Turkey Trot!

 I swear this weekend, I saw more turkeys than I did on the last couple of trips combined.   They seemed to be everywhere.

With the rain I slept very well and it was around 8:30 when I rolled down to the shower.  When I got back Ian was up and we proceeded to have coffee and pastries for breakfast.   We sat in the coach as the chairs were wet from the rain and watched turkeys and small children run around.

After breakfast we pedaled over to the ranger station and officially checked in.   We then did the hammock loop trail behind the ranger station.  Ian was using my extra bike and we did the trail and then the family camp loop and headed back to camp as it was already lunch time.

After some delish Sammies in the AC of the coach (low 80s and kinda steamy after the rain), we hopped in in his truck and rolled up to the gator hole.    We could hear bellowing before we could see.   Apparently mating season is starting and there was one big boy declaring his wonton lust for the ladies.   He was prob around 11-12 foot and about 60 yards off in front of us   

That said, there were about half a dozed MUCH closer ones including a 9-10 footer who seemed to be paying us close mind.   As it had recently been cold and drought stricken, the wildlife was concentrated in this area that always has water.

The winds were SW and looking that way I saw a curtain approaching and we had about 150 yards back to the truck so we cut short our gator visitation and hoofed it back the truck.   That one kinda slid by and we plunked down in our semi wet chairs.   Then the rain came and we jumped into Ian's tent that I think is larger than the inside of my RV.

You can see his portable suburban home to the left of the coach lol.   Anyway we chilled out in there until the rain let up and I realized our T-Bone was still in the freezer as well as all the cold drinks so we moved over to the coach and started the defrost cycle.

Shortly after that I headed over to the restroom and Ian bailed for a nap.   I figured that was a good idea and napped as well as more rain rolled through.

Rain finally moved off and the sun poked out for a bit.

I took a short stroll around looking for Cara Caras.   This is the second trip in a row I did NOT see one in the park.   Ian said he saw one in Lorida on the way home.

Did I mention the turkeys?    It seemed a rafter of turkeys were rolling through every 15 minutes.  This guy was only about 4-5  feet away.   In the past I have had them attack their reflection in my wheels.

With the burn ban, we used hardwood charcoal and roasted mini taters (wrapped in foil) and grilled the T-bone and cast iron panned a pound of shrimp in butter and garlic.    Super delish.

More drinks were had the low and behold about 20% of the sky opened up for about 15 minutes so Ian got a taste of what is on tap our there in the darkness.

Unfortunately, the moon was near full (4 days before) and even more unfortunately, Ian had the misfortune of parking his flip flopped foot on top of a fire ant hill. They lit him up pretty good and we retreated to the campsite.

Lucy was supposed to join us, but car issues prevented it.   We called the eve a little earlier than the night before as I wanted to be out by 10AM to get back and address the car issue

Birthday Shenanigans

 This year my birthday was on a Thursday but I was able to snag Fri/Sat night at the prairie .   As you know it's one of my top three parks in FL as it is a chance to really disconnect from that hectic grind.

This trip made it a little difficult as my real world issues dogged me all weekend, but more on that as we go.

I started my birthday week last Saturday by smoking a brisket.    It was delish and I followed on the next day by smoking a bunch of sausage.    My daughter and her boyfriend came over on Tuesday and we had meat fest.   It was nice.....   Thursday (my BD) I spent prepping the coach, test drive, and packing so I could bolt quickly on Friday.

I knew FL was under drought conditions and a quick call to the park confirmed the obvious.   NO CAMPFIRES..   But they said we could use charcoal or propane to cook.   So we opted for Hardwood Charcoal, which worked out pretty well.

I rolled !4K on the way out.   Not sure if it is 114Kor 214K as I am the 6th owner of the coach.    I ended up getting to work a little later than I wanted, so I decided to burn 2 hrs of vacation time to get out early.    All good plans......   Left work at 1:15 and hoped to leave by 2.    Ended up rolling out at 3PM.   Used a half hour going to the auto parts store for more power steering fluid....

