Munday's the Arizona Roadrunners

This is the 3rd time we have stayed at this lovely little campground; this time for 7 days.  Not much to it but it does have electricity with water and dump station available.  A pretty little lake with a resident alligator although one day we did witness one chasing another in there. fun to watch and never did see him catch her if that was the deal...  They call this the Big Cypress Swamp a section of the Everglades National Park along the Tamiami Trail (hwy 41 east to west across the state) - It is not really a swamp as we generally think of a dark and damp and gloomy looking place as you can see. It is fairly quiet for being right on a main drag and quite peaceful. No phone service or internet but can live without for a week - ha!  Actually a drive up the road enabled us to check on messages.  This park only has about 25 elec sites with about 5 or 6 tent only sites with restroom avail too.. No reservations so 1st come basis ... very nice little getaway.

One of our favorite places on "the Keys" is this beautiful state park.  There are several state parks along the Keys but some reason we are drawn to this one.  They have a camping section but we'll be darned if we can ever get reservations to camp there.  the earliest they take reservations is 11 months and we have not been sucessful even setting alarm to start calling 8am florida time. Oh well, we have visited a number of times. They have a nice full hook up campground; visitor center, dive equipment and boats for rent or boat rides.  Lovely beach and small cafe and gift store.  We did take a glass bottom boat ride from here years ago to see the reef farther out. 

Look at these beautiful birds!  Yes, those are long earred Owls and a little screech owl - all injured and recupperating at this wild bird center.  Some of the birds will never be released again in the wild due to broken wings or beaks or loss of a leg - they are all wonderfully cared for at this wild bird center.  Nearly breaks your heart to see some of the cases - many caused by fishing line and hooks - one thing I learned was fisher people trying to be nice to pelicans give them the fish bones but they are from larger fish then the pelicans can catch on their own and the bones do not digest properly and they can die from the injestion of these large bones.  It's really the shape of some of these wonderful birds.  This is all done out of the goodness of this couple's heart.  Cages and feeding and caring of these birds.  If interested they do have website www.fkwbc.org .  Very cool and so glad we stopped in to see these wonderful creatures.

After visiting here last winter decided to spend another 5 days at this lovely location!  A nice small RV park here in the middle of "the Keys" and who could ask for more.  They are busy this year with so many improvements and adding more sites.  Even in process of putting in swimming pool; concrete has been poured. So nice we were able to come down here and stay again.  I love it!!!  Who wouldn't you are on these little islands with the prettiest water on either side when you can see it. ha!  a lot of hungry pelicans hang out here but there are quite a number of fisher people here too that help the birds out. ha!

Waiting for the sun to set at Key West is a fun adventure.  There is so much going on at the docks here with vendors of every sort selling their wares along with performers of men eating fire and tight rope walking. Fun - however on this very warm eve the end of Feb of 2012 I made the mistake of sitting on the dock next to hubby Earl without watching where I sat and landed my touche in some lovely melted gum!!! Yuck!!  I was so disgusted and so were all the folks around me and was able to pick most off my pants but you know, really.... Loved watching the sun set and all the boaters out there enjoying it as well. No green flash but we read it has to be clear in order to see the green flash.  We have seen it in Hawaii but it only lasts a second or two and is hard to see anyway.  Earl keeps his eyes open for it though.  Long drive back to home afterwards but not a lot of traffic and with temps in high 70's even at evening it is quite pleasant out!

On this visit to the lively town of Key West we did trek over to the Southernmost point in the lower 48.  A perfectly lovely day which brought out the best of our walking shoes!  This is a walking friendly town which helps!  So many visitors every day and why not when it's such a fun lively town to visit.  We did take Kenny's advise and gorge on the largest (at least) thickest hamburger I remember having - Normally, I would not have eaten the whole thing and Earl didn't think I could and believe me, the last few bites were a chore but since it was our only meal for the day and no way to carry around left overs I gave it my best and accomplished the meal. ha! 

