Just sharing a few pics from our family trip to Florida and our Chattooga day from a couple weeks ago.
Kids had their new boats so the wife and I decided to leave the rivers of NC and see what Florida had to offer. My daughter and wife wanted to see manatee so we headed to the Rainbow River and Homosassa area. The wife grew up in Florida but hadn't been back in many years. She remembered a place that she thought was on the Crystal. It was a hotel/fishing resort complex that had an island with monkeys on it. We finally found it on the Homosassa and had a great afternoon and evening there. Found Stone Crab just off the boat for $8 a pound..large size. Paddled a couple hours at Chassahowitzka Springs and really enjoyed the scenery and sites. My daughter was a little afraid of the gators and such, but it was all in her head. Being it was a new, strange place and too much animal planet features on gators and the like, I think her imagination was just a little overworked.
The next day we headed to Rainbow Springs. Our friend has a house on the river and wow, were we impressed. Absolutely beautiful! Never knew that Florida had something like this. Clearer than the Nantahala. One funny story was my wife took her snorkeling mask. She would roll upside down and just look around as she drifted along. On one such immersion, a couple college kids were floating by and my wife was behind me. They saw her upside down and wtih a panic look in their eye started pointing and saying, "sir...your daughter flipped....SIR...YOUR DAUGHTER IS UPSIDE DOWN!" I didn't say anything and just kept looking at them get more worried and more frantic, but I was definitely enjoying the show. I kept looking at them knowing that she would roll up any moment. She rolled and the look on their face was hilarious. First confusion, then the sheepish grin and laugh told me they knew I was messin with them. My wife thought it was funny that they thought she was my daughter.
We paddled the couple hours or so to the house and really had a great experience. My daughter got over her gator issues and both kids paddled great.
A couple weeks ago we headed to the river where I met my wife. I was managing the NOC outpost there and she was training. I'll let you figure out the rest. Brought the kids and their boats to section II. Its a fairly easy going section of about 8 miles and the water level was perfect. The weather couldn't have been better either. Kids were thrilled with the trip and had a blast going through the many small rapids and ledges. When my wife and I had kids, this was the day we envisioned with them. They paddled strong and laughed their way down the river.
Click on the pic and it should bring you to a slide show of all the pics
Kids had their new boats so the wife and I decided to leave the rivers of NC and see what Florida had to offer. My daughter and wife wanted to see manatee so we headed to the Rainbow River and Homosassa area. The wife grew up in Florida but hadn't been back in many years. She remembered a place that she thought was on the Crystal. It was a hotel/fishing resort complex that had an island with monkeys on it. We finally found it on the Homosassa and had a great afternoon and evening there. Found Stone Crab just off the boat for $8 a pound..large size. Paddled a couple hours at Chassahowitzka Springs and really enjoyed the scenery and sites. My daughter was a little afraid of the gators and such, but it was all in her head. Being it was a new, strange place and too much animal planet features on gators and the like, I think her imagination was just a little overworked.
The next day we headed to Rainbow Springs. Our friend has a house on the river and wow, were we impressed. Absolutely beautiful! Never knew that Florida had something like this. Clearer than the Nantahala. One funny story was my wife took her snorkeling mask. She would roll upside down and just look around as she drifted along. On one such immersion, a couple college kids were floating by and my wife was behind me. They saw her upside down and wtih a panic look in their eye started pointing and saying, "sir...your daughter flipped....SIR...YOUR DAUGHTER IS UPSIDE DOWN!" I didn't say anything and just kept looking at them get more worried and more frantic, but I was definitely enjoying the show. I kept looking at them knowing that she would roll up any moment. She rolled and the look on their face was hilarious. First confusion, then the sheepish grin and laugh told me they knew I was messin with them. My wife thought it was funny that they thought she was my daughter.
We paddled the couple hours or so to the house and really had a great experience. My daughter got over her gator issues and both kids paddled great.
A couple weeks ago we headed to the river where I met my wife. I was managing the NOC outpost there and she was training. I'll let you figure out the rest. Brought the kids and their boats to section II. Its a fairly easy going section of about 8 miles and the water level was perfect. The weather couldn't have been better either. Kids were thrilled with the trip and had a blast going through the many small rapids and ledges. When my wife and I had kids, this was the day we envisioned with them. They paddled strong and laughed their way down the river.
Click on the pic and it should bring you to a slide show of all the pics