Christine and JoAnn on the Forward Deck as we pull out of Legacy Marina on Gene and Kathy's beautiful 1987 68 ft. Ocean Alexander, "Front Page"......
A perfect day for a 15 mile cruise down the river to their favorite Waterside Restaurant called "Marker 92"...
We have about 20 people on board and looking forward to a great lunch with friends.
Seems the dolphins wanted to follow along on our little expedition to Marker 92....
We had a pod of three for quite a while, then this gal started showing off with beautiful "Antics" like this one.
She would turn her head sideways as if saying hello as the ladies would call out to her.
They love to surf along with the boat wakes and sometimes follow for miles.
Some of the group chose to ride at the Upper Helm (or Flybridge) to get a better view and feel the air in their face.
Also easier to spot the dolphins and boat traffic....
Kathy (in blue) is the Bible Study Group Leader and she does a fabulous job with the Studies according to all the Ladies.
Her husband Gene is Captain but today he has lots of help....
Well, we arrived safely at this beautiful location at the mouth of the Caloosahatchie River just across the bay from Sanibel Island.
A super nice marina with condos all around and a great place to dine.
Only a few miles from Legacy and perfect for an afternoon cruise.
Would have been a perfect day to eat outside on the patio but our Gang was so large we had to go inside to get a table big enough to serve 20 people.
A very upscale dining experience and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the Ft. Myers or Cape Coral area.
ThankYou, Gene and Kathy, for providing this cruise for the group.
"Front Page" making her way back to Legacy Marina after a wonderful trip down the river.
Gene and Kathy are in the Newspaper Business and that might explain the name of their yacht.
She is a 30 year old yacht but is in impeccable condition. They completed a year long cruise down to Trinidad in the Caribbean just last year...
Great Friends, we are truly blessed.
Annie and Oscar (our marina neighbor the Golden-Doodle) love to play tug-of-war at the Marina.
Annie is getting toughened up for her trip to the Bahama's in a few weeks. She will do a lot of beach running and swimming as soon as we arrive at the first island.
She wishes Oscar could come along cause she "Loves" Oscar.
Our friend and neighbor "Ken" is having some heart issues and may not be able to make the trip to the Bahamas this year.
He was all set to go over in his brand new 50 ft. Tiara Yacht but had a stroke on New Years Eve and the doctors will tell him next month if he is good to go...we are hoping for the best for Ken, Sandra, and Oscar.
They are great people, like so many here at Legacy Marina.
Annie and Oscar were playing on Mystic Lady and it was time to take a Pee break.
No, there eyes aren't floating....I just didn't bother to remove the bright eyes...
Heading back to Ft. Myers today, got more Dr, Appointments tomorrow .
Had a good day yesterday with calm winds and smooth waters but today is looking a little windy.
Sunday morning fog kept us on Mystic Lady until mid- day but managed to take a dingy ride down to the South End of Cayo Costa Island...
Looks like Christine and Annie are ready to go somewhere. I don't think they care where, just somewhere.
My girls are up to anything as long as they are cruising on Mystic Lady.
Good Morning South Florida.....
Sun rising over Useppa Island.
This picture will give you a good idea what it's like to "Go boating" in Southwest Florida. This is part of the "Miserable Mile", a narrow channel with a No Wake zone. We were coming back to Ft. Myers around Noon. This is the traffic leaving Cape Coral and Ft. Myers heading out to the beaches and islands in the area. I may not be the best Captain out here but believe me.....some of these people have no idea what "Rules of The Road" mean.
Enlarge picture to see all..
A little closer Dad, closer, I think I got him.....Awww Dad you let him get away, and I had him.
Well, just turn me loose and I'll get him myself....here Dolphin, here Dolphin
Think I'll just roll in the sand for a while.....that'll teach ya to let my Dolphin get away..
Hey Mom, let's run down to the other end of the beach.....come on, you can do it
Very busy day at Cayo Costa State Park, beautiful weekend weather....Lower 80's, clear skies, and light winds. Mystic Lady is enjoying her time on the hook. Christine is a Happy Camper.....
