Fri, 3/14/08

Jonathan Dixon State Park; Jupiter, FL: Up around 9:00 this morning. Another perfect day. Andy and Carolyn headed out to gas up and find a place to get a quick breakfast. Couldn’t find a place for breakfast, so Carolyn offered to make pancakes. We ate at our site. I set the table and made some juice. Carolyn did everything else. Great pancakes! Then they had to get ready to leave. After they left we sat around reading. Too tired to go biking. Did some grocery shopping in the afternoon. Came back and crashed.

Carolyn & Andy

Thu, 3/13/08

Jonathan Dixon State Park; Jupiter, FL: We sat around reading waiting for Carolyn and Andy to show up. A perfectly beautiful day. They rolled in to the site next to us around 1:00 and we sat around blabbing until I had to leave for my appointment. It was so good to see them! And they not only have a dog, but a cat—a neat cat. Andy had replaced the carpeting in their fifth wheel which turned out beautiful and he built a cabinet for their flat screen TV. You push a button and the TV comes up and then goes back down for traveling. And he put in a stereo system. Pretty talented. We met for dinner at the Crab House across from the Jupiter light house and then went back and we sat around the fire talking until about 2:00 a.m. Fun.

Sunset on the Loxahatchee River

Johnathan Dixon State Park; Jupiter, FL: A cloudy but warm day today. Talked to our Canadian friends and they’ve made a reservation here and will be right next to us—will be arriving tomorrow around noon. We went out on the Manatee Queen for a sunset cruise. Saw a bunch of celebs houses—including Tom Cruise. Cleared off in time for our cruise. Had a beautiful sunset.

Jupiter Lighthouse--still active--first lit in 1860

Naval married officer quarters during WWII

Jonathan Dixon State Park; Jupiter, FL: Well, we got up at about 2:20 a.m. to view the shuttle launch. I felt it and heard it, but we didn’t see anything. Disappointed. Rained some after we went back to bed. Warm but cloudy this morning. When we left the Keys, a woman who came into Lazy Lakes about a month ago (in a site across from us) gave us her card. She has written 4 books—all photo books on fences and gates, dormers, shutters and awnings, and entryways and doorways. Who knew? She is traveling with her poodle, Suzie, in a class C motor home. She is on her second 2-1/2 year trip. When she’s not traveling, she lives in San Diego. Pretty interesting, huh? She’s published 4 books in 2 years. 1000 photos each. Her name is Jo Cryder.

We left around 11:00 and went back to the Jupiter lighthouse. Went through the museum and then toured the lighthouse grounds. Mike went up to the top of the lighthouse. I stayed behind. Don’t do well with heights. Had fun watching a couple of hawks building a nest. This is still an active light and there are 11 families living on the grounds. After that we went across the river to the Crab House for lunch. There’s also a cruise we want to take tomorrow on the intracoastal which is accessible from their dock. While eating lunch I noticed a pelican in trouble. Looked like he had partially swallowed either a piece of plastic or a fishing lure. He couldn’t get it off his bottom beak. So I inquired as to whether they had a bird rescue operation in the area. And they do. They called them and they’re going to try and help the poor thing. As we were leaving he was still trying to swallow the thing—whatever it is. The gal at the front desk of the restaurant is going to call me and let me know how the rescue operation goes. The boat tour will go by Tiger Woods’ property and I guess Celine Dion owns a house on the island also. A beautiful place.

This pretty little trail at the top of the dunes on the beach used to be Rt. A1A

The beach at blowing rocks preserve has a long line of this Anastasia limestone

Driveway to one of the estates

One of the estates on the island

Jonathan Dixon State Park; Jupiter, FL: Went to the Jupiter lighthouse late this morning, but it was closed. So we drove over to Jupiter Island. Jupiter Island is such a beautiful place—lots of money over there. The homes—compounds really—are huge. As you drive down the island, the intracostal waterway is on one side and the Atlantic on the other. And there are several wild areas on the island—wildlife sanctuaries and parks. We stopped at the blowing rock park and walked a couple of trails. We stopped at the Jupiter Club. They have a beautiful croquet court there. A lot of clouds today. Hoping to view the shuttle launch tomorrow morning at 2:28.

Jonathan Dixon State Park; Jupiter, FL: Mike started a fire this morning and I got dressed in sweats and sweat shirt thinking it was going to be really cool. But it was really warm. So back and changed into shorts and a tube top. Sat by the fire for a while. We still have the whole place to ourselves. It’s a beautiful, sunny, but windy day. Went for a walk up the road to a little Cyprus swamp to see if the gators were back. There were two of them. We met a couple from Sweeden while there. They’re over here for the winter. They want to buy an RV and return every winter. Walked back. Sat outside and read for a while. Left-overs for dinner. At about 8:00 p.m. the people started coming in that are gong to be here with us. E-mailed our Canadian friends to see if we can get together with them while we’re here. Waiting to hear from them. They are over by Lake Okeechobee.

Our campsite at Jonathan Dickson State Park; Jupiter, FL

Jonathan Dixon State Park; Jupiter, FL: Well, the day started out bad and got worse. Woke up to rain and wind. As soon as we had a break in the weather we hooked up. Had to pull out of our site, put the bike rack on the camper, and then load the bikes. Then we were on our way. I felt lousy, so Mike ended up driving all the way. The Sun Pass worked great! I’m so glad I got it. It saves a lot of time. We left The Keys at 9:40 a.m., stopped at the Palm Beach service area and got something to eat, and arrived at Jonathan Dickson State Park at about 3:00. Got checked in and then headed to our site—which was in the river loop. Really beautiful with lots of lush vegetation. The site we reserved (back in October of last year) was occupied. Sooooo, we called the ranger station and a ranger came over to tell whoever was on the site to remove themselves—but they were nowhere to be found. So, they ended up putting us in the equestrian campground, which would be great because there are only 5 sites and we’d have the whole place to ourselves. So we went over there and got set up and then another ranger stopped by later and told us there is going to be a work group in here also—starting tomorrow. 20-somethings. But, she said they are up early and work all day, and if they aren’t quiet they’ll be asked to leave. At any rate, we’re here for 6 or 7 days. There’s lots of hiking trails and bike paths. Plus the Loxahatchee River. Should be fun. 73 when we got here. Supposed to go down to the 40s tonight. At least we can have a camp fire. And temps back into the 80s in a couple of days.