Friday afternoon leaving the metroplex at 3 is usually the last minute you can avoid the madness.  Not today, 2 accidents with lane closures made it a crawl to West Palm.   Construction at the Beeline and Blue Heron added another 10-15 min  ugh.   Stopped at Sirum's GMC on the way our to say hi to my buddy Mike.    Typical, he asked the question, 'How is she running?'   Purring like a kitten, best running vehicle in my fleet!    15 min later leaving town I have an unwelcome vibration.    It goes away mostly at certain speeds, so I keep on as I'm 30 min from the park entrance.   Above is a pic of the backside of rain as the storm pulled out of the park.

But wait, I mentioned drought!  Yep, first rain in almost 2 months or more.   Didn't last long, but all the critters were HAPPY.   Tons of birds and deer feasting on the puddles as I drove in.  Road was wash boarded so it was idle speed to the campground.    I made it, got set up and called my buddy Ian who was on the way down from Winter Haven to meet me.   To my delight he was already in the park and was there about 6 min later.

I helped him put up his tent and we got going with cocktails and shortly thereafter lit the coals and cooked a wonderful shrimp dinner.   For dessert we had cigars and Cafecito Rum.  Excellent pairing.    We went off to bed shortly before midnight.   I was in bed less than 5 minutes and it POURED rain.   How long, I do not know as it was the perfect lullaby.    

Wrapping up for Christmas!

 After we finished at Blowing Rocks, we tootled north on A1A to Hobe Sound.  We stopped for a few min there at the beach and walked down to the water.   We lucked into the last parking space in the lot as well.  As it was around 1PM and we were getting hungry, we headed out quickly and back to the campsite for lunch.

After lunch we hung out for a bit watching our camping neighbor struggle with his departure.   The campground hosts were helping him as he broke his ankle the day before riding his ebike (took a spill).   Won't bore you with the details other than he almost set his trailer and truck on fire by installing the trailer plug upside down (even though it is keyed).  I saw it smoking and disconnected it.  

Hugo went for a bike ride with us solo for the first time lol.

We found the smoldering remains of a controlled burn and Hugo had a photoshoot.   Two in one day, he is a busy horse.

Hugo complained he would be all stinky if this took too long.

So we aired him out on the dock.   Lucy got to see the elusive Checkered Puffer off the dock as well!

Sunsent Selfie with my bestie!

As you can see the wind was quite lax and the noseeums were out in full force.

So we kept pedaling around until it was trime to light the fire for dinner.

I pulled this lighter out to start the fire.   We had bought back in 2020 when we had a little grilling on the beach on Tybee with J when we delivered the Jeep.

Shrimp on the barbie tonight!

Tommy kept asking for snacks,, but i wasn't going to be a rule breaker.

We were leaving, but took a ride over to the consession stand and found out there was a boat ride up to Trapper Nelsons leaving in 40 min.  I already had the rig packed except for the bikes, so we went back and vacated the campsite and were on the boat with 5 minutes to spare.

I hadn't been up the Loxahatchee River past Kitchen Creek in decades and the weather was spectacular, so why not?

Trapper Nelson was quite the character and his 'suicide' is shrouded in doubt.   At one time in the 40s and 50s he had a zoo of local animals.

Historical marker in his compound.   You can read more about him here

Zoom in, this is the outside of the guest cottage where they counted how many hurricanes they endured.

Trapper's Jeep frame.   The body was rusted so, they rebodied it with a Fiberglass one and let the kids climb on it.   Had Pontiac Bonneville seats too from the 90s!

Nice boat ride back to concession stand, and a eventless ride home (thank goodness).

Thar she blows Cap'n!

 As winds were predicted to be fresh, I decided not to bring the SUP with us as it is a lot of work when the wind is honking.   As we had a car this trip, I suggested that on Sunday we go check out Blowing Rocks Preserve as it was only about 20 min away and I last visited it in the late 1980s.  

We had a leisurely breakfast and rolled out around 10:45.   One of the reasons I hadn't been back is it is not a good surfing beach, and parking was a big issue as there were only about 10 spots last time I was there.   Come to find out there is an education center now on the west side of A1A and much more parking  (opened in 1996!).   It was busy but not crowded and I marveled at the lack of traffic on A1A in season on a Sunday!

