Sunday, February 8, 2015

Don’t Ever Stop by Dunnellon Florida……..Ever!

Click pictures to enlarge

The only reason we stopped by this area of Florida is because our friends Dan and Jeanie own a house here and we wanted to see them. During the summer they live on their ranch in north central North Dakota where they run a waterfowl/upland bird hunting operation. We have a link to their place on the right hand banner of our blog page.

Speaking of our blog page, I know many of our readers receive our posts through the “follow by email” section. Although you get all the posts, you don’t see the information on our side banners such as; Our Favorite Blogs, Links to our Favorite Places, or a link to Our YouTube Videos. There is also a comment section at the bottom of each post where readers can comment. We love to hear from those who are reading our blog, sometimes we wonder if anyone is reading it! Here is a link to our actual blog and I will try to remember to add a link on each post.

As I was saying, the only reason we stopped by was to see Dan and Jeanie. They bought a house down here last year to escape the cold North Dakota weather. They absolutely love this area and are afraid if I blog about it everyone will come here and it will become overrun with RV’ers and tourists. So, with that I will start my post on why you should never stop by Dunnellon Florida…..ever!
The Rainbow Springs River is one of the main attractions in the area and we went kayaking on it a couple of times.  We had a horrible time and as you can see from the pictures and the video I made of this trip, the river is filthy, dirty water and you can hardly see into the water. The banks and littered with garbage and there are no fish in the river. Again……no reason to ever go here.
 
Video of our river trips

Mullet
Cool underwater scenery

This guy was sunning itself in the weeds

 

The next day was equally as bad. Barb and Jeanie went to the zoo and did not see any cool animals while Dan and I went fishing and I did not catch Redfish, Sheepshead and Ladyfish, three fish species that I have never caught before. The sheepshead here are not at all like the sheepshead we have up north. These sheepshead are actually a very sought after table fare and have really weird teeth. After fishing, Dan and I returned to the house to find that Barb and Jeanie had stopped by a seafood shop and picked up 5#’s of stone crab claws and a ½ a bushel of Oysters. We shucked about ½ of the oysters flavored them and grilled them. The other ½ we cooked whole on the grill until they opened. The stone crab were boiled and eaten with drawn butter. It was a gluttony of seafood and the meal was horrible. Again, no reason to come here for the fresh seafood markets.
Some of the pictures from the zoo visit


Redfish

Ladyfish
Look how weird the teeth are on Sheepshead
One of the main things we wanted to do here was see the Manatees! Barb had been obsessed with manatees for years ever since we have been planning our fulltime life. She even has a cute little manatee dance that she does when she talks about them. I wanted to videotape it but she would not let me. Manatees are related to the elephant. Adults can weigh as much as 1,800#’s, live 60 year years old and be over 12 feet long! The babies are 3-4 feet long and weigh up to 70#’s at birth.  So how did our manatee adventure go? There are no manatees here at all, you cannot swim with them and we did not see any at all! Below is a short video of us not seeing any manatees at all.  There is certainly no reason to come here to see manatees.
 Video of our trip
This guy was my buddy


 
An Osprey we saw along the way
We got some fishing in on our Manatee adventure too. Jeanie was a little cold!
On our last night here we went out to dinner and a bar with a live band. The food sucked and music sucked making for a horrible evening. We did not have a good time drinking, eating and enjoying the good company. There is no reason to come here for the food and entertainment.
Here's the 4 of us having a horrible time
The Rainbow Springs State Park is very nice and clean. There are a number of nice sites for big rigs. We had site #20 but #'s 7,8,9,10, 18, 19 21 & 22 were also very nice.


On a serious note, last week a reader and frequent commenter said that it looks like we are on our honeymoon. There is no doubt in my mind that this is true. This week Barb and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary and I can honestly say that our love for has continued to grow throughout the years. In some ways I feel like this is the first anniversary of our new life. I can only imagine what the next 29+ years will bring!

Postscript to Dan and Jeanie (no one else should read further)…….True to my word I did not write one positive thing about Dunnellon.  I think I successfully portrayed your area in a manner that no one will want to come there. You live in one of the most beautiful areas we have seen. There is so much to do that we only hit a portion of it.Thanks for the great time and we will definitely be back!

31 comments:

  1. Hmmm.... by the way you have described this area, we will certainly not come to visit... probably just pass it by altogether... won't even think about throwing a line in the water, or visiting Rainbow Springs State Park, or anything else... ;-)

    Thanks for the good advice!

