Otter Mating Season?

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida (high 92, low 72)

 

We’re trying to decide when we can leave this miserable hot weather in Florida and head back to the cooler mountains of north  Georgia.  We don’t want to travel during the 4th of July week-end, so maybe afterwards.   Since it’s 21 degrees warmer here than it is in our other “home” in Blairsville, we are certainly anxious!

 

While we were in the Keys, we were lucky enough to personally witness some Loggerhead Sea Turtles mating.  There were two males mating with one poor female who was almost drowned in the process.  It was a violent act and disturbing at times.

In case you missed the blog post, you can see more pictures and read about it HERE

 

 

A few days later, we were back out in the boat and came across dolphin mating.   Just like the turtles, there were more than two individuals involved.

We weren’t able to get quite as close as we did with the turtles, but it was another spectacular sight.

You can see more pictures or read about it HERE

 

 

The otters that live, fish, and play in the pond behind us were out and about early this morning.  Before today, we have only seen two of them this year.  Last year there were four and perhaps they were the offspring.

This morning our friend Heidi said she saw four of them, but then one ran two off, by “barking” and chasing them into the woods.

Have you ever heard an otter bark?   I hadn’t either.  Later when he was by himself, I heard a chirping type noise that sounded more like a bird than an otter.  When he was after the other otter, I heard a definite barking sound.

Unfortunately, we got outside too late to see all four, but we did see two in the water splashing around with one chasing the other.   I feel certain it was another mating we were seeing.  Fortunately, this time there were only two involved and not the “gang bang” we saw with the dolphin and turtles.  :)

 

My photos weren’t great because they were moving so fast.

There was a lot of chasing, both in and out of the water.

In this next picture I see something that is either a foot or another otter? 

Here is a cropped photo.  I think it’s just a foot, but if it was the female my theory of what they were doing would be proved correct.

It was fun watching them and listening to them bark.

 

 

It’s too hot to sit outside except in the mornings and evenings, but we’re out every day after 5ish with our heavy duty fan, our books, and a cocktail or two.

I am reading the book Wild,  From lost to found on the Pacific Coast Trail”  

It’s a true story about a young woman who had some tragedy in her life which led to drug addiction and eventually to hike the PCT in attempt to get her life back on track.

A few days ago we rented the movie from a Redbox and enjoyed it so much that we decided to read the book. I”m enjoying the book just as much as the movie, and can highly recommend it.  I got it on Amazon e-books for only $6.99.    The author is Cheryl Strayed.

 

the end

Missed the Drag Races

 

Cudjoe Key Florida, Venture Out Resort (high 81, low 71)

 

We are settling in here at Venture Out and establishing our routine.  Unfortunately, our routine hasn’t included much boating, due to fairly consistent and gusty winds.

We did get out a few days ago, and Al managed to NOT slip and fall on his butt like he did the last time.  He ended up with a pretty nasty bruise from the previous fall.   I’ll spare you the pictures.   :)

When we leave the marina here, we can either stay on this side of the bridge and go out into the Atlantic, or go under the bridge and go to the “back country” as it’s called.  This time we chose to stay on the Atlantic side, thinking it was calmer.  It started out pretty choppy, but the seas gradually laid down a little.  We went over to an island hoping it would block he wind a little bit.  We saw this in the distance. When I zoomed in with my camera, I saw that it was a sunken yacht.  Recently, there was an article in the local paper talking about the cost of removing these derelict boats that have sunk in the coastal waters.  I think the birds appreciate it though.

 

I managed to hurt my knees a week or so ago.  The only thing I can think of is when we took a power walk one morning and I was wearing little flat Keds instead of a good walking shoe. Soon afterwards, both of my knees were hurting all the time, but got even worse when I did any walking. 

Aspirin and ibuprofen didn’t work, so I tried some Joint Flex, which helped some, but not enough.  Al finally suggested I take some Glucosamine, which helped a lot, as long as I keep taking them.  Anyway, lesson learned.  Don’t take power walks on concrete with bad shoes.  I can’t believe I did that.

