Tin Can Tourists get-to-gather…..1.17.14

We pulled in here yesterday….moved about 6 times…trying to get sunshine in the camper since there were no electric hookups. They were stringing electric to as many campers as possible so we moved again. This time only partly in the sun…somehow we always manage to be by the tallest tree in the area…whether on land or sea.

1999 Scamp with a 1949 Hudson for a tow vehicle (ours)

This club is for vintage motorhomes and trailers…ours isn’t old enough to be considered “vintage” but the ‘49 Hudson is. The Scamp hasn’t changed much over the years so most wouldn’t even notice.

How about this one? 1989 16’ Casita …The brothers that made the Scamp parted company and one started making this one….they look alike on the outside…but this one sure makes ours look like a plain Jane and it’s amazing what that 3 extra feet can make. This one has a shower.

1967 Yellowstone Cavalier….restored inside to original. It is a beauty.

1956 Airstream Bubble…tow vehicle is a’53 Chevy Suburban Carryall

1955 Trotwood Cub

1962  Shasta

1986 SunLine

1964 Serro Scotty Sportsman

1962 Airstream Globe Trotter

1955 Wally Byam Holiday

White Water Retro

1970 Williams Craft

1965 Arrow Little Chief

1953 Little Caesar     Lawrence Perry reskined this plus a lot of other work on it.

1978 GMC Motor Home

Airstream Bambi II

1963 Shasta

1973 Argosy

1948 Spartan Manor

1957 Airfloat…This1956 4 door Packard was made into a pickup to be used as a tow vehicle. The rear half of the doors still work….giving access to storage.

1962 Airstream Globe Trotter.  Tow vehicle is a 1936 Chevy Pickup

Mini Teardrop camper.    Tow vehicle is a 1957 Isetta

1977 GMC Motorhome

1975 FMC

I think I was able to get a picture of each camper or motorhome at the gathering. If I missed one..I apologize.

Saturday they have “open house”. The public is welcome to come and see all the vintage campers and motorhomes…inside and out.

Maybe a visit here will inspire someone to “save” an old camper they’ve seen sitting in a field somewhere going to waste. It is amazing what room some of these small campers have, and each has been done to suit those who will be using it.

Mill Dam Lake Resort, Silver Springs, FL 1.15.14

This is a nice campground and it is also a member of Passport America. As a member you get campsites for half price. Do a lot of camping? It is worth joining. Our membership has already paid for itself. There are some restrictions on the 1/2 price days…no holidays and some campgrounds only give it Mon thru Thurs…but we can work around that.

We set up camp…and Jim put up the “tent”. It is a perfect fit.

We plan to get an awning for the camper. The canopy takes up a lot of room in the trunk. But for now…it is working great.

This puts the size of our camper in perspective…..small. 

At 4 am we felt a big gust of wind and one leg banged the camper so we jumped out of bed and took it down. Just as we finished the rain came in a big blast…rained for awhile….no more wind…and then quit. Oh well…better than having it come undone and tearing up the camper or car.

Babe spends her day on the table top and Raisin in her bed under it.

At night Babe is moved to the stove top cover and the box under the table becomes support for the bed extension. We swivel it long ways and Raisin has the left side of the space for her bed. Takes a bit of moving and shuffling to get things done but so far it is working.

We leave here tomorrow for Micanopy, FL and the Tin Can Tourist meet. Should be fun seeing all those old campers. No electric hookups so we’ll see how “dry” camping turns out. We do have a generator for the heater if needed…and most likely will. It is supposed to be down in the low 30’s tomorrow night.

We’re “Scampin” 1.12.14

Until I decide whether to start a blog dedicated to the Scamp and camping…I’ll post our travels here.

Loaded up and ready to go. This will be our first major trip full of supplies and with the generator on the back. Jim raised the spare tire and welded a rack to hold it. It will give us power when we are not at a campground. The Yamaha 2000 will also run the roof air. Big surprise to us…but it is only a 6700 btu unit. Perfect for this little camper.

Our plans are 3 nights at the campground in Silver Springs..(Mill Dam Lake Resort) to visit Mike and Karen who are down from NY.

Then 3 nights at the Tin Can Tourist rally in Micanopy, FL. No electric hook ups there so generator might come in handy.

We decided to head to Carl’s. (Jim’s brother). It will break up the trip and give us a chance to check out everything.

A stop at the local Walmart for a few supplies….a stop to top off the gas tank and we are on our way.

The Scamp towed beautifully….no sway even out on the highway at 60+ mph. Jim is happy with the new rear end gears he installed in the Hudson.

We’ve spent a lot of time in small places (over the road truckers, small boats etc) so we’ve learned how to work around another person. You take turns.

12.29.13

Weather was very nice last night. Windows open all night. No croaking or singing frogs though…must be hibernating in the mud or something.

I did have a cute little tree frog on the foredeck. Don’t know if he traveled with us or dropped from a tree that we sat under for awhile.

We headed for Butcher’s Bend at G 109, and decided to take a side trip. Dropped anchor and had breakfast.

These American Coots  kept an eye on us while we ate.

