June 2009- Dolphins, snorkeling & Return to Everglades

Cam completed another fantastic school year and moves on to middle school next year. To celebrate his accomplishment we took him for a small visit to the Everglades....snorkeling in the Keys ....and a little swim with a dolphin named Pax. Jim and I always enjoy our time with Cam and this trip was no different.

Here is Cam starting a splash fight with Pax. He learned you have to take it like a man if you start a splash fight with a dolphin....cause you are going to lose. No doubt about it!

I have no underwater pics of our snorkel and the weather did not cooperate so we could not get out to the reef which is a couple of miles off shore. However we found 3 very good beaches and for his first snorkel adventure I think we did quite well. He saw 3 lobsters, 2 huge Angel fish, a huge grooper, a large puffer, a school of colorful neons, parrot fish, grunts, trunk fish....and many small colorful reef fish.

Thanks Cameron....for a wonderful time and some very special memories. Here are some of our pics:

May 2009

It's nice to be home and back in a regular healthy routine....eatting right and getting some regular exercise is easier when not traveling. I also love sleeping in my own bed and walking around our property. Jim is a little worried as he says, "You're too happy about being home. I'm afraid I will not get you back on the road again."

No fears there! But May I just enjoyed being home. Yes there was yard work and clean up from the winter... but we have come to expect that every spring. Actually we had a cold and rainy spring. It was like going from winter to summer on May 25th Memorial Day....when it got into the 80's. Here in the Northwest that is considered beating heat! Ha ha

My only travel this month was a week to Tacoma to stay with Cam. We had a great time as I have missed him dearly while gone. Jamie and Steve were off to Las Vegas with Ben and Flo to celebrate Ben and Steve's birthdays. Yes, Ben is now 30 and Steve a 30+ (I hear it is impolite to give the actual number of years after 30?).

I got a taste of how busy life is with a near teenager for the first 4 days I was with Cam. There was baseball practise, a baseball game, a science project to support, band practise to get him too, a costume to put together for presentation and of course bring and picking up from school. Cam told me, "it doesn't feel like we are on vacation." That's because we weren't!

But then the weekend came and he had two friends come to spend the night, with lots of laughter and playing. Jim caught the train in and we went to the Seattle Mariner's game with popcorn, cracker jacks, pretzels and you really do not need to know the rest. Sunday we took a walk to check out the low tide and the pools for sea life. Then we picked Jamie and Steve up at the airport and headed to Seattle to meet Ben and Flo for birthday dinner celebration......I"M GETTING TOO OLD TO BE THIS KOOL!

May ended on a more serious note. My Dad went to the hospital Friday May 29th, had a small stroke. He is doing fine, no damage, just a little scare. His sense of humor is very much in tack. Upon arrival to the hospital he announced "my stroke didn't kill me but the drive with Florence (my Mother) to the hospital almost did."

I'm very proud of him, he really puts some effort into staying physically and mentally active and because of that he is very healthy....this was his first stay in a hospital in his life! He had a busy day and might have over extended himself. We are hoping he will take better care and pace himself a little better.

Oh, here is a pic of Cameron dressed as young Darwin....this is the costume we put together for his presentation. He did quite well. Look at those mutton chops....we made them out of teddy bear fur.

All our love to you and yours!

Lee

12th & final week of Roadtrip '09

After leaving the Arkansas property we stopped at Eureka Springs, in Arkansas. It is a little town that grew around the springs in the area. People traveled here for the hope of some medical relief to their individual discomforts. We enjoyed walking around the little town...it grew during the Victoria era. And the homes, streets and town itself are like a time capsule of that era.

We traveled back roads from Arkansas through Kansas and Nebraska to reach Casper, WY. We happened along a chain saw artist festival and picked up a new friend. Eddie the Eagle will greet guests at our door from now on. He was made by the only woman artist at the festival.