Mom says it's time to start supper...so back to Mystic Lady for an evening with "Jack".........might even get in a little fishing before dark.
Stopping off in Columbia, Ky for some home cooking..Southern Style Breakfast....
This should be a great weekend of off-roading in the North Cumberland Mountains.
Headed to Huntsville, Tenn. for the annual Wild Mountain Rampage at Brimstone ATV Park.
Little camping, little riding, little racing and even a little drinking....
Did I mention a little campfire activities or was that included with the little drinking comment....
Did a little Sweet Talking to Danika and she got us a nice level campsite in the Event Area....in walking distance to the Event Stage where the "One and Only" Hank Williams, Jr. will perform on Saturday Night...
It also helps to get there two days early.......
Campsite all set up and Christine has her Hog Snout Dust Mask, walking stick and brand new hiking boots....Looks like she is ready to do some serious trail riding.
Gonna get in a few miles today before this huge crowd shows up tomorrow.
This is expected to be the biggest event ever held at Brimstone.
Hot and dry here in the Tennessee hills.....
Made it in time for lunch on the ground....nothing like dining in the mountains.
Beautiful weather and quite peaceful on this Thursday afternoon....
Will try to get some Go-Pro videos edited and add them in later...
Friday, September 16, 2016
Headed up to the Vendor Area this morning to check out the New Stuff..
Vendors arriving and setting up their displays. Good time to stretch a leg and exercise a sore knee before heading back up into the trails.
Just one of the many Wild Rides here at the Wild Mountain Rampage...
Check out this 4-wheeler....
And back at the Wild Mountain Beauty Parlor Andrea and Alison are having their hair done.........Campground Style..
It was a verrrrry dusty ride on the trails today....we could use a little rain before the Rampage starts tomorrow.
These girls could hardly get the hair washed for laughing so much..
Rode into town of Huntsville, Tenn. today for some milk and ice.
This is the first year that State Police have allowed ATV's on Highway 63.
Several of the Trail Systems are trying to work an arrangement with the State to allow ATV's and OHVs to use state and county roads to link the trail systems.
Hopefully, the State will approve. There are four or five large trail systems that could be linked if this is allowed. Much like the "Hatfield and McCoy" systems in West Virginia.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Click on the Video below for a tour of the Event Area campground........
Saturday around Noon as people are coming in to get a spot for the Hank Jr. concert later tonight.
This is expected to be the largest crowd ever at a Brimstone Rally.....
Jimmy and I were at the registration booth bright and early hoping to be first to leave on the Wild Mountain Rampage Race.
Several others had the same idea. We were sixth or seventh to leave out this morning. A cool, foggy morning for this cross country event.
The Moto-Cross rider on the 300 KTM "looked like" the guy to beat. We will just have to see if we can catch them. Drivers leave as they are signed up. The KTM was long gone by the time we were finished signing in.
The "Mad Hatter" was at Checkpoint #3 when we arrived. You got bonus points if he was at a checkpoint when you arrived, he moved from one to the other all day long.
He will play an interesting role later on in the finishing results.
We got the bonus points.....now it's off to catch the the rest of the drivers.
We passed two before the first checkpoint.....Jimmy lead all day while I ate his dust, but I passed him on a rough dirt road just before entering the county road back to the start/finish. He couldn't catch up so I finished fourth and Jimmy finished fifth. However, the first and second place drivers did not get their cards punched by the checkpoint official, they only got the "Mad Hatter" to punch their card so they actually were disqualified. Andrea rode with me and Alison rode with Jimmy......two brave girls. Christine DOES NOT like to go fast so she sat this one out. Lots of fun.
Back at the event area for the next event....the "Obstacle Course".
We are waiting for the drivers meeting and explanation of the course and direction to go...
Gonna be a fun afternoon....and a Hank Jr. concert tonight.
Drivers are walking the course with the official.
There is no practice and no pre-walking of the course just to be fair to all.
Very rough course, built at the last minute with a few bulldozers and backhoes..
Jimmy beat me by 2 seconds....I must have been tired from the morning ride. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Andrea and Alison messing around on the way to the concert. Christine and I had already parked the RZR in a good spot several hours before the concert expecting a record crowd. So we all walked up to the RZR with chairs for the show.
