Evening with the Boys

Hi All,
After a day of shopping in Jacksonville, we spent the evening with the the boys. We had Garrett & Wyatt to ourselves since Scott & Tara got tickets to the Jimmy Buffet concert. We ordered a pizza and played board games all evening. It was great fun. We also got to see Garret's new train set and Wyatt's new compound bow along with all of the Pinewood Derby trophies.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

These are just Wyatt's Trophies. Garrett has an even bigger collection in his room.

Garrett's HO Train Set

Wyatt shows grandma his new compound bow

Morning on Merritt Island

Hi All,

We had to squeeze in some birding before our 8:45 AM class this morning. Black Point Wildlife Drive never disappoints.

The early morning sun cast a golden glow over the marsh and we saw lots of great birds and we were only 15 minutes late for class.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 

White Morph Reddish Egret

Northern Pintail

American Avocet in front of normally colored reddish egret

Huge Flock of American Coot

Yet another American Bittern

Space Coast Birding Festival

Hi All,

This morning we drove 90 miles to Titusville in time for a 9:30 presentation on Nature Photography, followed by a class on Florida bald eagles.

In the afternoon we did another birding lecture then began to explore the exhibit hall. We gathered info for a possible future trip to Ecuador. We also enjoyed the exhibits of raptors, snakes and other wildlife.

In the evening we attended a fascinating presentation by Richard Crossley.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Bald Eagle

Aplomado Falcon

Pine Snake

Blind Raccoon

Larger than life eagle

Another Great Day in the Forest

Hi All,

This morning we spotted the 3 local sandhill cranes along the campground road. This would have been more exciting had we not seen a pair of cranes in the CVS parking lot last night. Mary Rees came for a visit with her friend Mary. We had lunch at Square Meal then visited our motorhome. After they left we hiked along the campground roads again. The cranes were out in the meadow now but the walk did not lack interesting sights. We spotted a sun dog, a rainbow like patch of sky to the side of the sun (22 degrees to be precise). The picture with Carl's iPhone came out better than expected. Next we encountered a turtle along the road. Later we checked out one of the gopher tortoise burrows and, using our binoculars, spotted the tortoise inside .  Trust us, there's a tortoise in there.

As idyllic as this may sound, almost the entire walk was accompanied by screaming low altitude passes of F/A-18s. Air operations at nearby Naval Air Station Jacksonville were in high gear and we were right under the flight path as the jets returned from the bombing range south of us. Freedom isn't free and sometimes it is very, very loud.

As this is written the jets are gone and we are sitting outside in the late afternoon with the forest pretty much to ourselves.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Sun Dog

Turtle on the Road

Gopher Tortoise Burrow

Another Pinewood Derby Win

Hi All,

This just in from Jacksonville. Wyatt Greenbaum won first prize at this year's Cub Scout Pinewood Derby

Love
Sandy & Carl

Sent from my iPhone

Friends Across the Country

Hi All,

We are so lucky to have friends across the country. Yesterday Jim & Evalyn Campbell whom we met in the hot spring on the way to Alaska in 2008 came down from Jacksonville to camp for one night and we enjoyed dinner and a campfire with them. 

Friends Lynn & Bob Christiansen whom we met at a Habitat for Humanity build in 2005, have connected us with their friends in Washington state near Portland where we can leave the motorhome. Thank you Bob & Lynn.

This morning when it was very quiet in the VC, we set up our iPhones to make FaceTime video calls and called Don & Sandy Shapiro in New Hampshire. It was great to see and talk to them. Don took the iPad outside and showed us the snow we were missing. We don't miss the snow but we sure miss them.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

Back in the Forest

Hi All,

Yesterday we hiked 2 miles to the visitor center to get our mail. Along the way we met Rex, the pet macaw who was watching his owner wash the truck.

