A Day in the ‘Glades

    Everyone who comes to the Everglades, must tour them in an airboat. If you’ve watched the opening credits to “CSI-Miami” you see one. In fact, that boat and the sequence was filmed down the road from the tour we took. Our airboat had one engine on it. It was a Chevy 454 engine with a single propellor mounted on it. The boat pictured above was for bigger tours and had TWO props on it. 

    Now, I always thought of the Everglades as a big, smelly, swamp; teeming with alligators, rotten vegetation, mosquitos and not much else. This is not the case. The Everglades is also known as the River of Grass. It is one of the slowest moving rivers in the world and flows from the freshwaters of Lake Okeechobee and heads south through much of southern Florida to run into the saltwater of the ocean. There are well over 1.5 million acres of land that makes up the Everglades.  Since it is a river, it is wet but only to an average depth of 15-18 inches. Every once in a while, some trees have come together and a small island has formed. The Everglades is home to an amazing collection of plant and animal life and even more so in the Winter (when migratory birds come here to hang out). But, the resident that everyone comes to see is the Alligator (there are even crocodiles here, but they are salt water crocs and are found only near the ocean in far southern Florida).  Even before we started our boat ride we saw our first ‘gator. This guy was lounging on the bank where we waited to board the boat. There was a small fence “protecting” us from him. We thought he was a prop at first, until he blinked and moved! It being overcast and cool, they weren’t too inclined to move very much. 

    Our boat Captain and tour guide set off into the Everglades at a slow pace. We saw five or six gators within the first 100 yards or so! 

They are masters of camouflage. You have to really look hard to see them, even if they are on the bank. If they are in the water, you can come up on one and not even know it. 

As I said before, there are many birds in the Everglades. We came upon this guy and stopped to watch. Just as we settled in, his head shot into the water and out he came with lunch! He tipped his head up and swallowed it whole. 

The airboat is a neat ride. It skims over the surface of the water/grass and can make some amazing turns. We even slid sideways for a bit (like driving on ice, but under control). It was great fun!

    As the photo implies, our next stop was to the Everglades National Park. The National Park protects about 25% of the original Everglades and, unlike other National Parks that protect a natural feature, this park is designed to protect the fragile ecosystem that is the Everglades. The southern Florida ecosystems have suffered terribly at the hands of man due to both water usage and the many farm fields that provide the fruit and vegetables we eat and the inherent runoff of chemicals that goes with that; repair and restoration of the Everglades is a major political football around here. Shark Valley has a six mile, paved trail that you can walk, bike, or take a Ranger led shuttle through. We decided to walk some of it because, in order to see the wildlife, you must slow down and observe. Zooming through on a bike or shuttle seemed to us to be kind of a waste of time. So off we set down the trail... and we weren’t disappointed. Not more than twenty yards down the trail we had our first gator encounter. There are signs warning you to stay fifteen feet away from the wildlife. I didn’t expect them to be on MY SIDE OF THE TRAIL! 

But they are. They really didn’t seem interested in us and, in some cases, we had to go to the other side of the trail in order to stay our 15 feet away. 

Often they were napping and would lazily open one eye to look at you, just to make sure that you weren’t going to bother them. Then they’d go back to napping. One gator watched us as we walked by, this time from across the channel. We didn’t feel threatened, but this made for a great picture. 

A little farther down the trail, we were treated to a unique view. There was a mother and babies on the bank. You can see them sitting on her. We watched for a while and they never moved. Then, for no apparent reason, the little ones chirped and dove under cover. Mom moved quickly into the water and was very interested in something back in the weeds. Never did figure out what it was, but it was interesting to watch. 

In addition to the alligators, there were many birds. One that was most plentiful was the Anhinga. The throat is brown and the black and white feathers along his back is very striking. You’d think that this color would stand out, but there were times that you had to look really hard to see them. They are a water bird and are sometimes called the Snake bird. This is because, when swimming only their neck and head stick out of the water. The brown coloring makes it look like a snake in the water ready to strike.  

Another interesting thing is that even though it is a water bird, unlike the duck, the feathers do not repel water. Therefore after diving for a meal, the Anhinga must air dry his soggy feathers. Frequently you could see them all spread out into the wind as seen below. 

As I said above, sometimes the gators were so close that we had to go on the other side of the trail to keep our required 15 feet. You can see one in the upper left along the grass. 

Coming up closer to him, you can see he isn’t the least bit concerned with us. 

Here we saw these two little guys hiding just across the channel. Almost missed seeing them, they were so well camouflaged. 

So, like I said, you had to slow down and look closely or you missed some remarkable opportunities to see nature in the wild. Pausing to watch a dozing alligator, or to see a bird stalk a fish, is something that can’t be seen whizzing by on a bike or shuttle. If you have the opportunity to do this, put on your best walking shoes, open your eyes and ears, and watch nature unfold right in front of you!!

