for a while in the morning. I took the SPOT with me, so that will explain the position reports that would have otherwise gotten the carpet in the motorhome very wet.

Curt Anderson showed up around noon. He will be joining me here for the rest of the week. Curt enjoys fishing, so he will be out on the water a good bit. He got a couple hours in during the afternoon, but came back empty handed. He is a "catch and release" guy, so unless something really good to eat takes the bait he will not be bringing anything back to shore anyway.

 We drove over to the Madiera Beach KOA in the evening for pizza and a campfire with Barbara's cousin Pat and her partner Jan. The pizza was a deep dish style, and great. Jet Pizza. If you are in the area look for it and give it a try. We had a good sized group around the fire pit, and there was plenty of good conversation. It was a great mix of folks: Republicans, Democrats, and Canadians! The health care discussion went on for a good while, but just like congress, there was a lot of smoke and nothing was resolved.

The weather looks like it will be wet for a day or two, so our activities will be limited some. Rainy weather will give me a chance to do some RV projects inside the coach, and I suppose there will be several eyelid light leak checks.

Fort DeSoto, FL Day Two

Day two at Ft DeSoto started off at a leisurely pace. It is so quiet here compared to the traffic noise we get at home. I enjoyed morning coffee and the paper, the Orlando paper, thanks to Kindle.

I launched the kayak around noon and had a great time circumnavigating Mullet Key Bayou. It was about five and a half miles of paddling, and now I have blisters. My gloves had a seam in a bad spot, so in the evening went for another pair at that gold old standby, West Marine.

Old man and the sea

Camp from waterside

They have added a new camp store. It had been under construction for a few years, but is done now. For campers, this is a nice addition because they have many convenience store items, camping stuff, pizza, and ICE CREAM Edys ice cream, and it is good! Well, at least that is what I am told. They have a nice balcony overlooking part of the bayou, and you can sit outside and enjoy your pizza, ice cream or drinks. They make huge snow cones, too. Remember how they used to be just bigger than an ice cream cone and served in a paper cone? I don’t think I have had one since I was about eight, but even given the memory effects over time (lots of time) I do not remember them being so big.

Curt Anderson arrives tomorrow and will spend the remainder of the week. Curt joined me for the Flagler Beach trip when Barbara did the cruise two years ago, and is here for the fishing. While kayaking this morning the bayou was flush with Mullet, and I saw some good-sized Sheepshead. I doubt Curt is after Mullet, so it will be interesting to see what he comes home with. Just in case I bought steak.