Quail Run Wildlife

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida @ Quail Run Rv Park  (high 88, low 71)

 

The days have been hot and sticky, so we spend our days mostly inside except for early morning bike rides.  We heard about a nice bike trail near the campground, so that is our new favorite place to ride. 

We haven’t seen much wildlife on the trail, and I guess we need to get an earlier start.

We did see this handsome fellow though. 

Evidently he sees a lot of people, because he went about his business, despite me snapping pictures of him.  They usually move off it they see people.

He/she is a gopher tortoise.  Look at that smile.

We are wearing helmets on our bike rides now, despite arguments from Al.

We are still trying to get chores completed.  When we are in the Keys, we feel like we’re “on vacation” and when we’re in the mountains, we feel like we’re “on vacation” too, so we end up procrastinating until the projects mount up. Of course, we’re not killing ourselves.  Between happy hour at 6 and nappy hour after lunch, we’re checking things off the list slowly.  We work better under pressure!

Today and Friday we have to take Mom to some doctor appointments, so that pretty much shoots those days.

We had a dry spell for about a week with no afternoon showers, but they started up again the past few afternoons.  We lost power twice yesterday and the sky looked pretty scary for a little while.  Fortunately, the storm veered around us, so we didn’t get anything real severe.  The local weatherman reported that there were 16,000+ bolts of lightning in the area during that storm.  I’m not sure how they know that, but that’s a lot of lightning. 

Florida is the lightning capitol of the world, and more people get struck by lightning here than anywhere else.  It still amazes me how many people go outside when lightning is nearby.  You can get struck by lightning if it’s within 14 miles of your location, and that is why you hear about people getting hit by lightning on a clear blue day.  That happens frequently here in the Tampa area.

Do you have the Weatherbug app on your phone?   Do you know the app has a “spark alert” that tells you how far the nearest lightning is from your location?  

Do you go outside when lightning is nearby?

Two days ago a bolt of lightning struck an apartment complex nearby  and started a huge fire.  Unfortunately, its a common occurrence here in the bay area.

 

We saw a pretty double rainbow after the storm passed.

We have deer and turkey behind our site, but no otters or fox like we did last year.

There are two separate batches of young turkeys.   Last night they were on our lot until they saw me come out with my camera and they flew off.  I was surprised they could fly so young.

This is our view in our back “yard” looking left.

and the usual birds…

 

I couldn’t resist this opportunity of Pat and Murphy napping.

The Mountains are Calling, and I Must Go.

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida (high 89, low 69)

It’s rainy season, it’s hurricane season, it’s hot, it’s humid and Florida is not where we want to be right now.  At least not this part of Florida, but we wouldn’t mind being in the Keys right now.

Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, so we have 6 months of that and a good 4 months of rainy season.  

Yep, we’re dreaming of heading back to the mountains. We aren’t sure exactly when we will be leaving.  We still have plenty we need to do around here, including visiting with my Mom and going with her to some doctors appointments.  Our plans are in jello.

We’ve taken Mom to doctors appointments the past two days and the latest doctor has an idea of what is causing the “spells” she complains of.  She can’t articulate exactly what the spells feel like, so it makes it difficult for the doctors to help her.  The pulmonary doctor yesterday thinks it could be an esophageal spasm.  It sounds like a good possibility, so we have an appointment with a gastroenterologist in a few weeks.

In the meantime, we’re making the best out of being in the Tampa area, and enjoying riding our new bikes.  Once we get up to Georgia, we won’t have all the nice flat paved trails like we do here.  The Tampa Bay area has miles and miles of trails all over the three counties, so their are no shortage of trails to ride for any kind of riding you want to do.

We have been out to nearby Flatwoods Park a few times.  They have over 11 miles of paved trail, with several  water stations along the trail. It’s paved, smooth, and wide.  There are also multiple off road trails right off the main trail.

I’ve been having problems getting comfortable on my bike seat.  It seemed fine when I tested it  but not so fine after a few miles. I don’t understand why someone with plenty of her own padding, has so much trouble finding a bicycle seat that doesn’t feel like I’m sitting on a rock!  Al, who has very little padding, has no problem with any bike seat he sits on.    It’s not fair!  

We’ve made two 8.4 mile rides at Flatwoods, but I suffered most of the ride and was very glad when we got back to the car!  It’s a one way trail, so once you start, you are pretty much committed.

The trail was really nice on Friday with very few people.  We saw quite a few turkey, some bluebirds, a hawk and a rabbit.

On Saturday, there were a lot more people, so the we didn’t see any wildlife. 

We haven’t been back to Flatwoods, but we’ve been riding around the park, trying to get used to the seat.  Some people say I will just have to get used to the seat, but others say I might need a more padded seat.  Right now, I have a new seat and we’re heading out this morning to give it a try.

 

Pat and Ron, our friends and neighbors here at Quail Run,    made a deal at Camping World to trade in their beautiful 40 foot Phaeton for a beautiful 40 foot Landmark 5th wheel.  They are planning on staying here permanently so they didn’t see much sense in maintaining that big diesel engine.  They intend to buy a small rv for travels.

Yesterday, Camping World picked up the coach and brought the 5th wheel back to their site.

Of course, I had to document the move!

It was interesting to see how a 5th wheel is set up.

 

Murphy the dog had fun tearing up his new toy when no one was watching.  I’m not sure if this look was the look of a guilty or a proud dog!

the end