Rediscoverying an Old Friend

Too chilly for this old man to venture out to fish yesterday so, I decided to hunt for an Old Friend and actually found it -- too bad is wasn't one of those "soul mates" from my past that I walked away from or drove away in my stupidity.  Could sure use the company of either one (Alicia or Cynthia) to make this journey more enjoyable and more memorable.


Oh!  That beautiful Indian girl (Alicia) I met in Albuquerque when I was just 17 and on my way back east with the family (minus brother Rick) -- didn't have computers back then and keeping in touch via snail mail didn't seem to work for me.  Boy!  Was she a spitfire and she always got fired up when I beat her at chess.  Too bad she passed away some 15 years ago as I learned and about a year before her father -- think that must have taken some spark out of his life and left he and his wife (my mother's schoolgirl friend Angela) with really saddened hearts (like any parent who loses one of their children).


No idea where that Georgia peach (Cynthia) might be now or if she is still alive but, would guess she might be retired now somewhere on Jekyll Island or maybe in Savannah -- a couple of her favorite places as I remember.


Well, I did find what I had been looking for yesterday in the first storage bin that I happened to look in -- my big book of Sudoku puzzles.  I used to do those puzzles religiously when I still lived in my town house in Kingstowne (pretty much alone there too with the same two companions).  So, I stayed up in bed until shortly before midnight working a number of those puzzles -- botched the first couple (like those relationships) before I got back into the pattern of solving them.  Will now need to get out the bottle of white out since I had used a ballpoint pen instead of a pencil.


Still, something to do on these chilly nights and study the stock market during the chilly days.  Thank you Netflix for a good start to the year -- it popped $60 a share Wednesday on its earnings report after hours and I had picked up 150 shares over the past few weeks on a hunch and during a pullback.


Guess I can buy a new camera now or get the old one fixed.  Happy New Year!

No Birthday Catch -- Ft. Desoto County Park

Well, the park did catch me -- for $5 to just get in and a couple tolls on the road getting there from I-275.  One of the tolls (50 cents) was for a bridge just over the first open bay (maybe Boca Ciega or some such name) -- turns out that might be the better spot to stop and fish a sandbar there (according to a map I had been given at a kayak shop a few days back).  That spot looked pretty good as I came back over the little draw bridge (after waiting for a sailboat to pass through).  Four-wheeling onto the beach would save me the 50 cent toll too.  Water really looked nice and turquoise in color against the white sandy beach.


That day was my birthday so, I had decided to fish somewhere with the leftover bait I had tried at John's Pass on Treasure Island the day before.  It was a great day to fish until about 1:00 p.m. when the next cold front came visibly pushing through bringing some big clouds and rain -- exit time for me to get off that fishing pier in the park.  The only thing I managed to catch from the pier was a crab pot that had been planted some distance to the south off the pier.


I had been the first fisherman to arrive on the pier and had even walked out first without any fishing gear to see if anyone else was fishing already and if anything was biting.  The only people there were waiting for the ferry trip which ties up to the pier there and there was a little shop halfway out that sold bait, tackle, coffee, ice cream and other snacks and drinks.  It's not a very long pier and it's T-shaped and since the wind was blowing from the west and southwest, I took up a spot on the east end of the pier -- had my big surf casting rod for the bait and a smaller one with a lure attached.


I had talked to the woman in the shop to see what she knew but, she said "she didn't know because the fishermen never came in to tell her about their catches".  On my way off the pier, I thought to go in to tell her about my "catch" but, she was closing shop and a woman just had placed an order for a cup of coffee so, I relented and decided to not mention anything about the bogus catch.


I had lots of nibbles from the little "bait stealers" as expected but, nothing willing to make a big hit and get hooked as I had hoped.  No strikes at all on the lure.  That fateful cast to the south was a really good one (for distance) but, it wasn't as far to the right of the marker float as I had hoped and almost immediately after putting the rod down, I picked it up to find I was hung up on something or something really big had taken the bait.  As I pulled and tugged on the rod, I intermittently had hopes that a monster Jew Fish or Grouper might be at the end of the line and "twanged" the line while alternately giving it some slack hoping to see some action on the rod tip.  No such luck.