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    1. Well if you do get out this way and decide to visit, don't say that I did not warn you!

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  2. Thanks for the warning. We'll be sure to never explore this horrible area. We hope your next stop will be more enjoyable. :-)
    Safe travels!

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    1. Well it certainly could not be much worse! Actually, we just arrived at the boondocking rally and looking forward to a great week!

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    2. Say Hello to everyone for us!

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  3. What awesome videos!! These are the first videos someone has posted that I actually watched through. I love all that underwater life. The water there is just beautiful. The videos were wonderful. Swimming with the manatee must have been a blast. I know we had an amazing time kayaking with the manatee. We will make sure we never visit this terrible town when we return to FL one day:)

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    1. Thank you! I try to keep them short and interesting, We did have a blast swimming with them! There are a lot of USFW volunteers and officers there to make sure you follow the rules

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  4. Yep! You guys suck! That sheepshead fish looks like it swallowed someone's dentures. Enjoy the rally and be sure and post pics.

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    1. I think this sheepshead went to the same dentist I did down in Mexico!

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  5. So sorry that your stay there was so horrible! I'm pretty sure I saw that sheepshead fish crossing the the border to Los Algodones, I think it was to have his teeth scaled.

    This post had me laughing Jim, very funny!

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    1. Aren't those the weirdest teeth on a fish you have ever seen? I am told that if you get bit by them it is an experience you will not soon forget!

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  6. LOL..chuckling here..I was going to also say that Sheepshead looked like he had dentures..bad ones at that! Been there done that :) I enjoy reading your blog..and seeing your photos ..almost as much as I enjoy my son Scott's blog!
    Cheers, Carol

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    1. P.S. Glad you enjoyed my comment about "looking like you were on Honeymoon". I had to go back and make sure it was I who made the comment, and no one else had said the same before I commented.
      Happy 29thth anniversary..you are living your dream..and that is a GOOD thing. :)

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    2. Yup, it was you! I am glad you enjoy our blog, it sounds like Scott and Detra are enjoying their dream as well!!!!!!

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    1. Okay, now that made me laugh! I should have responded.... "Who? Never heard of Mr. Ed, is that an old TV show?" But in reality, it was one of my favorite comedies when I was a kid!

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  8. Ok, you have definitely outdone yourself!! Those videos were truly terrible! What a fantastic time you didn't have! I can't wait to see what awful things you do next!

    PS. The Salt Lick was also the most horrible food we've had here in TX ;-)

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    1. It is going well here at the rally. Today is a rain day so everyone is hunkered down in their rigs. Hopefully you did not have to wait in line too long at Salt Lick.

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  9. It was an hour wait, but we brought our own drinks (that's allowed) and spent time in the wine room, tasting. We went to the original location? HUGE place!

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  10. Love your blog! My husband and I are want-to-be-fulltime-rvers, hopefully within the next year or so. Will definitely be following you around and we'll stay out of that icky part of Florida!

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    1. Thanks, we have been on the road just over 11 months and are absolutely loving it

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  11. And happy anniversary to you two. Enjoy the rally.

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    1. Thank you! It has been very informative and we are meeting a lot of great people.

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  12. Greetings Barb & Jim - Happy Anniversary! I enjoy reading about your adventures. I'm glad you are enjoying your new lifestyle. Those of us that are still working and in winter weather are envious. Too bad that last stop was not scenic or fun. Safer travels and keep having fun!

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    1. Thanks Cathy! It sounds like the winter up there is not nearly as brutal as last year. Even so we are enjoying the sun here in Florida.

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  13. Looks like you had some beautiful scenery on your trip out west. Glad to hear that you made it out there. It was fun seeing Barb at the office again. Take care!

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  14. I lived on the Withlacoochee river where the Rainbow river meets. This video and monologue has only touched the surface of the beauty of this area. The people of the area are committed to preserving the natural wonders of the springs and it's valuable and diverse wildlife. Thank you so much for bringing back my childhood. This kind of experience has shaped me into the person I am today, and I am truly thankful!

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    1. I don't think everyone got my tongue-in-cheek humor but this is an absolutely beautiful area. We look forward to visiting again!

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  15. Hilarious! I grew up in Dunnellon (my wife grew up in Crystal River), so I was shocked that you were dissing my hometown and was prepared to strike back when I opened the link! Glad you had a good time. I'll be looking forward to your future adventures.

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    1. Ha! Glad you liked the post. That area is truly a beautiful and magical place!

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