Birds and Otters and Boats, Oh My!

  Well, McGyver and I are closing in on our last couple days here in South Florida…We must be living right, because ever since we arrived it has been mid 80’s and sunny. I started working on my base tan and extended wrinkles , taking very special care to dose up my scar with SPF 30 a couple times a day…We leave Saturday AM for Lake Griffin State Park, near Leesburg and Ocala FL…As much as we have enjoyed this park, we are getting the hitch itch to move on…This year’s trip is a shorter one than usual, and we want to cover as much new territory as possible.

  I am never ceased to be amazed at the different and various wildlife where we end up…I am going to put quite a few nature photos on this blog, so if you are NOT a total Mother Nature Geek, as I am…well, you can speed read and call it a day…Up until last Sunday, I had been using the camera on my phone to take photos…I was feeling that our digital Kodak is just too heavy and bulky to haul everywhere, not to mention I have been fighting with the settings ever since we got it a couple years ago..Well, when confronted with the obvious difference in picture quality, I switched back to “heavy and bulky”…

 

We discovered that these otters are living in the rocks just above the water along our bridge….

This dude, I do believe, is a Snowy Egret…in Florida? Somehow “snowy” and “Florida” don’t fit in the same description… He was always in the same fishing spot and I never saw him catch one lousy fish….Might be he was a novice and we made him extremely nervous…Hoever, upon further investigation, we found that he did have some competition just across the stream..

Mr. Green Heron was catching little fish one after the other. No doubt intimidating Mr. Snowy Egret…I especially love the colors on this little guy…My nighttime ensembles could use some of the “plumage”  he wears. I AM a big fan of feathers….

Yesterday AM when we walked we had a foggy almost rainbow over the campground.  Fog is NOT uncommon around here in the morning..  When we walk early, Den and I get a sauna, and McGyver is such a “hairy” sasquatch, he catches a virtual rainforest on his arms and legs..This can become a problem with the little bugs…they make villages in his arms and legs..He is like a walking, talking, piece of Velcro…

You see just about everything here, and some really neat old RVs…This particular one is a vintage Winnebago Elandan…not sure what year, maybe mid 80’s…It is in great condition with NO rust..well taken care of.  I would love to know if it was restored on the inside….A really neat ride!

Yesterday our friends from Everglade City came to visit US..here at the campgrounds…They have been considering an RV in their future and they really liked our Hiker..Unfortunately, they are not making the Hitch Hiker II LS anymore…Trust me, that pisses us off too…We really love ours.  Anyway, Captain King and Sammye arrived late morning. We hung out, watch some beautiful pleasure boats lock through, along with some nice little fishing boats…Then, we broke out the beer, chips and dips, and great conversation….

What we have above are some rare “old birds”…They are known as the “Tan Bellied Beer Suckers”…They usually travel in pairs, and the big one on the left has a mate but she was busy “flitting” around taking photos…

So, as we get ready to pack up tomorrow for our adventures unknown, we must drive into LaBelle to say good-bye to the LaBelle Moose Lodge, where we have enjoyed much hospitality and libation the past couple times we went…and….cheap drinks..A HEALTHY Rum and Coke $1.50 and a can of Natural Lite Beer $1.25…Also, a cast of great characters you can only find in South Florida…Thanks for reading, and we shall see you in Lake Griffin…Please do NOT ask to stop at Perkins for breakfast on the way..I am bringing very nutritious breakfast bars in the GMC…Kenny and Angela….Don’t even start with me!!!

EVERGLADE CITY, ONE OF FLORIDA’S LITTLE- KNOWN TREASURES…

  What a day we had yesterday!! We drove about 65 miles South of LaBelle Florida on Rt. 29 to Everglade City, better known as the Gateway to 10,000 islands…A longtime childhood friend of Den’s and member of the SHS Class of 1960 invited us down for a tour and boat ride out to the edge of the Gulf..Tom King and his wife, Sammye, have been spending their Winter here for over 20 years, and Tom at least 10 years before that…They have a park model right off the main road across the bridge, and within a block of the boat dock he keeps his boat.  They actually met each other here over 20 years ago, but are both from Illinois. Of course, McGyver and I were thrilled to see a part of Florida we had never seen, not to mention hooking up with old friends…

On the ride down, I was totally taken off guard by these signs along the South part of Rt. 29..

