Saturday, March 28, 2015

Joyously Winding Down

Hi All,

Our time here at Fort Caroline is winding down. Tuesday one of the Rangers had a farewell party for us and Wednesday the park had a lunch for departing volunteers.

Here we are with Herb & Marilyn Hutson, Rangers Dan & Craig and local volunteer Michael.


Saturday we helped with Ranger Craig's guided walk through the Theodore Roosevelt Area.

Here is Craig telling folks about Willie Browne and how he preserved almost 700 acres of beautiful land for future generations.

Back at our coach the mammals are getting more bird seed than the birds. Here a raccoon climbs above the bird feeders to look at us, hoping for more food.
Tomorrow is our last day in the Visitor Center. Monday we organize our park computer files and sign out. Tuesday we shop and pack. Wednesday we head south into Florida for coach repairs, visits with friends and birding/ sightseeing. On April 18 we fly from Orlando to Kauai! Life is good. Stay tuned.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Birthday & Eclipse

Hi All,

Thank you for your kind birthday wishes. Tuesday, Carl's actual birthday, was a work day and amazingly we had 69 visitors(one for each year)!

As many of you know, Sandy always selects great greeting cards. This birthday was no exception. 

"Is this the birthday when you start asking yourself life's BIG questions?"

"Like, Why did I come into this room? I knew a minute ago😃😃😃😃."

Here is another APOD photo. During the recent solar eclipse, someone got this extraordinary photo. Look closely at the small spots on the sun. It is multiple exposures of the International Space Station passing in front of the sun!


Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Sunday, March 22, 2015

Great Birthday Celebration

Hi All,

We spent today with the kids to celebrate Carl's birthday. Lunch at a restaurant right on the Intercoastal Waterway followed by a walk on the beach.

At 15 and 13 the boys are really grown up.


Four Florida Greenbaums

Sandy hiding behind her grandsons. Given their height, that's easy to do.

This was supposed to be a great beach for finding sharks teeth so we all walked along slowly looking for small black triangles. Scott, Carl, Sandy & Garrett each found one. Wyatt, with an uncanny knack for spotting them, found the rest of the teeth in this photo!

Back at the kid's house we had pizza and this delicious birthday cake.
We had a wonderful day. We left their house a little early so Scott could take a nap. He had to go into work at 11PM to attend a video teleconference with his software development team in India!

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Friday, March 13, 2015

More Cars

Hi All,

How about a 1912 Rolls Royce with beautiful brass headlights


and a very functional dash. Pre-auction estimate $600,000.

At the other end of the spectrum is this 1959 BMW Iseta for $40,000.

All Carl's favorite cars were red, like this 1961 Mercedes 300 SL. $1,200,000 anyone?

A V-8 not enough? How about this V-16 1930 Cadillac for $350,000.

One more red car, a 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV listed at $2,500,000.
Great fun. It will be interesting to check the auction results to see what these actually sold for.

Want more? Check out www.rmauctions.com

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Amelia Island Concourse

Hi All,

This weekend is the great east coast auto extravaganza, The Amelia Island Concourse d'Elegance. It's a beautiful display of gorgeous classic cars and auctions. Since we are working this weekend, Carl decided to attend the preview of the RM/Southeby auction. 

Too many gorgeous cars for one email- this one covers Jaguars.

This is Carl's all time favorite, a 1961 Jaguar E-Type roadster. Pre-auction estimate $425,000!


Powered by a 3.8 litre DOHC engine with triple SU carbs.

This 1967 E-Type is only $225,000.

This stunning XK-150 is also $425,000

Here are two racing Jags each estimated to bring $4 million. A 1955 D-Type

and a 1988 XJR-9.
Stay tuned for more great cars.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Green

Hi All,

Getting warm and humid in FL. It has been a quiet week so we thought we'd send another stunning APOD image.

This is an aurora display above a glacier in Iceland

The aurora is the same color as the frog we found inside the coach this morning. We said it was humid;-).

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Saturday, March 7, 2015

St. Augustine

Hi All,

We spent today in St Augustine, first at the Seafood Festival then at the Ponce de Leon Archaeological Site.

We had great coconut shrimp at the festival and we now have some more scented candles.

The Ponce de Leon Fountain of Youth site always sounded like a hoaky tourist trap but friends recommended it so we gave it a try.

We found a curious mix of interesting archaeology, silly fountain of youth displays and 17th century re-enactors.

Here is s Timucuan village diorama


This is a panorama of the interior of a Timucuan hut.

We drank some of the water but sadly we we still look like a couple in their late 60's.

The grounds have many peafowl, including this displaying male.

Many history buffs are in town to re-enact the British attack on St Augustine.

Lots of period correct camping equipment

plus lamb and pork loin cooking.

Archaeologists have confirmed this site as the location of the first settlement by Pedro Menendez in 1565. Sadly, this is the Admiral who slaughtered the French at Fort Caroline.

Here they fire the cannon every hour on the hour. 

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Tuesday, March 3, 2015

More Cannon Fodder

Hi All,

The Jacksonville Armada soccer team continues to be interested in using our cannon crew at their games. 

First we got suited up in our period costumes.


Then we drove downtown to the stadium where the Armada will play. We met up with ranger Moira. Here's the full crew with Moira protecting Herb from the sun.

We set up the smaller (3 pounder) cannon and reviewed our procedures.

Ranger Susie commands the gun crew. Here she inspects the crew.

FIRE!- How's that for flames. Moira's friend Craig used Carl's iPhone slow motion video to get the exact flame frame.

Not surprising that the 12 pounder emits a bigger flame.

We fired one round from a raised knoll at the corner of the field for more effect.
Great fun and we returned with all body parts.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Monday, March 2, 2015

Quebec Conjunction

Hi All,

Carl occasionally post pictures from the APOD App ( Astronomy Photo of the Day). This one is stunning.

On Feb 20, multiple images of the Quebec City skyline were taken to include the rare conjunction of the crescent moon, Venus and Mars. The combined image has incredible dynamic range.

Une vue magnifique.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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