Going through Dodge City, KS we stopped by Buffalo Bill's home for a pic. We did not go in out of respect for Jim's grandfather. He met Buffalo Bill when he was a kid and did not have a favorable impression of him. He never had anything good to say about him....and that was all I needed because I did not want to honor someone that killed over 4000 buffalo to get his nick name.

We had a little car trouble about 200 miles out of Casper our fuel pump went out. We got the car started but were told that we could not stop it till we got to Casper....a little nerve racking! We made it to Casper and stayed at Barb & Dennis' home while getting the car fixed. Unfortunately Dennis, Jim's brother, was in Texas fishing but our sister- in- law, Barb and her family, made us welcome. We had a great visit. And thanks to her daughter, Angela, I came home with my nails looking beautiful! Thanks Angie!

We packed up as the snow....IN APRIL....came down in Casper....didn't we leave in this? We arrived home Saturday night happy to be here! And greeted warmly by our cat, Barney.

Thanks to everyone that was a part of our adventure and to all the family and friends that opened their homes and hearts to us along the way. We look forward to re-paying your hospitality when you make a visit to the Northwest! Hope to see you soon! You have our gratitude and love....

11th week of Roadtrip '09

First for all our friends and avid blog readers I apologize that we are so late in updating the blog. We have been working on clearing the road on the Crawford 75 acres in Arkansas and as you guessed by now....there is no cell nor internet service there. That said.....

We made our way back up Florida, through Georgia and into Arkansas this week. On the way out of Florida we made two stops:

1) we visited the Coral Castle in Miami. We had seen it on PBS and were both interested in exploring it. It is actually made of limestone. The man who built it was Edward Leedskalnin born in Riga, Latvia on August 10th, 1887. When Ed was 26 years old, he was engaged to be married to his one true Love, Agnes Scuffs. Agnes was ten years younger than Ed; he affectionately referred to Agnes as his “Sweet Sixteen”. Agnes cancelled the wedding just one day before the ceremony saying he was too old for her....I think the truth was he was just too weird! Anyway heartbroken and deeply saddened by this tragic loss, Ed set out on a lifelong quest to create a monument to his lost love that has culminated into one of the world’s most remarkable accomplishments. Ed’s unusual creation is called the Coral Castle, (it was originally called “Rock Gate Park”). Ed without any outside assistance or large machinery single-handedly built the Coral Castle. He carved and sculpted over 1,100 tons of coral rock as a testimony to his lost love, Agnes. I guess it is worth noting that Ed was only 5ft tall and 100lbs. He said he truly understood the laws of weights and leverage as the Egyptians did....nothing supernatural or metaphysical....but he never let anyone see how he moved his rocks doing all his work at night by lantern light. The place was remarkable. There is one rock, 5 tons in weight. He found the single point of balance in this odd shaped rock and hung it from that point as a gate...you could move it with one finger. Scientist have come to Xray it and study it and no one knows yet how he found the balance point and moved it into place by himself. If you're interested check out their web site: http://www.coralcastle.com/ Here are a few of our pics:

2. Our second stop was to swim with manatees in crystal river. It was very kool....we were the first b oat out in the morning...7AM and got to hit the springs before the masses arrived or as Jim says....it became people soup. I got to swim with 4 manatees....a mom and her young calf and a mom and an adolescent.... I really enjoyed seeing these gentle creatures up close and only wish I had an underwater camera to share our experience. I would like to go back in November when the springs host over 200 manatees and not many people like to jump in to swim during the winter months. Check out the video on this web site for some idea of what that experience is like....our guide says you can not get away from the manatees then: http://www.birdsunderwater.com/

As we drove backroads in Ga we took the time to explore some of the older homes in river towns....they speak to a history of affluence long passed.

We spent Easter weekend in Georgia catching up with my niece and nephew, Jess and Chris. They have been married one year and it has been crazy! A week after their wedding a tree hit their house in a tornado. They spent a few months living with Chris' parents while their home was rebuilt. Then jess needed Gall Bladder surgery.....thankfully she is doing fine and we are all hoping their second year is less eventful!!!!!

