Ocala National Forest Trip Report

“Thanks again for the snickers Tex!!

mmmmmmmm....candy.”

“As for Gogo and Mallow, they were on their way thru to finish at the other end of the IAT in Canada and their trail angel, Flamingo was also there. I know Flamingo from the women's hiker list, but had never met her til then, it was Great!

The best part of the whole trip was the reaction out of Gojo when Mallo popped the top on the diet coke Flamingo had given her. Gojo recognized the sound as the Grand Opening of a brewsky and jumped up three feet from the log he was sitting on!! Oh, the pain on his face when he realized it was NOT a brewsky and only a lousy diet coke..ROFLMBO.

I am ready for OCALA round 2, but will prolly FLY this time instead of driving, since the Miata was returned to it's rightful owner..lol

Shoulda took the car and ran when I had the chance!

Thanks Y'all for a grand time and Om, just say hello to the FED-EX man tomorrow when he brings you your purse!!

Til the next trip!!

Tex”

“Thanks for the Snickers!

Glad you made it home okay, Tex.


Hey HPM -
My filter won't allow me to view yer photos - darn!

I haven't gotten my camera developed yet, but can't wait to check'em out. I should have a couple candidates for a framed enlargement to add to my Wall of Fame. That place is awesome.

Hey Flatlander -
My dad and step-mom are at the fish camp for a couple weeks. I don't know which lot they're at -
in fact they brought a new camper trailer that I haven't seen yet. I do know that they drove my dad's black Toyota Tundra 4x4, chrome tool bin, GA tag.
Go look'em up - they *might* give you a speck or two. Ray and Mary are their names...
They usually fish mornings. Afternoons, too - if it's not too windy.”

“Gojo I'm going to put the photos up on my site too but haven't done it yet. Maybe that will pass your filter. I'll let all of y'all know when I do.”

“I saw them fine, HPM, thanks for putting them up!

Mine are on a website too, but I am gonna make y'all wait because I am not happy with the formatting yet...

By the way, I copied your group photo, since Claudia didn't quite push the button all the way down when she used my camera...hope you don't mind.”

“Thanks HPM for the pictures, I'll get mine tomorrow and will scan them in for all y'all to look at. I showed some peeps here at work the snake and they were suitably impressed! (As well they should have been!!)

Tex”

“Great pictures. I recognize many of them becuase I've taken pictures from those same spots.”

“Beg, borrow, steal....whatever. Y'all are welcome to use the images.”

“"Hey Flatlander -
My dad and step-mom are at the fish camp for a couple weeks. I don't know which lot they're at -
in fact they brought a new camper trailer that I haven't seen yet. I do know that they drove my dad's black Toyota Tundra 4x4, chrome tool bin, GA tag.
Go look'em up - they *might* give you a speck or two. Ray and Mary are their names...
They usually fish mornings. Afternoons, too - if it's not too windy."
gojo
11:42:53 AM
02/08/02

That's cool. Small world. I just got my boat fixed so I am probably going out there Sat or Sun. I will try to look them up and say Hi. After all it's not that big an Island. Sorry to say, it is windy and going to get worse this weekend.”

“I awreddy have yer page bookmarked from the map post you did...


Do it, Flatlander -
They'd be happy to meet you. They're good folks...”

“Do it, Flatlander -
They'd be happy to meet you. They're good folks..."
gojo
01:16:09 PM
02/08/02

Afer all, they gave us Gojo to hike with.”

“awwwweeee group hug.”

“NO GROUP HUG!

(unless it involves om, tex, baby, aymee, belle, et al...)”

“How was your trip to the doktor?”

“Great photos HPM - thanks for posting them. I should be getting mine back today.

Fritz...I hope that you won't ever really be happy with your website's formatting...

Tex - I covet a G4 pack as well.”

“ More photos, with many similar to HPM's.”

“SWEET!

Cool photos Coop.”

“I got mine back today and will try and scan some in later on..we'll see how it goes...

Coop - great pictures!! I am starting to feel like a celebrity or something!! LOL

Tex”

“great trip reports and even better photos.

And for the all the Weirdos out there...I salute ya!!!”

“we aren't weirdos, we're creeps..and don't you forget it lest we sic a wolfbar on ya!

Tex”

“OK, here's my pics...

http://mclresource.com/onf/

I'm still fiddling with the pages, but the pics are there.

Big Coop -- you will notice one picture conspicuously absent, for now at least.”

“Oh, important note - if you click on the pics, you'll get the originals which are quite large. I plan to create intermediate size versions to put behind the small ones, but for now....you get to choose between really little and really big!”

