Sunday, March 1, 2015

Fishing in 'bama

Click Pictures to Enlarge

Leaving Fort Myers we headed north to the Osceola National Forest where we spent a couple of days at Ocean Pond campground. We had hoped to get some kayaking in but the weather did not cooperate as it turned windy and colder. Instead we went for a few walks, did some geocaching and read books. It may be hard to believe but it had been a couple of weeks since we had any "down time" to just sit and read. While we were there we mapped out our trip to Elkhart Indiana where we needed to be on the afternoon of March 3rd. Plenty of time to get there but we wanted to make one 3 day stay in Alabama. In order to do that we needed to shorten up a few other days and lengthen our driving days.

With plan in hand we continued our journey north and spent one night in Eufaula Alabama at Lakepoint State Park. It rained almost all day during our travels and all through the night. I don't know how much rain they got but the entire campground was flooded with 3-6" of water. The next morning when we woke up the rain had stopped but it was still pretty wet when we headed out.

Very wet!

Our next stop was one we had been looking forward to for some time. We have written about Steve and Joan several times in the past, well Joan has a brother (Jim) who lives in Eastaboga Alabama and said he would love it if we stopped by for a few days of fishing and relaxing on the Coosa River. So we were off to Eastaboga to meet someone we have never met before and moochdock on their river property. "Don't worry" Joan said, "you will love Jim and his family".  Several hours later we pulled up in front of their house in Eastaboga. After a short introduction and visit, their son Matt jumped in our truck to show us their place on the river. It was a great spot with 100 feet of frontage on the Coosa River. We pulled in, set up and visited with Matt. Jim arrive with their basset hound Hank. Soon after, Jim's wife Kathleen arrived as did their other son Jacob along with his fiancĂ©e Katie. The seven of us went to dinner that night and spent the weekend together fishing, eating and hanging out by the fire.
Check out Jim's awesome fire pit and mobile chair set up!
The weather was not ideal but we did not let that stop us from fishing and having fun. The snow that they had received earlier that week was slowly melting and the fires kept us warm. Saturday Jim fired up the smoker and cooked up some killer ribs and chicken.  The first day of fishing Kathleen, Jim, Barb and I went out. Jim was telling us what a good fisherman Kathleen was and true to form she boated a nice crappie within minutes of dropping the anchor. The next day Jim, Jacob and I were on the water by 7:30 and managed to get some really nice crappies and a couple of striped bass for our efforts. That afternoon, we cleaned the fish and had a fish fry along with cheesy grits, hush puppies and topped off with an awesome blueberry cobbler!

A cool shot Barb took in the area

Barb with a nice slab crappie

Jim and Jacob headed down the river
The entire family was incredibly nice, even though we had just met them, they treated us like long time friends and we had a great time meeting and hanging out with them for the weekend. A huge thank you to Jim, Kathleen, Matt, Jacob and Katie from Barb and I!!!!!!

The whole family, Jacob, Katie, Kathleen, Jim (with Hank) and Matt
Now it is time to continue north into snow country. Although we are not looking forward to the cold and snow, but we are looking forward to seeing our friends and family.

13 comments:

  1. That’s what's so awesome about this lifestyle. Meeting like minded people for the first time that soon become life long friends!
    Safe travels!

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  2. Well I think I did say my brother was an Alabama redneck didn't I? The chair proves it! His fire pit is pretty cool. Glad you had a good time.

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    1. I totally loved the chairs, word has it that anyone who laughs at the chairs can never sit in them!

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  3. What a great experience with a warm, welcoming family!

    Safe travels north, you two. As you saw in my post, Edwardsburg has lots of snow, and they are a stone's throw from Elkhart. We saw a lot of RV transports heading north last week, so spring must be coming!

    Jim

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    1. Thanks Jim, we have been watching the weather. Today looks good so we are hoping to knock out the majority of the 10 hour drive hopefully missing rush hour in Nashville and Indianapolis.

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    2. We made it to Elkhart! We had planned on only driving 1/2 way yesterday but looking at the weather they were calling for freezing rain followed by snow so we bit the bullet and drove 13 hours yesterday so we did not have to drive in any of that stuff.

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  4. How nice of Joan's family to take such good care of you two but I am not surprised at all knowing Joan:)
    Love that Chair!!! Hank is so cute:) Glad you had some success with the fishing:)

    Good luck with your travels to the north country!! Stay warm;)

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    1. I think the staying warm part is going to be tough, woke up this morning and it was in the low 20's. We also ran out of propane sometime in the night but luckily I had another tank handy!

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  5. I LOVE the fire chairs! Looks comfy! I'm jealous you got to do some fishing. It's been months for me. Maybe while we're in AZ for the month we'll get on the water. What a nice family to take such good care of you. Like other said though, "like minds" :-) Drive slow and please keep the windows closed if the roads are bumpy ;-) I hope you guys make it up there without having to drive in a lot of snow and wind!

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    1. It was good to get on the water, it had been a couple of weeks. Drove up to Elkhart yesterday, the rig is in the shop now and is a complete mess! See a thorough wash in our future!

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  6. Glad the long trip went well. Fish fry, firepits and new friends are the best!

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  7. Glad you guys made it OK. It was snowing to beat the band in Michigan on Tuesday morning, and I wondered how you were doing in Indiana. Not exactly the best weather to tow a 5th wheel. Spring is coming!

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