On the road to Cedar Key

On THE road to Cedar Key, a neat little coastal tourist town with a couple of art coops and fairly good restaurants is this marker. It is a little known incident and I will let you Google more information.

Also, on the road, in this case Highway 19, is this neat little locomotive that hauled log cars. Unfortunately, I cannot afford one of those chain-link fence filters for my camera.

Finally, a snap of the terrain as I turn around. Adventures for the bold.

Just another day

Osprey

As I was using the binoculars to watch four bald eagles doing bald eagle stuff, Denise got this "snap" of one of three ospreys circling above us.













While watching these imposing birds we almost stepped on these little crabs that would duck in an out of their holes like something from a cartoon.

Then we went to one of our favorite "walks" and revisited a  couple of old friends.

Tricolored Heron

Great Egret

Just another day in the weeds.

RVing and Snowbird culture

Cousin Reggie*

I have tried to maintain a high intellectual level for this blog but to do so would ignore the real world. The RVing world is a diverse as any hobby/lifestyle. I have yet to see an anthropological study dealing with the RV society/culture. There are many "Twenty years on the road" sort of memoirs which serve the spectrum of self-help to humorously showing a mad mad mad world. These will provide insights and are often counterpoint to the marketing/sales hoopla from the "Industry."

There are, I think, sub-cultures. Campers head out to government parks or other Federal or State land and often live with no access to utilities. Travelers tend toward RV parks that have water, sewer, and electric hook-ups and often cable TV, and wifi. They use their towing vehicle, or if a motorized RV a towed vehicle, to see the local sights. Usually, they stay in one location for several days or even a couple of weeks. Full-timers are a variation on Travelers. They use there RV 365 days a year and may stay months in one location. Then there are mobile workers, usually construction, who are easily identified by starting their diesel pickup before dawn. Also, related and unrelated interest in specific activities such as NASCAR or historical locations are a purpose for RVing.

Then there are obscure things, traditions and such. Airstreamers (those who travel in the iconic silver bullets) have a tradition of decorating their area with Flamingos. That where cousin Reggie comes in. Our neighbors Tim and Linda once had an Airstream. From that relationship cousin Reggie appeared. He may well dwarf all other Flamingos and certainly has better taste. As you can see I have not drifted too far from the blog's high intellectual level.

*The photo of Cousin Reggie appears with the permission of Ms Linda P.F.A.N.A. (Professional Flamingo Artists of North America

Yeah, we went to see the Manatees

If you have trouble defining a "type A" person you might consider, "he/she ain't a Manatee." If you want to describe a Manatee "a really big slug" it might not be nice but about a close as you get and remain brief.

coming up for air

They do move

Mom and the kid rise together for a breath

Thanks to cool weather and a high tide we saw a large concentration of Manatee in the Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River, Florida.

Go sit under the old palm tree with anyone else but me.

Even an experienced mariner like Captain F.R. Ogg could not deal with last nights storm.

Capt. FR Ogg

It was not demon rum, this time

We have been through worse winds (30 mph gust) but not rain as it could not have rained any harder. With the Gulf of Mexico only about 10 miles away Mother Nature did not have to go far to fill the bucket she was pouring on our RV. It all proved to be an effective way to trim the palm trees.

This photo only shows a small amount of "shedding" from the palms. What to note is that the break point of the stem might create a "point" sharp enough to do damage to the human, or even inhuman body. Even without a point, two or three pounds of leaves in a bunch would be uncomfortable falling from even a modest height.

Rainbow Springs State Park "Cracker Days"

Rainbow Springs

Haven't been posting as winter hit us. We survived one night where the temperature dipped below freezing but today may hit 80. You take the bad with the good. Yesterday we went to see "Cracker Days" at Rainbow Springs State Park. Once a tourist park with zoo and amusement park rides, it is now a beautifully landscaped place around the perfectly clear water that feeds the Rainbow River.

