Boating to the St. Pete Indy Car Race March 2016

The Admiral and First Mate are busy adjusting the Snubber line on the anchor as we prepare to spend the night on the hook just off Useppa Island.

As most everyone knows, it's been a cold and wet Jan. and Feb. in South Florida. A record setting 13.2 inches of rain in January plus cold front after cold front in February. But finally, we are out cruising the beautiful waters of SW Florida.

Heading up to St. Pete for the annual  Indy Car Grand Prix race in downtown St Pete.

The view from Mystic Lady as we arrive at Useppa.

Looking across the ICW at Cabbage Key. This little restaurant/bar is a hot spot for tourist and serve up a great "Cheeseburger in Paradise"..

Lots of history on this little Key, if ever down this way hop over and check it out.

Annie and Christine making their way through Historic Venice City Park. A gorgeous walk from the Downtown area to Venice Beach.
Lots of Historical Markers along the way for a great little history lesson.

Had lunch at Marker 4 Grill and the best Chocolate Chip Ice Cream ever at a downtown shop.

Heading back to the boat and off to St. Pete early in the morning.

Beautiful sunset at Venice Inlet Park.....lots of folks come here every day just for the view.
Great place for fishing from the jetty too.
Spring Breakers are out in force...

Smooth cruise up to St. Pete on the outside. The Gulf was calm and the skies clear.

Arrived at St. Pete early to beat the crowd that will be coming in this weekend for the big race.
We were lucky to get a good dockage along a face dock with easy access to everything.

Looking forward to a busy weekend of Indy Car Racing. Click link below for schedule of events.


http://www.gpstpete.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97&Itemid=226

Wednesday, March 9th

Doing a little sight seeing in Downtown St.Pete while we chill-out before the race weekend.

What a neat city this is....lots to do, lots to see, history, arts, waterfront dining, Grand Prix Racing, etc.

Last time we were here it was a Triathlon on one weekend and "The Taste of Pinellas" the next weekend.
Always a lot going on in St. Pete.

A shot of the Baywalk Area.....
can you believe this is the entrance to a parking garage...


Nothing like this where I come from...

Took Annie for a walk on the peninsula park overlooking Tampa Bay.
This is what is left of the "Inverted Pyramid" that stood on the pier site since 1973....
The City fathers have been trying to get this replaced since 2005. Probably took this long just to get a permit to tear it down.

We had dinner in one of the restaurants the last time we were here. It was in pretty bad shape but still active four years ago.

Friday, March 11

The Admiral is heading to the market.....
just a short walk from the marina to shops, markets, restaurants, etc.


Gotta get some Bud Lite cause Uncle David is coming to visit.


Looking forward to having David and Loretta onboard for a day or two while in St. Pete.

It's practice day at the St. Pete Grand Prix race. Lots of activities and vendors, and this is just Friday.

Glad I came today because the General Admission gets you anywhere you want to go today.

Toured the Paddock Area, watched a few laps from the main Grandstand, got up close and personal with some teams, great day....

Pit action during practice..All the big names doing their thing.

The Indy Car Series is not exactly my thing but, Hey....a race is a race.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Well, the day started out calm and quiet but it didn't last long.

Christine was preparing a nice dinner for my sister and brother-in-law who are coming to the boat for a couple days.
She needed an onion and started walking to the grocery....that's when the day took a turn for the worse.

She tripped on a broken sidewalk and landed flat on her face. EMT was called and she was taken to the hospital just an hour before our company arrived.

That changed our plans for the day but it could have been so much worse.

She had a big goose egg on her forehead (under her bangs), cut on her nose, cut under her chin, abrasions on her chin, cut inside her mouth from her tooth, bruised wrist, bruised and cut knee, etc.

She was a mess, the head injury was cause for concern so she would need  X-rays and an MRI

So she was hauled off by the Medical Team and left me to take care of Annie. She was left on the boat when I got the call.

Thank goodness David and Loretta were on their way. They would give me a ride to the hospital so I could be with Christine and be able to get back to the boat later.

Strange how things work out. We always tell people you're only one incident for a life change.

The good news, no broken bones. Just lots of sore spots.

Having Annie (her therapy dog) in her arms was enough to raise a smile while we wait for David to bring the van around to take us back to the boat.

We didn't get to do our planned afternoon but a quiet evening and nice dinner on the boat was just what the doctor ordered.

It has been so nice having David and Loretta here for an visit.

Maybe next time we can avoid the drama and take a cruise.

Uncle David just enjoying a peaceful evening on Mystic Lady.