For My NASCAR Buddies

Just a quick entry. We left Grassy Key and made the quick move to Homestead. We plan on doing some visiting to the Everglades from here (subject for an upcoming blog...) but I had to make a pilgrimage to the last venue on the annual NASCAR circuit. This year the Sprint Cup Champion was determined at this race. So, even though nothing was going on at the raceway, I had to go by and say “Hi!”

The Florida Keys

    We left Tampa and spent a week at the southern end of Lake Okeechobee in a small town named Clewiston. We didn’t do much interesting but did visit some Kansas friends. We spent the time relaxing and cleaning up the motorhome. We then headed down to the Keys, specifically Grassy Key. We set up at the Jolly Roger RV Resort. One side of the park borders the Gulf and they have their own dock for residents. 

Our rig slipped between large trees. 

Upon arrival, and after set up, we had a small squall pass through with a lot of wind and some rain. But, that passed overnight and Sunday dawned bright and sunny. We set off towards Key West. On the way, I had to take a detour. It seems that a little over 11 years ago, I was down this way with my son, step-son, his dad, and another Boy Scout Leader. We were here to attend the Boy Scout High Adventure camp called Sea Base. We had chosen the Out Island adventure where the scouts (and leaders) mounted their sea kayaks and  paddled five miles out to Big Munson Island (a deserted island owned by the Boy Scouts of America). There you stayed out three days and created a lifetime of memories. I couldn’t resist stopping by just to see if anything changed. 

When we were there, Sea Base was relatively new. One of the things that Scouts do is leave a set of their Troop Numbers up on the wall for posterity. We were the first troop from our council so we left them our Council Patch. At the time, we were one of a few troops that had left our mark. On today’s visit, I was surrounded by council patches from all around the country (even Alaska!!) and hundreds of troop numbers. I couldn’t begin to know how many boys this represented, but it could easily be well into the thousands. A remarkable impact on the lives of our youths (and some adult leaders I might add).

These are the dorms where the Scouts stay before paddling out and upon their return to Sea Base. The swim test is taken in the lagoon. Here you can also see the motorboats that bring out supplies to the Island and the Sailboats that are used in the Sailing Adventure (another week long adventure like the Out Island where the scouts sail around the Keys). 

Along the trip to Key West, you pass by dozens of small islands floating in the Gulf. These islands are actually created from the Mangrove tree. As I understand it, the seed sprouts in the water and the roots curl upwards. These roots trap debris and other Mangrove trees and soon, an intricate maze of interconnected branches forms an island. Over many years this floating mass of trees collects enough ground to actually become an island and eventually a Key. 

In fact, below is a future RV Resort (in about two hundred years or so...)

So eventually we actually made it to Key West. Our first stop was Ft. Zachary Taylor. The fort was originally built in 1845 and served to protect America’s  coastline from foreign attack. In its heyday, it had over 450 soldiers and 140 cannon! Some of the brickwork is amazing still today. During the Civil War, when Florida seceded from the Union, Union troops rushed to occupy the fort and it stayed in Federal hands throughout the war. It continued to serve during the Spanish American war, WW I and II. In 1947, it was retired and eventually ended up in the hands of the State Park system. 

Over time, as the fort was enhanced and improved, obsolete armament was put to good use and literally became a part of the Fort. Below you can see the cannon buried in the cement of the Fort wall. 

Here is an example of the 100 lb. cannonballs. These could be tossed out nearly 10 miles by the forts armament!

After the Fort, we hit many of the usual tourist traps in the Key. The Southernmost point of the Continental US.

Of course, since I have the photo of milepost 0 of the Iditarod in Seward, I had to get Mile 0 of US Highway 1. 

Ernest Hemingway’s home complete with many descendants of the six toed cat. 

After wandering all in and around Duval Street and the shops therein, it was off to Mallory Square to watch the sunset (and some of the other things that come out at dusk on the pier).

This next guy I LOVE!!! He was here 11 years ago when the aforementioned Scouts went to Key West for a visit and we watched him work for a long time. He stands in the middle of nowhere behind these two palm fronds. Notice, no planter, no vegetation anywhere and in the middle of an open square. As the unsuspecting tourist walks by, he pops out and goes “BOO!!”. The usual response is a scream or some form of startled reply. Then laughter from everyone watching the hapless “victim”. Usually, the next thing the “victim” does is step aside and wait for the next unsuspecting tourist to become a “victim” so THEY can laugh uproariously. Those that feel so inclined, drop a dollar in his bucket just for the fun he provides. 

Before the surprise...

After springing his trap. Talking to his “victim”...

So, finally we parked at the pier with several thousand friends and watched the sunset. When the sun dropped below the horizon, cheers and applause erupted and the nighttime activities were officially ready to begin. We headed home.

