My normal day to fossil is Friday. I work a 3-day work week, 10-12 hours each day, and the thought of heading to the river Friday morning gets me through those last hours of work on Thursday.
Thursday night I prep everything for my morning coffee, lay out my travel coffee cup, set a bowl on the counter with 2 packets of instant oatmeal, and program my alarm for 4:30 am. During the fossil season I never took my kayak off my truck, securing it with a bike lock to discourage anyone thinking it might be a good idea to try and make off with it (I've had 12' long 2x4's stolen from my yard so it's possible). I also always keep the milk crate that I bungee to my kayak packed and ready to go. The contents change with the season but I always need sun protection, snacks, beverages, and a dry bag. Then there is an assortment of bigger equipment that goes with me: paddle, shovel, sifting screen, metal probe, and life vest (I rarely see "the man" but I don't want to get a ticket), which pretty much stays in the bed of my truck all season. I spent the winter months driving around like some kind of water dwelling Beverly Hillbilly. With my shoestring budget lifestyle it's important that I manage pride: I manage to do without it!
When the alarm goes off at 4:30 am on Friday mornings, I quickly dress in my paddling clothes, make my coffee, microwave my oatmeal, and hit the road by 5 am. I learned through horrible trial and error that leaving any later than that would get me caught up in the beginning of rush hour traffic on the nightmarish I-4 through Orlando.
One hour on I-4, turn south, one hour (more or less) on 17. One bathroom stop at one of the hallucinogenically numerous Citgos on 17. It seems there is a Citgo every mile and they are all bad; I've just had to learn which ones are not AS bad. There are 2 very nice RaceTrac's but they are too distant from my stopping point on the river. If only Quik Trip would come to Florida...
I am parked and lashing my gear to my kayak between 7 and 7:30, depending on where I have decided to fossil that day. With the exception of the initial investments in waders and dive boots, my main expense, by an order of magnitude, is gas. Lots and lots of gas. When I started this hobby, my friends and clients were initially bemused, "You drove there 2 weeks in a row?! That's crazy!"
Bemusement turned to something bordering on mild concern, "You drive 4 hours round trip every single week? Hmmm...that's pretty involved."
Mild concern, however, quickly transformed to acceptance, "How did you do fossiling this weekend?"
I could honestly say I was starting to do better. Determination was yielding more variety in my fossils and even though I wasn't finding the megs that the old guys seemed to pull out of their ass with every shovelful of gravel, I was finding some of the prettiest shark teeth I had ever found.
The 2nd photo shows, among other things, some nice sting ray dermal plates. I think they would make a cool pendant but I need to find some more before I start drilling holes in the ones I have.
The 3rd photo shows tiger shark teeth. They are not in perfect condition but they are still very pretty and nice and big.
The last photo shows some of the increasing variety I was finding as I logged hours in the river. These fossils would not excite a veteran collector but for me, they were amazing and gave me the strength to power on. Top of my hand down: 2 very worn out megs, antler tine and tortoise foot pad, horse tooth and 2 bottom teeth from a hemi (snaggletooth shark).
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