Kayaks

Last year I got impulsive and bought two tandem kayaks. I asked the people at Dick's how most people transport them, and they said hanging out of the bed of the truck. I did that to get them home and hated it. I had so much anxiety the entire drive because the kayaks are so big. We took our first trip up to the Crooked River, which is only 5 miles, and again it sucked driving with these hanging out the back. We did 3 or 4 miles up and down the river. It was very scenic and shady but there were a couple big boats on the river. When we got to Lake Susan and Lake Lousia, we decided to stop there due to the fast boats and their wakes.

I did some research and decided to get a trailer. The trailers at Bass Pro were really pricey so I bought the same thing online for half the price and assembled it myself. Kim and I spent most of the day one weekend assembling the trailer which also serves as a good place to store them in the garage since you shouldn't leave them on their hull.

We took our first trip with the trailer to Kings Landing. Driving with it was a breeze and it's so light it doesn't affect my gas milage. However, backing up with and parking sucks. I found it easier to just disconnect the trailer and move it by hand. I did buy and attach a tongue stand with a wheel which makes it really easy to move.

Our second trip was to the Hillsborough River. Unfortunately, we went during the peak of the drought, so it was kind of a pain to get around. The water was so low in a lot of parts that I had to get out of my kayak, with alligators all around, and push both of our kayaks over the logs. Due to the recent hurricanes, we haven't given it another try yet.

We have taken out the kayaks several times on the lake behind us. We are the only ones ever out on that lake so it's a nice paddle without worry about anyone bumping into us. I want to get out there one of these days early in the morning when it's foggy for a paddle but so far I've been too lazy to get out that early.

Getting ready for our first trip.

At King's Landing.

Just the friendly neighborhood alligator.

Crooked River. This is out of order, but oh well. This was before King's Landing. We didn't see a single alligator. To this day I have never seen an alligator in Clermont.

Morris Bridge - Hillsborough River, Tampa

When trying to get the kayaks ready to launch this dumb lady was chumming the water bringing in this gator. There was a cop or fish and game (I can't remember which one) on the other side of the parking lot. I really should have told them what was going on. Some people really suck.

Here you can see how low the water is.

Baby alligator

Getting ready for a paddle on the lake behind us one afternoon and it decides to rain. It wasn't even the wet season anymore, as you can see by the Christmas decorations.

My neighbors dock got wrecked from Hurricane Milton.

One of the many large trees that Milton destroyed.

My Twin's Visit

Here's one of many of the blog post I'm catching up on. This one is pretty old!

Back in February of 2023 my 15th favorite niece got a free flight to Florida to check out a college in Lakeland. My sister decided to bring Ryder along and surprise Adri. Early that morning I went to Orlando to pick them up and snuck them in the backyard. Then I went inside where the kids were "getting ready for school". A minute later I opened the door and said "Who the hell are these kids on the trampoline". Of course Adri just sits there for a minute. When she finally gets up to investigate she sees Ryder out there jumping on the trampoline.

My sister got a video of it and put it on Instagram. It went viral and then ended up on Hoda's Morning Boost on The Today Show.

Needless to say, the kids didn't go to school that day. Instead, we went to Siesta Beach. In an effort to try and really sell Florida on my sister we also took her to the springs and Cocoa Beach. We only had a few days but we crammed in as much as we could. 

The first day of their trip at Siesta Key. It was record breaking heat that February 23rd. I think it hit 90 in Clermont. There was a bad red tide at the beach that we didn't know about and dead fish everywhere. I found out a week later we shouldn't have been in the water. Normally the gulf it still a bit chilly that time of year but it felt really good that day and they enjoyed the white sand.

 

Not identical!

The next day we went to Kelly Park to do a tube float and then went over to King's landing to canoe back up to the bridge where the tube float ends. The bridge separates the two parks.  This is from the top of the tube float.

This is where the canal from King's Landing meets up with the spring.

Watching these two try to canoe was hilarious. They lack teamwork and coordination and at some parts had to get out and walk the canoe.

The next day we went to Yalaha Bakery.

And finally we made it to Cocoa Beach where everyone tried to surf our pathetic waves. The kids did get up.

King's Landing

Last weekend we went to King's Landing. I have been wanting to go here since before we moved here but we've been busy with other things and we had to get some reservations. I reserved the canoe three weeks ago and this was the only date/time they had available. When we get there they tell me there is a three person limit in each canoe. We have five of us. 

They didn't have any double kayaks left but they had two singles so we got a kayak for Natalie and Adri and the boys rode with me in the canoe. I guess I got lucky they had the kayaks because otherwise we'd be screwed.

King's Landing was all I thought it would be. So far this was my favorite trip in Central Florida. We did 8.5 hours of canoeing in 4 hours. It starts with a canal at the boat launch that goes to the rock springs run, about 1/3 of a mile or so down the canal. To the right is all the clear water. It was about 2 miles upstream to where the Kelly Park tube float ends. To the left was the murky water that goes to Wekiwa Springs state park. This is where all the lilly pads, water birds, alligators, turtles, and river otters are. We did both, going the path of the clear water first.

It didn't seem too hard to paddle upstream but it did take quite a bit of time. Going up stream takes about 2-3 times as long as paddling downstream. We stopped by the Kelly Park bridge for 45 minutes and had lunch and let the kids out to swim. That 70 degree water feels so good on a hot Florida afternoon.

The boys at the boat launch.

 Adri learning how to paddle in a kayak in the canal.

This is right where the canal goes in the rock springs run.

Most of the trip was shady like this. One of the things I love about Florida. I grew so sick of being in constant sun.

We stopped here to let the boys pee. I walked them into the trees to pee which probably wasn't a good idea. I think I got some poison ivy on my ankle. They ended up swimming right after. I should have just had them pee in the water.

Zach on the tree island.

Adri and Natalie finally caught up with us.

This is where the Kelly Park tube float ends.

Heading back.

On the other side of the canal.

They had a couple of these fish feeders.

The only alligator we saw all day.

Back by the canal. The kids wanted up on the tree. Dean chickened out when I picked him up. He then said he wanted to jump off the edge of the bank on the other side into a deep spot. I walked him over there and he chickened out so I threw him in. He cried, I'm a bad dad.