Itchy Nippy Dippers

 Hi all,
Seems the cold spell that is going on in the north has snuck in on us. The past two nights have been below freezing then it takes most of the day to warm up to 40 then back down again. I know we get no sympathy from our family and friends in Wisconsin, that would be a heat wave to them. Thankfully it looks like it shouldn't last to long. 
 Meanwhile back at the farm(Mandi's) we are planning on doing some tree planting soon. On Saturday we visited a garden center and came away with 5 fruit trees and some blueberry bushes.  She already had two pear trees and a couple small lime trees that are already producing fruit. It will be interesting to see how this goes and hopefully we will not need to attend any tree funerals.)
 Saturday we also did something exciting. We took part in the second annual Iche Nippy Dip at Ichetucknee Springs. Note- it is pronounced Itchy.

 This is Florida version of the polar plunge. Yeah, I know the springs are 72 degrees year round but at 10:00 am the air temp was around 60. They had about 50 people in attendance and all received a free tee shirt and hot cocoa after the dip. Well it was refreshing and didn't feel to bad after a bit. They then had a first time bath robe contest that we didn't plan for, maybe next year?
 Work has been busy through the holidays though we see a slow time coming with few reservations during the next few weeks. It also comes at a time when we have filled most all the volunteer sites. Our volunteer village is full for the first time- all four sites and another volunteer is in the main campground along with the camp host, seems like a good group of people.

We have a group fire ring in our area so another volunteer and I split some firewood for some fires to chat by. The park has nicely provided the wood and log splitter We also have discussed some pot lucks so this should all be fun.

Goodbye to the boys

Happy New Year!
 Have you all made that resolution that you're really going to keep? Good luck to you, we took a pass on that.
 We had a great holiday season being able to enjoy it with Mandi, Pat, and two of the grandsons. The boys and I got in a little kayaking and fishing. The river was very turbulent and dirty from the recent rains and made the fishing just casting practice, oh well still a good time.

Noah

Alex and Grandpa(me)

Alex

 On Saturday we took a two hour ride to Crystal River to do a glass bottom boat ride and snorkel with manatee. Mandi was trying to do this as a surprise but some questionable weather forecast forced her to let the cat out of the bag.
 The weather looked like it would hold up so off we went. Seems everyone else decided to do the same. The river was packed with kayaks, paddle boarders, and other outfitters. This seemed to aggravate the manatees as they were very scarce in the springs they normally use. We did see a few but most times the water was just to stirred up and murky to see clearly.

 Oh well, we got a nice refreshing swim in the 72 degree water and just fun spending time together.
 Sunday was the boys last day here and we got together to enjoy a great Packer victory over the Lions. We finished out the night with a bonfire. The boys then got up Monday and drove sixteen hours back to Wisconsin. We were happy the roads were clear for them as you just never know at this time of year.

 New Years eve found us at Mandi's for some cards and ringing in the new year. As we had to work on New Years day we didn't over indulge to much though once we finished work total relaxing was in order.
 The park has been busy, with most of the sites and cabins full during the holidays. They  had to close the boat launch due to high water. It is amazing to see how fast the river level comes up after the rain. 

These are a couple other shots of the fun with the boys. They made the ramp to get the goats to the second level and it worked-Sort of.)

Mandi, Alex, and Noah

Christmas fun

Hi all,
We hope you have had a joyous Christmas. We had a great one and were happy that we were able to spend it with some of the family. We had a nice Skype visit with the other kids and grandkids.

 We had a busy week starting a fun walk in Live Oak with Mandi and gransons Noah and Alex.
 Next was a drive to Tampa to enjoy a Packer victory.

On Monday we had no cabins to clean so we took the day off and visited a couple more state parks.
 First off was a Fanning Springs State Park, it holds a second magnitude spring popular for swimming and divers and gets winter visits from Manatees looking to bask in the 72 degree temp waters.

 Manatee Springs State Park located 55 mile south near Chiefland, Fla. It is a park just off the Suwannee River located by the magnitude one as you can guess Manatee Spring. This is a popular place that the manatees visit during winter months, on this day we only caught a glimpse of one fleeing to the river.

 We wanted to check this park out as we were first offered a host position there. We declined it because they did not have a full hook up site for us. That turned out the best for us as we are now only 8 miles from the daughter instead of 55.