 

I had no idea that there were panthers here in South Florida…First, bears..now panthers…This state is much more than Disneyworld, people…much more! There is a Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge down here…They are an endangered species and are protected.  There have been many killed by cars on this highway, so they put up a huge chain link fence along the road in many spots to try to keep them off the road…I urge you to use the link I gave you and read about these beautiful animals..No, we didn’t see one on the way down..But, on our way back, there were two cars stopped along the roadside and people out hovering around what appeared to me to be a very large brown cat lying just off the road (these panthers aren’t black, they are brown)…I realized this a little late and we didn’t stop, but I have a feeling another Panther had just been hit by one of those cars…How awful..

So, after we found Tom and Sammye’s house, they took us for a truck ride to the “end of the road”…Chokoloskee. “According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²), all of it land. Chokoloskee is located on Chokoloskee Island, which is opposite the mouth of the Turner River near the southeastern end of Chokoloskee Bay. Chokoloskee Bay is about ten miles (16 km) long and 2 miles (3 km) wide, and runs southeast to northwest along the mainland of Collier County. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands. Chokoloskee Island is connected to Everglades City on the mainland by a causeway. The land around Chokoloskee Bay, both on the mainland and the islands, is very low-lying. Chokoloskee Island is an exception, as it reaches a high-point of 20 feet (6 m) above sea level. This height is due to the shell mounds built on the island during more than 2,000 years of occupation by Native Americans of the Ten Thousand Islands district of the Glades culture.”

There is an old store located on the island at the end of the road called Smallwood Store, that was opened in 1906, when the island was wild and crazy…Now it is a museum, run by descendants of the original family...(You just knew I would interject some sort of history here, right?)..This area and the Everglade City itself are very old world and charming.  It reminded me very much of the Florida Keys except it is waaaay more laid back and made up of tons of fishermen and boats…Everglade City is know for it’s harvesting of Stone Crabs…Yet again another link I recommend you go to…especially if you love seafood as we do…OK OK, I know most of you don’t “link” very often…but these links I put in here are quite a good read!!

After our ride tour of the island and old Everglade City, we went back to Tom and Sammye’s to prepare for our boat tour of the inland waterways between the islands…This involved a way to get our coolers and snacks to the boat, just a block’s walk away…Here is what Tom and McGyver used…

What we have here are 2 “old farts” on “old fart” trikes…Yes, those are coolers in the baskets…Tom’s trike was electric, Den had to pedal his ass…HA! (Sammye and I walked along waaaaay behind these two.)

I am going to put a few pics in a couple different collages…I have way too many to load up one at a time…

Captain King was a wonderful tour guide.  Going out in the boat was like heaven…

 

 

 

 

We anchored just to the edge of the Gulf waters right by this sandbar full of White Pelicans…This particular sandbar is where Tom and Sammye got married 20-something years ago…They had about 30 guests, and Tom said they had to make it a fast ceremony, because when the tide comes in, this sandbar virtually disappears…

Right here Sammye broke out the beer, cheese, crackers and sausage and we had a great snack watching those Pelicans come and go…The  pic in  top right corner is a zoom…Notice they are all turned facing one way…why?..Isn’t Mother Nature something? We so enjoyed just listening to the waves lapping sleepily against the boat and the billowy white clouds whispering by above…Now THIS is Florida!!!!

 

 

Yep…we saw some Dolphins by the boat…and that middle pic shows the high rises on Marco Island in the distance….

Above collage was taken as we returned on the inland waterway to the dock…This is quite a long trip through homes, restaurants, seafood sellers.

It  is also a “no wake” zone all the way because there are Manatees in this river inlet..NO, we didn’t see one..DARN!..

