Tue, 3/16/10

Everglades National Park to Jonathan Dickinson SP, Jupiter, FL: Left this morning around 11:00, stopped for lunch at the West Palm service center on Florida’s Turnpike, and arrived at Jonathan Dickinson by 2:30. We’re in the pine grove loop which has been closed for a couple of years because they totally rebuilt it. We’re in a nice site with full hook-ups and a pretty view out our back window. Got caught up on our computer stuff. Left-overs for dinner. I love Jupiter. It’s so pretty here. The high today was 71 (sigh).

Picture by Mike

Mon, 3/15/10

Everglades National Park: Another beautiful morning. After our showers we filled up the water tank and then put the hose away. Late morning we headed out to hike the Christian Point trail. We stopped at Mahogany Hammock and our friends from Illinois were there. We wanted to check out the owl chicks, but they weren’t in the huge mahogany tree any more. Heard them on the other side of the hammock but couldn’t see them. Continued on our way and parked at the Christian Point trailhead, which is almost to Flamingo. I put on my hiking boots and my snake gaiters. Started out on the trail over a little slough and on through buttonwoods, but then the trail opened up into a large open grassy area. Didn’t look too interesting and it was kind of soggy, so we went back to where we parked and decided to go up the road to the Rowdy Bend trailhead. Before we even got out of the truck, a couple stopped and warned us about the mosquitoes. So we nixed that and continued on to the Snake Bight trail. This is such a pretty little trail which follows a slough through a hardwood forest and mangroves along the slough. You’re hiking under this canopy of lush vegetation. After our hike we drove the short distance to Flamingo for some cold drinks and a snack. The Florida Bay cruise boat was about to leave in half an hour, so we decided to go on that. Florida Bay is very shallow—average depth 4 feet. You could literally walk across Florida Bay to the Keys. Out on the bay it was really windy and cool. Thankfully the captain told us to be sure and bring a sweatshirt or jacket. During the cruise he gave a very interesting narrative about the Everglades and its importance to the area. It’s the only thing like it in the world—the river of grass--40 miles wide and 6 inches deep. After the cruise we headed to Homestead to fuel up and have some dinner. Stopped at a Mexican restaurant which wasn’t that great. Back home. We discovered that Daylight Savings Time started on Saturday. We had no clue. Changed all the clocks. Think it hit the upper 70s today.

Slough along the snake bight trail

On the very pretty snake bight trail

Starting out on the Christain Point trail--in my snake gaiters

New key in the making--Florida Bay

Keys on Florida Bay

 

Sun, 3/14/10

Everglades National Park: A nice sunny morning after a rather cool evening last night. Late morning we headed out with our bikes. There’s an old farm road, forest road, or whatever, at the end of our loop. Took that old road which dead ended at the road that goes to the Daniel Beard Research Center and the old missile base if you go one way, and if you go the other way you end up at the Anhinga trail. We went to the right and biked past the Daniel Beard Research Center and then the road takes a sharp left and dead-ends at the old Nike missile base. Rode all the way out there and then started back. Coming back was better once we made the turn in the road because the wind was at our backs. Stopped at a little pond by the side of this road and saw a couple of gators. On the other side of the road was a family of immature white ibis. This is a great place to ride since the road is much better than the main road through the park and there’s hardly any traffic. Along this road there was also a trench dug into the limestone way back when. I guess for drainage? It’s since overgrown or filled in. Gives you a good look at the limestone in here. Under all the saw grass is this limestone—and in most places water. And in some places the softer stuff gets worn away and you’re left with these jagged holes—several feet deep in some places. That’s what makes it so treacherous walking around in the saw grass. After our bike ride we relaxed the rest of the day. Steaks and cauliflower for dinner. A couple two sites up from us who are from Illinois joined us for a fire in the evening.

These trenches were dug into the limestone way back when--probably for drainage

Old farm or forest road

Sat, 3/13/10

Everglades National Park: Cloudy this morning, but the clouds quickly dissipated revealing a deep blue sky. Beautiful, except for the wind. We had sausage, eggs, biscuits and orange juice for breakfast. Figured it was a good morning for it since it was a little chilly early—what with the wind. After cleaning up the breakfast dishes we ventured outside. Pretty chilly in the shade, but great in the sun. Moved my chaise into the sun and changed into shorts and a tube top and lazed in the sun. The lacy, green pines were a beautiful contrast against the deep blue of the sky. We talked about going for a hike, but that’s all we did was talk about it. Probably not a good idea anyway since we did get a bit of rain and the trail was probably pretty soggy. Anyway, I’m having a hard time putting the book down I’m reading—“State of the Union” by Brad Thor. A great espionage thriller. Mike just finished “Assassin” by Stephen Coonts which he said was great also. I’ll be reading that one next. Mid-afternoon we went for a walk around the pretty little lake here. The water was crystal clear in shades of turquoise, green, and deep blue—thought we were back in the Keys. It’s basically a shallow depression in the limestone bedrock which filled with water—the prettiest we have ever seen it. After walking around the lake we continued around the campground. It’s pretty full in here right now, which is unusual. Spring break maybe? I made chili for dinner—along with leftover biscuits. Upper 70s today with low humidity and a brisk wind. Our solar panels are doing a great job. Even though it was mostly cloudy yesterday, the batteries are fully charged. Life is good.

