Back on the Nature Coast

We’ve been settling in the past few days.  Laundry, reorganizing, shopping at the farm stand, etc.  We’re getting back in the habit of getting the kids out for a few laps too.  Our area of the park is pretty quiet, currently no one behind us and there is no spot in front of us.  

I applied for a job at a local hardware store that I could walk to easily from the trailer.  We’ll see how that turns out.  I haven’t checked with the park owner yet to see if they could use some help around here.  Maybe if I see him this weekend.  

Yesterday we got the paddle boards out.  I hadn’t put mine in the water yet as it came in just before I had to go back to Michigan.  We put in at Manatee Springs after walking the boardwalk and checking the spring out.  About 100 yards down from the launch, a 5’ gator jumped in the water and swam away from us.  This was the end of Katy’s paddle.  

I went back to the launch with her before paddling down to the Suwannee.  There were turtles and fish everywhere.  If you are looking to paddle just the crystal clear spring water this is a short trip.  I followed a guy in a kayak back up to the launch.  He scared the gator back into the water and it swam between our watercraft.  He later told me there was a 7 or 8’ gator around the corner at the end of the spring.  

I like my new iRocker board, it feels a little less stable than my previous one.  It is 6” shorter and 1” narrower, it does feel faster in the water.  It’ll just take some getting used to.  When we got back, I cleaned and dried the boards.  They are much easier to put away when you use the pump to suck the air out of them.