I met up this weekend with Andy and Diane out in the area of Lake City FL which is about an hour or so west of Jacksonville.  I went down Friday afternoon and we had a nice evening by the fire pit which they tell me is an almost eternal flame or at least ember.  We had a nice time sitting by the fire each evening and kudos to Andy for being persistent the first night and getting the fire going after only 4 magazines and a half gallon of gas! 


I have to tell you that it did get a bit cold overnight.  I was sleeping in my tent and it got down to 34 degrees which makes going to the bathroom in the middle of the night rather sporting but my tent and more importantly my sleeping bag were great and I was quite warm throughout the night.  I honestly think the other people at the RV park thought I was a bit 'touched' but that's OK...love to keep 'em guessing!

Saturday we went for a little hike down by the river on the Suwannee at Big Shoals State Park.  



OK 'The Big Shoal' was not exactly impressive (the river not Andy and Diane).   Actually it was really cool to explore the river at this extremely low level.  You can see how this could be a fun section if the water level was just right.  They say this section can be a class 3 rapid which is amazing.  In fact they said that just about a year and a half ago the water was a couple of feet below the bottom of these bridges.


We stumbled upon the gnarled roots of this tree which was really cool.


This is that same photo touched up a bit with Picasa 2


And we had lots of times like this on our journey




And others like this


While each of us got stuck a couple of times on the shallow sand or in the rocks Andy managed to get through the whole event without getting out and dragging.  Diane registered 1.5 but is appealing the .5 and I chaulked up two.  I'm going to sneak 100 lbs in Andy's hull next time to even the playing field.  I bet he won't be so cocky!!!  Speaking of which, he's the duo hard at work at the take out point which was a couple of miles down the road at Stephen Foster State Park 


I know Diane wrote about this park on their blog but Stephen Foster is the guy who wrote the song that made the River famous.  As it turns out he just needed a word that fit in with a song he was writing and his brother found the Suwannee River on a map.  Never quite made it to Florida and never set eyes on the river he made famous but there you have it.  Anyway the State Park named for him is beautiful.  Sorry for the lack of photos of this place.  Maybe you'll go there yourself one day. 

Got up Sunday morning to a refreshing 30 or so degrees and was moving a bit slow but warm as a bug in a rug in my sleeping bag.  Today was a day for mountain biking.  We started off on the trails from right within the Kelly's RV Park which is pretty cool.  Those guys had done each of these trails earlier in the week so they had an idea of what to expect.  Our hero did not.  Anyway none of it was too tough but since I hadn't been on my mountain bike in almost two years it might as well been world class.  OK it really wasn't and the vast majority of it was pretty easy and a very nice ride but then there were a couple of spots that made me question why I was doing this.  Oh and in case you care to know both Andy and Diane are A. Forgetful B. Embelishers or C. Bloody Liars.  Take your pick.  The next time they tell you that the tough section is over I wouldn't go out of my way believing them.  Just food for thought.  Anyway I think I only swore a handful of times so that was good.  Here's our bikes at a quick stop.
 

And here's the start of the trail.  Notice how exceedingly easy it looks.



Again, to be fair it was more my inexperience than anything that made it a bit challenging but I had a blast and thank Andy and Diane for dragging me about.

After we got done with this it was time for me to go.  I packed up as those guys so generously made me another meal.  Thanks guys!!!  Here's their set up this weekend.



I made it home by about 4:30 and have to admit I'm a bit beat and rather happy to be sleeping in a temperature controlled environment on a soft mattress tonight but I loved my time out in the woods this weekend.  I can't wait to get out there again soon!!!

Many thanks to Andy and Diane for their hospitality and humor!!!