Birds and Alligators

Key West Bound

February 12, 2010 - Overcast 73 degrees - Friday

We both overslept this morning and found it was 9:00 when we awakened. Both of us have come to good spots in our books and probably read longer than we should have, but anyhow, we got all hooked up quickly without any problems and for once we were able to do it without snow, or rain and the temperature was good for working outside.

We enjoyed our evenings with Scott and Sue and the kids and as usual Scott outdid himself with his smoker and grill. He did a wonderful roast last evening done to perfection. Before leaving Scott and Sue’s we made plans to return in March and be there for Scott’s fishing tournament and will park the RV by his house, that should be a month away.

We stopped at Fort Myers on our way south so we could go to Camping World. The light bulb over the kitchen sink has blown, so wanted to get a replacement; however, replacing the light bulb didn’t solve the problem. Another item for the “to do list”. We also decided it would be a good time to eat our lunch and walk Estee. I made us a turkey and lettuce salad and had a fresh Gala apple and we were on our way.

We were soon into a part of Florida that I have not seen before. We reached Naples and turned on our air-conditioner. The weather became very windy and Lou struggled to keep the RV in the right lane. As were exited 75 to enter 41, the road had 12 lanes of traffic, rather amazing. Thankfully, DH knows where he is going and how to get there.

We entered into Big Cypress National Preserve around 4:00 pm, it is part of the Everglades and truly amazing. Just looking along the side of the road, one can see irrigation ditches with all kinds of birds and alligators. Lou explained to me these ditches are dug to drain the water off the marsh area and the birds and alligators all feed there.

The pictures that I posted are of Water Turkeys (American Anhinga) that actually spear their fish and then flop it on the ground to eat his catch. The other black bird is Cormorants and they have a bill similar to a vulture and they catch their fish. Of course, there are many White Egrets.

We decided it might be a good place to dry-camp tonight, we are sitting next to a lake, with a Seminole Indian Reservation. We got set up and it started to rain, but we aren’t complaining, as we heard on Fox News tonight that every state in the United States has snow on the ground tonight with the exception of Hawaii.

I fixed a nice dinner of shrimp and broccoli primavera with a fruit salad and white chocolate pudding for desert.

Tonight we turned on the generator for A/C in place of heat. We plan on having a relaxing evening and an early start in the morning.