Alligators in Cypress Swamps

Cypress are interesting trees which grow knees that legend says help the tree to breathe but we are not sure if it anchors the tree in wet conditions.  We have been warned not to hit a Cypress knee as it will damage a tire on our RZR.

Alligators are darker than I imagined.  They really camouflage as they sun on the shore as they look like an old log. They rarely move and seem to be sleeping and just the way I like them.  Zombied!

Feb. 23,2011 Big Cypress Preserve

WE are using our RZR again.  We saw wild turkeys on the trail.  Hunting season will open soon and they will be the target!  We are camped for 4 days at a trailhead 30 miles up from highway 41 south Florida.  We can quad to our door.  Camping is free so it is good to have our generator and large water tank to be self sufficient.  Great weather as we leave the sceen down and use the garage as a sun room for coffee.

Feb. 19, 2011 Everglade City

HAPPINESS IS SEEING DOLPHINS

We took a boat tour out of Everglade City.  Lots of birds and 10,000 Islands mostly mangroves that have created small islands only inhabited by many birds.  The highlight was how tame these dolphins were and we saw a group of 4 of them frolicking and another group of 2 or 3 coming close to our boat.


DOLPHIN WATCHERS

Trails in Big Cypress National Preserve.

  We are finding the trails to be rough and lots of rocks.  They are really meant for swamp buggies that are higher than a RZR.  But they have our $50 for the permit!  We have done a couple of trails.  We are learning what is an epiphyte....  grows on trees but does not damage them.  An example is Spanish moss.  There are orchids in this area as they have ideal growing conditions.  AS you drive the main road, you see lots of alligators.  Thus it is called alligator alley.  Did you know that airboats were invented by some veteran pilots from WII?  They took the idea of an airplane engine and a desire to go into the swamps!  We met some Fish and Wildlife officers with quads 2 days in a row.  Today we chatted with them and they were tracking a panther using a hound dog.  They claimed they have not found it yet.  They protect them as they are endangered.  So now I am looking over my shoulder for alligators and panthers!  Dan is in his glory.  We are camped at a lake and wake up in the morning to that view.  Dan takes his coffee and walks to find  the 2 resident alligators which sun themselves!  Off to Everglad City to tour today.  Looking forward to Feb. 25th when we will be back in Naples area and able to spend a week.  Eleanor and John fly in to Ft. Meyers so we are pleased we can have some time with them.  Yeah!

Happy Valentine's Day in the sands of the Gulf coast

Beautiful beaches at Naples

Feb. 15, 2011

Great beaches in this area of Naples, Florida.  Parking can be more of an issue.  Yesterday we parked at the State park for $8 with great access to the beach.  Lovely white sand.  Tomorrow we head southeast to Big Cypress National Forest in the Everglades.  There are trails there to use our RZR.  Alligators too!  We will circle back to the Naples area to stay a few days while we meet up with Eleanor and John.  They fly in on the 24th to see friends from Lindsay.  Bonus visit with them.  Fun\

Feb. 12, 20011

We have had cooler temperatures.  But, that led us to touring in the area.  We are camping at Bradenton for the last 3 days.  It enabled us to tour the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.  Then the next day we went to the Red Barn in Bradendon which is a flea market and we found some great fresh vegetables and fruits.  We also toured Mixon Fruit Farm.  Great to taste the oranges, grapefruits and local wines.  The best is the orange ice cream!  Fun beach in area is the Bradenton Beach.  WE had a wonderful meal of Seafood Wellington!  Fresh crab, scallops and shrimp in a pastry topped with a crabmeat sauce!  Lovely beach and lots of sea shells.  We then went to the Sarasota Circus.  Thrilling and we appreciated that they have an on going  program called Laughter Unlimited that takes them into nursing homes.  They use clowns to promote and stimulate memory.  They told us one study here in Florida working with Alzheimer's patients showed amazing results of a decrease in use of meds by 70%.   Oh the power of laughter but who would know it stimulates memory.

WE also found St. Armand 's Circle.  It is a lovely town with statues set in the middle of this circle and then shops and restaurants surround them. 
Today we ventured up the coast to Siesta Key.  Another beautiful beach with powder like white sand. Tomorrow we move on to Naples south of here.

Ice cream on the beach!

Feb. 6,2011

Nice day and our neighbours at our campsite have invited us to a Super Bowl party.  We must be in the US and if we can only figure out where is Green Bay.

We went to see King's Speech and we recommend it.  Great movie.  True story and encouraging to see a movie that show 2 men sharing a true friendship.  Good insight into stuttering.

Beach Honeymoon Island

                                Beautiful, fine sand which is white at Honeymoon Island

Dan making new friends!  We met a couple on the beach who had a pet skunk!  They paid $125 for it.  They say, however, that the vet bills are high as it is categorized as an exotic pet.

Feb. 5,2011 Fun Memories of North Carolina

               Memories of NC.  Cousins, Margaret, Louise, Chris and Melvin-Louise's husband

Southern Belles: We loved Louise's room full of hats and matching shoes!  Just what we do in North Carolina!  Thanks for letting all of us, including the guys, to model your hats, Louise.  Fun and the hats make us taller!

                                            Louise's daughters and daughter-in-law.

Lovely visit with Louise and Melvin

Wanted to update this blog with memories of visit in Raleigh.  Louise sure reminds me of  Mom, Louise, and a mixture of Aunt Winnie too.  Dan had fun teasing her as he would do with Mom.

Hounds

You go Dan.  That spring water is cold!

When we were in the Big Scrub area north of here, there were a lot of  hunting dogs being trained.  We saw a lot of them on our trail.  This one is right in front of the quad sniffing out a fox. They dye their fur to have a number to identify their dogs. 

Feb. 4, 2011

Staying at Weeki Wachee which we discovered is not pronounced Wacky but like watchy...  but it is okay to be a little wacky in Florida and fit in.  Lots of beautiful springs here bubbling up and creating beautiful clear water to see an abundance of fish.  We drove up the coast to see the Gulf at Crystal River.  Lots of kayaking in the area to see manatee.  We visited a state park at Homosassa Springs  (everywhere ... natural springs)  Imagine how we could mispronounce this one!

Dan is on his rzr in a 40 acre plot next door to our campsite.  It is going up to 80 today.  The last few days we have been hiking and one day we did a 5 mile hike.  We also discovered how to use the timer on the camera... thus some couple shots.  We are staying here a week and using this as home base as we discover some of the Gulf coast.  We have hook ups and it averages out to be $20 a day so very reasonable.  We are an hour away from Tampa.

Loved using Skype now with Marcel last night   Marcel, again, helmets on your kitchen table do not qualify as centre pieces.

On a personal note our Sympathy to Louise and Tom in Beaumont as Louise's Dad has passed away.  We are thinking of you Louise at this difficult time.  It has been a long time and we wish him peace at last!  Our love and wish we could give you a hug!