Pre Holiday Day 3 wrap up. With Excitement!

 Sunday AM was a near repeat of Saturday, with us sleeping in.  I was up around 7 to the sound of drip drip of water falling on the top of the coach from the trees.  I got up and used the bathroom and when I opened the door under the sink to get toilet paper realized that everything was wet.   I used my flashlight and saw water fast dripping everywhere.   UGH!   Ran outside and turned off the water.   The extra roll of TP was dripping and about 5 pounds.  I cleaned out the cabinet and dried it off as much as possible but the shelf is pressboard and I think its done.

The floor is dirty with pressboard flakes in case you are wondering.  Notice the bottom of the Pledge can is rusty.   I think it started on the last trip as a can wouldn't rust that fast in 2 days.   Not sure where the leak is, but will mess with it this weekend while camping.  I suspect it is the faucet as it's from 1976 and has been hard to turn on or off lately.   May be time for a bathroom renovation, I already need a new toilet.

Well I figured I'd deal with it when I got home and set off to make coffee.   Ernie got up around 8:30 and we made the same breakfast.  

There was a hawk in the tree just next to us.   I think it's a Red Shouldered Hawk.  He hung out for a good long time and had great color.   After breakfast we headed back over and walked the Kitching Creek Trail, which is 1.1 mile loop through the pine land area.

To the bottom right you can see the concession area parking lot.  We basically followed this trail to a lookout over the creek.  You can see where we paddled too, and that there was a good bit more of creek that we missed.  Just have to go back!!

I had noticed a similar structure on the main park road.  As you can see it's pretty new as the concrete is still light.  I realized that these have been put in to keep the freshwater in the park to preserve the natural ecosystem and prevent the saltwater intrusion.  It was about  two feet high.

The pine flatland area west of the coastal dunes in the park.  Lots of Southern Pine and when near the water bald cypress.

We saw these tracks and decided they probably were a coyote (have seen them in the park not far from here).  A couple minutes later a couple came by with there dog and we realized we'd been had ha ha.

Looking up the creek from the lookout deck.

Looking down stream, you can see the tide is out.

This little guy, wasn't so little at about 5 inches long.  The Eastern Lubber, I used to see these ALL the time as a kid even in eastern Ft. Lauderdale.   Habitat destruction has pushed them far away now.  I hadn't seen one in at least 5 years.    Reading the linked article, I realize it was pretty late in the season for this one to still be out and about.   It wasn't the biggest one I've seen but it was an adult.

So back to camp and break it down, I wished my buddy goodbyes and we parted ways near the entrance as I had to dump my tank.  I got on the road and drove down Alt A1A.  They were setting up for a Christmas parade and I got alot of waves.

Easy drive all the way down to Lake Worth and then BANG!! Really load and the coach was listing badly.  I knew right away the airbag went.  I had just gotten it installed about 6 months ago.

I had heard that when this happens on the factory set up, the wheels hit body and you you are stuck on the side of the road.  As I changed lanes as I was coasting down I heard no rubbing so was happy about that.   I drove to the next exit and pulled off on a side street as soon as possible.

The first thing I noticed was that my fender skirt was gone.  I didn't even attempt to go look for it as I was in the middle lane and I doubt it blew all the way over to the inside shoulder.  Even then stopping on I95 for a hunk of fiberglass isn't worth the risk.  

I immediately called my friend Dave who lives about a mile from where I was and good news, he's home.  I'm there in 5 minutes and he is late and has to go.   We get it in the side yard, it's about as tight as my side yard but then opens up.

You can see here the new bag system keeps the frame off the ground a couple inches and the wheel off the body.   I was happy all I lost was an airbag and the fender skirt.

Damage to the bag when I jacked it up.  What I noticed when I stopped was the compressor was running still and had been the whole 30 minutes I had been driving.  There is supposed to be a safety cutoff but I need to find out why it didn't work.

I got a new bag and it was almost exactly a week (I had to work everyday) before I got back over there.  It took me about 2 hours but would go quicker next time (hope there isn't one!).

So more projects!   Troubleshoot the air ride and fix the plumbing.....     Merry Christmas!!

Pre Holiday Day 2

 So Day 2 we were up early as the girls had to leave by 8:15 for the Circus gig in Palm Beach Gardens.

Naya and one of the other students were hired as stilt walkers for the event.

I think it was called Santa's Circus or something like that.  Looks fun.

Tommy working it for his Instagram page....