Leaving the Everglades this year we are again spending a  week down at Jolly Roger RV Park on Marathon Key.  On our way to spend the day at Key West we stopped at Big Pine key to see the "minature" deer.  These deer are supposed to be a small variety of the White Tailed deer from Virginia.   So we stopped at the Visitor Center and were advised where to go to possibly see the deer so after stopping a few places on this Key we crossed bridge over to No Name Key and found quite a number of deer.  Spotted a buck coming out of someone's garage.  It was very cool and glad we made the little trek. Although the deer are supposed to be small they may be a bit smaller but not minature by any means. Nice to know they are able to roam free.

A visit to Biscayne this year was perfectly lovely.  Unfortunately the glass bottom boat was not in service so just drove out for the scenery pretty much.  Not much to do here unless you are a diver.  We did watch a film and walk along the shoreline.  This park is on mainland along Intercoastal waterway.  Clear enough we could see Miami miles away but still serene.

There is this very pretty lake at Long Pine Key campground and this year we found Wally gator had moved in.  He is only about 5 or 6 ft long and just lays there in the water but how fun to find him!  This lake is so pretty and although has no outlet or inlet for fresh water is very clear water.  Healthy, not!  There are signs for high levels of mercury who we were told come from the acid rain!  There are a variety of fish who survive here and water is replenished by rains mostly in summer.  We did see a number of people fishing on this lake and even shore birds running along the bank.  Interesting, how it survives and the wildlife who use it also survive, at least for now. 

If you drive to the very end of the road through the Everglades you will end up at Florida bay and the "Flamingo" area of the park.  There used to be cabins and a lodge down here but a series of hurricanes (especially Wilma) have cleared those away.  Unfortuately they were not built to hurricane specs up on stilts and were terrible flooded with the 9 ft wave surge!  What a mess or so we were told.  This is the only place in North America where both the American Alligator and the crocodile live side by side... These crocks were fun to watch and as so similar to their cousin the Alligator.  They are a bit more pointed in the nose and a lighter color and untrustworthy however so I wouldn't want to mess with them. This is a pretty area of the park with the marina here and canals with a little store and cafe (if you can call it that) - a visitor center and camping area as well.  It is also 34 miles beyond Long Pine Key where we camp - a long way into the park.. worth th

Our visit to the Everglades this year treated us to a pair of red cardinals who were obsessed with the RV.  Each morning Daddy attacked the front mirror and at times would fly over to the cars mirror to admire his pretty self there too!  Mama on the other hand beat her little beak against just about every other window on the coach.  They would stay around thru breakfast and sometimes drop by during the day and then quiet at night, but next morning before the sun was fully up there they were beating on our coach once again.  Our campsite at Long Pine Key!  Perfectly lovely every day.  Only 1 day when the temp was 87 and nearly as humid did we really look forward to the "cold spell" due in from the west - it came down to a whole 77!  Perfect weather for the winter I must say. 

One of my most favorite places in the whole country is the Everglades.  May sound a little strange with all the spooky stories about the Everglades (that I remember from childhood) anyway.  This is one of our most unique National Parks and a real treasure.  Not only is the wildlife nearly gone it's been nearly wiped out by man and his insatiable need/use of water!  This park will not survive without it's lifeblood of water; good, clean, clear water and fortunately steps have begun to be put in place to help safe it.  I sure hope it works because this is one of our most favorite spots to visit.  We camp at Long Pine Key where it is so peaceful and quite and you can forget the hustle and bustle of the 8 million people lurking in nearby crime ridden Miami!