Us and 52,000 Friends

    Yesterday we left the Tampa area after having spent a few days at the Florida RV Supershow. As the blog title implies, we along with 52,000 of our closest friends, attended the event this year. We parked out on the event’s grassy parking lot along with 800 other motorhomes and trailers. The show featured every RV from a small one person pop-up trailer to a few motorcoaches that were priced in excess of $2 Million! You could go in to see them, but you had to have an escort and take your shoes off at the front door. There were seminars and vendors with every gadget known to man. There are also many RV Resorts (not called RV Parks anymore) that will actually sell you a site and it is deeded to you as real property. Depending on the Resort and the site, you can add everything from a small shed to a small cottage for guests to use when they visit you. Also the location of the site and the resort determine the price for the lot. Some were as little as $40,000 and some we saw were as much as $400,000+. Then you are charged a monthly “maintenance fee” to help defray the cost of maintaining the facility. And, don’t forget that since this is real property, there are tax issues to keep in mind. We took the brochures and looked at their pictures, but kept our wallet in our pockets. 

    One of the neat things about RVers is their general friendliness. I could just be standing outside of my motorhome and several folks would wander by and strike up a conversation. Take the dog for a walk and you could be guaranteed to find out something interesting about at least four people. A couple had contacted us via email and said that they were going to be at the show and wanted to meet us. They had read my blog (surprisingly, someone besides me reads these things!) and were in Alaska the same time we were. They were even in the same area! Amazingly, they found us at the show. Recognizing us from our pictures on the blogs. We had a great conversation and now we have two more friends!! This RVing thing is great!

    WARNING- EDUCATIONAL STUFF FOLLOWS--MAY BE EXTREMELY BORING TO SOME READERS... During our visit to Tampa, we took a day trip to Tarpon Springs. This town is noted for having the largest Greek-American population of any city in the US. It is also know as the source for fresh sea sponges. It seems that the waters off the western coast of Florida and along the Gulf coast all the way to Louisiana are teeming with sponges of all shapes and varieties. This town was founded by Greek sponge divers because of its abundant sponge beds. The sponge starts as a single cell organism and as it grows, the cells link up and form channels within the sponge. Seawater flows through these channels and food is filtered out for the sponge. After five years, a sponge has grown to a size right for harvest. The divers remove it from the rocks, leaving a small residue. From this residue, a new sponge will take shape and grow. There is estimated to be over 13,000 square miles of sponge beds, so the resource continually renews itself. Once the sponge is harvested, it is hauled up on deck and washed to remove a membrane that surrounds the sponge. The sponge as we know it is really the skeleton of the organism. Once cleaned, the sponge is threaded on a line and hung from the mast to dry (thus getting them off the deck and out of the way). This is how they come in to port. 

There are dozens of varieties of sponge and each can be used for a different purpose. There are the wool sponges that are soft and work well in the shower or for washing the car. There is a sponge that is almost like velvet. It is used to gently wash off makeup and such. The sponges in the photo above are Vase Sponges. You can actually plant Orchids or Air Plants in them. The plant will take root in the sponge and the sponge will absorb and distribute the water you add for the plant. These sponges can be 2 to 3 feet in diameter!! The sponges are bagged up and sent to market to be sold around the world. And yes, we bought some for use in the motorhome. 

Then the question is asked, what do you do with your boat when you stop fishing for the season? We found the answer. You put it away like shoes in a closet. See below...

More Manatees

    Today, we took a short trip from our campground in Crystal River to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park in nearby Homosassa. This State Park houses the source of the Homosassa river (the same named spring) and is the care facility for a wide variety of Florida native species that have been injured. The recovering animals are housed in a zoo like atmosphere and can be seen by the visitors.  

The park started out as a private reserve owned by Ivan Tors. He provided a wide variety of animals to Hollywood during the 1960’s. Famous names like Clarence the Cross-eyed lion, Flipper, and Gentle Ben the bear all lived here. When the Florida State Park took over, the emphasis was on Florida Native species, so all of the exotic animals were sent elsewhere. Well, all of them but one. That one was Lu the Hippopotamus. Since nobody really had the ability to take on a Hippo, he was quietly slated to be put down. The locals got wind of this and petitioned the Governor. The Governor decreed that Lu was officially granted honorary citizenship of Florida and could stay. Lu is now nearing 51 and going strong. In fact, they are planning a big birthday party for him on January 26th. 

They even have a neat display of yard art here...

There is a pool that houses 12 Alligators. It was kind of cool and cloudy outside, so they weren’t too active, but they were visible. Just waiting...

Then there was the source of the springs. Here, like the rest of the springs in the state, the water comes in at a constant 72 degrees. This warm water is just what the manatees are wanting. Usually, the park is shut off from direct access to the river and the manatees that are there are injured in some way. This winter, due to the below average cold temperatures, they have opened up the river access and dozens of manatees have come up the river to hang out in the warm waters. Because of this, there is a unique opportunity to see large quantities of manatees in their natural environment. If you can’t swim with them, this is the next best thing. 

Tomorrow, we’re off to Tampa to attend the Florida RV Supershow. It is the largest RV show in the country. We don’t need anything, but it’s fun to see what’s out there and sometimes we get good ideas for improving our current motorhome. Also, we thought that we would observe some humans in their natural environment...