Author Archives: Ron Haines

Unknown's avatar

About Ron Haines

Find me at https://ronhaines.wordpress.com/

Kumquat Festival here I come

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Ron Haines

I stopped in Dade City the other day.  It’s small, about 7,000 population, and is located in west central Florida. It was a Saturday and it seemed to be antique day, because all the stores were open downtown and there … Continue reading →

Posted in Gas stations, Offbeat, Road trip | 1 Comment

Crater Lake…just what it says it is

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Ron Haines

On my road trip last year from San Francisco to southern Oregon and back I noticed a sign proclaiming that Crater Lake National Park  was nearby. After a short detour off of U.S. 97  I was at the entrance, my senior … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Offbeat, Road trip, Snow | 2 Comments

Swamp cabbage and Arbuckle Creek

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Ron Haines

I combined two of my sweet spots on Saturday:  A paddle in a nice place and a visit to an offbeat festival.  And because this was all in rural south-central Florida I was even on some roads I’d never traveled … Continue reading →

Posted in Offbeat, Paddling, Photos mostly, Road trip | 1 Comment

When you’ve got an itch…Part 8

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Ron Haines

When you’ve got an itch…it’s nice to have someone around to scratch it for you. This is a pair of wood storks I photographed last week at Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Florida.  For my Florida friends, it is west of Boynton … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Back to school

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Ron Haines

I took my Mississippi River canoe trip road show to a school class here in south Florida recently. The teacher is a high school friend of my daughter and her husband (Somehow all those people grew up and now have … Continue reading →

Posted in Grumman canoe, Mississippi River Canoe Trip | 4 Comments

I scream, you scream, we all scream for…

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Ron Haines

My life’s come back to ice cream. At home as a kid in Kankakee, Illinois, it was an evening ritual to have a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and some peanuts while sitting in the living room … Continue reading →

Posted in Offbeat, Paddling, Road trip | 6 Comments

When you’ve got an itch…Part 7

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Ron Haines

I spotted this fellow succumbing to the urge to itch last summer at Barton’s Cove, a nice little wide spot in the Connecticut River near Gill, MA.  It’s a great place for wildlife spotting and thus a favorite paddling spot … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hitting all the sweet spots

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Ron Haines

I had one of those days yesterday that touched nicely on a lot of the sweet spots of my life these days as a happy retiree. It began with a nice, longish drive in the early morning on foggy highways … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

When you’ve got an itch…Part 6

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Ron Haines

This is the loon edition. Loons are wonderfully interesting birds, fun to watch, really pleasant to listen to, and not nearly as plentiful as other types of waterfowl I see on the waters of the Northeast. It’s the only waterfowl … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Offbeat | 6 Comments

Gone before I could get there

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Ron Haines

I recently drove over to Fisheating Creek for a paddle with the alligators and planned on stopping in at an interesting rural country store/restaurant for a late lunch in nearby, very small, Palmdale, Florida (population just under 600). The Florida … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Offbeat, Paddling, Photos mostly | 11 Comments