Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Back in Fort Myers and Everglades National Park

On Saturday the 13th we  left Disney and drove back to Fort Myers where we plan to stay until the middle of March. Along the way we drove past miles and miles of orange groves like this one.

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Today is Valentine’s Day and the park had a Valentine supper and dance at the club house

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The dinner was excellent as was the entertainment. Brian Roman is a Canadian who at the age of 42 gave up a career in insurance and became a professional entertainer in 2005. Up to that point he had only sang at weddings and similar events. Brian’s program  consisted of songs from Sinatra, Martin, Elvis, Humperdinck, Diamond and similar singers. Brian put on a very good show.

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On Veterans Day, Paul, who has a boat down here, took Dale, Bob and I out fishing in the San Carlos Bay area by Sanibel Island.

Here we are launching Paul’s 18 foot boat.

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We caught over 20 Spotted Sea Trout (Speckled Trout) of which we kept 9. Dale caught the largest one that measured 21 ¼ inches and weighed 2 ½ lbs. Each person can keep four fish of which only one can be over 20 inches.IMGP2629

 

Here is Paul with a 19 incher.

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We saw one Porpoise that came up to our boat while we were fishing.

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On the way back to the launch site we saw quite a few more Dolphins that were sounding.

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On Sunday the 21st we drove to Flamingo, FL which is at the south end of the Everglades National Park. It’s a 4 to 4 ½ hour drive, so it was a full day for us.

On the way down we had to go though the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. They have these high fences (you can see them in the lower left corner of the picture) line parts of the highway with areas that go under the highway for the Panthers to cross safely. Even though there are many “panther crossing” signs, we didn’t see any panthers. They probably are at night more.

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The entrance sign to the Park was so small we almost missed it.

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We stopped at the visitors center to get a lay of the park and pick up some information. The only thing about being over 62 is that I have a Golden Age Pass, so that gets us into the National Parks for free.

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On the way in we had to go thru the Rock Reef Pass. I can hear all of our friends from the west laughing about the elevation of this pass. After going through the pass we pressed on to the summit.

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Our first stop was at the Royal Palm area where we went on the Anhinga Trail. Here is an Anhinga looking at the water for its next meal. They are a diving bird that swims after its prey.

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Then when done they sit and spread their wings to dry out.

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Here is a Wood Stork foraging for food. Every now and then it would spread it wings. I wonder if that was to frighten the insects it was looking for so they would move and it could find them. Interesting to watch it feed.

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It’s amazing how close predator and prey get to each other.

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This bird reminded me of a Great Blue Heron, but it was half the size.

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And, of course, there were plenty of Alligators to be seen. Supposedly there are a few American Crocodiles in the area, but we did not see any.

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Here is one of the interesting plants called an Airplant.

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We went to look at the campground in Flamingo and came across this Osprey with a fresh catch.

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In the campgrounds we came across a couple of interesting rigs.

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Here is Sandy at the Flamingo Visitor Center with the ocean in the background showing some of the many small key island.

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On the way out we stopped at the Mahogany Hammock site. This shows some of what grows on the high spots in the Everglades.

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This is a raised trail that goes though the Mahogany Hammock area.

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One of the Mahogany trees. There were also a lot of Mahogany trees that were blown over from the hurricane that hit Homestead. The Mahogany canopies are so large and the roots so shallow, that they are easily blown over in the hurricanes. New plants thrive in the undergrowth exposed to sunlight.

IMG_1405The Mahogany trees that fall down become “nurse trees” for the new plant growth. We saw the same type of situation in the rain forest of the Pacific Northwest a few years ago.

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I can’t remember the last time I saw a Rexall Drug store. This one is in downtown Homestead.IMG_1414

 

Until next time,

Dave and Sandy

Friday, February 12, 2010

Disney continued

On Sunday we spent our time at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It was formally called Disney's MGM Studios


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One of the rides we look forward to here is the Tower of Terror. We make sure we wait at least one or two hours after eating before we ride this one.

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And, of course, we had to see Beauty and The Beast. 

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This water tower is the same as the original water tower at Disneyland in California.

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This one has been formed out of living plants.

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On Monday we went back to Epcot because on our first day here we toured the Future World section and only visited Canada in the World Showcase section. They have updated the Canada program with Martian Short as the host. After riding on Soarin’ we went to the Test Track and then back to Soarin’. Did I mention we really like Soarin’? From there we went to the World showcase and visited all the countries. Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, The American Adventure, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom and again Canada. China, France and Canada all have beautiful 360 degree films to watch. Mexico and Norway have boat rides while The American Experience has a wonderful theater performance with a film and robotic characters that look so life like.

 
We had our picture taken in Norway and we have to ask Johannes and Stacy, have you seen many trolls when you visit Norway? Keep in mind the troll is the one without the horns.
 
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A picture taken in the World Showcase
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One of our most favorite attractions in the World Showcase are The Voices of Liberty – a group of singers who sing a Cappella at The American Adventure. If you have never been there, as you enter be on the right side and be sure to be under the dome, the sound is tremendous.

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Tuesday we went to The Magic Kingdom.

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Here we are looking down Main Street towards the Castle.
 
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By 11:30 it started to rain and continued the rest of the day. We cut the day short after doing only indoor activities. Needless to say, it wasn’t a very pleasant day for anyone, especially families with children.

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It was a cold but dry day on Wednesday when we went to Animal Kingdom.
 
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This is the Tree of Life that houses “It’s Tough to be a Bug.”

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Even the power line outside the park got into the Disney Theme.
 
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On Thursday we went back to Epcot, have I mentioned that we like Soarin’? and went on a few rides.


This time we were able to see the “Spirit of America Fife & Drum Corps” where they performed in front of The American Adventure building.

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Today, Friday is our last day here and so we are just spending the day relaxing and updating the Blog. Not that it has been raining all day and have accumulated .7 inches so far, has anything to our staying inside. We were ready for a quiet day after spending five day on the go. The crowds have increased since we were here in February 2007 so we spent more time in lines than on our last two visits here.


Until next time,


Sandy and Dave