It was a good idea because it was so crowded we had to leave the RZR there until after midnight before we could get it back to the camp.
We are in the middle of a "Sea of SIDE X SIDES" ...all makes and models, only thing they have in common is they are all drunk or working on getting drunk...
Prototype of a track made on I-Pad with Navionics Charts software.
Each leg will be posted for anyone interested in following along our journey.
Hopefully, much easier than trying to use Google Earth....we'll see.
Maybe even showing total track so far posted together on one picture to the right of the current Blog Post.
For now just check out some of the pics in the "Featured Post" next to this shot. This section will highlight some interesting past posts. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>
It looks like Lonnie Spurling picked a beautiful day to invite "Chafton and Friends" over to his neck of the woods for some off-roading through the most beautiful scenery in the Kentucky-Tennessee hills.
Stopping off at our first point of interest at the "Old Hippie Cabin".
Built in the early 70's by some hippies from California. They constructed three cabins and a bathhouse with Pot as their primary crop.
The hippies were totally self-sufficient and lived in the backwoods where they avoided the Feds and Local Officers for several years. It now takes an off-road vehicle to get there but in their day they used a VW bus.
Lonnie is leading us thru more of these "Outlaw Trails"....none are marked (except for an occasional Posted sign)..
The locals know the trails well and ride them often. I think the signs are just a CYA notice to prevent law suits if someone gets hurt. The property is owned by logging companies.
Here we approach another rock bluff as we head up to the infamous "Table Top Rock".
Looks like Cathy is the only one brave enough to climb up on Table Top. These are unique rock formations at the edge of a 300 ft high rock cliff. The rock is shaped like a Ruffles Potato Chip.
Directly behind Cathy is a straight down 300 ft. drop. Easy does it Cathy.
Another neat spot at Table Top Rock is the Picture Frame....If you're game enough to slither out there you can get a very unique shot.
Notice there is NO path to the hole in the rock, just a precarious rock formation. A person needs to be part snake just to get to it.
If you slip, well, let's just say it would probably be your last Photo.
We chose to just park the RZR on the mountain top for our pose.
Annie really wasn't into rock climbing....
After a lengthy ride down to Pickett State Forest in Tennessee we stopped at Blue Lake for lunch.
Here Lonnie is telling more stories of the local lore.
Lonnie is "One Fine Feller".....they just don't come any nicer than this guy. He loves to ride these hills and enjoys showing the special spots to folks like us.
We would have never found some of these places without his knowledge and skills.
Lunch is always good on the trail, but even better when the weather cooperates.
We had low humidity, blue skies, not too hot and just the right amount of mud and dust to satisfy our off roading desires.
Looking forward to our next adventure at Windrock Park...The annual RZR Jam..Should be a lot of fun camping and riding.
This next stop was our favorite "Scenic Overlook"...The whole gang lined up for Lonnie to snap our picture with this beautiful rock bluff behind us. There are several of these Rock Beauties that can be seen from this point as we look South over a vast area of Tennessee.
With Alison screaming for dear life Jimmy tries to make it up the "Impossible Rut"....Lonnie knew what would happen and was ready with the camera.
No harm done, the RZR just leans against the mud bank and the left wheel points to the sky.
The boy will try anything.......guess he gets it honest.
Another great outing with my soul-mate....Christine keeps saying 70 is just too old to be doing this stuff..
I keep telling her to just hang on and enjoy the ride. She does great..........
We look forward to many, many more adventures on land and sea.
Follow along and I will try to keep you up to date.
Now I will try to post some videos from the GoPro but don't fuss if I screw it up..
Jimmy takes on this steep, slippery rock face we now call the "Big Monti".....The video does not do this slope justice. It is much steeper than it looks, almost enough to go "nose over" on the way down.
Well it's time to load um' up and head back to Bowling Green. But first Lonnie leads us down to the Hillbilly Car Wash to clean up the RZR's a little. We couldn't resist so we stayed and played in the creek for quite a while.