 

We talked about going down to Key West the other day for the drag races. I wasn’t sure my knees would handle the walking, and as it turned out the wind and seas were down, so  we went boating instead.  Boating trumps drag races any day.

Now, keep in mind, we’re talking about Key West, and the drag races might be a little different than what you’re used to.  :)

The Key West drag races were between drag queens in heels.  There were different categories depending on the heights of the heels the “girls” were wearing.   Only in Key West!  

Here is a picture I borrowed from the internet. Check out those heels as she is jumping a barricade!  That queen had some pretty muscular legs.

It’s an annual event, maybe we’ll get there next year.

We had a nice day boating, and Al caught a bunch of small fish, so we came home with an empty cooler and left over bait.

There is a nice place by the marina to rinse your boat.  It even has a power washer.  It’s another nice amenity here at Venture Out.  Al is a madman with the power washer, so I walked away for the protection of my camera.

At the fish cleaning station, the pelicans and and gulls wait patiently for any fish scraps from the fishermen.  Al fed his leftover bait to the pelicans and seagulls, and then started rinsing out his cooler.

I noticed this guy watching patiently in the background so I quickly grabbed my camera.

I was able to walk right up to this beautiful and rare Great White Heron.

He squawked at me and seemed upset the free meal was gone and he didn’t get any.  Sorry fella.

He was nice enough to pose for some pictures though.

He looks very similar to the common Great Egret, but the egret has black legs.   You have probably seen plenty of egrets, but maybe not the Great White Heron.

Notice the pale legs of the heron?

 

We spent Easter mostly around the house relaxing.   Today looks like a good day for boating, so I need to get moving to get us some sandwiches made for our lunch.

 

Here are my usual sunrise pictures from the past few days.

I’m trying to find new places to photograph, since I’ve done so many of the tiki hut.

There is no good place we’ve found here in the park to watch the sunset. 

Sleeping Under the Stars

 

Sunshine Key Rv Resort, Florida  (high 81, low 72)

 

Yesterday was a little of a laid back day.   We ran up to Marathon and looked at a few private Rv lots, and then decided to go to Sparkey’s Landing for lunch.  It’s a nice waterfront restaurant, that serves good fresh seafood.   I made the mistake of ordering nachos.  Al was smart and had  yellow tail snapper.  His was really good, mine, not so much.

We puttered around Marathon for a while and then went down to Big Pine Key for a trip to the grocery store.  Only in the Keys will you see chickens in the parking lot at the Winn Dixie.  In fact, we even saw a Key Deer there last year.

We planned on picking the boat up today, but they discovered one part they had was the wrong one and would probably have to be ordered from the mainland.  They are now thinking it will be Friday.

So, plan “b” might be a trip down to Key West for the day. 

 

I mentioned on the last post about a new Rv Resort up in Key Largo.

It’s called Point of View Key Largo Rv Resort.   It’s new and there is a minimum of shade or privacy between sites, but there are bushes planted between many sites and in Florida, they will grow very quickly.

The entire campground is rock, including the roads and campsites.

There are some beautiful sites looking right out on the Atlantic ocean.  Million dollar views, with almost as high of a nightly price tag.

In the next picture, if you look down to the end of the row, that is the Atlantic ocean.

I think most of the sites are pull in sites.

This trailer had an unusual cage thing on the top it it.  We found out it was for their cats. 

None of the sites were far from the water, but of course the best sites were right on the ocean.

There is a nice dock.

There is not much of a beach, and there are very few white sandy beaches anywhere in the Keys.  The few beaches are manmade for the most part.  Due to the shallow waters, there is not much beach erosion to form nice sandy beaches.

 

There were even a few vacancies.  Don’t expect that to be the case next year.  As more people find out about this place, it will be harder to reserve a site.

Also, if you go to their website and check out the prices, you might want to sit down first.  It’s not cheap!

 

Since we’ve been here the weather has been terrific, except for the one rainy day.   Usually once the sun starts to set, it starts feeling very chilly for us thin blooded Floridians, but last night night was a perfect evening.