So that left Ernie and I to our own devices all day.  We got a lazy start and made some eggs and stuff for breakfast.  We then rolled over to the boat rental/concession stand and they said, nope can't launch off our dock, so down the riverbank a hundred yards and put it in there.   I pumped up the SUP which is 15' long and set it up for kayaking..

Upon launching, Ernie ( a Florida native) noticed how many red mangroves were growing along the river.   As population has increased and need for fresh water goes up, the  water table drops and saltwater goes further inland.  It is a problem plaguing all of South Florida on both coasts.   Here is an article from last year talking about the Loxahatchee River.    As we paddled up the river we noticed the old cypress trees that were either dead or barely hanging on.  Apologies as I didn't bring a camera (big mistake).  

So after about a 15-20 min paddle we got to the entrance of Kitching Creek and headed up it.  It is a natural freshwater shed off of the park.   Withing 100 yards, the banks changed.   On one side was the now pervasive red mangrove and the other bank was pine woodland.  Ernie was amazed at the dichotomy of the river banks. 

We paddled up for a few minutes and rounded a curve and there was Wally Gator.  

(this is the part where I REALLY wished I had a camera).  Wally was about 9-10 ft long and sunning himself on the bank.   He must of left his cufflinks and cigar at home as he was naked. We were only a few feet away as we rounded the bend.  We both immediately shut up and slowly drifted by.  He watched but wasn't too threatened.  Our gaze soon shifted to a fallen cypress tree across the creek.  On the felled tree, was a baby gator about 3 feet long and 3 turtles all sunning.  It was a fantastic photo op, with glass smooth water and the reflection of the tree and animals in the water was stunning.  Back near Wally, the creek forked and we thought that the other fork was the way, so we slowly turned around and headed for it.

Wally took notice as we were slowly moving directly toward him.  He raised his head and was ready for action. We slowly slid by about a dozen feet away and he didn't give us any ground and was on full alert.  We headed by and went upstream........too many low hanging branches.  Luckily the tide was out but after a couple of trees, we turned around and headed back.

As you can see from the map, the creek went quite a bit further had we gone around the felled tree.  The animals were enjoying the sun so much we didn't want to disturb them and headed back out to the river.  We realized the next day that we should have kept going.

We headed back to the river and continued upstream for 4 or 5 more corners, then realized we had a headwind and headed back to the launch point.

We were out for about 2.5 hours and were getting ready for lunch.  Beached it and broke down the rig and carried it out back to the car.  

A bonus was a big Gopher Tortoise, powering through the grassy area by the bathroom. Back at camp, we ate lunch and showered. We then headed to the store for more firewood (we ripped through several bags the night before).

On the way in we had both seen a sign on Federal Highway for a ''tiki bar".  We stopped by on the way back.  It was not a real tiki bar, but a Chickee hut with beers and people partying.   We walked out on the docks and this boat kind of sums up the kind of place it was.  A garage for your runabout...  Everyone was nice and we had drink and then headed back with our now ample supply of wood.

Dinner was NY Strip steaks over the open fire and potatoes baked in the flame, followed by.....more rum and Girl Scout cookies...

Good Times!!!!!!!!

Pre Holiday Adventures

 You may have noticed that the last couple of years, we have gone camping in November and December.   We enjoy it as it gets out away from all the running around that goes with the holidays.

This year, the schedule was way tighter as everyone was busy and frankly campsite availability is fleeting on weekend nights (Fri & Sat) as it seems camping has gotten quite popular during the pandemic.

About 2 or 3 weeks ago I checked for openings and found a Friday and Saturday night at Johnathan Dickenson SP close by in Jupiter, FL.    I checked my work schedule to make sure I didn't have to work, and booked it.   Later we realized that Lucy had a gig so she wouldn't be able to go and Naya had things going on as well.  As it turned out the gig was pretty close to the park, so they came up Friday night.

I took the day off Friday and loaded up and was at the park by about 2PM.   I ate my lunch and my buddy Ernie showed up about an hour later.   We headed up to Hobe Mountain for sunset.  We timed it well as the clouds to the west made it disappear a few minutes early, so by the time we got to the top of the observation tower, everyone else had left already.      Above is the view looking west.  The sky had great color although this shot doesn't do it justice.

We drove back to the campsite and started a fire to build out a bed of coals.   Called Lucy for an ETA so we could plan when the food would be done, and made cocktails.