 We all know it is a time to enjoy and cherish for more reasons than the gifts. We have been experiencing some sadness also at this time as we have learned Wendy's older brother Dave's health has worsened and he has been given a short time. He has had a rough go beginning with prostrate cancer, then throat cancers and now has a brain tumor. We pray for him and the family at this tough time.
 These last two pics are grandsons Isaiah and Lucas in Wisconsin recreating some famous Christmas movie scenes.

Ichetucknee Springs

 Hi all,
Thought I better get in a quick post before we all get super busy. Shopping is all done, cookies all made, and cards are in the mail we should be able to relax, ha.
 Two of our grandsons are driving down for the holidays and should be on the road about now. This is a big trip for the boys ages 20 and 16 and we hope all goes well. It will be so nice to have them here for Xmas.
 Our cabin schedule looks light during the next week which will give us more time off to spend with the kids. We also have taken off Sunday to make the drive to Tampa Bay for the Packer game.
 This past week we checked out another nearby state park, Ichetucknee(pronounced itchy-tucknee)Springs State Park.  It contains six springs of which one is a first magnitude spring named The Blue hole flowing 38 million gallons per day into a 6 mile river feeding into the Santa Fe River. It is a popular tubing river from Memorial to Labor Day and kayaking/canoes there after. Shuttles are run during the tubing season and rentals of canoes and such by nearby concessionaires.
  It is a day use only park with no campsites or cabins. The park offers hiking trails that Wendy and I enjoyed today.

 We found it to be a very pretty area and we actually plan to do a polar plunge there in Jan. I know you must think we are crazy- the water will only be 72 (its always 72).
 So though the weather(thankfully) will not give us a Christmas as we used to get in Wisconsin, having some family to spend it with will be treasured.
         We want to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Living Lively in Live Oaks

 Hi all,
Things keep flowing along at Suwannee River State Park. Our weather has cooled to around 60 during the day and 35ish at night, not to bad.
 We had a surprise visitor the other day. John Harker a coworker from Custer State Park dropped in on his way from WI to the Keys. He remembered that we were here and stopped by for a nice chat. We thought that was cool and reminded us of the nice people and friends we have made on our travels.
 Work has been slow and today we had no cabins going out so nothing for us to do, darn.) We made good use of the day and finished up our Xmas shopping yea!
 Wendy and Mandi have been busy making Christmas cookies. They have made 7 different kinds and have a few more left to do. I think she likes doing this?? They will be making cookie plates to pass out.
 This past weekend was a big weekend in Live Oak. They were having a Christmas on the Square. We were set to do a fun run/walk on Friday night but were the only ones who didn't know it was canceled because the hometown football team was in the playoffs. Oh well we took a walk and had dinner at one of the local restaurants. Let me tell you it was interesting and delicious.(Pigpen in pic).

 On Saturday was a big craft show with over 100 venders, a car show, and plenty of food being served. The weather cooperated nicely.

In the afternoon we got into some yard work at Mandi's. The weather was so nice we finished off with a bonfire and marshmallows.

                                          We capped off the week with a big Packer win.

Pat, Max, Mandi, and Dixie

Big Shoals State Park

Hi all,
It's been a slow week here at Suwannee as far as cabin use. Our week begins on Sunday and we cleaned 3, on Monday there was 2 and none until Thursday and then only 1. I know we will get some payback next week starting with all 5 on Sunday, so things go.
 So what do we do when there are no check outs? One day we cleaned ovens and porch fans of which each cabin has three. I also get the blower out and clear roads and such. One day we just cleaned the laundry room for about an hour then goofed off the rest of the day.
 The weather here has been awesome lately with highs in the upper 70's. That is above the normal and we should return to the 50's and 60's soon enough.
 One nice afternoon Wendy and I checked out another close by state Park. Big Shoals State Park. This park also situated along the Suwannee River has the notoriety of having the only whitewater in Florida. The Shoals is created by a (huge) 9 foot drop over a 1/4 mile area. At normal water levels it may produce a class III rapids.

 There is no camping in the park but it does have 28 miles of trails. There are designated horse trails, biking, and all can be walked. There is also a shorter paved bike trail that we will hit up on another day.
 This day we just took the 2-1/2 mile out and back trail to the rapids. It closely follows the river though at most times the view is blocked by heavy foliage including lots of saw palmetto.

 Wendy had done a search and came up with 31 state parks in a 100 mile radius of Live Oak we will have to step up our efforts if we are to see them all.