September 12, 2010

Axle Creek to Emanuel Bend

Another night of thunder and lightening and no rain…but the breeze was welcome.
We now have a Coleman coffeemaker. Just like a drip coffeemaker but for camping stoves. Works great on the alcohol stove. Only problem is it’s size for storing..but we’ll work around that.
While we were enjoying a hot cup of coffee,  I spotted a very large gator cruising the area. I wasn’t able to get a picture of him. He cruised over to the weed bed, along shore, and started to growl.
Next time out we will anchor here and perhaps spend a day so we can get some shots of him. I guess by now you all realize how much I like watching them. I like to watch all wildlife…even spiders..which really give me the willies.  The only dead ones are the ones that come in the house. I have a big garden spider right outside the screen room window where I have my coffee every morning…..as long as he’s outside..he’s safe. I am very careful of it’s web when raising and lowering the blinds in the afternoon. (they are outside).
A few minutes later this smaller one came by.
The batteries were getting low so Jim started the generator while I hauled up the anchor….
We headed “up river”……there were a lot of boats on the water. We were only a few miles from High Banks where there is a launch ramp. We noticed  a boat with the cover off the outboard…and we  stopped to see if they needed a tow.  They were slowly moving with a trolling motor and we convinced them it wouldn’t be an inconvenience to tow them…..we don’t travel fast anyways.
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Very nice couple…they tried to give us money for gas..but I managed to slip it back to them with a boating card….tossed them their line and moved on. We’d only towed them a couple of miles…..but we appreciated the thought. Thanks anyways guys!!
As usual…it was HOT again today.  We are always surprised to see how many people swim in the river…020cs
This is a shallow spot on one of the bends….they have lawn chairs and unbrellas set up. I guess the gators are smart enough to avoid a group of boats and people.
As we approached our anchorage at Emanuel Bend, there was a deck boat with 3 people in the water cooling off. They climbed aboard and left. The timing was great…that was the spot we wanted…near some tall trees and hopefully….a bit of early shade.
I noticed a dark cloud just over the tree tops and then it started to thunder and lightening….but no rain…
The view from the bow looking forward…
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and to the rear were completely different. And they were taken seconds apart. Just long enough for me to turn and aim the camera.
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The cool breeze the storm brought with it was just what we needed to finish the day.