Scouting mission

The map is not the territory -even a really good satellite Google map.

That's why my lovely wife and I spent a day checking out parks and boat ramps. It wasn't a day for being on the water due to high winds and a thunderstorm moving in. We drove over 100 miles (mostly burning veggie instead of diesel).

We found three ramps that would work for us. One of them looked kinda sketchy from all on-line sources. Once we got there we were pleasantly surprised. The neighborhood was nice and the park appeared in excellent shape. The boat launch was unpaved, but checking it out in person revealed it was usable. The best part? No fees and overnight parking is allowed. There are very few boat ramps like that in Florida. It's only good for shallow draft boats, but that's what we have with us this year.

The other ramps were $5 and $6 a day. The $5 ramp is near an island were we could boat out to and camp for free.

We took our time. The two of us had a relaxed lunch at a restaurant. My lovely wife got lost in a consignment store for a while. Later the two of us lingered over coffee and discussed future plans. Every year we do something different. Sometimes it's a little different. Sometimes it's a lot different.

Of course, the amount of money we can spend on adventure will have some bearing on exactly what we do. Most winters it doesn't cost us anymore to travel than it would to stay home and heat the house. Northern winters are expensive.

Right now the thing to do is to see what adventures we can have this winter.

-Sixbears