You can own that house on left for a cool $1,250,000.00..Not kidding. Middle is our Captain and his first mate mugging it up in our great “ride” ..and what can I say about the right hand picture??? The “Old Farts Club” rides again..

We sure want to thank Tom and Sammye for a fabulous day..We got a truck tour of Everglades City, and a boat tour of some of the islands and right out to the Gulf of Mexico…We left for our boat ride at noon and came off the water at 3:30…sunburned and grinning from ear to ear…McGyver and I left for our park about 4:30PM…it is, after all, about an hour 15 minute drive.  In closing this blog I have to say one more thing.  If you are looking for nightlife, fancy high rise hotels and gourmet restaurants…Everglade City is NOT for you.  But if you are one who like the wilderness backwater little towns of 500 population, having great little “joints”, quaint history and buildings…and fresh seafood OR want to catch your own, the by all means get  your little booties down to Everglade City, Florida….WE WILL DEFINITELY RETURN!(maybe with our Hiker next year)…

THANKS, CAPTAIN KING AND SAMMYE!!!!! WHAT A GREAT WAY TO SEE THE REAL FLORIDA!!!!!!!!

LOVIN’ LABELLE…

  Just a short blog with one collage and a couple of photos…Our life is so very simple, we are just kicked back and basking in the Florida sunshine…For a change, I haven’t gotten disciplined by the park Gestapo, spanked by the local law enforcement or even chewed out by a fellow RVer about my choice of evening wear…We also found a bonus we didn’t know about….McGyver and I rode our bikes up to the park host/gate attendant and I asked him where the closest coin laundry was to our park…He pointed outside the window to the shower house and said, “Right there in between the Men’s and Women’s Door….” DUH… We rode our bikes and saw a door propped open in the middle.  After further examination I spotted a  “picture” of a washing machine painted in some strange hieroglyphics on the front of the door…It wasn’t immediately recognizable as a washing machine…Must have been painted by some “ancient park attendants”..Anyway, I sped back to our camper and loaded up the basket…So, you see that it doesn’t take much to get me excited…a laundry will do it.

 

We  have had some pretty warm and windy days, so McGyver tied our awning down…We don’t usually do that, but this way we can leave it out all the time…unless a random Hurricane shows up on our doorstep….The last time we were in Florida was August of 2005….We were chased off the Florida Keys by Hurricane Katrina…Here are a couple pics of our drive through Florida, chased by the Cat. 1 soon to be Cat 5 Hurricane…

I took these photos the night we got the warnings that she was upgrades from tropical storm to Cat1…and we needed to leave at first light and get off the keys because they were going to close the bridge by noon the next day…

…driving North out of Homestead Florida….bad wind and rain squalls, but we made it all the way to the Georgia state line by sunset…whew!

  Well, my life is so wonderfully calm I do believe it is now at a snail’s pace…

…isn’t he/she just about the cutest little thing?? I like the way he moves, takes life easy and rarely “sticks his neck out”…I could learn something from this guy… Before I leave this blog (it is, after all cocktail hour), I need to welcome a brave new follower, Kathie…I didn’t find a blog for Kathie, but she sure doesn’t need one to follow this circus wagon!! Welcome into the GMC, Kathie…(hope you like adult beverages…) If not, I have LOTS of Diet Dr. Thunder!!

“I bought a racing snail once and he got slow so i took his shell off.. but that just made him sluggish”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ~Anonymous

“MEET AND GREET” with Rick and Elaine!!

  Yesterday afternoon, McGuyver and I arrange to get together with Rick and Elaine, fellow bloggers from New Brunswick, Canada…They are staying at The Glades RV Resort, just down the road from our spot ….Elaine and I share something..we are both sick, (no NOT sick and depraved..well,maybe ME), sick as in chest congestion and sinus crud…and we are both “sick” and tired of being SICK..FOR GOSH DARN SAKE!! We opted for them to come to the Hiker and have a few adult beverages (for medicinal purposes only, of course)…The trouble was, Elaine was on antibiotics and couldn’t partake of any alcohol……Rest assured that I was self medicating with a large Rum and Diet Dr. Thunder. Of course Dennis and Rick were using beer as their elixir of choice…

The fact that Elaine and I were not feeling 100%, probably kept us from having to use the “bail bondsman” card…Which means we were NOT our usual wild and crazy selves…right Elaine?