“Great pics guys. It's nice to be able to faces with posts. Looks like it was a great time.”

“I've been reading about your hike, and have been talking to TexWW about it on icq. Sounds like you had a really good time! When I lived in Tampa, we used to spend many a weekend there. Canoeing and camping at juniper springs. Some of the best parts of Florida are there. I'm glad everyone had a nice time. It's a great time of year to be there!”

“Awesome pictures to add to your trip report Fritz. Your pictures are great, good color and clarity - what kind of camera was that you were using?

And thank you for your piture selection. I guess I can only say kind things about you from now on.”

“wow guys...great shots....Fritz...I am impressed :)
i have a few to add, we all seemed to have taken similar shots , a couple of different views i would like to share.... (i hope i got that right)

OM Shanti OM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~”

“Your stories were fun Sunday morning reading. I had TX pegged for a dark haired girl and was surprised to see a blondie. No wonder she's such a nut!! :)”

“Cool, more great photos!”

“Coop, I used a Kodak DC4800, I think it was on the 2 megapixel setting (I almost never use the whole 3.1.)

A few of the pictures I had to lighten using photo editing software. I find the biggest problem is pictures that are too dark. I need concentrate a little better (I wanted to say "focus" but...) on using the exposure adjustment. There's a dial on top of the camera that can adjust the exposure up or down from what the meter would have done automatically. But I usually forget to use it! Life without a brain, always an advanture.

Regarding the missing picture, what could you possibly say about me that isn't nice, anyhow? *dangling the missing picture and grinning threateningly*

(Of course "threateningly" is a word!)”

“I did not member that I am such a perty girl! BOL!”

“Thanks for the trip report and the pictures. I never realized Florida was so flat. And those hammocks are cool.”

“Flat? FLAT?

I kept saying, "let's stop for lunch at the next scenic vista."

We had a topo map with contour lines every 50 feet, but none of those lines were on the map.

We hiked maybe 22 miles in three days with a total vertical rise of about six feet.

And I got blisters because it was so flat. I was able to extend my stride to the point that I had front-to-back slippage of my feet inside my boots, that I don't normally get when I am walking in the hills...”

“hey fritz....you knew the gig when you signed up! :):)heh..maybe we should have visited the sinkhole so you could climb in and out of it for fun....”

“Just when you thought you saw enough, I finally loaded all mine in last night. Check these out

My pictures

Hope y'all enjoy them!”

“As sassy as I can be (who me?) I must be a blonde. I can get alot of mileage out of the dumb blonde scenario when I need to..lol

Yup, more great pictures Om and Fritz. My favorite is the one of all of us enjoying a "post hike" snack of junk food..ahh..nachos, chips and coke never tasted so good, huh y'all? ;-)

Tex”

“Hey woman, the link didn't work, for me anyway.”

“It worked for me, but lemme try again...

Ocala picture link”

“'jo done shaved and growed him a mullet!”

“Hey Gojo - Fritz says he's hot, there's too many bugs and his legs are tired.

More good photos Tex, I like the upward tree shot and the sunset.”

“Yo Rad, we missed you on this one.”

“Well, I guess that means the link worked the second time. I'm glad! I caught myself re-living the trip and smiling a stupid grin when I looked at the pictures again..

Man, they were some goooood times, right Sarabelle??

Tex”

“Doh! I HATE this filter...

Rad -
Mullet? Hehe... if you only knew the results of my visit to Great Clips last week...

Fritz -
Quit yer boo-hooin!”

“this trip certainly has been well reported and documented photographically!!
Tex, really nice job capturing the landscape...good eye! it is fun to replay the trip from everyones different angle :)
~~~~~~~~~”

“I hear you paid a visit to the island...
heard something about it being a "corny" encounter.
hehehee!

Thanks, man.”

“gojo - In all honesty, I have NO idea what you're talking about...yet, I have this strange reluctance to ask you to post the details here. Hmmm.....

?????”

“Ah, come on! Let's hear.”

“Fritz
Gojo meant to put Hey Flatlander in the title. That message was meant for me. His folks are staying at the lake in my town. I dropped them off some fresh corn. Fresh produce is grown here during the winter.

Gojo
I got to meet Mary, but the guys were out fishing. Nice lady. She said your brother was there. You need to come next time.”

“Oooops
/o%”

“Oh, I see...

Well, gojo, if it helps any....I'm the young handsome guy with the charming personality and laser wit.

Oh, that doesn't help?

OK, I'm the fool that was dissin your singin'.”

“Sarabelle stepped on a cactus.”