My first fish photo

 "Cracker Days" is  heritage arts festival. The usual spinning, blacksmithing, soap making, coopering, and storytelling/lying. There was live music and while we were there was a rather good traditional banjo player. Although you must be careful in the south calling someone a "cracker," native Floridians have no problem, as it refers to the earliest settlers of the American period of history.

Cracker Camp

A Dee-lightful Day Mr. President

Teddy Roosevelt was interested in almost everything and perhaps his greatest interest was birds. Florida was of particular importance to him and the first designated bird sanctuary was due to him. Not only did he love birding but he was attempting to stop the slaughter by the plume hunters who were supplying the fashion trade.

Yesterday we thanked TR. On an island, near the mouth of the Withlacoochie River we saw a bald eagle ("dandified buzzard" Brian Keith as TR in The Wind and the Lion). Alas, he was too far away for a photo. This was also true of the pelicans, gulls, and buzzards. As we were about to leave/ an Osprey landed on a utility pole very close which startled us and we the bird. Then we walked a trail into the Withlacoochie Gulf Preserve where we took the photographs.

The Bughouse

The Bughouse

The Florida great outdoors is renown for snakes, gators, panthers, feral hogs, and the legendary swamp ape. What we share with these critters is a predator known in the vernacular as the "no-see-um." Talk to anyone and you will learn the little gnats (or sand fleas according to one authority) are worse in the day, in the night, when it is sunny, when it is cloudy, when it is warm, and when it is cool. Their bite is much bigger than their size.

One protection is fine screening. Experts say bridal veil material is fine enough but some people just cannot wear bridal fashions, I mean on some it is too-too. Another source of protection is a mesh tent/canopy as pictured above. It is not foolproof, what is? However, very few get in and those you can dispatch with an icepick if you are good. 

Back to Fort Island

As a northerner wintering in Florida you have to accept a few things. First, if the groundhog sees his shadow, you really don't care. Second, wildflowers and tameflowers are in bloom. Third, you miss seeing "bridge freezes before pavement" signs (at least in this part of the state).

Note to Doctor Rick: I can find no evidence of any stinkin' fort on Fort Island.

We cooked (and ate) Pompano last night. Aside from liking seafood, trying it was part of our "thing" for old movies. Anyone know the movie where one of the main characters recalls, Pompano, done up in a brown paper bag. Don't feel bad if you cannot answer, as trivia, it is much the same as being able to name the members of President Truman's Cabinet.

To add some purpose to this otherwise blog entry about nothing, the bottom photo is of a bunch of shells imbedded in rock or some sort of hard mud matrix. These are common along the Gulf shore and rather uninteresting. They become interesting when they are underwater. We have seen very few inflatable boats in this area. I think this may well be the reason.

Nag, Nag, Nag

It was off to the Florida Horse Park yesterday for the driving competition. The photos are of the pony class, single and teams, in "dressage." This weekend there is also a "marathon" and "cones," the latter, as you might suspect, is driving a twisting course around pylons. As with all horsey competition this is serious stuff and the skill of the drivers was evident.

The Florida Horse Park

Ocala, Florida, markets itself as the horse capitol of Florida. In the midst of the multitude of horse farms is the Florida Horse Park. It is unclear the relationship to the State and I don't have enough interest or any reason to find out. Yet it appears to be an ongoing development and what isn't beautiful on a 70 degree day with a perfectly blue sky? 

On Wednesday the horsey people are there instructing and letting "relatively" young people ride the competition show jumping course. This is not to suggest these were novice riders. All seemed extremely capable and very serious about their art. Yet, if you are attempting to make a 1500 pound beastie do what you want you had best be serious. 

Special note for those who look closely at the photos. Yes, it is the same young woman riding different horses.

Rainbows, RVs, and Remembering

After nearly 2 inches of rain we were rewarded with a complete rainbow that would have taken 5 wide angle cameras taped together to photograph. Of course, by the time I saw it it was fading but still had better color than this photo would suggest.