I just got a new phone, so was playing with the camera trying to be artsy fartsy and stuff...    The girls showed up and we ate and then sat around the fire generally just BSing until bedtime.  Not real exciting, except for the humidity.  When we were up on the mountain you could see it settling into the tree tops.  We had a plastic table cloth on the picnic table and it had puddles on it by the time we ate!

Ernie was in his tent and said it rained on him from the ceiling of the tent all night.   It was sooooooo thick, we hit the dewpoint before it was fully dark.

Bahia Honda Day 3 & Epilogue

 I didn't set any alarms, but Lucy did.  The day before she left her GoPro in the gift shop, so she was right over there when they opened at 8AM.   As they were some of the last customers the day before, they found it and she had to go retrieve it from the Ranger Station up front.

I got moving and took out the wet fly for the pop up and put it back up to dry out.   She rolled back a few minutes later, and we got all our gear for the SUP together.  Naya was still in teenager sleepy land, so off we went before breakfast.

We had to be off the site by 1, but I wanted to be well into the drive home by then, as the traffic on a Sunday leaving the keys is hectic at best.

We hit the water by 8:45 and off we went.  It was still and SUPER glassy.  Lucy had reported as much from her morning bike ride.  It was the first time Lucy and I tried to stand up paddle in tandem so glassy was a good thing.   Neither of us fell of, but.....

When we pushed off the dock Lucy dug in with her paddle and I wasn't prepped for it.  The sudden movement under my feet, almost took me off the back but I quickly adjusted.  From then on, she set the pace and I was matching her strokes so we were both pulling at the same time.

This made me really have to adjust to meet the length and power of her strokes.  We headed straight out in between to the two bridges as I saw a ball out there.   We got to it and realized the current was running into the bay like the day before.  We did a lap around the buoy and it said NO MOORING, on it.  We then headed to the new bridge as pictured below.

We farted around under the bridge in the shade and it was weird as there would be just a single car going over the bridge about every 30 seconds or so (early Sunday morning), and it would get REALLY quiet in-between.

You can see on some of the pilings that they have been reinforced. The new bridge was the first of the replacement bridges built.  It was built in 1972, so it is showing her age.  You could see some spalling going on, but nothing major.  I'm sure they check it all the time.

We watched a guy fish and just floated around a little.  We weren't real motivated and we knew we had to head in, cook breakfast and break camp.   The RR bridge is still pretty impressive to me as it is over 100 years old.

We got back to the campsite (carried it all in one trip this time!) about 9:45 and started breakfast.   Good thing I put the fly back up as it was nice and dry when we got back.

Rainy Pancake day!

30 minutes later we were eating pancakes in the rain.  Nothing is as delicious as a steaming hot pancake with rainwater dripping right onto it!

It rained for about 10-15 minutes and moved out again.  We packed everything up and were on the road by 11 something.

Traffic was good and when we got to Tavenier, I had Lucy check traffic and it said to take Card Sound Road as there was a 45 minute backup on the 18 mile stretch.   Some jerk probably had a bike fall of the back of his RV or something,  ha ha ha,    

We headed up Card Sound and it was clear sailing.  I remembered the big bump this time and slowed down so that was good!.   

We hit the turnpike and traffic was busy and people were driving like morons, but we made it home just fine around 3:30 PM.   

Bahia Honda Day 2 Kayaking

 After meeting Andy on the dock, I went back and we finished hauling all our gear over to the dock.  I manned the single kayak and girls headed out on the tandem paddle board.  Naya sat in the front and Lucy stood up.  We headed over toward the bridge and the current was running that way so it was pretty easy.

Lucy leaving the campground marina.

We made our way around to the bayside and headed to the east. over toward the cabins and bayside tent area.

Didn't take Naya too long to resort to looking at all the critters below.   You can see one of the cabins in the upper right of this photo.  The bridges are behind the camera at this point.

Right after this photo was snapped I paddled about 100 yards further to the left and saw a Loggerhead Turtle swimming.  It was going up and down every minute or so, I think it was foraging on things growing on the bottom but not sure.   I kept getting closer (got within about 50 ft of it), then pretty sure it saw me and took off as I never saw it surface again.   It's shell was about 2ft across.