Although we enjoy going off on vacation, we always are glad to be home too.  Made it back to Ft Lauderdale without issue so that was very good.  Arrived about 7am and left ship about 8am.  After dropping Alex & Katy off at airport did our replenishing of groceries at Costco (nearly flipped at total cost) and grocery store - finally made it home early afternoon.  All fine at home.  Lots of laundry etc... didn't feel great with chills last night and woke in the night with a bit of chills and a drippy nose..  - no crud though.. all ok as far as my stomach but just a bit achy and hard to stay warm - doesn't help we are having a cold spell - highs today in 50's after being down in the caribbean with perfectly wonderful weather.  Never had so much activity in the pools.  No real complaints but we still like our 1st ship the best; liked the layout of decks and pools and activities geared more for our age group.  This ship is geared towards a younger type people and we missed o

Our last port of call was Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  Was so looking forward to visiting this place especially after watching Cool Runnings but checked what others said on line and found some very negative comments.  Made us very dubious and so did go ashore to shop some but did not get out and about as we would have liked.Oh well, the beaches were easily accessible and nice. We are not big beach people any more though. ha!  Found people fun and so nice.  Enjoyed our stop very much and glad we did go ashore to at least say we went there.  No excursions though which was probably a mistake but were thankful we did what we did..  Think it is like most places. Better than some and not as bad as we had thought it would be... (of course if we had looked at comments before booking probably wouldn't have gone there to begin with and that would have been a bigger mistake. ha! - how do you like that reasoning?

A few pics of Alex with Early holding up his shirt.. didn't want to get sun burned.  Actually we were told initially it was only about knee deep but turned out to be a little deeper afterall.  No matter, fun was had by all.  Alex said later he did see a variety of fish. Water was so clear and warm it was easy to see without snorkeling but guess we missed some anyway.

After Key West we went on south to Grand Cayman Island. Oh, what a fun place.  We actually signed up for an "excursion" to go swim and play with the sea "rays".  These wild creatures are actually fed so they cooperate with the all these crazy people who come to see them and pet them.  I am sure everyone had a wonderful time!  The scenery was out of this world; the weather "perfect" and the guys on the boat (from England) were so much fun!  Our boat was made just for this type of thing so we could just walk off the back instead of having to deal ladders and what not.... Alex and Katy snorkeled some and Early wandered around throughly enjoying himself too.  This was called Deluxe Stingray City Sandbar; Marineland tours on Grand Cayman.  Such great guys and so much fun. 

First port of call; Key West!  What a perfectly lovely day too!  Heard they had 4" of rain overnight and when we 1st woke up a bit cloudy but then the clouds started to part and oh my!!! Perfectly lovely and so warm!!  What is not to like?  Walked around town and did a little shopping but because we will be staying in the Keys in a few weeks didn't do too much.  Just enjoyed the day.  Had a great breakfast then after a walk through town headed back for a little afternoon swim; lunch and get ready to rock and roll.  Ship leaves port at 5pm and will be off line rest of week.  All day at sea to morow then grand Cayman Island before going on to Jamaica Man....

Made it on board and although cloudy and overcast it was plenty warm enough.  Big screen to watch Super Bowl game!  Fun to watch the parade of ships as they leave the harbor - 1st stop Key West in the morning..

One fo the best things to happen lately is finally getting to meet nephew Thad and his wife Whitney from Minnesota!!!  It just so happened his mom was paying attention and mentioned that they were also doing a cruise at this time of year and after a bit of juggling realized they were taking same boat as our scheduled cruise only a week earlier; so we arranged to meet up with them as they came back and we were leaving... Wonderful people as we already knew but so fun to finally meet!! Too many years of missing each other... kudos to sister Sandra for helping us out here!!

This year we have moved to Lakeport RV on a canal next to Lake Okeechobee.  Not a large park but we are on a concrete pad with full hookups and no extra charge to stay on site while we are on cruise.  Good 50 amp power and quiet area.  Took ride through town and visited the locks on the western end of the lake as we have in the past.  Same guy stil works there.  Windy or seemed to be most of the time but nice and warm so what the heck.  All sorts of birds with a pair of resident sandhill cranes so what's not to like>