Bushnell, FL

On Saturday we drove a whopping 47 miles to Bushnell. Don't even try looking it up on a map, I highly doubt you would find this little town. But we came here to be close to more outdoor activities...biking the Withlacoochee State Trail (yea, same one we tried to find while we were in Ocala); mountain biking in Withlacoochee State Forest; and paddling the Withlacoochee River. I just like to say "Withlacoochee".

Sunday was the day we wanted to go mountain biking in the With. State Forest - Croom District. We figured if we went around noon, on a weekend, then most likely other bikers would've already de-webbed the trails for us. (Yes, we are still obsessed with these lovely ladies!) As we were driving to the State Forest to get to the trailhead, we encountered several ominous signs that told us we would not be biking that day. First it was the pedestrians walking on the paved trail that runs alongside the State Forest - all wearing orange, even their dogs had orange vests on. Then it was the number of pickup trucks...with several men inside...all wearing camouflaged...holding guns. Hhhmmmmm. We decided to go to the main trailhead to read the postings on hunting season. This weekend was "muzzle-loading gun" hunting season. After hearing a few shots we thought we were in the middle of a civil-war reenactment. The trails were closed to non-hunters and the Fl. Forest Service Volunteers strongly encouraged us to come back later in the week. They figured the hunters were overly anxious to catch their limit being there were only a few hours left to their 3-day season. "Trigger-happy" is how we interpreted their warning...and mountain bikers could be easily mistaken for a deer. So instead they walked us (they had orange vests on) to an old cemetery from the late 1800's that they had recently unburied from the forest growth. And, they allowed us to go up into the Fire Tower to look out over the forest. Not a bad exchange for not being able to bike.

We did still want to bike, so we drove to the Nobleton Trailhead for the Withlacoochee State Trail. The trail runs for a total of 46 miles, one-way. We rode to the town of Inverness and back for a 32-mile round-trip ride. The trail is paved, and is generally flat. By that I mean that the hills are long and gradual, but noticeable. There are trees lining both sides of the trail most of the way in this section. It is primarily a rural, residential area. In one area you can find several gopher tortoise holes dug into the sides of the sandy banks - just be careful you don't run over one of these large tortoises, that would be one heckuva speed bump! There were a number of other riders and walkers enjoying this path. Once we reached Inverness, we stopped at Liberty Park to check out the weekend-long Cooter Fest. Note: a Cooter is a turtle. Apparently, most of Florida's turtles are a type of 'cooter'. It was a family-festival, with all of the kids entering Halloween-costume contests; kayak-races; and there were fair rides, etc. We enjoyed the Hawaiian Shaved Ice before heading back down the trail.