Mon, 3/12/12
Everglades National Park:  Pretty cloudy this morning.  I took care of the cleaning.  After lunch we headed out to get a paper and pick up some produce.  There’s a large produce stand just a few miles outside the park.  It’s called “Howard is Here”—weird name, but a lot of their produce comes fresh right out of their fields.  We picked up some raw peanuts, some tomatoes, sweet corn, and some pickled vegetables that Mike likes.  On the way back we stopped at the Anhinga Trail which was really crowded with people—mostly Europeans.  Decided to skip that and just come on back.  Relaxed outside for a while.  I just finished a book by Mark Twain, “Roughing It” about his travels across country on an Overland stage back in the 1860s.  Bought it when we were in Virginia City.  I chuckled all the way through it. Mike grilled up some steaks for dinner.  I cooked up the sweet corn along with some tiny potatoes I bought a while back.  81 today. 

Milk thistle in bloom

Sun, 3/11/12:
Everglades National Park:  Today was pure relaxation.  Well, I took care of some maintenance stuff, like hair, nails, and toes.  Cleaned the fantastic fan.  But mostly we kicked back and enjoyed this peaceful place.  This is so much more wide open than a commercial park.  There’s no one on top of us.  Lots of vegetation.  And no lights, so at night it is really dark and the stars are brilliant.  Last night we listened to “A Prairie Home Companion” on NPR.  This particular show was out of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.  Home of the Grand Ole Opry.  We lucked out and saw an opry show there once.  Anyway, Emmy Lou Harris was a co-host along with Garrison Keeler.  A great show, and always live. This afternoon around 4:30 we headed back to Mahogany Hammock to see if we could find any owl chicks.  And we weren’t disappointed.  There were two fat little chicks, and we had the added bonus of the adult.  Actually there were both adults, but we could only see one of them.  They were calling back and forth to each other.  The chicks are so curious.  We didn’t stay long because the insects were out in force.  A great day in the mid-80s. 

Mama owl

One of the fuzzy little chicks

Both chicks--they are so curious

Sat, 3/10/12
Everglades National Park:  After our morning ablutions we got out the hose and filled up the water tank.  After we got that done we relaxed outside enjoying this pretty day. Watched a hawk circling overhead and heard an owl nearby. Love this place.  The smells are so different here.  In the Keys there’s a strong smell of the sea.  Here in the Everglades is the smell of the pines and other flora.  Both smells are good—just different.  After lunch we decided to drive down to Mahogany Hammock to see if there were any owl chicks this year.  Drove down through the dwarf cypress forest at the lofty height of 4 feet above sea level.  Didn’t see any chicks, but we’ll go back again.  Continued on down to Flamingo for the express purpose of discerning the demise of the 70-year-old man that went missing last year at this time.  They were still searching for him when we left here last year.  Well, they never found him—not any trace of him.  It’s like he disappeared into thin air.  They had just pulled into the campground in Flamingo, had set up, and he went off for a walk.  Never to be seen again.  They searched and searched.  Brought in dogs.  Used military helicopters with a heat-seeking apparatus.  Searched alligator dens.  Then his sons came down and they searched, proceeded to get lost, and then they had to be rescued.  Anyway, there was never any trace of him or his clothing.  What a mystery.  Maybe he wanted to go missing?  Upper 80s today.

Coming off Mahogany Hammock
Picture by Mike

Fri, 3/9/12
Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf, FL, to Everglades National Park:  Left Lazy Lakes at 10:00.  A bunch of people came out to say good bye.  Said our good byes to Bastion.  And we’re on our way.  Worked our way up through the Keys, enjoying the beautiful vistas and lovely turquoise waters one last time.  Arrived at the Everglades by 12:30 and were set up by 1:30.  Our usual site was occupied (sigh) so we had to settle for another one.  But we’re close to water so we can fill up our tank easily with a hose.  There was a traffic snafu just before we got to Homestead on the divided part of the Overseas Highway.  Not sure what it was, but there were several emergency vehicles, news crews and a helicopter hovering overhead.  They were even bringing in a swamp buggy of sorts.  Never saw a wreck or anything.  It is a conundrum.  Mid-80s here and pretty windy.  

Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Our last day in the Keys.  Decided to drive back to Key West and have one more sumptuous breakfast at Azur.  It was already 84 at 10:00 as we drove down.  I wasn’t going to drink, but they have a two-for-one special on Mimosas—so what the hell.  Drove back, stopped to top off the gas tank, and saw four F-18s screaming over us one last time.  Relaxed the rest of the day and put the extra chairs away along with our outside rug and then watched TV the rest of the evening.  Leaving tomorrow morning for the Everglades and no electric, water, or Internet—for seven days.

I had yellow tail snapper benedict served over ciabatta bread and spinach, topped off with hollandaise with capers.  Served with Yukon gold potatoes and grilled tomato.  Washed down with two mimosas.

Mike had two eggs, Italian fennel sausage, Yukon gold potatoes, ciabatta bread and grilled tomato

A couple was at the table next to us with their cute little dog, Tommy.

Wed, Mar 7, 2012
Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Spent a quiet morning.  Rained off and on.  Around 2:00 we decided to take Bastion for a quick walk.  Just made it around the lake when it started pouring.  Let Bastion stay at our site until the rain let up and then we put him back inside.  Had dinner with Esther and Gerald at Pepe’s in Key West  and then walked around the waterfront.  Saw a lot of nice yachts from all over.  Lots of spring breakers in town too. Drove back and had some wine at Esther and Gerald’s site.  Ted stopped by.  Just before 11:00 it started raining again—so we hot-footed it back to our site.  Fun night!

One last walk and visit with Bastion--the wonder dog.

Gerald trying to figure out how to take a picture on timer--doesn't he look intent?

The first picture on timer.  Where the hell is Esther?
(picture by Gerald)

There she is!
(picture by Gerald)

Lazy Lakes RV Park, Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Reluctantly dragged ourselves out of bed this morning.  Headed to Big Pine to do the grocery shopping and laundry.  Got that done and had lunch one last time at Pizza Works.  Back home, put everything away and then Mike took Bastion for a walk.  He was so happy to see us.  Gonna miss that dog!  Sat outside reading for a while.  The wind was really strong again today and whipped the water up into this frothy stuff that accumulates on shore and then goes blowing around in the wind like little tumbleweeds.  Oh, and we saw a bird hovering around the lake yesterday.  It wasn’t an osprey or a hawk—turns out it was a peregrine falcon!  Mid-70s today and really windy.

Peregrine Falcon