Tampa Taxi Shots

A Tropical Storm Moving Over Florida

An October Tropical Storm is moving up the Florida Peninsula over the next couple of days. It should dump several inches of rain with predicted flooding. This will not be a good time for any outside activities. The taxi business can be good to a certain point. After the streets flood...forget about it.

This is why all camping trips really should wait until November. The problem is that people have been waiting for months, and they just want to get going with this during the colder weather.

It should be in the 50's by Friday. Now how Cool is that!

Pasco County Florida Nude Resorts And Bigfoot

Model I shot at a Pasco Nude Resort

One of the major industries in Pasco County Florida is nudism. Pasco County is located north of Tampa and has a great climate, and year round sunshine. It is perfect for the international nude culture that has been established here.

People from all over the world come into Tampa International Airport and take a cab to one of the popular nude resorts in Pasco. Lucky me. Tourism is vital to Florida (The tourist capital of the world) and I am honored to take tourist anywhere they want to go.

I have been wanting to work a particular Bigfoot research area in Pasco which has had many skunk ape sightings. I just have not had the time to get up there. Today, I had the best reason ever. I got paid to go up there because my fare went there. I dropped them off after going onto the resort property to the luxury hotel. People everywhere were walking around naked, swimming,  playing tennis, and volleyball naked. They were just hanging out naked. Temps were in the nineties today, so why not. I would have joined them if I did not have something else to do!

This video below was shot south of SR 52 in rural Pasco county that has little population. I was hoping the only population I would see would be the big hairy guys, the skunk apes.

Tom Biscardi The Worlds Greatest Bigfoot Hunter Comes To Florida To Work With Tim Fasano

Tom Biscardi of California came to Florida last week to work with Tim Fasano in the Green Swamp of Central Florida looking for Bigfoot. Tom has been active in Bigfoot for several decades and is determined to find the beast. I turned him on to many good swamp locations where we would have a good chance of finding something.

Tim Fasano And Tom Biscardi In The West Track

He brought a team of four experienced Bigfoot hunters with him. We entered the area and began looking for an area that would be great for night operations. The theory is that Bigfoot is a nocturnal creature and the best results are obtained by using night thermal optical equipment which Biscardi has. This area was rich with animal tracks and we knew it would be good to deploy the night optics. Part of the reason I have been away from this blog is that I have been busy with this project.

Driving out to the camp where it is along a river miles from the main road

Biscardi is a controversial figure for his involvement in the 2008 Georgia Bigfoot Hoax where the two Gerogia boys had a body in a freezer. The truth is Tom lost $50,000 to these guys. On our way into the area, Tom and his guys saw something moving in the Palmettos and went in to take a look. There are many snakes in these areas and it is risky to go into them. They found a bone and we later found a footprint where we had deployed camera traps. 

In the video below you can see what was going on as they ran through the field to find out where the dark, upright object had run off too. 

Hiking In The Green Swamp

Dave and I went hiking in the Green Swamp West Track Saturday looking for signs of animal life. We had our camping gear and were prepared to spend the night. The area we were in was miles off of the State road, and evidence of wildlife from deer, pigs, rabbits and other animals was everywhere. I am interested in deploying camera traps that can work for weeks on their own and capture some high quality images that you could not get on your own hiking. We found a place for a camp on a sand island and spent most of the late afternoon gathering firewood. It was something I had never done before and it was a lot of fun.

Winter Camping In Florida

Florida in the Winter months can be one of the best places in the country to go camping.  However, you must book you adventure in advance for the most desirable sites. They fill up fast because many Northern visitors come down this time of year.

One of most popular campsites in Florida is Hillsborough River State Park. It is also one of my favorites. I went on the Reserve America website today looking for a site there because the weather in Florida right now is perfect. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be had.

The problems at work and the economy have prevented me from booking a spot. I will book ahead for March. The weather is still perfect until April or Tiger is wearing red at Augusta on Sunday.

Little Manatee River State Park

 I got a ride down south and took advantage of that to check out Little Manatee River State Park.  There is a network of hiking trails that span the entire park. Most of them are horse trails that you can spot form the main road that circles thru the park.  I found a nice one that traversed a sand pine and palmetto area. I parked the taxi on the side of the road and was on my way. 