OK, we have been active beyond chasing rainbows. This week is the Tampa RV show and of course I broke my promise and went anyway. Hundreds of  RV dealers, suppliers of bells and whistles, and RV resort reps, (with hundreds of RVs) were there with order pads, financing agreements and prices you could get if you ready to deal. We survived aside from paying way too much for food, walking far more than we should, and driving in Tampa-St. Pete.

The day was capped with dinner at the home of a fellow from my hometown, Fox River Grove, Illinois. So around a rather excellent pork tenderloin and a moderate amount of wine, we recalled the old times, for the benefit of our wives, and it was all true, give or take a lie or two (reference the movie Sunset). The following day it rained and was about 50 degrees. I cannot wait for winter to end. Today it is sunny and 60, maybe winter has ended.

Fort Island

White Pelican

What bird made that track?

A Vista

The Gulf Coast in this area is shallow water with a generous amount of marsh, swamp, rivers, and other things that interfere with development for the "maker" class. One aspect of this type of coast are roads that run toward the water and then for an obvious reason stop (bottom photo, beyond the small island the next land mass is probably South America). The road to Fort Island is one of these. This, like others, has a small park and a boat ramp. Since the area is "undeveloped" wildlife is often present and it is prudent to pay attention (middle photo, the smaller tracks are about 1 inch by 1 inch).

The top photo is a white pelican sitting on one of about eight smaller commercial fishing boats. This is at Shrimp Landing where we got a pound fresh for shrimps and grits one of nature's most perfect foods.

Cedar Key

Waccasassa Bay

 Cedar Key is part of what the people, who want you to spend your money, call "old Florida." This sort of means a lack of high rise condos blocking the ocean and Ron Jon Surf Shop. Old Florida is delightful, if too often dilapidated, 19th-century architecture between, if not containing, bait shops, shrines to the one true religion of the area, fishing. The waterfront street has the T-shirt shop, the fishing pier (guarded the the fellow in the lower photo), restaurants, and the boat launch. Two blocks inland is the main business street with wonderful old buildings, a couple of nice artist co-ops, and friendly cats.


As is obvious from the upper photo all the best birds flock here and live in harmony upon whatever that once was. As they say, there is something for everyone. The real estate office had a listing in the window for a private island (cost, a tad under a million). Get it now when you can enjoy it, in a few decades it will probably be a reef.

Right place right time

c.1850 coastal cargo scow

We were wandering to find water access points for our boat and at Crystal River State Park we saw what appeared to be a ship's carpenter nightmare (top photo). It looked like a sailing barge that would function as a party platform. Anyway, a fellow yells to me across the river and asked if we wanted to meet the fellows that built it. So we drive around.

Seems it is a reproduction of a common coastal craft pre-Civil War. It is flat bottomed and has lee-boards and could carry a respectable weight in cargo. The builders, a club, have sailed it on the Gulf of Mexico. It was constructed entirely in the historical manner including ripping the planks. No fancy fasteners. Within the next couple of years it will be a display on land as the worms and other destructive forces are at work. It is a wonderful example of testing historical materials and techniques and life-expectancy of material culture.

common pram

In the shop, pictured below, the crew is modeling other "working" boats including a small river stern-wheeler and a "mullet" boat c.1905. (This is on a table just outside the shed on the left of the photo.) Eventually they hope to build a working replica.

This seems to have the informal support of the park staff and archaeologists working in the area.

outdoor shop

FLOOR-DA

We have arrived, so to speak. As proof, here is a palm tree. I think that a palm tree is about as Florida as you can get. I included Denise to prove we are here. G&Ts are appropriate adult beverages as it is around 70 degrees (ON JANUARY FIRST)!!!!!

Tomorrow is predicted to be 77 and the next day above 80 so, the next time you consider retirement, keep this in mind.