A rare site indeed!

Selfie in the coastal hammock.   I had forgotten that it is owned by the Nature Conservatory..

View looking south from the northern edge of the outcropping. I always love the silvery reflection of the sun on the water, makes for such nice photos!

View through an outcropping,  I love the color of the water in South Florida!

The sign said no photoshoots, but Tommy and Hugo are rebels.   I am waiting on the proofs from this shoot.

Another south looking shot.  This is the largest outcropping of Anastasia Limestone on the US Atlantic coast. The local residents donated a mile of beachfront property to the Nature Conservitory in 1969.   

The highest point is probably about 8-9 feet above the sand, this is looking north.

As it was mid day and as you can see quite sunny, we only spent about 35-40 min on the beach as we both forgot to bring sunscreen.   We didn't get burnt, but we knew when to leave.   That said we only walked mayber a thrid of the outcropping.

The boys chilling out on the high ground.   The surf was small so we only saw one small hole 'working'

Found this excellent 5 minute video produced by the management.   Lots of good detail, check it out!.   Makes us very happy to see pockets of nature that are still being taken care of.    Along with McArrthur SP on SInger Island and Hobe Sound NWR just to the north we are blessed locally with some pristine beaches.

View of the Intracoastal Waterway on the west side of the Preserve.   I am still tickled at how clean the ICW is here, same aqua color as the ocean most of the time and pretty clear..  This is probably 2 miles north of Jupiter Inlet.

We had more Sunday adventures, but going to bundle those with Monday as this was a photo heavy post.

Pre Holiday getaway

 A decade ago, shortly after we bought the coach,  We went on an early Dec camping tripand since then we have gone almost every year.   It's a nice way to glide into the holidays, taking some time off to decompress.

About a month ago I poked around the State Park website and found 1 site at Jonathan Dickenson SP just up the road.   It was avail starting Sat night (not Friday), but as  I was off of work the coming week, why not?

I only booked 2 nights as with the holidays,   things will ramp up starting Tuesday!

I usually pull out the coach and prep the night before, but as we had just made a trip 3 weeks ago, everything was in fair order.    I got up Sat AM and pulled it out of the dock at 8:30AM and we commennced loading..

Lucy had to work and would join me later.   My goal was to be on the road by 11:30.    Normally it' a 50-60 min trip in the coach as it's only around 40 miles of so.   I knew I had a couple of stops to make, ice, gas, and timer permitting Pleasure Tikis in Tequesta.   The owners are a great couple and we try to stop in when in the area.   Also, I was looking to see what new inventory they had gotten in stock.

Well, things went fairly well and I stopped in.    As per usual I was offered a cocktail, but instead, offered them one as I had batched up a weekend supply of my now infamous High Plains Drifter.    They joked that I was the first person to  ever bring them cocktails, so I have that going for me lol.

They liked it, and we chatted for a bit and then I headed out to the park (only 5-7 min away).   I checked in and got on the site around 2:45 so it took me exactly 2 hours to get there with all the stops, not too bad.    

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I got all set up and hung around thinking Lucy would be along any minute.    After another 90 min I locked up and pedaled toward the education center to see what was new there.   Of course, here she comes down the road.   I hand her the keys and continue to the center.   

 I''m there for about half an hour and decide to head back.   I get there and she isn't there.......So I pedal back to the center and sure enought there is Tommy on the porch lurking about.

I go in and ask about any Sunday Ranger activities but there are none.

We head back and Lucy's friend is in the area and stops by right as it was getting dark and I had just lit the fire to create a bed of coals to cook our steak dinner.

She hangs out and when the fire was ready from cooking, she took off and went home (about 20 min away) as her hubby was waiting for her.

Dinner was great and we burned a few more logs after dinner and turned in for the night....

Saturday Shenanagins

 Overnight the wind had died down considerably and Lucy was up and ready to paddle.   My hands and the cuts on them were not playing along, so off she went by herself to see if the manatees were around 

She scored, but this time she had her camera at the ready, so you can see Mom and Baby!   Cool stuff!

