War Breaks Out, Donkeys Fly: A Typical MetalDad TR!

[MetalDad 33]

Now that the war was over, the dog relaxed a little, and I was reunited with the family, it was time to check out the rest of the park.

Meahwhile, Ben was still furiously texting me with fishing questions.

I sent him this!

This bridge was built by hand in the 30’s.

It was suspended by cables.

Let that sink in… 80 year old cable!

It was also not very wide, certainly it was not built with today’s average girth in mind!

This is the Santa Fe River.

It passes through the park, and at one point goes underground at a place called River Sink.

It travels 3 miles underground then, pops back up at a place called River Rise.

Don’t fall out of the canoe, right?

John II finds the steps under the bridge.

Some more shots of the river.

These shots are the beginning of one of the several hiking trails.

But, since we didn’t want fried guts, and hadn’t eaten yet, and had no water, we headed back towards camp.

Gracie took a shot of me coming back over the bridge.

This sign is the same on both sides, and it was a tough shot because the sun was getting low in the sky.

Good luck reading it!

I tried to get some loop shots to give some perspective.

From the entrance.

To the left is the first site, the right side is where it starts to go uphill.

This is the next little rise.

It did this three or four times so that when you get to our site, we were actually up on a hill.

Big deal, right?

This is Florida.

The closest we come to a hill is the odd dune here and there!

We were starving, but only an hour shy of the big potluck get together.

So what else do you do?

We cleaned up the site a bit, prepared our food for the gathering, packed the mini-cooler.

Then, Annie yaks!

Headache.

A bit dehydrated.

The lack of humidity threw us all off our game.

So MetalWife stayed behind with the youngest, the rest carried on!

Me, the two oldest, and Josie!

The campground had an empty site by the comfort station, and they let us use it as a gathering spot.

Here are some photos of the Saturday gathering/potluck.

I couldn’t resist taking her picture back!

And him!

Everyone started taking pictures of people taking pictures.

Look in the background, you’ll see gifts on a table.

We get several sponsors to donate goods for the event, and some are given as door prizes. We won a washer toss game.

Here’s some shots around the site.

The beer was starting to kick in. Some of these are blurry, but they looked just fine when I took’em!

The campground host was quite helpful, so they invited him to join.

He brought his guitar.

Ever see the film Role Models? Reminds me of that scene.

“I hate camping. Camping blows. It's dirty, and I don't like sleeping on rocks. There's always a guy with an acoustic guitar that doesn't quite know how to play it.”

Cut to the camping scene

Kumbaya, my... (fumbles through the chords)

Wait. I know it. Kumbaya, You know. Wait. I know it. Wait. Kumbaya, my Lord

No. Wait. Oh, yeah, I got it. This is it.

After eating a ton of great food, sharing a little fellowship, we headed back to camp.

Annie had come back around.

I took the scooter out, but it was running out of juice.

Then I did perhaps one of the dumbest things I’ve done… since my last Fort trip.

Remember that bit with the ranger/security/cart?

This time was dumber.

Way dumber.

As I said, the scooter was out of juice.

Josie needed a good run.

So….

I tied her leash to the handle bars and had her pull me around the loop.

Two things to remember. No three…

One, she was antsy, anxious, and 49 lbs of pure puppy muscle!

Two, there was nothing between me and the ground but ¾ inch of flip-flop!

Three, since my site was at the top of the hill, we had to head DOWN in either direction.

We were flying.

Way faster than the thing goes on it’s own power.

As long as it’s going straight!

We passed our friends site, and I saw them through the blur cracking up laughing as I started to yell.

Then, we hit a steep drop in the road.

The flip-flop skid marks lasted the length of two and a half camping sites.

The dog must have seen a squirrel or something.

That’s when a sudden turn occurred.

I bailed, and Josie dragged the scooter off into the woods.

Holy crap.

We somehow worked our way back up the hill to the campsite for a well-deserved rest.

Our friends came by for a variation on the smores concept.

A giant marshmallow with a hunk of chocolate inserted, roasted over the fire, and eaten like that, no crackers!

Last two photos of the night!

The family headed off to bed.

My friends from the group invited me down to hang out at their site for a bit.

I had no beer left.

They said "don’t worry, we’ll hook you up."

FAmous last words

Enter the blue agave.

Why I drank tequila, I will never know…

I can tell you that it made packing up (waking up for that matter) a tough go of it.

Nothing a little Egg McMuffin can’t fix.

Sunday morning, we packed and departed, took another route home, listened to the new Mumford & Sons record on the way.

We had a great weekend, looking forward to the spring rally.

But now, I have to pack, as we head out for another adventure tomorrow!

See ya’ real soon!

[anolefan 8]

Great update and great report!

I laughed out loud when reading about the scooter ride.

Can't wait for your next report.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[SCTigerCock 171]

Why I drank tequila, I will never know…

I can tell you that it made packing up (waking up for that matter) a tough go of it.

Nothing a little Egg McMuffin can’t fix.

Preach on MD, Preach on!!!!

LOL about the scooter being pulled by Josie. Brings brack memories of my late Doberman Clemmy and a kids regular scooter. She could pull and pull, but like you the turning was a ...........

[stefa70 205]

:lmao1:

I would have paid an admission to see your high speed scooter run!