We rounded the point in the above picture and got on the lee side of the island and the drift was alot slower.  Naya saw a tasty lobster and two sharks.  Both were baby nurse sharks

If you zoom in, you can see one of the sharks hiding inside the rock.   Nurse sharks are the only sharks that really camp out on the bottom.  Also pictured is a Blueheaded  Wrasse (upper right), a Foureye Butterflyfish (center), and a High Hat (lower center).    For one little rock, I was blown away at the number of fishes on it. I saw over 10 species and the rock was maybe 3 ft wide.

A different Nurse Shark a few minutes later. It was about 2.5- 3 feet long.

Another shot of the rock, the baby shark is still back there.  In the foreground is a Queen Angel, the High Hat, and a juvenile  Pork Fish.

Floating around the bayside mangroves.

I tried trolling for sharks on the way back.  Pulling her was easy until I rounded that point and had a headwind. 

Back between the bridges heading to the campground marina.  You can see some of the sites on the left and of course the old railroad bridge to the right.

Here I am, paddling toward lunch time.  We were out all morning.

Before lunch though, I wanted a turn at the SUP as I hadn't tried it since we got it a few weeks ago.  I just went around the little marina area while Lucy took some stuff back and got my flip flops (the dock was scorching hot plastic).

We dragged all the gear back to the campsite, then had lunch followed by a trip to the gift shop.   I got to walk as you recall the one bike was damaged.  We got ice cream!  I also went over to the nature center but it was closed.

This sand sculpture was made with sand from the beach right there.  It had amazing detail and was about my height.  I should have taken snaps of each of the four sides... The fish were life sized.

I went back to the coach and chilled out as it was fairly hot and I had been in the sun for about 3 hours already.   Around 5 or so I walked out as I noticed the sun went away and saw a big squall headed our way.   Lucy helped me secure the pop up tent by tying it off to various things like the GMC, a tree and the BBQ grille.  Also stowed the kayak and SUP so they wouldn't blow around.  I've been in the keys when these squalls roll in.  I wasn't disappointed.

Right before I started the video a big gust blew through and flipped our neighbors tent and lifted ours at least 6 inches up in the air.  Good thing we tied it off.   We spent the next 10-12 minutes each holding a side down.   You can see how much water is coming off the top of it.  It was raining pretty hard!  We also saw pool noodles and things go blowing by.

After it let up, we took a stroll around the campground to survey the damage.   There were a couple of awnings damaged and I did see one pop up frame mangled in the dumpster the next morning.  Beach towels and bathing suits were in puddles or hanging from branches lol.

Naya didn't feel like it, so the two of us pedaled over to the bridge to watch the storm move off to the SE and the impending sunset, which turned out pretty nice.   Thought this was a cool shot.  I probably should have gotten off the bike and got the trailer out of the shot but oh well, I didn't even stop riding.

This is the view looking south, the rain is off to the left (You can see the edge of it on the horizon).  Pics of course don't do it justice, but it was a nice one with a lot of color.  This is shot from under the bridge on the ocean side.  There were a bunch of people up there and there was lightning around, so I stayed down low.

The rest of the evening was relaxing, we headed back and made dinner and played a few games.  More rain was coming so I pulled the fly off of the pop up tent and stowed it.  Sure enough it rained a couple times.   I came out around 10 or a 11 and it was super clear.

We all walked over to the bridge and went up looking at the Milky Way and the stars.  There was a waning meteor shower and Naya saw two.   We watched the lightning far off give us a light show, and then the sky disappear with the next storm rolling in.  We hustled back to the campsite and called it a night....

.

Bahia Honda Day 2 pre-game.

 Saturday morning woke up around 7 something.  Got puttering along, made coffee, and got breakfast of bacon and pancakes started.  I cooked the bacon most of the way then handed it off to Lucy, and started pumping up the USS Nimitz.   What is that you may ask.  A 15 foot long dual SUP paddle board.  I also had thrown a 10 ft sit on top Kayak into the coach.  You can see both in this pic:

You can see the paddleboard dwarfs the kayak.  It took about 20 minutes to pump up the SUP and I was sweating by the time we got done.  We woke the child up and stuffed her full of bacon and pancakes and then started to haul our gear down to the boat dock.   It was an easy couple minute walk and I carried the kayak myself.  Decided on the way back, someone was helping as the last 50 yards was a little tough (the SUP weighs less but too big for one to carry).

In the process I  pass a guy with a shirt on sporting the Logo below.
What is important about this logo is that Robert suffered and untimely death in 2005.  He had become my surfboard shaper (I sought him out) only a couple of years earlier.  He made me an magic board that only a surfer would understand.  I had one of his shapes, broke it, took the pieces to him and discussed what I liked and didn't like about it, and he built me EXACTLY what I wanted.