I also took a day, Easter Sunday, to catch up with my good friend Joan....who fixed us a wonderful and healthy lunch. After hounding her she has agreed to come and visit us this summer....hooray! I can't wait!

The last three days of the week were spent at the Crawford Arkansas property. Last year we brought Cameron there to catch critters and the guys had to hike in as the road was not passable. So Jim brought his chain saw and worked very hard to clear it. I hauled some logs as he cut and wish I could have helped him more....we were hoping his brother could make it but that did not work out. The good news is we got the big stuff handled and Jim found someone to brush hog the rest....so the next time we go we will have a great camping spot by the creek.

Spottings on the property consisted of a wild turkey, running from hunters, a rabbit and frog both running from us as we moved logs. The spring is the time to visit Arkansas....the dogwood and red bud were in bloom (flashes of white and purple everywhere. The wild iris on the property was just starting to blooom and wild flowers in pink, yellow and purple were everywhere. And the bugs....are not out yet! Luckily we found no snakes either. We were both concerned as we were moving so many logs...but saw none. I guess it was still quite cold for them. I will say the best sighting there was the lightning bugs....you forget how they light the sky....they are like stars lighting the night sky. We watched them against the night sky as we fell asleep each night.

Oh, we never sighted the beavers but their house and damn on the creek of our neighbor's property was obvious.

We are now headed into our final week of our roadtrip.....the road home. I hope to make our final entry once we reach Brush Prairie. We will travel in gratitude for all we have seen and enjoyed during our trip. Our friends and family remain safely in our thoughts .....

10th week of Roadtrip '09-The Keys

The Keys! Beautiful Water, Roosters crowing in the street, 6 toed cats, pics of Hemmingway everywhere, great food....cuban and caribbean. I had the best rum punch I ever had and the same goes for my glass (make that 3 glasses) of Sangria.

We made three stops in exploring the keys. First stop, Key Largo and John Pennicamp coral reef park. We did not go out to the coral reef as it is a hike but played around snorkeling at their beach. They dumped some canons and some colorful fish and a few coral buds have found them. We did a little hiking but mostly road our bikes around exploring. This was the first night we camped that was really hot, no breeze and the mosquitos were out. The next morning Jim took to his comfy chair....I think he was a little too still, the vultures started hangin around him looking a little hungry!

We spent a day on the beach at Bahia Honda. Jim did a little snorkeling, not much to see just a few fish. I enjoyed playing in the sand....yes I did two castles. I read a little...enjoyed my own version of rum punch We got their early enough to get a picnic shelter and we shared it with a mexican family. The shared their BBQ with us....yummmmmmm.

We left the beach just at the right time to spot the key deer. They are an endangered specis of white tail deer. They are home on two of the keys and are much smaller due to the limited food and range. We went out to the resrve and found quite a few. Someone has been feeding them because when I rubbed my fingers together they just came right over.

Our last stop was 4 days at an apartment in Key West, a funky little town. We had the best Cuban food....El Sabino, you must call ahead for the paella. We visited the Audubon house, the ship wreck museum and saw the treasure Mel Fisher pulled up in the '80's....it was amazing. Rubbies and emeralds hold their shine afer 200 years in salt water!

We took a day and went out to the Dry Tortugas for snorkeling. We saw some big fish, 3 baracuda....lots of color. It was windy and the water stirred quite a bit... I wished the clarity would have been better.

We also went through the aquarium and became familiar with the local fish (tarpon) and turtles. Do you know 10 times as many people die from a coconut falling on them as do from a shark bite? It really made me careful walking around these palms....ha ha

Well we enjoyed our week in the keys ....still have a few things we would have liked to do so we will have to come back. We are now heading out of Florida.