We had a great time visiting with Rick and Elaine.  They are genuinely fun peeps and it sounds like they have a wonderful family of 5 kids and 2 dogs.  Elaine told us that they are going up to Tampa on Jan 16th to a big RV show…and she is NOT allowing Rick to go into any NEW RV’s while they are there…It seems Rick has some kind of addiction to craving different RV’s…one he cannot keep under control…Good Luck, Elaine..After meeting Rick, I know for sure that you will not be keeping him “in line” at an RV show…NO WAY, NO HOW!!…Maybe you should take away his credit cart and wallet, eh??   Elaine told me she went home after visiting us last night,and got a killer sinus headache …See??? Liquor should have been consumed, Elaine…at least a sip..

  After our company left last night, I got on one of my more attractive “ensembles” and McGyver and I sat outside a little longer until dark….I certainly didn’t want to be attired in this outfit for company….However, I really don’t think I could shock Rick and Elaine…they roll with the flow very well…

 

 

 

I look like a deer in the headlights…and usually I don’t bare my legs, but I guess I just threw caution to the wind…it was a warm wind…

 

 

 

 

 

In the evening we have ALL shade on the entrance side of the Hiker..but in the morning it is ALL sun..This is why I take our chairs and coffee and go out and sit by the truck…We do have a big tree that shades our truck area in the morning….This is where we find a great spot for coffee…Actually, yesterday I was parked by myself under the tongue of the Hiker in the shade for MY coffee…McGyver would have bumped his head, and we don’t want any more of that happening!

 

Left it my view from under the camper tongue…Middle is Den’s afternoon spot…and…what can I say about the pic on the right?…This guy is dumping his tanks via bicycle….never thought of that one…Actually, today the people across from us walked their “honey wagon” up to the dump station…I guess there are many different ways to get “to da dump, to da dump, to da dump, dump, dump….eh? Below is where McGyver and I had coffee this morning..As you can see, our camp area is full morning sun, but we found the shade of our tree..and basked in the Florida ambience….

This morning when we took our walk we noticed that a pretty nice pleasure boat was getting ready to go through the locks…I waited until he locked through and got a few pictures of this craft….…not a bad little cruiser, right?? I waved and waved, but nobody waved back…They must have been busy counting their money…We also walked down onto the fishing pier…This is really a neat spot..Lots of people fishing along the river.

 

As I turned around, I spotted something very weird scrambling up the rocky cliff across from us…I alerted Dennis to a possible wildlife siting.  It looked to me like a seal,  and…lo and behold , there was an otter on that bank of rocks, rolling around in the dust..I tried to get a picture, but was shooting into the sun and wasn’t very successful…I had no idea there were otters here, thought they were only up North…Chalk that lesson up with the Bear Crossing sign…

That little dark thing just above the greenery by the Palm Tree….that is an otter…trust me on this…We DID see it, but the phone camera isn’t always the best, that’s for sure…I need a new digital camera some day.

This Heron was a little easier to shoot get a picture of….Just behind him is where the boats exit the locks and end up back in the river…about an 8’ rise….

 

 

 

 

There is just something about Florida that allows you to paint your homes pink and get away with it…In Illinois, you would be shunned in the neighborhood…

 

 

As you can see, we are really enjoying Florida…We drove into LaBelle to the Moose Lodge this afternoon, and stopped at the Winn Dixie for a couple things…We haven’t been in a Winn Dixie for at least 20 years….I found their meat to be darn expensive, and it looks like my only choice is to do mortal combat and go back to the Wally in Clewiston…This very possibly could get me thrown OUT of that Wally…Wally and moi do not get along very well,and this one is about a 1 on a scale of 1to10…Watch for my name in the LaBelle Star…it’s bound to happen…..

“Shopping is a woman thing. It's a contact sport like football. Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death, and the ecstasy of the purchase.”
― Erma Bombeck