Those camp pictures are phenomenal! I'm sure the blur occurred in the upload process.

Another great MD family weekend! Thanks!

[fortpartyof4 108]

You had better double check YouTube to be sure no one posted a video of a half drunk Dad on a scooter being dragged through a state park by a puppy!

Come to think of it, if someone did catch it on video, you could probably make a tidy little profit!

I laughed at the canoe comment. That would be some swim! Creepy though. Those flooded subways in NYC came to mind.

In college, we called it "ta kill ya". And boy did it!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Awesome trip. And love the PJ's

[MetalDad 33]

Enjoying your TR! The reenactment was interesting, hope your shoulder's okay!

All is well, thanks, ready to get it going again, packing the dog and the scooter for a 4-day trip!

That baby gate made me laugh.

Me too. It set the tone not to take it too seriously!

Me too.

Baby gates, baseball hats and basketball hoops :)

I also thought the look on the faces from the crowd were interesting.

It was interesting to say the least. we were somewhere between Dances With Wolves and Duck Dynasty.

Gee, come late to party and you can't be the first to comment on a baby gate....

Sorry about the shoulder.

Did I miss the blue agave?

Why is it always booze related with you...and me?

I had to LOL at the Brady Bunch comment. My kids watched that episode today. Yes, I am raising themon the classics! :D

Looking forward to more (I think).

I love me some Brady Bunch. I came from a big family (, so I can relate. Plus they camped in a popup.

Oh, I missed commenting on the Brady Bunch.

That is one of my favorite episodes too.

I have always wanted to put beans in my flashlight.

TCD

I didn't even like beans as a kid, but I always thought that they would be awesome in one of those old school silver Everready flashlights.

I might go to the dollar store, get a bunch of cheap flashlights and serve some Bush's Bobby & Cindy style!

Great update and great report!

I laughed out loud when reading about the scooter ride.

Can't wait for your next report.

It's funny til someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious. Reading back on my TR's, I realize how irresponsible I am. Ya' know that "Don't tell mom" commercial? That's so me...

Preach on MD, Preach on!!!!

LOL about the scooter being pulled by Josie. Brings brack memories of my late Doberman Clemmy and a kids regular scooter. She could pull and pull, but like you the turning was a ...........

I'm really enjoying having a big dog. She's great camping. Just as naughty as me, and she too pees in the woods!

:lmao1:

I would have paid an admission to see your high speed scooter run!

Those camp pictures are phenomenal! I'm sure the blur occurred in the upload process.

Another great MD family weekend! Thanks!

We need to organize the Spartacus Fiend Invitational Scooter Dog race around the Fort. Down the WL trail and back. Winner buys (my dog is too easily distracted!)

[MetalDad 33]

You had better double check YouTube to be sure no one posted a video of a half drunk Dad on a scooter being dragged through a state park by a puppy!

Come to think of it, if someone did catch it on video, you could probably make a tidy little profit!

I laughed at the canoe comment. That would be some swim! Creepy though. Those flooded subways in NYC came to mind.

In college, we called it "ta kill ya". And boy did it!

I knew it was trouble when the tequila bottle was plastic, the brand name was Tortilla, and they said they lost it in their old camper several years ago, but found it when they went to sell it. I'm a dumbass.

Awesome trip. And love the PJ's

Thanks. I wear them on the 4 cold days we have each year. This is still the only place where you use your camper's heat and AC on the same day.

We're heading to Ft. DeSoto Park for 4 days of camping with our group from church.

Yes, I'm the MetalDad, and yes, I do go to church, but we're on the other side of the CG from the other 39 families, they're scared of me.

Something about the devil's music...

I should have a good TR out of it...if you're interested. It's a Fort trip...just a different Fort!

[SCTigerCock 171]

Why is it always booze related with you...and me?

Because we are beer/booze connoisseurs and officioinados, not the teatotaler type? :beer:

Or was this one of those rhetorical questions? :rofl2:

We need to organize the Spartacus Fiend Invitational Scooter Dog race around the Fort. Down the WL trail and back. Winner buys (my dog is too easily distracted!)

Am SO IN! But can we do it on a golf cart? Cause if we use a scootter that is like exercise..... :clint:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Just caught up, and I'm still laughing.

Great stuff, MD!

Like everyone else, I loved the puppy and scooter story.

Why don't you work on your technique at home?

If you plan on doing that, let me know when you will be out. I'll video it this time for everyone to see.

Have fun at the other Fort this weeekend.

Perfect camping weather!

Let me know if you need anymore Tequila in a plastic bottle. I have one in my pantry that my late Father-in-law gave me several years ago. It had been in his garage for several years before then. That stuff will put a hurtin' on you.

TCD

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Just caught up, and I'm still laughing.

Great stuff, MD!

Like everyone else, I loved the puppy and scooter story.

Why don't you work on your technique at home?

If you plan on doing that, let me know when you will be out. I'll video it this time for everyone to see.

Have fun at the other Fort this weeekend.

Perfect camping weather!

Let me know if you need anymore Tequila in a plastic bottle. I have one in my pantry that my late Father-in-law gave me several years ago. It had been in his garage for several years before then. That stuff will put a hurtin' on you.

TCD

Save that Tequila for SIlvia. She will be sure to want to move to Florida after that.