Florida Jan-Mar 2020

Belted Kingfisher

Capsized cargo ship being passed by sister ship

Once the holidays were over, we headed south, with Jekyll Island, GA being the first place where we spent a few days. A good place to bicycle and walk the beach. A cargo ship full of new cars heading for Baltimore overturned last September and remains in the channel between Jekyll Island and Brunswick, GA. It is scheduled to be cut up and removed before Hurricane season, but I wouldn’t bet on it. 

Paddling at Salt Springs Rec. Area

Manatees at Blue Springs SP

We headed over to north central FL and canoed Ichetucknee Springs and Rainbow Springs. We spent a day at the Florida RV Supershow in Tampa, just to see the newest stuff available. We spent a week in the Ocala NF, canoeing and hiking. The Manatee Festival was happening when we arrived at Blue Springs SP. They were delicious grilled. (Just kidding!) There were over 300 manatees between the warm spring and the cooler St John’s River. 

Roseate Spoonbill and friends

Bald Eagle

Purple Gallinule

The Juniper Spring canoe run is usually packed on the weekend, so we waited until Monday and had a true wilderness experience there. We spent a week in the Titusville area, saw a rocket launch, and enjoyed hiking and bird watching around Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Dinner is served

Black Crowned Night Heron

Back to the west side of central FL, we went to Sargent’s Park, where many birds gather, and canoed the Hillsborough River. We also met up with my cousin from Newfoundland, George and his wife Pam. They arrived, after experiencing a Snowmageddon, 30 inches of snow with Hurricane force winds, in St John’s NFLD. Fortunately, Newfoundlanders are hardy and used to extreme weather conditions. They took us out to dinner for my 70^th birthday. 

Paddling into the Green Swamp

Black Vultures drying their wings

Green Heron

Black bellied Whistling Ducks

Spear fishing

Barred Owl

Figure it out

Corn Snake

Circle Bar B Reserve never disappoints when it comes to birds, and we saw plenty this year. We enjoyed the biking and reptile watching at Highland Hammock SP. After canoeing the Little Manatee and Peace Rivers we headed over to Sarasota to visit with Jean and Gordon. Jean retired last year as a Travel Agent. Good timing Jean! We have a big oversees trip planned to start on March 20 and we are bit concerned considering everything going on with the coronavirus. 

Canoeing in the  mangroves of Hell's Bay

Pat’s Aunt Ann came down to visit Jean, a former neighbor. Coincidently, we had been staying at the same campground as Jean. We all got together for a nice dinner.

Southern Blue Flag Iris

The Everglades were our next stop. We managed several canoe trips through the mangrove maze. We were surprised at the lack of birds in the park. Luckily, we found birds in other areas of FL. 

Morikami Japanese Gardens

Green Iguana

We started up the east coast and learned 16 ways to play BINGO with my cousin Mary. Even with 12 cards/game we never got to yell BINGO. The Morikami Japanese Gardens proved to be beautiful and interesting with an unexpected variety of wildlife. 

Dinner with Mary

Alba's selfie with Randy, Lady and Shelton.

At Lake Worth, we enjoyed a “Taste of Lake Worth” with Randy and Alba. Later we played trivia and attended an Agathe Christi play, Witness for the Prosecution. 

Bad day at Jupiter Reef Club

Our last week in FL was at our timeshare in Jupiter. It was very windy for the first four days of our stay and the ocean pounded against our new sea wall, which is still under construction. Ocean spray soared 20 above the wall and flooded out the lower patio. Constant pumping kept the water level contained in the depressed area. The was no danger of our unit being flooded out. With less that a week before our flight from IAD to Tanzania, we packed up the RV and headed up I-95.