Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL, to Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Jupiter, FL:  Left the Everglades this morning at 10:00 after stopping at the dump station.  Took Florida’s Turnpike north past the urban sprawl that is greater Miami and after a little more than two hours of driving we stopped at the West Palm Service Center for something to eat.  We’ve been looking forward to this stop for a year now, since the last time we stopped here we had sandwiches at the “Earl of Sandwich” which were excellent.  Imagine our dismay when we discovered the whole place is shut down for renovations.  Go figure.  The only other eating establishment there was Nathan’s.  So, I had a hot dog and Mike had a burger.  Back on the road with Mike behind the wheel and it was only about 20 miles to Jupiter.  Got there and were set up by 3:00.  Then off to Hobe Sound to do the laundry and grocery shopping.  Now we’re good to go for the rest of the week.  Pretty cloudy here and VERY windy. Left-over pork chops for dinner tonight.  81 today.

Pretty wild flowers in bloom--Pine Land Trail, Everglades.

Sat, 3/16/13:

Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL:  Not quite so cold this morning and it warmed up quickly. Made a big breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, biscuits, and juice.  Tasted pretty good.  Can’t remember the last time I cooked breakfast in here. We drove over to the gumbo limbo trail and walked it since we’d heard there were owls there also.  Sure enough, there was one adult owl.  No sign of any owlets though.  Drove back to Mahogany Hammock one last time to see if we could find any owlets.  Got there and a bunch of people were gathered around with cameras, tripods, and spotting scopes.  There were two owls.  One had just brought the other a snake to eat.  So, it appears we couldn’t find any owlets because they had already fledged, but the mother was still feeding them.  You could tell the owl receiving the snake didn’t quite know what to do with it.  He finally dropped part of it.  They were way back in the canopy so it was hard to get a picture.  They weren’t cute and fuzzy any more. Watched them for a while and continued on.  On the way back to our campground, we stopped at Pine Land and walked the trail.  We always see a lot of tree snails on this trail, but this year we found only one.  They’re getting very rare, and most of them have been exterminated—humanoids again.  During the winter season they affix themselves to a tree and basically sleep the winter away—in sort of a state of hibernation.  If you remove them from the tree in this state they die.  Back to our site and relaxed outside enjoying this beautiful day.  Made a chocolate cream pie and warmed up some lasagna for dinner.  81 today.  Tomorrow we leave for Jupiter, FL.

Adult Owl--Gumbo Limbo Trail

Tree Snail on Pine Land Trail

Fledgling owl trying to eat a snake brought by the adult.
Picture by Mike

Fri, 3/15/13:

Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL:  Cool this morning but warmed up quicker.  Had to go back to Walgreen’s to pick up Mike’s script, so we had breakfast again at Cracker Barrel.  Topped off the gas tank and then headed back to the park.  Drove directly to Poirotus Pond to check out the rookery there.  Both the wood storks and the roseate spoon bills are nesting right now.  The rookery isn’t that big this year.  Talked with the ranger for a while and watched a cormorant that had caught a huge fish and couldn’t quite figure out what to do with it.  He finally gave up and let it go.  A guy there with a 600 mm lens got a great photo of the ordeal.  Left there and headed back to Mahogany Hammock to see if we could spot the owlets.  No luck again.  Mahogany Hammock is pretty unique, I think.  In some areas it’s a tropical jungle and in others it’s a hardwood forest.  Pretty amazing.  And there are two strangler figs in there which are amazing. Back to our site, topped off the water, and sat around reading for a while.  Pork chops, mashed potatoes and a vegetable for dinner.  85 today.

Eastern King Bird--Poirotus Pond

Thu, 3/14/13

Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL:  Cool again this morning.  Headed out early to drop off a prescription at Walgreen’s for Mike. Did that and went next door to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  Feeling a bit warmer, but headed up the Florida’s Turnpike a couple of exits to check out the movie theater there.  Noted the times for future reference and then we headed to a remote eastern entrance of the Everglades NP to check it out.  This hammock, Chekika, was inhabited for thousands of years.  Most recently it was a resort, but the park bought the land because of its importance to the Shark River Slough that is the Everglades.  This remote hammock was accessible only by canoe at one time.  The original Everglades was a river of grass 40 miles wide and 5 inches deep.  It’s now a mere shadow of its former self.   It actually got up to 75 today.  On the way back we stopped at the Anhinga Trail and walked around a little.  Lots of Europeans and Asians in the mix.  Back home and had sandwiches for dinner.

Anhinga chicks--Anhinga Trail

Mike pointing out a gator on a little pond at Chekika Hammock

These grasses on Chekika are over 7 feet tall.

Water lily--Anhinga Trail

Wed, 3/13/13

Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL:  Really cool this morning.  Didn’t warm up until early afternoon.  Drove down to Flamingo and walked around.  Inquired about the 70-year-old guy who went missing two years ago.  Still absolutely no sign of him, his clothing, body parts, anything.  I think he planned on going missing.  While walking around the marina, we saw the biggest crock I’ve ever seen. This guy was out of the water and sunning himself on a bank. He must have been at least 10 feet long.  Sat on a bench and enjoyed the view of Florida Bay.  It’s been said you could almost walk across Florida Bay to the Florida Keys because it’s so shallow.  Wonder if anyone has ever tried?  Drove back to our quiet, peaceful campground, finished off a bottle of wine and warmed up left-overs for dinner.  83 today.

Florida Bay at Flamingo in the Everglades

This huge croc was sunning himself on the bank--Flamingo.  He must have been over 10 feet long.

Tue, 3/12/13

Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL:  Chilled down nicely last night—into the 60s, so it was nice sleeping.  Today was mostly cloudy, but warm.  After lunch we drove over to Mahogany Hammock to see if there were any owlets this year.  Walked through the hammock twice but didn’t see anything.  It’s beautiful in there though.  Love all the different smells. Drove back and on the way stopped at Sisal Pond.  Must have been a resort or something at one time, because there was rip-rap all around the edge of the pond and a road with a gate that went around the pond at one time.  At the entrance kiosk to our campground I inquired as to whether there were any pythons spotted in or around the campground this year.  No pythons, she said, but diamond back rattlesnakes and moccasins.  Oh, is that all said I.  (At least the pythons aren’t venomous.) We always watch where we’re walking.  Well, at least I do.  Steak, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable for dinner tonight.  83 today.

These tiny snap-dragon-like flowers are blooming throughout the park.  They're only about 1/4 inch in size.

Mike trekking through Mahogany Hammock

Going over the dizzying heights of Rock Reef Pass

All ready for our steak dinner tonight.