As I tugged more and tightened the drag, I became more convinced that it was probably the crab pot and slowly pulled harder and harder on the 50 pound line and steel leader -- thinking the leader might break or the line.  About a half dozen people took some interest too in what I had on my line but, I had been watching that float for the crab pot getting closer and closer to the end of the pier as I dragged the pot closer.  Eventually, I had the float and rope off the east end of the pier and began to pull on the line which was hooked to a knot in the rope at which time a female angler came to help me by holding the rod while I pulled the line by hand out of the water -- she expressed some interest in seeing what might be in the crab pot.


After I got my line unhooked from the rope, I continued to pull the rope until the pot surfaced but, we couldn't see anything inside because it was made of wood slats all around and most of the openings or gaps seemed to be covered with weed, shells and some slime.  I suppose I could have pulled the pot up onto the pier to get a closer look but, since the pot was private property, I decided not to do so.  Be my luck that the Coast Guard or some constable would show up and show me the way to the "plank" (as in Treasure Island).


I did finish that book earlier yesterday morning and had the other four cinnamon rolls for breakfast -- leftovers from my birthday.  Shorts and sandals, Birthday cards and a big package at the door of my RV when I got back to the RV park -- a hammock and frame from my son and daughter-in-law.  I put that together while cooking a big Rib-eye steak on the grille -- pretty tasty.  All in all, a Great Day!

Treasure Island -- John's Pass

Don't expect that it is named after John Trewlany in the classic book by Robert Lewis Stevenson but, I decided to fish there (Treasure Island) this morning with the bait left over from yesterday's outing at the causeway to the Sunshine Skyway bridge (over Tampa Bay).  Ironic that I had started reading the novel just a couple nights ago and just had arrived at the island in the book last night -- as Jim Hawkins had also just learned that Long John Silver was recruiting another crew member for the mutiny.  Not the trusted cook everyone had thought him to be.  Argh!


Well, there was no treasure and no fish caught there (or the day before too).  It was a beautiful day though with temps near 70 and mostly sunny for the holiday crowds that decided to hit the beaches.  Since tomorrow is my birthday, I will probably venture out to Fort Desoto to the south and give it a try for a few hours -- or until that cut bait is gone.  The past two attempts to get there have failed from the west (the beaches) as the east bound Bayway was closed.  Tomorrow, I will try from the east and see if that works.  It is the southern most tip of the northern beaches of the bay and I've heard the fishing is good there from a few folks.  Just need to get there first.


Probably won't have any pics to show since my camera decided to do a "butt shot" while it was in my back pocket the other evening -- lens opened and is now in a malfunctioning mode.  Lens Error is all I get for now.  Can't even download the pics I had taken that evening -- one of this really long set of dorm rooms on wheels trailer parked a couple spaces away (housing some Ringling Bros. workers).


Did get to see the Broncos win yesterday afternoon after walking a couple blocks up the street to the Wing House -- as good as a Hooters place.  Now if they can just win the big one in New Jersey?? (New Jersey Super Bowl??)  Go Broncos!

Vacation Village RV Resort -- Largo, Florida

Arrived here in the early afternoon yesterday and am snuggly fit into a space with a big tree just outside my driver's window.  Met a couple neighbors behind me after getting all my things set out on the patio (twice as big as the one at Bay Bayou).  They are two couples traveling together in a fifth wheel camper -- one couple from Minnesota.  They are here until the end of April -- retirees too, like myself.


I had tried to get on the WiFi at the clubhouse shortly after arriving but, it seemed to be having problems and hopefully will be working sometime today.  I decided to visit the newest Walmart (just opened yesterday) and restocked my beer supply and picked up some more food items too.  I had asked about a picnic table while at the office and by the time I returned from the Walmart, it had been placed on my patio -- Nice!


I stayed here almost two years ago on my way up the Gulf Coast after being in the Keys for the month of February and not much has changed except for different RVs and seemingly more of them.  The older east section is still mostly permanent residents in trailer homes.  I didn't remember the clubhouse from my previous stop here but, it is pretty nice and they even have two pool tables and mailboxes with real keys.  There also is a heated pool, shuffleboard, horse shoe pits, volleyball and plenty of activities (something everyday of the week and more than two or three things each day).  Free WiFi in the clubhouse (if it's working properly) or coupons for four hours in the park.


I am hoping that the fishing is better down here and remember fishing the Skyway Piers south of here but, the weather is supposed to be chilly for the next couple of days with winds blowing from the north because of this next Arctic Blast so, I will only be driving there to check it out -- take my fleece along (the fishing poles are already in the Jeep, in case I feel the need to fish).

