Spring Break 2016

12:16 PM jbond352 0 Comments

I am fortunate enough to teach in a county that gives the students/teachers the Friday before and the Monday after spring break off IN ADDITION to the week of spring break.

The Friday my break started by wife and I drove from JAX to Ocean Springs Mississippi for the "Battle on the Bayou" paddle craft race.  It was my first ever paddling race and it was a blast! It was also my first time in Mississippi so naturally, being the fatty that I am, I was looking forward to the food....lots of fried food and Bar-B-Q

The scene at the staging area. 



The "BOB" was a 10 mile race through the Mississippi Bayou that ended at The Shed Bar-B-Q and Blues Joint. I didn't finish first, but I did complete the race right around my goal of 2 hours and 30 minutes. 


After finishing the race Liz and I drove over to Marianna FL to Florida Caverns State Park to hang the hammocks for the night and hop on the first cave tour of the morning. The tour did not disappoint and was a nice stop on the way back home. 


We were back by Sunday and that allowed for an entire week FILLED with fishing....every. freekin'. day. 

Here are some pics of the fish I caught.....with 4 over slot reds!





I will refrain from posting the 20+ other pics of the slot fish, as the big ones are WAY more exciting. It was an AMAZING WEEK OF FISHING...I got lucky. 

Here are 2 videos that I took with my cell phone from the week:






It was a great week of fun....now time to get back to work. 

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Dupont or not to Dupont

5:56 PM jbond352 1 Comments

This will be the second year in a row I took an escape after my band's MPA. It is nice after a busy few weeks to take some time to do something I enjoy that takes a little extra time and money.

On Thursday night I met my BBFL in Lake City (armpit of the south) and we drove to Brevard NC, arriving around 1:30am. This trip we decided to step it up a notch and take a break from camping and stay 3 nights using AirBnB....good choice!

We started riding on Friday, with our first set of trails totally just over 13 miles and climbing over 1000 ft.


Riding in FL can get our butt ready for the pounding, but not much can prepare you for the climbing! It usually takes an hour or so to get the blood flowing into your legs, but once it starts the climbs get easier. Besides a minor tumble these trails paid off with stunning views of NC:







Day 2 started fine, until my bike took a shit. Here is a picture I took of a waterfall before an hour long walk/coast downhill to the car:



And the ride details:



Luckily Dupont State Forest is close to Brevard (14 miles) and we were able to snag a rental bike (sweet $3000 full suspension!) for the remainder of the day. Big shout out to The Hub for their AWESOME and FRIENDLY service to help me out so far from home.

The remainder of the ride was insane, with 1500' of climbing and 2 BIG descents. Here is the ride map/elevation profile:



Brevard/Dupont was a success, and in my top 3 favorite riding destinations I have visited yet (Raccoon Mountain and the McKenzie River Trail are on my list too). As much fun as the $3000 bike was, I can't justify owning one here in flat FL.....Good times!

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