It is very hot right now in Florida and the heat was getting to me. I'm glad some clouds rolled in that lowered the temperature somewhat. Many of these trails criss cross each other, and even with the trail map they give you, getting lost is easy. 

The trail I was on had a sign about a lake up ahead. I never found the lake, but I did get a nice view of the sand scrub and pine trees.  I was getting tired so I headed back...It is very hot with high humidity and you must bring lots of water or sports drink with you.  I always start cramping when I need water. Sometimes its just nice to feel and hear the solitude of the woods.  There is something very peaceful about doing this. It helps calm me down. 

 

The park is one of Florida's best kept secrets.  The Little Manatee River is one of the most scenic in the State. Canoe rentals are availbe and there is no better way to spend several hours than an easy canoe trip to the bay and back. The park also has some great camping areas.  What I liked about it was the privacy you have at each site.  The trees are thick enough that you cannot see the campers that are next to you. So you can chill out at your campfire at night and not have to look at RV's and strangers. 

 

Midnight At The Oasis

This was me at the end of a very enjoyable day.  It is freezing outside but I got a sierra rated bag of 30 degrees.  I am ready to go for another round.  Camping in Florida is best done in the winter.  This winter has been very cold and wet....lots of rain, but at least the drought is over and no fire hazards.

 

Knights Of The Road

Two of the more interesting guys I have picked up in my cab in some time were hitch-hiking thru America.  They were two young guys from California and spend most of their nights out 'under the stars.'  On occasion, they take a cab to get away from a major metropolitan area.  Today, I got their call and they went up to State Rd 52 and I75 at the truck stop.  They had the $52 for the fare.  Not bad for two guys that ate a squirrel cooked over an open fire last night!

You can see them as they walk away on the on ramp to sr52 in Pasco County.  They are as free as the breeze.

Back From Camping

"Can you help me with this?" I asked the people in the site next to me as after one hour of trying to set up this tent, I had made no progress. They were very helpful and in minutes, the tent was up.

I just came back from a camping trip to HIllsborough State Park. Wow! That was fun. It does require a lot of work, especially when you have never been and need to learn on the job.

The natural scenic beauty of the park is astounding and many trails offer the visitor the opportunity to experience this first hand. A popular trail is the Rapids Nature Trail. It meanders through oak hammocks to the edge of the Hillsborough River at the point where an outcropping of limestone rocks has created rapids. This area is a popular spot for photographers and outdoor enthusiasts. For enjoying the river by being on it the park has canoe rentals for visitor's convenience. The park offers 111 camp sites set on two loops, the RIVERS EDGE and HAMMOCK LOOP.

I am somewhat familiar with the park and knew the HAMMOCK LOOP area would offer more privacy as the sites on the "Rivers Edge" are smaller and have more mosquito's. The park will sell you fire wood as you go in because they don't want you chopping the Forrest to the ground. They also have fire rings at all the sites because they don't want you burning the Forrest to the ground. Anyway, I wanted to eat meat cooked over an open flame, and enjoy "Camp Fire" coffee in the morning. Since we got there late in the afternoon last Sunday, We got the camp set up in time to start the fire at sunset...

There are things with camping you have to learn the hard way. One is air mattresses don't work all that way. You move, it moves and it is real easy to fall off. A mat would of worked out better. Plus, you need an air pump to fill it up...just another expense.

Apparently, many people go camping during the Christmas season. The park was full and when I went on-line to Reserve America.com there was only one site left...#102. It was the closest to the rest rooms which was good, and one of the largest on the loop. Had no idea why it was left standing.

A friend of mine came with me and she was great. She brought lots of food and cooked like a chef on the fire...I only wanted the chicken but the green beans, red potato's and collard greens were out of this world. Did I forget stuffing, ham and turkey....Yum!

I got in a lot of hiking and that wore me out. I think the other campers appreciated my snoring like a grizzly bear. Speaking of animals. There are deer all over this park...you can see them at night. Of course, every time I saw them, the batteries in my camera went dead. Murphy's law.

Christmas eve the park was beautiful. Many campers had lights strung up and we had a tree with lights. We also set a bond fire that put all the other campers to shame. You know the one with like ten foot flames shooting into the sky. Yeah!

I did take a bunch of photos that I will put in my new album. This is my friend (she did not want her name mentioned...what with a cab driver and all that) by the Xmas tree on Christmas morning