October 2020 Road Trippin - 10-20-20 - Space Coast Day 2

We went to Apollo Beach in the Canaveral National Seashore today.  We had a cloudy day, but not the rain we had yesterday.  We actually were able to walk inside the visitor center, the first one that has been open this trip.

It was another pretty ride with the lagoons on one side of the road and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side of the road.  

Our first stop was the Turtle Mound Archeology Site.  It was a beautiful walk along the boardwalk.  We were looking down from the boardwalk to the 45 foot shell midden.  It is the largest shell midden of  the mainland U. S.

On our drive to check out Eldora House, we found a cool tree limb that looked like an anaconda head. 

We had a nice walk to the house.  The house was closed due to covid, but as usual we found some pretty neat plants and critters.

We went to the last parking area on Apollo Beach, which was another nude beach, Just Saying!  The waves were way much bigger than yesterday with a high tide.  We took pictures of the waves and critters.

We saw a Black Runner Snake basking in the grass near the walkway as we left.

We hiked the 1 mile Castle Windy Trail and finally got a bunch of pictures of the Zebra Butterfly.  

We had our picnic lunch at the Visitor's Center overlooking the lagoons.

As we were driving out of the park, we found another snake that was laying in the grass with his head sticking up.  Our first thought was, it was another Black Runner, then we saw the black head and neck with a brown body.  Our very first Coachwhip sighting! Cha Ching!!

We took Highway 1 instead of the interstate on our way back to camp.  We rode through several of the nice parks along the waterways taking pictures of the scenery.

  We got a close up of a Wood Stork sitting in the grass.

Ferny Kat had us outside early evening.  She really annoyed a squirrel in the tree trying to get down with his acorn.  She ignored him, and the squirrel found an alternate route.

A really vocal Pileated Woodpecker bellied up on grub before going to roost.

A Red Shouldered Hawk perched in a tree nearby camp, then flew away.  

Space Coast Day 2 is a wrap!

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October 2020 Road Trippin - 10-19-20 - Space Coast Day 1

We took over a 1000 pictures between the 2 of us today.  We just want to say, our first day of Space Coast was awesome.  Our enthusiasm may lessen a little bit after we go through all these pictures.  Not!!

Our first stop was the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center.  The visitors center was closed, but they had a nice boardwalk.  It was another great nature walk.  We found a lot of cool plants and critters.  

After we left the visitors center, we had our first of many Bald Eagle sightings for the day.

Our first ride through the Black Point Wildlife Drive was PHENOMONAL.  We thought the 7 mile ride would be an in and out, just check it out, kind of ride.  Again, another, NOT!!  Several hours later we made it to the Canaveral National Seashore.

We paid our weekly pass to the area, but showed our expired Volunteer Pass.  The Ranger said he only sees about 3 Volunteer Passes a year and thanked us.  We probably could have kept telling our story that Covid has interfered with issuing our next Volunteer Pass, but we decided to give Uncle Sam a little more money.

Our first picture of a bird in this area, was a Florida Scrub Jay.

A walk across the boardwalk to the Atlantic Ocean, assured us that we don't want to go swimming here.  We understand why there is a rip tide warning with these crashing waves.

We had a Frigate Bird flyover as we were admiring the scenery. 

Our next walk to the beach was at the end of the road, Boardwalk #13, the nude beach.  Yes, we saw nudity, and no, we didn't take pictures, except of all the cool shorebirds that were there.

                                                                   Where are they???

We were so distracted by the nature that we saw today, that it was 4 pm before we stopped to eat our picnic lunch.   We were going to eat overlooking the beach, but, the wind would have blown our food away, which almost happened on the less windy side of the beach.  Linner was great at the boat ramp at the William Bartram Trail.

Our, just get acclimated, short drive, lasted about 6 hours.  It was another great day spent somewhere that I adore, the Salt Life!! 

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October 2020 Road Trippin - October 18, 2020 - Move to Mims, Florida

We had a short drive today of 170 miles and relocated to Mims, Florida.  We are on site 199 at Seasons in the Sun RV Resort.  When we arrived we had light showers then the heavier rain started.  Florida's motto that they are the Sunshine State is not quite true for today, but we have a nice campsite, backed up to the woods that borders part of the nature trail.  We are here for a week, so we  hope their motto will live up to it's statement.  With this rainy afternoon, we got some of our blog and pictures caught up.

We knew the place looked like a good bird watching place and we were right.  While eating our lunch we saw a Red Shouldered Hawk across the road.

Ferny Kat slept all the way over here and took a nap after we got set up.  Let's just say, she was not a Happy Camper when she woke up from her nap and we would not take her outside in the rain to check it out.

Finally, the rain stopped around sunset and we took Ferny Kat outside.  We had to pick her up and make her come in at dark.  She came in and sprawled out in the middle of the floor.  The sign behind her says it all!!!!

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October 2020 Road Trippin - 10-17-20 - Last Day at Okefenokee

We wrapped up our last day at Okefenokee NWR, (at least for this trip), with a fabulous day.  We stayed at camp this morning and got the laundry washed and some much needed tiding of the camper done.  We left camp after 1 pm, and we thought this would be a quick in and out tour of the refuge.  We were so wrong.

We hiked the Cane Pole Trail with temps in the 70's and a nice breeze blowing.  I was a few feet from a Black Racer before Lauren told me to stop.  As much as I love nature, I still had a fast beating heart as I took one giant step backwards, watching his red tongue flitting around.  He allowed a few close up pics before slithering away.

We took our time on the trail and finally got a picture of the Zebra Longwing Butterfly that we have been chasing for almost a week.

Just when we thought this day can't get any better for us nature chasers, we heard the familiar, "Who cooks for you, Who cooks for you all," which is the signature hoot of the Barred Owl.  We saw him fly down the trail right over a women's head and land in a tree.  We were ecstatic to get this close for a photo op. We aren't sure why, this owl was flying around in the afternoon.  But we did see him run off a couple of Pileated Woodpeckers that were pecking on trees.  Maybe, they woke him up, or maybe he wanted a midnight snack.

We walked the road at the Borrow Ditch and found a few plants and such.

We took our last stroll along the Chesser Boardwalk to the Tower and found a cool Virginian Tiger Moth on the way back.

Our last excitement, (at Okefenokee), was on the road leaving the refuge, when a Fox Squirrel entertained us running alongside the road.  He, along with all the critters today, put on a spectacular show.

We never saw any Sandhill Cranes, but we did hear their elusive call a couple of times while hiking.

We can call it a wrap for Okefenokee, tomorrow is a moving day.

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