Our Trip to Florida Jan-Feb 2025

Our Rig

After a weekend stop on Jekyll Island, we headed down to Ocala National Forest, hoping for warmer weather; instead, north Florida got its first snow storm of the season. It was too cold to get out on the open water, so we did some hiking instead. After we moved to a senior trailer park near Tampa, we tried to do some canoeing here but found most of the small streams closed due to cleanup efforts to remove the trees felled by the hurricanes. After a lot of misinformation from county employees, we found a section of the Hillsboro River that was open, so we canoed it. From here we moved to the east coast, and mostly did hiking and birding. We did an eight-mile canoe trip on the Rock Springs Run of the Wekiva River, a National Wild and Scenic River. We were told we were departing the put-in an hour and a half too late to catch the shuttle bus back; but we signed up for it anyway, knowing we would be charged a $100/hour if they had to wait for us. We hustled down the river and got to the takeout an hour before the shuttle bus was scheduled to arrive.

The Crane Whisperer

 

Rock Springs Run

Tri Colored Heron

We headed further south to Lake Worth and went out to dinner at a Peruvian restaurant with nephew Randy and his wife Alba. We learned the hard way to closely check the bill. Who would expect a 20 percent service charge for a group of four? We spent Super Bowl Sunday with my cousin Mary and daughter Crystal. Mary kept us well fed with her home cooking. On the way back we stopped to have dinner with Phil Guyer and his wife Nancy at a nice water front seafood restaurant. Before we left Florida, we paddled the Santa Fe River while smaller streams in the area remained closed due to the hurricanes.

Mary

We put our RV in storage before we checked into our timeshare in Hilton Head, SC. We took a day trip to Savannah and took a tour of an historic cemetery and a walk along the Savannah River front. We had an e-bike with us that we used on some of the canoe shuttles and had it locked to a bike rack outside our unit. One morning we found the lock had been tampered with in an attempt to steal it. We could not open the damaged lock so we had to have it cut off. We visited with Pat’s friend Rick and his wife Maureen. Rick prepared four delicious pizzas from scratch for our dining enjoyment. 

Savannah Cemetery

In Savannah

Savannah Riverboat

They shouldn't joke about free beer!

. In Hilton Head we walked around Fort Howard, built during the civil war to protect an area where freed slaves lived. From here we drove back to Odenton, MD. While we were gone, MD had one of the worst winters it has experienced in many years. Our condo was without power for two days. I guess you just can’t escape problems. 

Flag at Fort Howard

This replica 1864 flag is one version of the Union flag flown during the Civil War. In 1864, beginning to foresee victory, the Union considered the nation undivided, and the confederate state's stars were included.

Our Fall Travels 2024

Flathead Lake

Right after we got back from Brazil, Pat had her left knee replaced. The operation went well and Pat is recovering nicely. Now she is scheduled to get the right knee replaced on March 10th. Pat was reading about the geology of Montana. Glacial Lake Missoula was in NW Montana, so we went up there to see the how the massive periodic flood shaped the land. The Lake existed 13,000 to 15,000 years ago. Flathead Lake is what remains from the depression of the glacial lake. Ice dams as tall as 2000 feet would fail and release a massive flood that could travel as fast as 80 mph, destroying or reshaping everything in its path. This flooding occurred dozens of times. I’m sure you have seen ripples in the sand caused by water flow. These are usually very small, an inch or less tall. Imagine the force of water it would take to create ripples 45 feet tall. These exist in MT and are the largest such ripples in the world.

Three bucks in our side yard

Historic Cheyenne Train Depot

In October we started our cross-country RV trip back to MD. We spent a day in Cheyenne, WY. The Union Pacific Railroad Depot is a National Historic Landmark and we toured its museum and large model train display. It was the first major depot on the Union Pacific (UP) railroad from its starting point in Omaha. We took a self-guided tour of the historic WY State Capital. WY was the first state to allow women to vote. Pat visited the Botanical Gardens while I toured the State Museum.

