Juggling lemons: Hickory Hammock one more time!

We then continued our way home until I saw a donkey on top of another one! Well hell! What's going on here? It turned out to be a young one mounting his mother. The males will do that sometimes. They were very cute with their long ears. The cows and their babies are also quite nice to see in those huge fields with long grasses. They are much wilder than the ones we see on farms that normally come to the fence to see us. These run away if we get out of the car. In the evening we watched pre-recorded programs on the laptop while sipping wine to finish off a perfect day.

By the way, our solar panel is performing flawlessly giving us a fully charged battery by nightfall so we can actually use lights, especially since I changed them all to LED and use the water pump and water heater whenever we need to. No more evenings lit only by a lantern and using flashlights to use the bathroom. We even use the furnace if needed in the morning to get the chill out of the trailer as the temperatures can drop as much as 20 degrees at night which is a huge difference from the warmth of the daytime. Being here, away from the road and far from cities, the nights are very dark and the stars very bright but I have yet to see a sky full of stars like I have seen on the farm in Luskville many years ago.

We are seriously considering using only the free sites next winter. We would have to find a better data provider that can give us good internet for a reasonable price. Otherwise, our present Thousand Trails membership is the cheapest option.

Before leaving we got to see a tortoise - the first one we see at that location. But the highlight of our stay there was actually seeing an armadillo! I was talking with my brother on the phone when I kept hearing some rustling in the bush nearby. I kept glancing over but not seeing anything until I saw him. Right there, close to our trailer, digging with his snout in the ground, looking for bugs. Oh my God! I quickly ended the conversation with my brother and grabbed my camera. What a weird looking animal! It sports polka-dots on part of its body, then little triangles on its body and its tail is striped. It is covered in scales forming an armor. It looks like it can't move very well but they are actually quite fast and can jump little obstacles when fleeing.

Another extraordinary sighting was of a Caracara which we were fortunate to see while in the Kissimmee prairies but seeing one right there on top of a tree at Hickory Hammock sure was a treat!
Sitting out by our trailer listening to all the different bird sounds is so relaxing and humbling. Makes us realize how much is out there that we don't even know exists. And I got the special visit of a cardinal on a tree right close to us. He hanged around until I saw him and then stayed for a while. The only cardinal we have seen in Florida! If you know me you will know that when my cousin passed away, a cardinal landed on a bench by lake Ontario where we had stopped and hung around making sure we saw him. At that moment I told Glen that my cousin had passed away. I just knew it was a sign. Now, when I see a cardinal, I say hi to my cousin and take it as a special visit. On that particular day, I told her that I was very happy and enjoying this lifestyle very much but wished I could have shared this adventure with her. Sandra, you are always on my mind and in my heart.