This Little Blue Heron posed for a picture…normally I have very little luck capturing these guys. They are pretty skittish, but we were anchored and he didn’t realize what I was up to.

After breakfast we hauled up the anchor and completed the trip around the island. Don’t remember having been back in here before…but most likely did when cruising with Larry and Diane. We’ll put this on our list of interesting anchorages.

Jim spotted these cute little guys.

They weren’t much more than 3 or 4 ft long.

You could tell they had never been hunted….Jim slowed down…circled around for a few more shots and they didn’t seem worried at all. A big gator would have been gone in a flash.

Here are some “one” legged Ibis.  Jim gets a kick out of these birds …they are always standing on one leg.

Back on the river we spotted this gator sunning at the base of a palm tree. Another tree that will eventually end up in the river as the wakes from the big boats wash out the shore around the base.

Our plans were to pull out on Monday, but once at Butcher’s Bend Jim decided to call our neighbor and see if our road had been paved. It hadn’t ….and it is a dead end.  Guess we’ll pull out today and make sure we can get home before they get started.

The rain held off until we had the boat loaded…..rained all the way home….quit so we could unload all our gear.

It was a great trip. Much nicer sleeping when it’s cool but the windows have to be closed and all the frogs and night sounds are gone.

Our next little jaunt will be with the Hudson and the Scamp. Need to road test it and visit some NY friends who are down for the winter.

12.28.13

Looked like rain this morning but by mid day it had cleared off and was sunny with a nice breeze.

On the way to Blue Springs we spotted these wild Turkeys.

They blended in so well with the Cyprus Knees that we almost missed them.

This Cormorant just caught dinner.

These are enjoying the sunshine with a few turtles.

Since the day turned out so nice we decided to stop at Blue Springs and see the Manatees. We were there fairly early and had plenty of room to beach.

They are easy to see in the clear spring water.

Looks like several young ones here. They were having fun playing together.

By the time we’d gotten back to the boat there were boats waiting for a spot to beach, so we backed out to let someone else have a chance to go ashore.

We headed up to the canal that leads to the Hontoon River. We did get to see a couple small gators.

We’ll anchor on the Hontoon River for the night. Getting warmer. Fired up the generator and heated water for showers. Sometimes roughing it isn’t so bad. (our shower is outside on the rear deck). We can put up shower curtains for privacy…but that doesn’t help with the air temperature. This shower was much nicer that the one a few nights ago.

Even got to have a window open all night.

12.27.13

Another cloudy morning but the weather is warming up.

Part way up Blue Creek we spotted this Limpkin. We haven't seen many this year.

This is Diane’s favorite bird. It is really very pretty and hard to see because it blends in with it’s surrounding so well.

Back on the St Johns River we decided to take another side trip….St. Francis Dead River. We haven't been up here since we traveled with Larry and Diane. We had the Adventure Craft (Lingerawhile) and they were aboard their Nimble Nomad (River Nomad).

This is all that is left of the “SS Minnow” guys.

An old wooden boat was left here…and someone had spray painted “SS Minnow” on it.

Another year or two and there will be no sign it even existed.

This looks like a shell mound. River Nomad beached on one side and Lingerawhile on the other. Great place to walk the dogs. Sure miss boating with you two, Larry and Diane.

We are anchoring at Drigger Island. Anchored there with the Big Duck, Ugly Duckling and Avitoon when we were cruising together.

A Manatee swam in ahead of us. I was hoping they would come visit but they turned around and swam right past.

I think there were 3 of them. Here’s the other 2. Guess they were heading to Blue Springs and warmer water.

Much nicer tonight….even had a chance to enjoy our wine on the rear deck. Have not had to put up the screens. Too cold for the mosquitos right now.

12.26.13

The wind blew most of the night but the anchor was well set and we had a nice night with water bubbling under the hull.

Shell Island (Lundgen) used to be a popular camping spot. Over the years we rarely anchored behind it without having a pontoon boat beached on the back side…with a fire going at night or campers in tents on the island. This year we haven’t seen any sign that it is being used at all. Of course, it means no trash left over but it seems a shame that no one camps there anymore.

We decided to head up Blue Creek and anchor near “Bubba’s” Island. It was overcast in the morning.

Jim had Captain’s duty…..while I cooked ham and eggs for breakfast.

I believe this is a Great Egret. Beautiful birds and many along Blue Creek.

“Bubba’s Island”. When we were thru here last it as almost underwater but the river is down at least a foot now.

Later in the day the sun came out…but Bubba never did. Bubba is a huge gator…..named by the locals….and one of the tourist attractions. There were at least 3 tour boats that came by and we saw more boats on Blue Creek this afternoon…than we did on the river for two days.

This Great Blue Heron spent most of the afternoon on this patch of weeds…grooming and fishing.

An Osprey.

Late afternoon the wind picked up and the weeds started floating in.

An Egret and a male Anhinga.

Bubba never did appear. He must have found a good sunning spot when the water was up and his island covered. Oh well….maybe next time. This turns out to be one of our favorite anchorages.

This was the closest to a day off for Jim. We were anchored by mid day and spent the afternoon reading, boat watching and he even had a short nap.

Too windy and cool for sitting on the rear deck tonight….