Bye Bye Bay Bayou

Now that the 80% chance of rain is producing some liquid sunshine and the twins are settled for the time being, I thought I would try to get something posted while the balky WiFi here is working (for the time being).  Because of the forecast, I have pretty much packed up all the stuff outside and gotten the Jeep ready for the short trip down to Largo -- Vacation Village RV Resort is one of the places I had stopped nearly two years ago on my way up the Gulf Coast after my first winter in Florida.  Oh!  That beautiful spot in Fiesta Key -- how I miss that (not the price though).

Expecting gray skies and rain all day so decided to get a sunset shot from the night before last while drinking some more of that boxed wine (Franzia's crisp white).  Excuse any grammatical errors as this annoying computer has activated its "insert function" and I don't have the patience to retype every line or two when I spot an error (and I don't seem to know how to cancel that function).

It's now after 9:00 and I have tried on three occasions to add a couple pictures to this posting but, have failed each time -- only two or three bars on the WiFi so this "feature" of this park is nearly as non-existent as the "Cable TV" shown on their advertisements on the internet.  Explains their reluctance and evasiveness when I was making the reservation over the phone.  They charge premium rate for this too -- what a crock or piece of crap.

Speaking of that (crap), the immediate neighbors here have been the least friendly people I have been stuck next to in nearly two years of travels across the country -- they work at the racetrack nearby and seem to be from Alabama (maybe they don't teach good manners there -- at the racetrack or wherever they came from in Alabama).  Only time he (Dick or Vic -- I'll refer to him as Dick) came over was to complain that he thought I was "creeping in on their space" so, I had the folks here come out and tell me to be sure.  I kind of saw why he might have thought that.  They spray painted some lines and moved his marker post over -- proved he was wrong but, no apologies were forthcoming.  Won't miss them at all or the lack of those "features" they don't really have in this section of the "resort".

I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone and would caution anyone to not make a deposit on a space -- just drop in (if you want to) and see what's available first.  Avoid the water because of the "no seeums" -- biting midges.

Now 9:30 and still haven't been able to add those pics.  Might be time for breakfast and a break.

HAPPY NEW YEAR -- 2014 Begins

Well! It really began nearly nine hours ago after that beautiful Tiffany ball dropped in Times Square amid the crescendo of booms and fireworks that started some twelve hours ago down here.  Never heard so many fireworks going off on a New Year's Eve before -- big city of Tampa being nearby must be the big reason.  Fireworks stands everywhere and loads of fireworks in the Walmart store too.

The Poppy Seed cake is now gone after eating the last piece yesterday morning as I headed to Honeymoon Island to try hooking up with that big fish that got away before Christmas.  That delicious bread/cake made by my sister-in-law Kay had been my morning breakfast with a cup of coffee or OJ for each morning since Christmas and it's now all gone -- including all the cookies too after last nights snacking.  Am sure my waist has expanded because of all those goodies I have been enjoying over the past week -- two notches worth it seems (just checked).

I fished yesterday at Honeymoon Island where the sandbar juts toward Caladesi Island on the other side of Hurricane Pass.  I had gotten up around 1:30 a.m. and had pulled the last Blue fish out of the freezer to thaw for bait and then, when I got up for the day, I cut it into usable pieces to fit onto my hooks.  While enjoying that last piece of cake, I decided to stop at the nearby fishing gear liquidators at the Flea Market to see if they had some "Fish Bites" to use with the cut pieces of bait.  Unfortunately, they didn't carry it or even know about it but, the young guy there located a small bait shop miles to the south that carried it -- decided not to go there and instead used the "Gulp" equivalent.

I fished until about 2:00 p.m. and had arrived there before 11:00 a.m. but, only managed to catch two decent sized Whiting to replace the Blue I had used for bait.  That still gave me something better to put on the grille with two burgers and the last medallion of Elk meat from Colorado -- as I enjoyed a pitcher of Margaritas and the company of Tiger and Molly.  Molly kept her eyes on the smoke billowing from the grille and made frequent dashes back inside the RV whenever she seemed to get too scared.  Other arriving big rigs and pick'em up trucks also had her dashing back inside occasionally.

Raining here now and quite overcast so, I won't be rushing out anytime soon.  It also rained here some around 12:45 a.m. and that seemed to quiet down the fireworks -- much to Tiger and Molly's relief (mine too so I could get some sleep).  Now to ponder the New Year ahead.