Botanical Gardens in Cheyenne

Cheyenne is a railroad town

Pat is being inspected by the Agent from the Dept of Gnomeland Security

in Omaha

We stopped in Omaha where we visited the Lewis and Clark Museum and Council Bluffs (named by L&C) where there is a monument where L&C had a council with the Otoes and Missouris tribal leaders. There was a riverside park on each side of the river, connected by a beautiful pedestrian bridge. We also visited the zoo there. We found another L&C landmark at the Falls of the Ohio SP. This is where Clark joined Lewis to start their expedition.

Art Deco Supreme Court, Columbus OH

In Columbus, OH we took a guided tour of the statehouse, but more visually stunning was the Art Deco Supreme Court Building. The Franklin Park Conservatory was enhanced by 18 stunning decorative glass installation by Dale Chihuly.

Seal of Columbus

Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Columbus

Bernie, Sue, Diane, Pat and Don at Rue 57 in NYC

We met our friend Diane and her two sisters in Newark, DE after they flew in from MN.  We did a whirlwind tour of NYC in two days, visiting the 9/11 Museum, Brooklyn Bridge, Rockefeller Plaza, Bryant Park, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Central Park, the New York Public Library and the High Line Park. We then drove them to DC where they toured on their own for two days. After that we had dinner with them at the Dubliner Irish Pub in DC.

Louis Vuitton Building

St Patrick's Cathedral

Bryant Park, NYC

Newlyweds: Alba and Randy

We drove to Philly to see Jen and Patrick’s baby, Violet, get baptized. Newlyweds, Randy and Alba flew in from FL.

Linda with grandkids; Lindon and Violet

We celebrated Christmas in York, PA at Linda’s house. We were entertained by Violet (18 mo.) and Lindon (15 mo.). According to Jen and Patrick, Violet will be a big sister by next summer. A few days later, my side of the family came down to our condo for dinner. New Years was celebrated with a gathering of friends for dinner over two days.

Williamsburg Inn

We drove to Williamsburg on the Friday after Thanksgiving in order to go Busch Gardens and see their 10 million Christmas light display. It didn’t take long for us to realize we made a big mistake in timing our visit. The traffic was bad on the trip down. We had paid $60 each to enter Bush Gardens. When we arrived, there were at least 100 cars waiting in line to pay $38 for parking. About a half hour later we arrived at a remote parking lot and waited in line for a tram. We were allowed to load on the third tram. Before we could enter the park, we had to stand in line to go through a security check and then another line for the ticket takers.  Of course, the group in front of us had various problems with their tickets and this caused another delay. When we got the ticket taker, Pat showed her our digital receipt on her phone. This was not good enough to get in, so we had to go back and stand in another long line at Customer Service and get a ticket with a bar code. Then back though security and the ticket taker. By this time, we actually considered cutting our losses, ending our frustration and getting out of there. If we didn’t already have $158 invested in this visit, I’m sure we would have left. The park was well decorated, but not worth the cost or hassle! The next day we walked around Colonial Williamsburg and this cost nothing. We thought if we left early on Sunday, maybe we would miss most of the traffic. The trip back was worse than the trip down on Friday. 

Brookside Gardens, MD

Pat did a girls’ trip to Brookside Gardens to see their light display. (A better alternative to Busch Gardens!)

Lois with Marin, Pat, Eldon and Don in Bonaire

On Dec 5, our good friend Lois passed away due to cancer. Lois and Eldon have been friends for a long time and we spent vacation time with them in Fernie and on the Island of Bonaire. I always looked forward to Lois’s wonderful home cooked meals when we visited them in Westminster. Lois had two daughters, Marin and Mira, and two grandchildren.

Frank (center) with canoeing companions after a week long trip in Maine (30 yr ago)

Frank was my canoeing partner on several one-week canoeing adventures back in the ‘80s when we help with the mapping and clearing of the future 740 mi Northern Forest Canoe Trail in NY, VT, NH and Maine. In 1996 we also paddled together on a two-week wilderness canoe trip in the NW Territories of Canada. He died from cancer on Dec. 21. I also worked with Frank for many years at the Piscataway Plant in Accokeek, MD.