Feb and March 2014 FL

Sandhill Cranes

Rhesus Macaques Monkey

We left Ocala NF and moved to Silver River State Park. The State had recently taken over the operation of Silver Springs, complete with their Glass Bottom boats. The Silver River is a great canoeing trip, because in addition to floating over one of the largest springs in the world, at 550 M gal/day, you have the rare opportunity to see wild monkeys in FL.  In 1938, these monkeys were brought in to enhance the Jungle Cruise ride. My shoulder, neck and arm pain continued as a result of paddling so I saw an orthopedist. X-Rays indicated the problem may be stenosis in the neck. This put an end to my canoeing for a while, so we put the canoe in local storage.  Linda Erby returned to MD to see her Dad and friends.

Red Shouldered Hawk

Cool tiny house on wheels

We visited with our friends, Larry and Edi, when we were in the Brooksville area. Pat had a root canal done and temporary cap installed. We camped and hiked on our way down the Gulf coast and then to the Everglades. Everyone talks about the Burmese pythons in the Everglades. According to the Park Rangers in Shark Valley, it’s an ecological disaster.  At Flamingo, the Rangers say they don’t know the impact, because the problem has not been properly evaluated due to the inaccessibility of most of the Everglades. We saw two rattlesnakes, but no pythons.

Vizcaya Museum

Patty and Don

We started up the east coast and visited with Patty and Don in Hollywood, and my Aunt Bernie in Fort Lauderdale. We took the water taxi around Ft Lauderdale, on what became a very wet and stormy day. Yachts and mega houses lined both shores for miles.

Great Heron

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake

Anhinga

Randy with his landscaping crew

We went up to our timeshare in Jupiter and Linda and Rick joined us. During the week we spent some time at Randy’s new house helping with the landscaping. We had to cross back to the west coast so Pat could get her permanent crown installed. (Queen Pat). We attended a Born Free Rally at the Lazy Days Campground and got some issues addressed with our RV. I had surgery to remove skin cancer on the back of my right hand. A skin graft from the neck was needed to repair the area.

Pileated Woodpecker

Spielberg's $200M Yacht

Homes of the rich and famous

Rick and Linda at Mets vs Marlins

Roseate Spoonbill

Spring in the swamp

Pat and Linda

Wood Storks sharing a meal with a gator

Barred Owl

Wildflower

Space Shuttle

We crossed back to the east coast to go to the Kennedy Space Center for a day, which was not enough time to see it all. Linda Erby rejoined us at the end of March, just before Pat flew north to spend a month with her father. I spent another week hiking with Linda, before taking the RV back to Lewisburg, WV and returning to MD for an MRI and further evaluation with my neurologist.

AH! The Golden Years!

Sundews

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