Today, after a pretty slow day in the VC, we hiked around the campground and met the host couple doing their rounds. Their miniature Manchester loves to ride in the ATV.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Rex on his Perch

Jane & Billy with Maggie May

Visit with Mary Rees

Hi All,

Tuesday we drove to Myakka River State Park. After setting up at the campground we drove to nearby Bradenton to visit Mary Rees. Sandy worked with Mary at NEBS in MA about 20 years ago. Mary took us to hike at several scenic spots along the bay including Desoto National Monument and Anna Marie Island where we watched the sunset and had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant named "Eat Here".

The whole time, Mary & Sandy caught up with life's events (it's been a looong time) and updates on mutual friends. It was a wonderful day.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

Bunche Beach

Hi All,

While at Ding Darling today, we met up with Judy and Mike Alexander, the Lexington, MA couple we met birding on Saturday. They recommended we visit Bunche Beach at the east end of the Sanibel causeway.

Even though it was just passed sunset when we got there, it was worth the stop. The beach was named for Ralph Bunche who got the 1950 Nobel Prize for helping negotiate the end to the first Arab-Israeli conflict.

It is a pretty stretch of narrow sand beach with good birding when there is light. We were in time for the fading embers of sunset.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

Ding Darling Refuge

Hi All,

We had a great day at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island. In addition to great birds, we met with the volunteer coordinator and learned that there is more volunteer turnover hence more opportunities than we thought. He encouraged us to send him our resumes which we will do. It's a beautiful island and a great refuge. This place would definitely be on our short list in the future.

The birds were very photogenic today so no more lichen pictures.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Green Heron

White Ibis

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Female Anhinga

Tricolor Heron

Photographed and Sent from my iPhone

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Hi All,
After driving the coach from Okeechobee to Ft Myers, we visited the Corkscrew Swamp to see more birds. We added 7 species to the list from yesterday including painted bunting.

No real opportunity to photograph birds, so Carl look pictures of lichen. Check out the pictures before you all groan ;-).

Love
Sandy & Carl

This colorful lichen along the boardwalk railing is a sign of clean air

This Bald Cypress tree looks like it is bleeding as the red sap flows over the white lichen

Sent from my iPhone

STA-5 Birding

Hi All,

Stormwater Treatment Area 5 is an 8 square mile wetland south of Lake Okeechobee. Some call it the best birding spot in Florida which is high praise for a state with so many extraordinary birding venues. STA-5 certainly lived up to its reputation today.

In spite of the cold (for Florida) and wind we saw 60 different species in less than 6 hours. Highlights included 11 species of raptor and 13 species of wading birds. One species, the American Bittern is elusive, though hardly rare. We saw 5 bittern today! 

One couple in the group was from Lexington MA and we discovered a common friend.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Bundled Up Birders

American Bittern

A Squadron of White Pelicans Overhead

Wood Stork Feeding

Sent from my iPhone

Silver Palms RV Resort

Hi All,
Today we drove the coach to the north shore of Lake Okeechobee to an upscale RV resort that offered 3 free nights to come see their facility. Since we we're coming to the area to go birding tomorrow, we gave it a try. It's a very nice place with large, beautifully landscaped lots. There are 166 lots, with 62 sold. Prices range from $55k to $75k. Not the right investment for us but the property backs on to a wetland and we watched over 100 white ibis and about 20 other bird species as the sun set.

Stay tuned for serious birding tomorrow.

Love
Sandy & Carl

South Florida Sunset

Sent from my iPhone

An Explanation

Hi All,
Many of you responded to our last email asking why we are leaving our motorhome and cat in Portland OR for 5 weeks.

Here's the explanation:

Since our legal state of domicile is SD, we are required to be there in March to renew drivers' licenses (required every 5 years). Since we are driving that far west, we decided to volunteer out west next year. We'll be volunteering at Haceta Head on the Oregon coast beginning mid-May. In between SD licenses and volunteering in OR we'll be flying home to MA to spend time with family and friends (more economical and less time than driving the motorhome back east). We're also taking a Norwegian cruise during that time.