Me on my first RS (the one I snapped at Reef Road, but that's it's own story) at Pompano Pier, early morning.

Anyway, you can imagine my surprise when I saw this logo walking by me on a dock in the keys in 2021.  It was just the RS logo, without the words and as the guy passed, I blurted out Robert's full name.  Of course the dude stopped in his tracks and we started to chat.

He introduces himself as Andy, and I use my nickname Sprocket.  He's says, "Hey I know you, you have a couple of Roadmaster Station Wagons!"   Um, okay, we obviously know each other!   Turns out back in the day (probably 10+ years), I sold him a rare 1970s Pat Mulhern (Florida old time pro surfer) model board that was probably shaped by RS.   His family is in the boat with the motor running and neither of us have a phone or pen to jot down contact info.  I tell him which campsite I'm on (the one with the Yellow GMC) and he says he'll swing by later and we can catch up (spoiler, it rained REALLY hard and he never popped in).

Crazy cosmic convergence.   I tell a good friend of Robert's about it after the weekend and he knows the guy too!  Hoping to reconnect at some point...the surf universe is small and everyone knows everyone one way or another...

So today is going to be a great day!  We schlep all the gear over to the dock and off we go.....

Bahia Honda Redux

 In case I have not mentioned it before, Bahia Honda State Park in the keys, is my number 1 State Park I like to go to.  It has it all, history, tropical landscapes, a decent swimming beach (two, and they are hard to find in the keys), and a commanding view of the area from the top of the bridge.

Saturday Sunset, post thunderstorm, placed for the header view...

Back in August or September, my old boss Detlef, posted that he had scored 4 or 5 nights in Bahia Honda in September.   I was jealous as I love this park.  So I thought, 'hmm, I haven't looked in awhile' and went on the reservation site.  Imagine my surprise to find a Friday and Saturday night open!  I almost immediately pressed the reserve button, but quickly checked that I did not have to work that weekend.  I didn't!   I booked it, then told Lucy I did.   At first she said cool, then found out she had a business conflict, however, in the end that worked out and she was able to go.  

As I took Friday off, I wanted to get an early start.  Too early and we would hit Miami rush hour, so I planned on leaving around 9:30-10.   We got out before 11, as we had zero packing done the night before.  The only thing I had done, was I had gassed up the GMC.   Here I am waiting on Naya and Lucy to move the car and lock up the house.  All systems are go!

The drive was magical, as there was light traffic the whole way down except for the construction in Ft. Lauderdale.  Once on the turnpike is was open roads and clear sailing.   The 18 mile stretch was a dream......until the last 3 or so miles.   As the coach has no AC while driving, you can hear outside pretty well as all the windows are open. All of sudden about a mile or so north of Jewfish Creek there was a new but disturbing noise.   

I heard it and asked Lucy, then Naya.  It wasn't constant so it wasn't a driveline issue, but it was loud and noisy.  Naya said it sounded like something hanging down and rubbing....She was right!

For those that have driven the stretch, there isn't anywhere to pull over.   No one was behind us as I passed a slow truck a few miles back and he was a dot in the rearview.  I pulled over at the top of Key Largo at the Visitor Center.   I got out and found that the tabs on the bike rack holding the bikes on had snapped off and Lucy's old beat up college bike and been dragged for the last 2 miles or so....

The rim was done as well as the tire and tube.  DOH!  I came up with a solution and we were back underway in a few minutes.....

Lucy somehow got this shot while driving over the 7 mile bridge. Both vehicles are going over 55 MPH.  If you zoom in, I think the driver of the other RV is checking us out, lol.  

Tommy and Hugo were the first out of the coach when we arrived.   They were ready to kick back and relax (Stuffy life is hard apparently).

After getting the site all set up, we went for a swim at the beach to the right of me in this pic, then took a shower and headed up to the bridge for the sunset.   This is probably my favorite view in the keys that is car accessible.

Well Mother Nature, had other plans for the sunset with storms off to the west.  The nice part was we had the bridge all to ourselves for the 45 minutes we hung out up there.  It's a shame you can't get out over the water anymore, but the bridge is over 100 years old and going back to nature.

We headed back to the coach and cooked up some dinner and tiki drinks.  We chilled out and played a few board games in the coach as it very cloudy, so not much star gazing.