Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Is This Your Duck?

Crystal River, Florida

Despite the flooding rains most of Florida has been having, we haven’t had too much rain at all.  It’s been pretty cloudy and we’ve had some rain off and on.  Some portions of Florida have gotten 12 inches of rain.  We were expecting more than we got and were happy that we are sitting on a nice concrete pad.  No fear of getting stuck.

Yesterday morning, the radar looked like we were finally going to get some strong storms.  We stayed home and took care of some paperwork, thinking the rain would be coming any minute.  As it turned out, we just got a short sprinkle and by mid afternoon we started to see the sun peeking out.

We decided to go to Crackers Bar and Grill for a late lunch.  It was on the water, right on Kings Bay. It was a nice place and very clean looking.   You could eat outside on the dock by the water.  I would think you could see an occasional Manatee  in season. Al had a grouper sandwich and I had nachos.  Both were good.

After lunch, we drove around a bit exploring, and found a few more springs along the river and a few small city parks.  We both felt the need to be outside and get some fresh air.

We drove up this one street and saw a strange site. 

We had to take a second look before we could figure out what we were seeing.

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It was this lady walking a duck. The duck was following along behind her just like a dog would.  We stopped the car and as soon as she noticed us, she came right up to us….the duck following.

The first thing she said was, “is this your duck?”  Evidently she was driving down highway 19 and this duck was trying to cross the busy road.  She was afraid he would get hit by a car so she stopped.  As soon as she got out, he stated following her.  She had been walking around the neighborhood (with the duck following), looking for its owner.  As we talked, I was sitting in the car and Mr. Duck was right outside my door looking up at me…with a look of love!  I got the feeling he would have gotten in the car if I opened the door.  When she started to walk away, he kept looking at her and then back at me as if trying to decide who he wanted to be with.  I kept saying…go little duck, go!  We decided this duck was someone’s pet and she was going to put him in her truck and see if she could find its home.  I felt comfortable he would be taken care of, so we got the hell outa there before we ended up with a new pet!  He sure was cute though.  I didn’t think to get any picture when he was right outside the truck looking up at me.  I was too concerned that we were going to end up with a duck!

 

We decided that last night was finally going to be the night to watch the sunset.   If you go west from our campground about 5 miles you end up at the Gulf of Mexico.  Nothing is quite like watching the sun set over the water.

There is a nice little park with a swimming beach and a dock.  The perfect place for sunset watching.

We could see the nuclear power plant in the background.

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From the dock looking back towards shore you could see the palm trees catching the light from the setting sun.  It was very pretty.

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There were still a lot of clouds, so we didn’t know how much setting sun we would see.

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See the boat out there?

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Can you see it now?

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Amazing zoom lens on my little camera, isn’t it?

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The lower clouds blocked the view of the sun as it sunk down onto the horizon.  Maybe next time.  It was still very pretty. 

We’re leaving Crystal River tomorrow, and heading back to Tampa for a week or so. We have enjoyed out stay here and got in some really nice kayaking trips.  Our favorites are the Rainbow River and Three Sisters Springs.  No Manatee are in the Rainbow River due to a dam that blocks their entrance from the gulf, but we understand Three Sisters Springs can be full of Manatee during the winter months. 

After Tampa, we we really need to head back to Georgia and get our winter things from the storage shed!  Winters in Florida can be so cold, you know! 

Today we may try to go to Crystal River Archeological  State Park.  Al says I need something new for my blog!  It’s cloudy, but I see a few patches of blue sky poking out.

And for the cute kitten picture of the day.  Baxter is about 2 1/2 months old now.  Old enough to be neutered and declawed.  (sorry Bax)  I have mixed feelings about declawing and really hate to do it, but I don’t want him tearing up the motorhome, so sorry Bax.

Baxter aprox 2/1/2 months old

12 comments:

  1. love the sun peeking through on the boardwalk photo!!..

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  2. Beautiful pictures of the sunset. And I loved the duck story. I can't believe you didn't take him home with you. lol. Your other babies might have had a lot to say to you about that.

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  3. I hope that duck finds it's home. That lady obviously has a soft spot for animals about as much as you do.
    Syl

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  4. We've eaten at Crackers a few times, and my parents go there all the time. It's good! The Archaeological Park is neat as well. Enjoy your walk!

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  5. I'm with you on the de-clawing thing. Only time we never did that was back on the farm, but that was OK since the cats (plural) mostly stayed outside, and they had a job to do. With an "indoor" cat, there wouldn't be any using the furniture as a scratching post, that's for sure.

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  6. I read your blog daily and love it. We also have a motorhome(par timers right now). And live in GA. I wanted some advice on bringing a second cat into the house. We have a 2 yr old female and about 8 wks ago a kitten (2-3 months old) showed up on our porch we started feeding him outside and planned to find him a home I actually had him neutered last week and gave him to a rescue group but went back two days later and got him back. Now he's inside and happy as can be loves our dog who is also inside but my cat hates him. We've kept them separate until yesterday and the kitten was so excited to see the cat he ran at her and she freaked out growling hissing slapping even biting. Will they ever adjust or should I just take the kitten back to rescue group? We leave Friday for two wks in motorhome and are not taking kitten (Jack) the lady with rescue said she would keep him for us we take our dog(Jake) and other cat (Punkin) everywhere and would probably take Jack also but my inlaws are going with us so think it would be bit much. I would appreciate any advice and tips .

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  7. Beautiful sunset photos. Strange duck that one!

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  8. Jan

    Keep the kitten. Your cat will adjust and learn to like him..or least tolerate him.

    Cats always hate new cats and tolerate kittens better. Let the older cat kick his butt a few times to teach the kitten some manners. Email me and I'll give you more tips.


    Enjoy your trip! Going anywhere exciting?

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  9. You dont' have to go anywhere "exciting" just keep kayaking and putting on the pictures and I'll be very happy.

    A duck who follows you around means he's imprinted on some human who probably feeds him. I sure hope he finds his way home or the lady keeps him and advertises that she found him. Not an indoor pet though that's for sure.

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  10. Reading your emails from Crystal River are making us anxious to get back to our winter home in Rock Crusher Canyon there.

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  11. Loved the duck tale....the photos are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing!

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