Racing action tomorrow, should be a great day......weather is perfect so far.

The folks here at St. Pete Municipal Marina have been very friendly and helpful. It's always fun to come back to St. Pete.

Time to send the Stamps on their way. Packed up and headed over to Tampa to see Joseph.

Thankfully they were here to help me with Christine.

Hopefully, we can get together again before they head back home. We would like to do a boat cruise for a few days.

Safe travels you two.....

Sure enjoyed having you guys aboard "Mystic Lady".....

See ya again soon.







Sunday, March 13, 2016

It's race day at the St. Pete Grand Prix Indy Car race.

Just waiting for the leaders to come around for the first lap.

Really impressed with the effort the Indy Car Series puts forth to hold this event. You can't imagine the barriers, fences, banners, etc. they have to provide just for this event.

Huge problem though...they go out of their way to block the view for General Admission spectator.

This is about as good as it gets. Not my idea of a spectator friendly race.

I managed to get up on a concrete light pole base just to get this view.

They even hang banners on the fence in the corners so you can't see corner action from ground level.

It's gotta be all about the money. I think they want you to pay the big bucks and buy the Grandstand Ticket.

So in my professional opinion here is the best way to watch an Indy Car Grand Prix.

Go back to your boat and turn on the TV, grab a cold beer (or Jack Daniels) in my case , open the door so you can hear the engines and watch the action as if you were there.

Guess i'm just not comfortable with being on the wrong side of the fence.


Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Extremely foggy return trip to Ft. Myers. Never seen the horizon from the time we left St. Pete until entering Boca Grande Pass.

We had less than 1/8 mile visibility for most of the 10 hour trip.

Lots of instrument flight training paid off today.

The admiral and Annie had trouble staying awake with nothing to see for 10 hours.

Annie just napped but the Admiral just went from one area to another, she finally took a nap and left me to do the chores.

All in all it was an uneventful return trip but very tiring...

How's this for a view for 10 hours.

It wasn't as boring as you might think, dodging crab pots and watching for traffic on the radar kept me busy all day.

We made it safely back to Legacy Marina and started cleaning on Mystic Lady.

Wildcat Ride December 2015

December 12, 2015

Thought we would take advantage of the warm December weather and head over to Wildcat for a day ride.

We weren't the only ones with that idea. The line was backed up to the highway and both parking lots were full of trucks and trailers.

Seems like a good place to ride and only three hours from home. We'll see what they have to offer.......

After climbing to the top of the "Dome" we find a nice overlook with a lake in the background.

Between us and the lake is I-75.

So far not much mud and the girls (Annie included) are having a great time on this warm winter day.

It's 72 degrees and cloudy. Perfect....

We found the "Lost Boat"......no idea how this boat got out here. There is no water deep enough to float a boat anywhere near here.

Guess the Wildcat Team just put it out here to be found.


Good trails so far, well marked and not too difficult.....Yet.

Well....what is that climbing over our RZR???

It looks like....well it might be....yes, it is Kathy.
Guess she didn't want to get her feet wet.

We was told about this neat waterfall on the other side of the RailRoad Tracks so we jumped the tracks and took off. Well that was about three hours ago and we just now found it.

Seems the Waterfall is on private land and the trails are unmarked and unkept. Lots of mudholes and slick hills to climb. We discovered we were in the "Daniel Boone National Forest"....that's a big No No.

We made the best of it anyway. Took lots of pictures and let Annie run awhile.

Not much water over the falls but it's been dry for a while here.

Lots of fun being lost for hours and unable to find the falls but guess we better hi-tail it back to the other side of the tracks before the Feds catch us.

Join us sometime for lots of fun in the hills of Kentucky.
Wildcat Offroad Park is a great place to explore the hills of Eastern Kentucky. Nice campground, good maps, trails are marked well, and overall gets a good rating from our clan.
Had a good time with Jimmy, Alison, Steve, Kathy, and Jonathan.

Back through the Railroad Tunnel and across the tracks we go.......If we hurry and we can beat the Feds.

CAMP RZR EAST "BRIMSTONE" 2015

September 18 and 19, 2015

We are all set up and ready for the 2nd Annual Camp RZR East. Lots of activities, two concerts, prizes, racing, and the weather couldn't be better.

Christine and Annie Mae are enjoying the weekend with her peeps. Lots of riding, over 300 miles of trails here at Brimstone.

Should be a great weekend of fun.

Sure hope my new knee cooperates. This is our first outing since surgery.

One of the activities Friday was to ride the trails, check your cell phone for clues, and try to find three Sasquatch. We found one and gave up on the other two.