As the sun started to set, we walked to the more westerly of the fishing bridges, for a different point of view.  There are bridges on both sides of the island.   It was a little too dark to get any decent pictures but we watched a few boats coming into the marina and we saw a shark and a skate swimming by.  It was such a lovely evening, that we hated to go inside, so we came back to the Rv and sat outside under the stars for a long time.  The sky was so clear and black and the display of stars was amazing.

I saw something streaking through the sky and remembered a phone app I have called “NASA.”   I initially got the app to determine when they were having a space launch, so that we can watch them.  I doubt we would be able to see them down here but in Tampa we see them all the time.  It’s surprising how many rockets they still launch.

Anyway, the app also finds your location automatically and tells you the best time to watch some of the satellites and the International Space Station as they appear overhead.

It turns out what I was watching streaking through the sky was indeed the International Space Station.  It was really cool.   It’s a great app, check it out.  I have the Android version, but I assume there is an iPhone version as well.

We sat outside marveling in the clear black sky and beautiful display of stars.  It wasn’t too chilly and we both wished we could sleep outside.

Years ago, when we could go on live aboard dive trips to the Bahamas, we would sleep on the top deck of the boat, right under the stars.  It was one of the best highlights of the trip.  Last night made us remember how nice that was and Al decided he wanted to sleep outside.  Our Sea Eagle inflatable kayaks are very comfy and he decided he could use it as a bed. I made his “bed” with a few blankets underneath him, and one to cover him up if it got chilly.  We got him set up with a few pillows, turned the outside LED lights down to dim and he spent the night under the stars.  I don’t think he watched the stars very long though, because I’m pretty sure he was asleep in minutes.

I went inside and watched a little Tv before going to sleep.  I woke up about 3am and decided to go check him to make sure he was okay.  I walked outside in the dark and nudged him to make sure he was okay.  He was fine, but needed to come in for a bathroom break.   He said it was very comfortable and he really enjoyed sleeping outside.

Maybe tonight, I’ll go “camping” too!

A Bad Start to the Day

 

Dunnellon, Florida  ( high 81, low 53)

On Thursday, we drove over to the headsprings part of the park, here at Rainbow Springs State Park.  The campground and the headsprings are in two separate areas. 

The campground is along the river, but there are no waterfront campsites.  You can launch a kayak, or swim in the river.

They have a nice kayak launch, complete with a guard.

It’s much prettier over at the head springs area.  You walk in, and look down onto the beautiful spring fed river.  It’s quite pretty, but  I accidently deleted my photos, thinking that I had down loaded them.

We were here in October of 2011.  If you’re interested in more information about the campground, or the springs and river, click here.

I am reposting a few pictures here from the previous blog, so that you can see just how beautiful the area is.  We’ll probably get back to the springs today.

The water was so clear, that it looked like air.

After we got back home, we spent some time outside on our nice patio area, reading and watching the birds.

There are a lot of Towhee here at this park.  Someday, I’ll get a better picture.

 

We saw this tiny little bird.  Not sure what he is and haven’t taken the time to look him up.

 

On Friday, we had the unpleasant job of moving to a different site, after only two nights on site 22. We liked the site pretty well, and we had pretty good privacy, but you could hear and see the road from behind our site.  Site 21, which is where we actually were supposed to have been, was a much better site.

We just had to move a few sites down, so site 16, but when we thought about moving, we wished we hadn’t decided to extend our stay. 

We took a walk around the campground in the morning, and on the way back, as we walked by our next door neighbors site, we heard a loud metallic sounding crash.   We heard some voices, then a female was saying “help, somebody please help.”   Of course, we started over, but their two dogs were barking and warning us away.  They said, “the dogs won’t bite.”  

Once we approached, the dogs calmed down, and they didn’t bite.

