Jonathan Dickinson State Park (Site 86), Jupiter, FL:  Yesterday was cool and windy.  Today was hot and steamy.  What a difference!  Mike wanted to take the boat trip down the Loxahatchee River to Trapper John’s camp.  Planned on the 1:00 trip, but we were told they wouldn’t go all the way to the camp because of low tides.  So, we went back at 3:00 but were told the same thing.  On the way back to our site, we stopped at Hobe Mt., the highest point in southern Florida—86 ft.  Climbed the tower there and checked out the view.  This park used to be home of the 801^st Signal Corps during WWII.  Sitting on over 11,000 acres this base was comprised of over 1000 buildings, including a church, store, bowling alley, hospital, movie theater and barracks.  It was ceded to the state as a state park in 1947 and became Jonathan Dickinson State Park in 1950.  It is huge and boasts all kinds of trails, including equestrian trails.  Out to Schooners for dinner tonight.  88 today!

Intracoastal waterway, Jupiter Island, Atlantic Ocean.

801st based here during WWII.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Jupiter, FL:  Got really cold last night.  And when I finally forced myself out of bed to turn on the furnace, it was 41 in here.  Got back under the covers to wait for it to warm up enough to take a shower.  It warmed up quickly outside though.  By the time I showered and dressed we had the door open and could sit outside.  Wasn’t long though before the clouds rolled in and the winds really picked up.  So, we decided to do our laundry and grocery shopping today and get it over with.  While driving up to Hobe Sound to the laundry, we realized that the land all the way from Burt’s place to Hobe Sound was natural and undeveloped.  Love this area.  Got our chores done.  Mike grilled chicken for dinner. Probably only in the mid-70s today.

Jupiter Light

Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Jupiter, FL:  Sunny this morning, but really cool and windy.  So glad we went biking yesterday.  Decided to run some errands and go to see a movie again.  After we finished our errands we drove over to Jupiter Island to see how the top 1% live.  Those homes are amazing.  Most of them have a main entrance, and a service entrance. I asked the girl at the hardware store while we were running our errands if she ever sees Burt Reynolds.  His home is just across Hwy. 1 from our park.  Says she never has seen him but sees Joe Namath regularly.  And Olivia Newton John.  I wouldn’t know either one if they bumped into me.  It would be fun to see Burt though.  72 today.

The Atlantic is beautiful today--a deep, deep blue--Jupiter Island.

Driving the streets of Jupiter Island.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Jupiter, FL:  Got the bikes out this morning and rode down to the Loxahatchee River.  There are a lot of bike paths, bike trails, and hiking trails in this park.  And you bike through what Florida was like back in the day.  Slash pines, palmettos, and wild flowers. Really pretty and smells wonderful.  A nice day for biking—mostly cloudy and hardly any wind—at first, anyway.  Had a snack and something to drink down by the river and then biked back.  Winds had picked up by now and it was a little hard slogging here and there.  Back to our site.  I was all sweaty and gritty, so took another shower and washed my hair.  Think we’ll go see a movie this afternoon.  Low 80s today. 

Bikerchic

Mike spotted this gopher tortoise.

What a beautiful biking trail!

Cacti are blooming in the park right now.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Jupiter, FL:  Cloudy this morning, but finally the wind stopped.  Off to a spring training game between the Cardinal’s and the Marlin’s at Roger Dean Stadium.  A perfect day, since it was mostly cloudy.  Otherwise, we would have fried out there.  Had our fill of stadium food for lunch and then took our seats to watch the game.  We won—5-4.  A good game.  Back home and stopped to check out one of the boat tours we want to take.  Not sure what the weather is for the next two days.  Whether we go or not will depend on that.  We have been plagued by ants since we got here.  Big ones too.  They start to appear in the evening.  Maybe vampire ants?  Put out some traps.  Hope they work.  83 today.

Pitcher warming up.

Cards at bat.

We won!

Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Jupiter, FL:  Another really windy day today.  Spent the morning slogging through e-mails, balancing check book, credit card statements, etc.  Other than that, we pretty much hung out mostly inside because of the wind.  It’s starting to rain and we’re supposed to get quite a bit of rain.  They need it here though.  Hopefully it won’t rain tomorrow, since we have tickets to the Cardinal’s game against the Marlins tomorrow afternoon.  Upper 70s today.

Beautiful sunset last night.

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.