Each time you participate in an activity you are entered in the prize give aways that night before the concert. Over $300,000 in prizes over the weekend, including two new Turbo 1000 RZR's.

Needless to say, we didn't win squat. But we sure had fun chasing him.









While riding the trails we came across a professional camera crew taking pictures of people enjoying the Good Times at Camp RZR East. He wanted a group pic of a bunch of Rednecks so we complied.
I really think they just wanted a dog in the picture and Annie Mae was the only trail dog around......

And a few miles down the trail we run across this poor guy trying to get unstuck. This mud hole was a little too much for the RZR. His passenger got the worse end of the deal, he was up to his neck in muddy water before he managed to climb out........ Click any picture to enlarge......

Great place for pictures....These RZR's are parked on top of the waterfall.

Not much water running over today, it hasn't rained here in about a week. Great for trail riding....just a bit dusty in places.

Annie Mae "my little chick magnet" is at it again.

She draws a crowd every time we stop. Especially the pretty girls and little kids.

Annie loves to ride in the RZR...

The girls are taking a time out at this creek.

Good place for lunch or just watching the crazy ones try to climb out of the creek bank.

Video coming of the creek bank climbing...or trying.

Back at the campground as preparation for the concerts are underway.

Huge crowd, seems like twice as many people here than last year.
They opened up new fields for camping and they too are full this year.

We had been working on our reservations for several months.

RIDE ROYAL BLUE...July 4 weekend

JULY 3, 2015

Loading the RZR's for a weekend of mountain riding in Eastern Tenn.

Weather forecast is for rain, then more rain, with the chance of more rain. Actually, there is a Flash Flood Advisory out for all of Eastern Tennessee this weekend.

Annie says bring it on, I'm ready for the mud.

Arrived at Royal Blue after driving four hours in heavy rain.

Gonna be a sloppy weekend of trail riding but the ladies are ready. Foul weather gear will be the fashion apparel.

Well, we didn't get far until it was obvious we were going to be doing as much "puddle bustin" as trail riding.

Sure hope we can get across Ol' Stinking Creek when we get there.
This is just a sample of what's to come.

Annie got in some sightseeing along the way. This small waterfall was running full force after one of the showers moved through.

The woods were beautiful, lush green plants everywhere. All the streams were running, valleys filled with steam at times. Looked like a scene from the Great Smokey Mountains.

And we weren't the only "Crazies" spending Independence Day weekend with Mother Nature and her elements.

The campground was sold out, the little cafe on the hill was filled with activity and the trails were busy with families from all over just doin' their thang.

Seems we meet some of the nicest people on the trail. It's fun to see the kids doing something other than playing games and texting.

Annie said,  Let's go folks, it's gonna rain any minute and I want to do some more riding.

And boy was she right. It came a gully washer just a few minutes later.

Well, Ol' Stinking Creek don't look as bad as we thought. Just up a little and really muddy. These mountain streams usually don't flood very easy but can get rather swift during heavy rains.

We crossed her at several places and actually was just a good place to wash the mud off the RZR.






JULY 4, 2015

Not much different today than yesterday. Lots of water everywhere, muddy trails and lush green foliage. Notice the flowers blooming on the "Roto-dum-dums".

At times it seemed we were in a dense jungle, especially during the nite rides. The tree frogs were so loud at night that you could hear them over the RZR's.

Here we stopped along the trail to walk down a steep walking trail to the biggest waterfall at Royal Blue.

Alison waited at the top.

Can you believe she was having surgery at M.D. Anderson just last week and here she is riding the trails.
This girl is unstoppable. She might slow down a bit but she ain't about to stop. She is an inspiration to us all.

Christine, Annie and I made it down the walking trail but it took awhile. The trail was slick as a gut and Christine ain't the most sure footed mule in the team.
However, Annie had a big time running down the trail, then back up to check on us.

I only got one picture of this beautiful waterfall. Why? Because just as we got to the bottom the sky opened up and poured. It was a greasy climb back up the trail.

And, again, Alison was the smart one. She jumped in the RZR and stayed dry The rest of us got soaked.
Oh well, just another day in the mountains.

A much better picture taken by Jimmy. He got down closer before the rain started and got some good shots

Would have been a great place to spend some time playing in the water or having lunch. Maybe next time it won't be a rainy day.

Just some of the views from the trails atop the Cumberland Mountains.

And what did you do this 4th of July?

Ya' might want to get off the couch and see what Mother Nature has to offer.

Come join us some time......You might get a little dirty but we sure have a good time.