9th week of Roadtrip '09

For our last week in Everglade City we asked ourselves, " what is it we really want to make sure we do before leaving?" For Jim it was an easy 2 part answer....fishing and kayaking. For me it was a little more...I wanted to Kayak and did not mind getting a little more fishing in but I wanted to go back to Corkscrew and walk the whole 2.5 mile boardwalk (we did not get to do that when we went before), I wanted to do some more back roads and/or a little more hiking to explore the area a little deeper and I wanted to eat at the only other restaurant there was in town that we had missed.

Then I could say my good-byes! I'm happy to report that, we did it all!

We went for one more charter fish the day after our guests left. The wind was still kicking and it was exhausting trying to keep balance and pull my fish in. I caught a Bonner Shark, 3 small trout, 3 Lady fish, 3 fish in jack family, and 3 cat fish...13 fish in all. I had a blast. Unfortunately none of them were keepers which does not bother me....I like the catching. Jim caught one fish that day....the only keeper we got a large trout. So we had dinner.

Jim made it out on a longer kayak...he did a 6 hour trip in 4.5 hours. The wind was really blowing! He went through mangrove tunnels in halfway creek. Right after I helped him launch he barely got down the waterway when he spoked a large Eagle out of a tree. Jim said it was the closest he has ever been to those magnificent birds in the wild.

He and I started off on a kayak together....just 3 hours down the Barron River. But I got spooked...not feeling so comfortable in my kayak and hearing an airboat guide say, "there's a nice size gator right over there." Right over there was about 50 ft from me in my kayak. So I opted out of the kayak run ...not being as brave as my niece, Christine!!!! and let Jim do it himself. The good news is I still fit in my kayak after eatting my way through New Orleans and Everglade fried seafood! Healthy eatting here I come.

We had a cold front come through with a little rain and decided it was a good day to go out looking for snakes as they would be out trying to get warm. We found two and a racoon. We hiked a little and enjoyed the sights, smells and sounds....ths sounds in the Everglades are unbelievably rich when the birds and bugs are out!

We took a day and went over to Corkscrew....there was no feeding frenzie going on with the birds....I think we were lucky to catch that with our guests last week. But there were still birds eatting and trying to protect their territory. There were gators....I think I have taken enough pics of Gators for a life time. There were the usual greeters a family of racoons feeding on birdseed that the birds dropped from feeders. Wild Iris' was in bloom....was it in bloom just last week and we missed it? Oh, and we saw 5 snakes....one so small I could not believe someone spotted it. Here are our pics:

Then we said our goodbyes to Everglade City. To all the wildlife we enjoyed seeing, to the stone crabs and fish we enjoyed eatting, even to the big and little ones that got away, we say goodbye to the little town and all the friendly people we met while staying there. Oh....and the beautiful sunsets too!

8th week of Roadtrip '09

TO MAKE ANY PICTURE BIGGER JUST CLICK ON IT

Guests, we had guests! We love having guests. This week Ben came in on Wend. He was joined by Josh, Christine and Simone on Friday.

We had our first rain of our visit to the Everglades Wend. when Ben arrived and it continued through Thursday. But that did not stop our Manatees from visiting early Thursday morning, a Mom and a baby.

They are not very active creatures, just hang around forever but I did not want Ben to miss them so I woke him up. It wasn't really necessary because they hung around for over an hour! Their behavior was quite different with the rain. Instead of floating their entire bodies at the top of the water they remained deeper in the water and just poked their noses up for air. A couple of times we got to see their whole face.

Since it was raining, fishing wasn't such a good idea, but in the Everglades there is always time to take a drive and see some Gators. With the rain their behavior was different also, a lot fewer on the shore sunning themselves. We stopped at the visitor center and a ranger explained it to me. They are always seeking warmth. When the sun is out it is warmer to be out of the water. When it is raining, it is warmer to be in it. Makes sense even for the Manatees.



We have only seen deer here a few times but caught these two in the grass during our drive.

