After Cypress Creek Preserve we went back to Peace River for one week then we spent one week at Green Swamp Preserve where we got to see Mary-Lou and Leon whom we had met last year (remember Leon taking a bath in the horse trough?). It was nice seeing them again. This year I managed to avoid getting bitten by whatever bug gave me hives all over last year or I have now developed antibodies to fight this invasion.
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| Here we are around the campfire. |
We then went back for a two-week stay at Orlando. We really like this campground and this time, our site was home to a lovely pair of cardinals who visited every day. We did get to the pool once. The weather has been on the cooler side sometimes needing to use the furnace in the morning to warm up the trailer.
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| Our tropical site. We had a jungle behind us. |
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| New growth everywhere! This is a Prickly Pear Cactus. |
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| Beautiful female Cardinal posing for her picture. |
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| The beautiful male Cardinal |
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| Gopher turtle happily munching just across the road from our site |
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| Our watch dogs. |
We are now at Flying Eagle Preserve in Inverness. What a wildlife paradise! We see armadillos every day to the excitement of the dogs. We hear so many different bird songs that we can't identify. How I wish we had an ornithologist with us to teach us how to make sense of all these beautiful songs! We are near a river or canal with surrounding marshes, a perfect habitat for so many creatures! We hear the grunting of alligators from our trailer. Glen saw a young alligator right by the bridge where airboats have to go up and down a ramp to cross. It's so cool but very loud as they rev and rev the motor to make it up the ramp. When the airboat hits the water it sends a large spray of water that will refresh you if you're on the bridge.
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| The road to Flying Eagle Preserve. Only room for one car. |
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| Getting down to the other side. |
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| The ramps to get the airboats across the bridge. |
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| A Red-Bellied Woodpecker hanging around the bridge. |
Late in the afternoon we always see numerous Kingfishers but never can get a picture. I will keep going back hoping to get one. The cypress trees surrounding the area are large and healthy.
Michelle found a cute little turtle shell on the road where she walks her dog every morning. She gave it to Glen since he's such a turtle lover.
Just this morning, Glen saw 4 deers walking in the river. It is truly a nice place. We were able to park our trailers face to face again which gives us shade all day long and we seem to often get a breeze between the trailers which is nice since we can't use A/C when not plugged to electricity and the temperatures have turned hot. Luckily it always cools down in the evening for comfortable sleeping. Last night there was a whip-poor-will that wouldn't stop calling and was very near the trailers. Nice to hear one of them as they are now pretty rare. The nights also brings us all the twinkling lights of the fireflies. There are so many and they are so bright! It's truly beautiful.
On one very hot day, Glen and I decided to load up the dogs in the truck and go explore the park in the air-conditioned comfort of our vehicle. There is a road that weaves all around the park which we are not supposed to drive on but since we are pretty much alone here we decided to go for it. It was a nice drive where water seemed to appear here and there, sometimes on both sides of the road, so it was no wonder that we encountered a soft-shelled turtle by the side of the road. We had seen them previously on a Florida vacation some years ago but only in water. To see one on land and be able to take pictures was a privilege. They have the strangest nose that looks like a tiny tin can. I was very tempted to touch it as I was curious to find out how the soft shell feels. It looks like it could be like thick leather. We noticed many blue martin birdhouses and saw one fly out of one. It was a welcome respite from the heat for both dogs and humans and quite an enjoyable time.
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| Look at that face! |
We haven't been able to let the dogs loose at all because of the ever presence of the armadillos. I don't think those animals ever sleep!
Since going vegan, Glen has been able to totally get off the insulin, has stopped taking his cholesterol pills and has been decreasing his blood pressure medication. Once he sees his doctor, I think he'll be off all meds in no time at all. This morning he announced that he is getting feeling back in his toes that had been numb for a while. Amazing how nutrition can heal instead of taking medication. I am feeling great but can't tell if my lungs are any better than before although I seem to have more resistance. I was on a downhill curve before having less and less energy and feeling tired after little exercise. Could this good food diet heal me?
Flowers are blooming everywhere. Huge magnolia trees are starting to bud and show a few flowers.
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| Magnolia flowers |
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| Wild irises |
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| An older birdhouse on the trail. |
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These flowers are on small wispy trees and are so beautiful. Don't know what they are.
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And we saw our first snake!
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| A gorgeous Red Corn snake. |
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| We had this little visitor on the inside of our bedroom window. Glen carefully brought him outside. |
We really loved Flying Eagle except that this is the only place where we encountered ticks. Both Glen and Michelle got them on their body and the dogs all got some. Our dogs, being on Nexxgard which is a flea and tick preventive medicine, did not need the ticks removed as they were dead and just hanging on the hair. So this med works!
We are now on our way to Flagger's Beach going north towards home. So next blog will be about the beach.
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I guess some of us don't have a big enough zoom and have to get right down!
Couldn't resist posting this picture of Michelle.
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