I know this sounds like we're the luckiest people in the world and it feels like we are. Thanks to all of you who stay in touch. We love hearing from you. Still looking for RV storage and cat sitter.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Sent from my iPhone

Need suggestions

Hi All,
We are looking for a place to store our motorhome in the greater Portland,OR area for 5 weeks beginning April 2, 2012. If you are in that area or know someone who knows someone in that are, please send suggestions.

We also need a cat lover to take care of our cat, Ginger, for that time. Ginger is litter box trained, declawed, and mostly sleeps all day. She gets along with dogs, but not very nice to other cats. If you know someone or knows someone who may know someone, please let us know. If we don't find someone to take her, we're also looking for a pet sitter or good place to board her.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Sent from my iPhone

Summer on the Oregon Coast

Hi All,

Today we confirmed our plan to return to the coast of Oregon for the summer of 2012. We leave Ocala in mid March, renew our drivers licenses in Sioux Falls then head to Oregon.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Thousands of nesting common murres on an Oregon offshore rock with one pelagic cormorant

Sent from my iPhone

Plankton Galaxy

Hi All,

Remember the photo of the galaxy we sent out recently? Check this out!

This photo was taken from space, but it's not a galaxy or a nebula. It's a massive phytoplankton bloom off the coast of South Africa, just when the Atlantic and the Indian oceans meet.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Sent from my iPhone

Forest Hike

Hi All,

Today we hiked from the campground, across Hwy 19 to the Salt Spring Observation Trail. As usual, we had the trail to ourselves, except, of course, for the birds and squirrels.  Backlit saw palmetto caught Carl's eye as did the eroded sand pile which looked a lot like Bryce Canyon in miniature.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Backlit Saw Palmetto

Bruce Canyon- Florida Style

Sent from my iPhone

Another Couple on the Road

Hi All,

We visited Jim & Marilyn Rosenthal today and got to see their new Tiffin Phaeton 36 quad slide motorhome. It is beautiful. They are exploring Florida before they head cross country towards their children on the west coast.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Sent from my iPhone

Back to the Forest

Hi All,

We had a wonderful visit in West Palm including one more meal out with Al, Eileen and Millie.

Mid afternoon we headed back north and we were back in the forest by 5:30. 

Ginger was well cared for by Jane Hornsby and took no particular notice of our return.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Great lunch at Monet Cafe in Boca

Sent from my iPhone

Cold in FL

Hi All,

I guess we didn't go far enough south! No complaints though, it is sunny and will soon warm up. At least we are not in Fairbanks, AK where the HIGH temp was minus 31!

Love
Sandy & Carl

Sent from my iPhone

Great Day in West Palm

Hi All,

Our delightful day included a walk where we encountered two Sandhill cranes up close, a trip to the movies where we saw "The Artist" and dinner out with Millie & the Kates'. topped off with a game of dominos.

Love
Sandy & Carl

No spotting scope here, these birds let us get within about 8 feet of them.

And they trusted us enough to feed while we were this close 

Sent from my iPhone

Happy New Years

Hi All,

Happy New Year to you all. It amazes us how quickly the years are passing.

Dec 31 was our busiest day so far at the visitor center with 115 visitors. On New Years Eve we did pizza and a movie with Joe & Sandra the played cribbage until the ball came down.

On New Years Day we drove to West Palm to visit friends Al & Eileen Kate's and Millie Rosenberg.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Catching up with Florida Friends

Sent from my iPhone

Swimming with iPhone

Hi All,

Last Monday we canoed the Juniper Spring Run with Sandra & Joe Fava, our friends from MA. Carl took some nice photos of us in the canoes. Then, as we tried to negotiate a low, overhanging tree, we capsized the canoe. We were fine but the phone died. Carl got a replacement but lost all the photos. 

The 7 miles of paddling was a  beautiful adventure in spite of dunking the phone.

Love
Sandy & Carl

Sent from my iPhone