She returned all excited again, we made some sammies and then off  for a bike ride.   Naya and Nate had seen a surf shop on Thanksgiving and of course it was closed.   We pedalled up there and it looked closed but as we wheeled into the parking lot, the owner came out and said, yeah I'm open.

Turns out he was fresh of the red-eye from La as he had spent the holidy with his daughter out ther.  Super chill guy. https://sebastianinletsurfshop.com/  The board shop was half store, half museum.   Neat place, check John out if you are up that way, he is good people!

We then pedaled back to the beach by Whitey's Bait and Tackle and ate our Sammies at hte dune crossover then took a walk on the beach.   Lucy had seen a nature center up the road about a mile so we rode up there to check it out.

It is called the Doc Ehrhart Sanctuary  We hung out there, looking at the exhibits, watched a couple short documentaries in the theater.  One had people we know in it.  I challenged Luct to the Sea Turtle Survial game (similar to Candyland).  She won by one spin.  

The shadows were getting long and it was about 3 miles back to the site, so off we went.

This guy was on the way, so I stopped for a couple of pics for reference as I like some of the elements on it.

Got the fire started as the sun was going down.  Started to pack up certain items like the bikes and the SUP, while Lucy started prepping dinner.

Mmmmmm, translucent chicken.   The square grille holder helps a lot on a wood fire as there are hot and cool spots so constant rotation is necessary.   

Had a lovely dinner.and all the pedaling wore us out and the rain came, so in the coach we went for the night...

Sunday AM, we slept in a bit, and started packing out.   We were off the site at 10:45 and line for the dump station was 7-8 deep, so I said the heck with that and drove out.

Drive home was thankfully uneventful and we are home before 2.   Pulled nose inthe dumped the tank, then rotated into docking position and finished unloading.

Bust week ahead with us going up to JAX on Friday.....

Black Friday

 Woke up Friday morning to howling wind rocking the coach a bit.   Ventured outside and didn't stay out there too long and went back in to nap some more.   WInd was hard NW at 15-20 with higher gusts and high 50s temps.   Yeah nap time!.   As a rinse and repeat from 2 years ago, my buddy Ian was driving over from Central FL for a day of kayaking, etc.

The kids got up earlier as they were heading out to Tampa to meet friends and go to Busch Gardens.  I mapped it and was surprised it was 3 hours from the where we were to park no matter which way you sliced it (3 routes all the same amount of time).  In retrospect I should have told them about Spook Hill as they took Hwy 60.

Anyway the kids took off around 10:30 and Ian materialized around 11.   We headed out, Lucy decided not to go as standing on the SUP with the heavy duty headwind would be tough and neither of us felt comfortable enough with it to take it on.

We paddled the big loop again and saw some but less trout, no manatees, but several pods of dolphins.  As we came up to that little island in the middle with wind waves were wrapping around it like a little point break and I caought a nice little one to the beach.  We hung out there for awhile looking aound the island and watching the dolphins frolic nearby.  They gave us a cursory cruise by when they first saw us.   We headed back and got back to the site around 1.   Beer and pretzels while the gear dried a bit, then we piled into Ian's truck and drove down to the inlet.

For whatever reason I didn't take any pics, but the surf was a mess and at least head high.   The jetty was very wet and we walked out to the end.   the Jack Cravelles were biting and there was a lot of action on the rods.  In the 15-20 we were out there we saw 3 get landed and they were all over 2 ft long.

We poked around a bit and then decided to head up to get some food at https://www.newenglandeatery.com/

It being cool and blustery, I had the Chowdah, Lucy and Ian had Fish and Chips.   We were there in that weird 4PM time and it was pretty empty except for all the senior citizens lol.    By the time we left it filled up quite a bit.   Last time I went there was about 20 years ago with my surf buddy Ernie and his future wife Sylvia.  Luckily this time I didn't have a 2.5 hour ride home.

We headed back to the campsite right at sunset and lit a fire.   Ian hung our until about 7 or 8Pm and headed out as it was almost 2 hrs back to his crib.

We checked out shortly there after as the combo of spirited paddling against the wind, a few drinks and not so great sleep caught up to me.

Came back from the shower and the full disco effect was going on under the full moon.