We had time in the afternoon for Jim and Ben to take the kayaks out. It was Ben's first time trying the kayaks...he decided they are not as comfortable as one might think. Thursday is seafood buffet night here in Everglade City. We had heard about it but decided to try it on Ben's night in town. All you can eat shrimp, fried and boiled, Oysters , on the half shell and fried, fried fish, scallops, crab and stone crab!!!!! Ben really got into the stone crab claws....double digits! I have to admit they are my favorite Ev erglade speciality. YUMMMMMM!

Friday the guys, Ben and Jim, went on a charter fish....happy birthday Ben! Ben caught 4 trout, a black tip shark and some Lady fish. Jim cleaned up on the Lady fish....he enjoys catching them as they jump and fight hard. Since they did so well fishing we decided to have seafood dinner....fried trout (thanks to Ben!) and we picked up some shrimp (boiled excellently by Jim!) and some stone crab claws. The Jacksons (Josh, Christine & Simone) arrived just in time for dinner.

Saturday was about hangin' out and getting Christine and Josh out for a little fishing. Jim can only take one other person out in his little boat so Josh had the morning shift and Christine the afternoon. Unfortunately the wind did not cooperate for our tag team fisher-people, one Lady fish represented the total catch.

March is a windy month here. In these shallow bays it can be rough to get around and the wind changes fish behavior. But the wind did not stop Ben from learning how to cast net....thanks to Christine's coaching. Nor did it stop Ben from taking Christine out for a hour Kayak trip around the local island looking for manatees.

Here's our little bathing beauty in her pool! I got to hang out with her and learned she is none too keen about sharing her pool with bugs! She's our little bathing beauty!

Saturday night was fajita night with my famous Margarita's. Ben thinks they were too sweet however Christine and I had no trouble sucking them down. Lots of laughs and good company marked the evening.

Sunday Josh was not feeling too well so we decided to chill. Jim and Christine went out in the kayaks for a manatee hunt in the morning, while Josh and Ben took naps. I have noticed that margarita night is often followed by frequent naps the next day! ha ha

Here are some pics of our kayakers & nappers. TO MAKE ANY PIC BIGGER JUST CLICK ON IT:

Here's our future kayaker:

That afternoon we went to Corkscrew Audubon Sanctuary. It was about a 1.25 hour drive but well worth it. It is is a bird sanctuary, wood storks nest her with other wading birds (herons, ibis, rosetta spoon bills, etc). When we arrived they were experiencing a feeding frenzie at the lake so we headed over there. Here is what we saw:

Monday we rented a pontoon boat to take everyone out together fishing and enjoying the sun....happy birthday Josh and Christine! We enjoyed some dolphin play. Josh and Christine each caught a snapper, Ben a jack fish....then the fishing seemed to dry up. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch on an island off the gulf and did some fishing by wading in off the shore.

It took a little effort to get us off the island as we had let the tide go out a little much....and then the fun started. First Jim had trouble starting the boat but once he got it started he found we had lost our forward gear. Yes that's right the boat only went in reverse. Jim drove us in reverse out of the gulf and into Indian Key Channel.

We called into the boat rental office and they came out to see what the problem was....an hour later....got us into forward and we continued our trip home. We were almost to the dock...about 1/2 mile...and the rental manager decided he wanted to drive it in because the tide was so low. When Jim shifted the speed down to let him on the motor killed and could not be started again. They ferried our stuff and us in on 3 boats. We were suppost to be back by 3;30 but it was 6:30....a day of some fun, lots of laughs, and some stress ended well. We all agreed it could have been a lot worse...luckily we had beer right till the last hour.

The day ended with a nice seafood dinner, laundry and packing over cold beer. Eight o'clock the next morning we all said our good byes, hugged, kissed, wished each other a safe trip and headed to the airports. Ben went out of Ft Myers and the Jacksons headed to Miami.

Thanks for coming....we enjoyed your visit!

To all our friends and family...take a moment to enjoy a sunset and know we are thinking of you!