It turns out somehow the awning arm fell down and the man got his finger caught between two sections of the awning arm.   He was feeling dizzy and afraid he was going to pass out from the pain.    Al got a screwdriver and somehow pried the metal pieces apart allowing him to get his finger out.   It turns out his wife was a nurse.  She thought she should take him to see a doctor.  I looked up a couple of emergency clinics nearby, gave her directions, and they took off.

While they were gone, we showered, read a while, then decided we’d better get packed up and move to our new site.

It’s much easier packing up when you only have to move down the road, and we got the coach moved fairly quickly. I was working inside, and Al was outside hooking up the water and sewer.  He came in saying a few choice words, holding his head, and bleeding like crazy.

It turns out he managed to crack his head open on the slide out….again.  We really need to get some of those swim noodles before he kills himself.

The wound was about 1 1/2 inches long, but it didn’t look too terribly deep, but it bled a lot.  We put ice on it to stop the bleeding and the bleeding slowed.

We decided to walk back over and visit our nurse friend from earlier, and see what she thought.   We’re not sure of their names, but I think she is Diane and he is Bill (the guy with the smashed finger).

When we got to their site, they were back from the clinic.  His finger was not broken thankfully.  She was up on the roof, and he was working on the awning arm which had become loose from the side of the motor home.

She looked at Al’s head, asked him if he was dizzy or nauseous, then cleaned his wound with saline, then dabbed it with an iodine swab.  She didn’t think he needed to go to a doctor, but advised if anything changed not to hesitate to see a doctor.

While we were there, we helped them with their awning arm.  All that could be done, was to was secure the awning arm to the bracket so that they could travel, since the were planning on heading south.

So, we ended up with two medical emergencies, and each of us was able to help the other one out.  We had been next door to them for two days and only said hello, but ended up getting to know them when there was an accident.

We spent the rest of the day around the house.  Our new site is more private, but a little shorter and sunnier.  Our satellite signal locked on, but we spent the afternoon outside reading.

I’m reading the Stephanie Meyer novel The host.   She is the author of the Twilight series, which I very much enjoyed.  She has some kind of imagination and is an excellent writer.  I know the Twilight series was billed as a teenage book, but I thoroughly enjoyed both the books and the movies.  The host is supposed to be an “adult” novel, and so far I’m enjoying it.  It’s a little difficult getting into it and keeping things straight, but I think I’ll like it.  It was one that I had picked up at the library in the laundry room at Rivers Edge.  When you stay at RV parks, you rarely need to buy books!

Since, we don’t have to move today, we hope to spend most of the day outside reading.  The weather is nice and warm and hopefully will be sunny today.  I just need to keep Al safe!

Manatee Rescue

 

Ohio Key, Florida (high 83, low 70)

 

Yesterday was to be our last day out on the boat for this trip.  Despite both of us being completely worn out, we forced ourselves to get moving early.  We launched  at Bahia Honda marina by 8:30 am.  We needed to get there early to get a parking space. This park fills up quickly.

We headed out under the old bridge.

The water was just the way we like it.  Clear and turquoise in color.

We decided to anchor for a little while and take a short nap! There’s nothing like napping with the sloshing water hitting the bottom of the boat and gently rocking you to sleep.

Al laid down in the bow of the boat on the big cushion on the cooler and I stretched out on the big “lounge” in behind the steering wheel.

If it hadn’t been our last day to go boating, we probably would have stayed home and rested.  We’re both completely worn out.

After naptime was over, Al fished a while with no luck, we headed over to what we think is “No Name Key.” 

Al was looking for some patches of coral reef to snorkel, but we didn’t have any luck.

The water was very clear and appears green due to the grassy bottom.

He fished a while, caught a few fish and then we drove around for a while looking for nice spots to snorkel or fish. 

It was a lazy day.  We spent a little time reading, having lunch and then noticed some rain clouds further offshore.  .  We decided to get closer to the marina, in case we needed to get in quickly. When we heard thunder, we decided it was time to go in.  It was about 2:30 pm.

