Swimming in a fresh water spring

One of the great things about JB is he shared my joy for running around and seeing as much stuff as I possibly could. So after canoeing the creek, he said hey, let's go check some springs. Of course, taking a look at this beautiful spring, I said, man, I gotta go jump in. So sure enough we did, and swimming above it (sorry you can't see much from the picture) we got right above it and swam down to feel the blast of crystal clear water coming straight up from the bottom. Couldn't be cooler than to have the chance, in February, to jump into crystal clear water and swim around.

Mr. Willy at Cross Creek

Oh man, now this one is special. I'll put a picture of a map in later so you know where it is, but this is Mr. Willy at Cross Creek, basically, it's not near anything. This guy knows a little something about playing the blues. This one is for Ro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUzDIfQt9sA

Canoeing down Juniper Creek

JB sat up with me the first night I arrived, (I had never met him and Sharon before, they're friends of friends from West Virginia) and asked how long I was planning on staying. Originally I was just going to spend the night and then head off for Miami, but he talked me into sticking around a few days and I'm so happy I did. Here's some pictures I took of us headed down Juniper Creek, a spring fed creek that runs for miles down through Ocala National Park.

Biking Razorback

There's an old quarry right behind JB and Sharon's place that JB and his friends have built a miles of trails and jumps on. They'd have big races there at Razorback, but the land's been bought and now we have to tresspass. Not the end of Razorback though, we still ride it. Here's some video of Garrett doing the Gap Jump. The next one after that is Garrett jumping down a 20-25 foot drop, the video just doesn't do it justice. Audio commentary by JB.

Building a solar powered automatic gate opener

JB and Sharon's friends got tired of getting out of their trucks to open and close the gate everytime, so they got them an automatic gate opener. It was a three day process of drinking beers and losing daylight cause we kept taking off to go Mountain biking or canoeing or hiking. JB'd look at the gate while sucking on a beer and say, "Well, I think we got the most of it done, the coolers in the ground, we'll finish this up tomorrow." (We buried an old cooler to keep the battery dry)

Dogs suntanning

Here's the dogs all scratching their backs simultainiously and catching some sun. Suwee dog just got her blanket off and is dying to get a good scratch in.

Bluegrass at the Purple Fiddle

Hopefully I got this right and you can check out the Video on Youtube. If clicking on the link doesn't work, try cutting and pasting into your browser. This one is awesome, don't miss it, check the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5usFyB-48fU&feature=PlayList&p=1DE5927D2149D958&index=0&playnext=1

Brush pile burning a little slow

The brush pile was kinda slow in going so JB'd left it to smolder. The wind started up this morning with a little bit of rain, and had got it up going with a little more smoke, so JB went out with a blower to see if he couldn't get it going a little better. Until he ran out of gas...

The Barn and Horses

This is the Barn and stables. JB and Sharon live upstairs, they've built almost the whole thing themselves, it's really amazing, some beautiful woodwork too. And these are some of their horses.

Frank Stella Piece at the Harn in Gainesville

This piece was great. I'm a big fan of Stella's work anyway, he's got one down in DC that's just amazing. I didn't get any pictures of it last time, but I'll definitely get some next time through.

Wild Horses and Gators

I've been going around and exploring. JB's been great at giving me good places to check out, so far, he's been spot on. I got to see wild horses at the first spot, and tons of gators at the second. The Horses got a little spooked as I drew near, but after about ten minutes they let me come up close. I didn't try and touch them though, I wasn't quite in the mood to get trampled.
Then at a sink hole, I got to see all these gators sunning themselves. Stupid tourist idiot me tried to get closer to get a good picture and came damn near to stepping on one. He turned up his head and opened his mouth at me. I didn't get a picture, but I did shit my pants...

Crosses and Mosses

Crosses at a roadside church. I don't feel like I'm used to seeing so many big free standing crosses as I've come across down south. Some of them have been as tall as thirty feet. I've even seen the Christian fish in the lower right hand corner of billboards for hotels. Not that I'm specifically religious, but I don't think it sits quite right with me that a chain of hotels would exploit people's faith to increase business. Besides, does God really endorse their particular chain?

Anyway, another cathedral of sorts, the beautiful trees down here, covered with spanish moss. It's almost as if these great beings have just come back from New Orleans wearing Boas..

The Princess Bed

Up in the open aired sleeping loft is a princess bed with Mosquito netting. Slept pretty soundly until the roosters started crowing and the rain pattered gently on the metal roof. Sure sounds different than the D-train going over the Manhattan Bridge. Those legs were there in the bed when I first got there. A little spooky at first...

Flying Floridian Tandem Bicycles

Reddick Florida, Jan 30th, 11:30 pm

Woke up late in Atlanta, got Erica her keys, and headed off down 75 South. Took about 6 hours altogether. Got to Reddick FL to stay with JB and Sharon on their Horse Farm down here. My friends Dan and Mary from West Virginia had lived down here for awhile, helping to build the barn, and recommended I check these guys out. So far, I’m just settling in, up above a crazy workshop (kind of like Walter Channing’s) with a kind of chill out room/ bedroom up above it. JB’s talked me into staying here through the weekend to go mountain biking and river canoeing. We’re going to drive to a fresh water spring out here and canoe down through the Ocala National Forest. Guess I’ll be a bit late for Miami…
These are some pictures of the workshop and stable, and the flying tandem bicycle. Flying bicycles are cool, but this one is just that next level cooler, you can take a friend with you while you go flying off into the night.
Feeling like I’ve really gone somewhere. West Virginia was that first leg, then Kentucky, then Atlanta, now here. I’m amazed by how commercial everything has seemed on the drive. It seems as if the towns are just giant lots of family style chain restaurants, which are really just fast food joints with tablecloths and waitresses. And driving down the highways there are long stretches of maybe fifteen billboards on both sides.
Atlanta was a blur, just that one night, but it had the young creative vibe in Inman Park with small independent shops and restaurants. Looking forward to checking life out around here, it’s somewhat strange to go from City to Country, back and forth over and over again.

Another snow covered me shot