Immature white ibis, white ibis, wood stork
Picture by Mike

Fri, 3/12/10

Everglades National Park: Just hung out today. Really cloudy, humid and windy and threatening rain but it didn’t start raining in earnest until around 4:00. Mike had to drive to Homestead to get one of our propane tanks filled. Other than that, we just sat around reading. I went for a walk while he was getting the propane tank filled, and then we walked again when he got back. 85 today. Nice.

Picture by Mike

Thu, 3/11/10

Everglades National Park: Cloudy this morning and very humid. There’s a front coming through and we’re supposed to get a lot of rain in the next two days. Showered and had some breakfast. Filled the water tank. Then headed down to Flamingo, stopping at Pa-Hay-Okee (grassy river) and Mahogany Hammock. This hammock has got to be one of our favorite places in the Everglades. It’s a lush ecosystem of old growth mahogany trees, a variety of palms and other lush sub-tropical vegetation. And, like last year, there were two barred owl chicks in one of the mahogany trees. Two little bundles of fluffy feathers and big eyes. At Flamingo we had lunch at the marina store and checked out the campground there. They’re in the process of installing electric at the RV loop. Flamingo is right on Florida Bay, whereas Long Pine Key where we stay is in the Pinelands, which is a large slash pine forest with palmettos and a plethora of other sub-tropical vegetation—all of this surrounded by saw grass prairie, little lakes and sloughs. We like it better here. Coming back, we stopped at a little pineland trail where we saw a tree snail a couple of years ago. Each hammock has its own variety of tree snails. I thought they were kind of rare, but we saw about 10 on this little hike. Each hammock has its own specific color variation and back in the day collectors would collect some from a hammock and then burn down the hammock so no one else could get any—which would make their collection more valuable. Pretty harsh I’d say. Back home and sat outside reading for a while. Sandwiches for dinner. 83 today and pretty windy.

Tree snail--pineland trail

Orchid (I think) in the saw grass

While admiring this magnificant mahogany tree, I heard a noise and looked up--and this guy was looking back at me.

Curious ball of fluff

Wed, 3/10/10

Everglades National Park: A beautiful, sunny morning. Just hung out all morning enjoying the gentle swaying of the beautiful pines in the balmy 83 degree breezes. We saw a beautiful, graceful bird flying overhead with a long, deeply-notched tail. Turns out it was a swallow-tailed kite. A member of the hawk family. It’s getting cloudier and cloudier. After lunch we decided to bike to the Anhinga trail. Biking on the road from the campground was okay, but when we got on the main road in the park—which is a two-lane road with no shoulder and a speed limit of 55—I was not comfortable. So we turned around and headed back. Biked a little of the pinelands trail, which is an old forest road—basically two ruts on limestone bedrock—which meandered through the saw grass prairie. I was worried about seeing one of those damned pythons which are all over the area. So far we’ve never seen one though—or any snake for that matter. Biked back and drove over to the Anhinga trail and walked it for a while. Unbelievably, as we were leaving we ran into Karen and Jim, a couple from North Carolina who were wintering at Lazy Lakes this year also. They left the day after we did. Small world! In the parking lot at Anhinga there was a dead black vulture hanging upside down from a post. Apparently the vultures have been eating the rubber trim off the cars in the parking lot. And hanging a dead vulture apparently scared them off because there were none in the parking lot. Drove into Homestead and picked up some produce and bought some D batteries. Had dinner at Mutineers—we both had steak and shrimp. I ended up sharing my steak with a little stray cat. He stuck up his nose at the shrimp, but devoured the steak. The waitress told us there are 30 stray cats on the property and they feed them all. Back home. Mike made a fire and we sat around drinking Baileys and gazing at the stars. 83 today!

Anhinga--picture by Mike

Me, Karen and Jim--picture by Mike

Baby gators--picture by Mike

Mama gator--picture by Mike

Tuesday, March 9:

Lazy Lakes RV Resort, Sugarloaf Key, FL, to Everglades National Park: Left this morning at 9:40. I decided to drive. Worked our way up the Keys and enjoyed the beautiful turquoise waters one last time. We arrived in the Everglades at 12:30 and I actually backed it in the site with Mike’s help and did it quite well. However, setting up was a different story since we’d been in one spot for over three months and apparently got pretty rusty. We needed to level the 5th wheel out but put the levelers on the wrong side so it was canted pretty badly. So, we had to hook up again and put the levelers on the other side and then unhook all over again. Spent an hour futzing around. After finally getting set up we had some lunch and then went for a walk. It’s pretty busy in here which is unusual. After our walk we sat outside reading and listening to the wind in the pines and the chattering of the birds. I love coming here. It’s very restorative for some reason. Mostly cloudy today and think it was 75 when we pulled in here. Had Italian sausage sandwiches, sugar snap peas, and potatoes for dinner. No hook-ups and we have no D batteries for our lanterns, so we have to go to Homestead tomorrow to pick some up.

Hammock in the saw grass--Everglades NP