Kayaking and Parks

After we left Ocean Springs we visited my aunt and uncle in Mobile.  They are 85 and 86 and really having a tough time at this age but we enjoyed a visit in their new assisted living apartment and had a nice lunch before traveling on down the road.  We experienced heavy rain as we moved east and south with cold temperatures and wind. The first night we finally found a hotel in Midway which is close to Tallahassee.  We were going to kayak at Rainbow Springs the next day but the weather was so inclement that we travelled further on down to Donnellon and kayaked Rainbow Springs.  It was warm clear fresh water and we basically at the river all to our selves.  The jones along the river were beautiful.  We saw hundreds of Anhinga’s, a bald eagle, many large turtles sunning themselves, blue, Tri-colored and great hero’s along with a Limpkin and Egrets.  It took us about three hours.  After we finished up there we headed to Myakka State Park which was south of Tampa.  It was windy and cool but we climbed the canopy tower and did a short walk.  Basically we saw many of the same birds but also a highlight was the Roseate Spoonbill!!  They say there were crocodiles there but it was cold and windy and we didn’t see one.  We almost ran out of gas in the park (poor planning on Dan’s part!!) so we cut the visit there short and headed for gas. We made arrangements to see Marie Rossman and her family the next day in the Naples area.  We spent the night in the Brandon area.  The next morning we headed to Naples where we spent four hours visiting Marie and meeting her three children and husband.  We enjoyed a good lunch and visit.  We decided to head on to Miami and go asking the Everglades National Park.  We stopped at the visitors center and viewed a wonderful film. Then we walked the fenced boardwalk and gazed at all the alligators and fish along the waterway!!  We decided to spend an extra night in Miami where we could drop off our rental car and take in some of South Beach.  It was a good decision.  Today we board the Norwegian Star for a transit of the Panama Canal.  This is our first easy to west trip. I love the history and marvels of the Canal.  We are packed up and awaiting the shuttle which we board at 10:00. For some reason our suitcases are fuller than when we began!!!  I guess that’s due to gifts from our son from Delta State, a new pair of sandals and some shoes for Dan and a Christmas sweatshirt I couldn’t resist!  I think another suitcase purchase is in our future!!  Bonvoyage🚢

Canopy walk at Myakka Park

 

Reddish Egret which we would have loved to see!!

Marie Rossman and her family 

Everglades National Park

We found a delicious Cuban restaurant in South Beach after riding the bus in from the airport and taking it to SB. 

Clean Miami beaches

Finally we are getting some sunshine!

The boardwalks were clean and beautiful full of lovely plants and bird sounds.

Ocean Springs Thanksgiving Week

Dan and I got to New Orleans on time and picked up our rental car around 3:30 on Monday Nov 19th.  Todd and Zoey got to Ocean Springs the day before and got our ocean front VBRO all set up.  Getting out of town was easy for us and we had the address for our destination typed into our iPhones.  We actually just about beat Todd and Zoey to our cute accommodations for the week as they were grocery shopping for our dinner.  Once we got there we were impressed with how verbal Zoey was and how much she had changed.  We got a tour of our vacation rental and started unpacking for the week.  Our house had three bedrooms and two baths with a nice sized kitchen and living room and full laundry.  The owners had two bikes we could use, a bbq, some kayaks and a nice fire pit with camp chairs.  There were even fishing poles and tackle to use if one was interested.  The owners left a bucket full of all the fixens’ for S’mores too!!!   Krista didn’t join us till Wednesday night as she and about 15 other ladies were hiking the Grand Canyon!  We enjoyed birding seeing hundreds of white and brown pelicans, ibis, cormorants, a few Mississippi Sand Hill Cranes of which there are estimated to be only 137 of this sub species left in the world!!! We saw a lot of caspian terns, laughing gulls, Osprey, Bald Eagles, black crowned night heron, green heron, tri-colored heron, little blue heron, a variety of hawks but mostly Red Tailed, a few yellow rumped warblers and great, snowy and cattle egrets.  We saw several armadillos and a fence lizard.  The full moon graced our eyes this week too which was called the Beaver Moonbut the local native Americans.

We took Zoey into town almost every day to the cute park at Ocean Springs.  Dan and I toured the famous Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs.  He was a famous artist and pottery sculptor who spent years exploring Horn Island.   He suffered from schizophrenia and his art reflects his tormented visions and obsession with nature and being one with nature. Zoey enjoyed perusing the local toy store every chance she got!   

On thanksgiving day we were invited to join friends of Todd’s from Cleveland, MS who also rented a large VBRO for their families.  They asked us to bring several bottles of wine and cupcakes for the kids! 😂. Sounds like a perfect combination for adults and kids.  We enjoyed getting to meet all of them and sharing a very thankful thanksgiving with good food and new friends.  

The next day the said “Ceback over and help us eat all the left overs is back we went and helped clean out the refrigerator and fill up our stomachs.  Evenings saw sone fire pit time or a walk on the beach.  Zoey always had some special books for us to read or songs she wanted to sing.  One of the favorite things we brought her was the Walmart toy catalog!!  That was a big hit.  We read that over and over.  The new books were took her were The Pokey Puppy and Donkey Donkey along with a book of manners.  She named her doggie Pokey and remembered all the puppies, Polly, Pat, Pickles and Penny 😂😂.  She sure loves her bath time too and one day took three baths!!

Anyway we enjoyed the gulf although it could have been warmer.  We hadn’t worn jackets and long pants for a LON) time but we haven’t worn anything but that since we got here.  On Sunday we cleaned things up and packed up to head out: Todd and family back to Cleveland and us off to see my aunt and uncle in Mobile. Then it’s on down through Florida taking a few days to kayak and see some parks before we get to Miami. 

Pokey the Puppy was a hit!! 

Somehow Papa can always get Zoey to giggle 😂😂

Walter Anderson’s widgets and art.  

Zoey’s favorite toy store ..

Yogurt pops!!

Thanksgiving dinner!!

Always the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises too!!

The Beaver moon...thinking that’s when they started trapping beavers for their fur in the fall. 

Papa, Zoey and Todd coming back from kayaking 

Zoey with her huge Dora the Explorer book that is also a pillow.  Nana scored this at the local Goodwill as a brand new item for Zoey!

Facts on the rare Mississippi Sandhill Cranes

Getting ready to say Goodbyes.  

Nothing beats a tasty Smore 

Thankfulness 2018

I haven’t blogged for almost a year!  One of my friends asked if I would be blogging as we head out for six weeks of travel.  Ok, I said.  I’ll try to get back into the groove.  So here is my first attempt to get back into the proverbial saddle.  I’m at Sky Harbor waiting for our Southwest flight to New Orleans today.  Up at 5 am and into the Uber by 7.   We split an egg and cheese croissant and messed around with our digital devices a bit.  We’re headed to the gulf to spend a week with Zoey and her folks. I imagine we will spend a lot of time on the beach and taking iPhone photos and videos.  Right now I don’t have any interesting photos to share but be sure those will come.