We pulled into the marina into one of the two openings. Once we tied the boat up,   I noticed a brown “rock” on the ramp right in front of the boat.  I hadn’t it before.  It was in about 3 feet of water.  Upon closer examination I noticed the “rock” was a manatee!   Oh NO!

It was right in front of our boat and right where we would have backed the trailer.  It couldn’t have been in a worse place, and I was very upset.  I knew we weren’t going to injure it, but I was worried about any other boats that would be coming in.

You would not be expecting to see a manatee there.

The picture isn’t very good because I didn’t even take one until after I got the attention of the park ranger and realized something was going to be done to help the manatee.  I was too upset.

As soon as I realized what I was seeing, I flagged down a park ranger and told her.  She seemed to think it was pretty cool, but didn’t seem to concerned.  She reminded us the manatee have the right of way and we couldn’t disturb them.  I had been thinking the best thing was to somehow scare the manatee away from the boat ramps. 

We decided to pull the boat over to the other ramp so that we wouldn’t disturb her.  I personally thought she should be disturbed, and moved from this  location.  She was apparently sleeping and rarely came up for air.  I did see a little turd float up though.   :)  I controlled my urge to take a picture of that.

While Al was getting the trailer, another ranger came over.  He didn’t seem to be planning on doing anything either.  After realizing they had no plans to do anything,  mentioned maybe putting a buoy or something out to alert other boaters about the manatee.  He said he would do that, so I watched her while he went to get some help. 

A few minutes later the female ranger brought a car to block the ramp from people wanting to launch their boats.

By this time a crowd was gathering.

The next step was to close the other end of the ramp off so that no one could take their boats out of the water. There was one other slot where boats could launch.

In the meantime the manatee moved to slightly deeper water but appeared to still be napping.

We pulled the boat out, parked, and then walked over to the Earth Day celebration they were having at the park.  We missed most of it but did pick up some interesting literature, including a real nice brochure to help identify fish.

These are pictures from the beach at Bahia Honda.  What a beautiful state park this is.

I love this crooked palm tree.

We got home about 4:30, cleaned the boat and then Al drug me out for happy hour at the Sunset Grill.  No rest for the wicked!

No pictures of sunset there this time.  You’ll have to look at the ones I took last December.  The sun is not setting in the right place this time of year, and it sets way after happy hour is over!  It blinds you when it starts getting too low, so it’s not nearly as nice this time of year.  The best time to watch sunset there is in fall and early winter.

This time of year, you get your best sunset pictures bayside instead of ocean side, and Sunshine Key offers some beautiful sites to watch the sunset.

Last night, we walked along the bridge.

The “summer people” were out really enjoying the beach.  They are just arriving, so everyone is happy to be back here.  There were several groups of people with dogs, kids and beers, just enjoying the clear calm water. Those little spots are people.  The water is very shallow there.

Most of the summer residents are Cuban families, and you normally hear the salsa beats from the Latino music.  Last night, we heard rap music!  What?  I like the Latino music, the rap, not so much.

This next picture is Sunshine Key from the bridge.  Sunshine Key Rv Resort takes up the entire island of Ohio Key.  It’s a lovely place to be.

As usual, I took way too many sunset pictures.

Sherry and I have that in common.

While we were on the bridge, Al saw a pretty big nurse shark swim under the bridge.  I took a few pictures but they didn’t turn out.  It was probably 6-7 feet long.  We think is was “Three Hole Harry.”   I told Al from now on, when we’re snorkeling, we’re not going to go visit him.  He’s grown up a lot since last year.

When we got back home, Al told me we needed to get up early and watch the sunrise.  I told him to be sure and bring my camera with him and take some nice pictures.  I was so tired, I didn’t want to even think about sunrise.

However….after a good night sleep, off we went this morning for sunrise, and yes, I went too!

Here is Sunshine key in the early morning light.

It wasn’t a very pretty sunrise due to the clouds.

There were some interesting clouds ocean side though.

 

Today,  we will have to get the boat covered up and ready for storage.  We’ll say good bye to it for a few months.

We will start preparation for leaving tomorrow.  We sure will hate to leave our favorite place!