If you're happy and you know it...

Final day for Florida photography for this vacation. Lucky thing because I am running out of idea for songs to describe my days!
Headed south to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples. For the record my GPS liked to pronounce it Corks Crew which was amusing :-) Another warm day, but not as sunny, which was a good thing after I managed to get sunburned yesterday. Corkscrew is 'A 2.25-mile raised boardwalk takes visitors through four distinct environments: a pine upland, a wet prairie, a cypress forest, and a marsh.' (From their web page) It wasn't crowed which was nice after the crowds at Myaka River and on Sanibel. Walking the boardwalk it was easy to pause and let people pass to be able to walk quietly alone. Saw an alligator up close to the boardwalk. Also close views of anhingas and a little blue heron. Corkscrew photos.
Met friend, (Nancy, from Channel 2 Auction days) at a nearby casino for lunch and some play. It was fun to catch up after just keeping in touch via facebook. She lost playing slots before we ate lunch so she headed home when we finished eating. I kept playing and went up and down as usual. Walked away with a little more than when I started.
Drove north and spending the night in Tampa before heading home in the morning. Took some pictures of clouds and sunset as I was driving. Back to the cold and to reality.

Island Girl

I woke up to foggy morning, so I went back to sleep. An hour later I woke up to sunshine. Organized my things and drove crosstown to Blair’s place for the day's photo adventures. It was nice not to have to pack up everything for a change.

Blair and I headed across the causeway to Sanibel Island and the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. It's a 4 mile wildlife drive with many stops to get out and take photos, there are lots of people who ride their rental bikes around the drive - they looked hot! We were hot enough just getting in and out of the car. I saw mullet (fish) jumping out of water and decided I need to catch one in the air. Blair and I would laugh every time one jumped in a direction where I wasn't focued! I persevered and was successful. We were lucky to see roseate spoonbills - Blair set me up with his scope as my camera lens for some great photos, I was quickly spoiled by being able to get some wonderful shots of the birds that were across the water. I walked part of Indigo Trail, Blair sat in shade and enjoyed shade and breeze. Ding Darling Pix here. Our next stop was the Bailey Tract on another part of Sanibel, again I walked while Blair sat in the shade. This time I tried Blair’s close-up lens and looked for wildflowers. I saw 2 alligators, turtles, and found a variety of other things to photograph. I was hot and sunny, but the breeze reached most of the trail.
After that it was on to the beach ~ first Gulfside City Park, then Lighthouse Beach - walked barefoot in the sand and it felt like vacation. Blair spotted a dolphin in water as we walked down to beach. A few minutes later suddenly there was a huge wave at edge of shore, crazy splashing - it was dolphin chasing fish to shallow water - I managed to get some pix of the experience. It was such lucky timing -5 minutes earlier or later and we never would have known it happened. We joined the exodus of island, traffic on the few main roads seems to always be stop and go. We did a drive by of the house where Blair's parents lived on Sanibel and were able to stop and say hello to one of their former neighbors. Back in Ft Myers we had supper at Sonny’s and then back to Blair’s to get my car. It was a long and busy day - we were both ready to sit down and relax. A few more pix from my other camera.There was lots of time in sun = sunburn despite applying sunscreen several times. Oops.

Sunshine on my shoulders

Tuesday I traveled from Gainesville to Ft Myers a journey of about 300 miles. The weather again was sunny & warm.

As I was heading south on I-75 I noticed a sign for Manatee Viewing Center Being curious and having no particular schedule, I exited the highway to check it out. It was a lovely facility next to Tampa Electric, where their processes heat the water in the canal. Plenty of tourists there to try to see a manatee, plus a school group. There are volunteers there to answer questions and tell people who stop about the manatees. The Manatees appeared in 1986. There is a walkway next to the canal that has speakers with a narrated description of the native plants that are there. There was manatee with buoy attached to him near the end of the walkway. Found out he had recently been released after medical treatment and they wanted to keep track of him for a while. There was a little butterfly garden where I actually saw and photographed a butterfly. Great thing - it was all free! Click here to see the pix.

True destination for the day was Myakka River State Park in Sarasota. After paying the entrance fee ($4) there was a long, tranquil drive to the parking area where suddenly I was among crowds of tourists - tour guide said this was busiest day of the year so far. I really want to take the airboat tour - I got there at 1 pm, next available (last of the day) airboat tour wasn't until 3:35. I got the last available ticket and it was worth the wait. I wandered the area near the dock while I waited for my tour. I noticed a bird hovering in the air over the lake and was able to get pix of this osprey diving down and catching a fish - took me a while to figure out that it was an osprey. I got one of the seats in the bow in from of the captain so the view was perfect. We saw lots of birds and lots and lots of alligators. Also saw a small herd of deer. Highlight was an alligator swimming next to boat, I got pix and a video with my iPhone. I wished had more time to explore there - missed canopy walkway and birdwalk. Would definitely go back again. Click here for the pix.

I needed gas and was happy to see a gas station when I got back to I-75, the park is in the middle of nowhere. I got to Ft Myers about 6:30. I had supper with Blair. After supper we sat in the rocking chairs outside the entrance to the motel. We caught up a bit and planned our adventure for the next day.

Oh, there were green alligators...

Today was my day at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, better known as Okefenokee Swamp. The weather was sunny, windy, and warm. Without the wind it would have been hot.
I took a boat tour and saw lots and lots of alligators sunning themselves on the banks of the canal. There were 2 alligators sunning at the boat dock so I got pix of them before we left on the tour. Saw some turtles sunning too. I thought we would see more birds. We saw 2 great blue heron and a pair of sandhill cranes.
I walked the trail near the canal after the tour, couldn't go all the way because a large gator was lying right at the edge of the trail and another about 4 feet below him at the edge of the water. We had seen them earlier from the boat. I got some nice pix while keeping in mind that I was in his territory! I was glad I hadn't walked out the trail before he got there ~ then I would have been stuck on the other side until he decided to move. There was no way to get around him, I drove to another area of the refuge and strolled the boardwalk to the observation tower. It was worth the walk for the amazing view from the top of the tower - 48 stairs to the top.
Click here to see today's photos on my Picasa page.

Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning

First full day of vacation was lovely. Woke up early, motels can do that to you, so I was on the road around 8:30. Drove south from Latta, SC to Charleston. Here are some pix I took as I was getting ready to go.
Spent a few hours at Magnolia Plantation and wished I could have stayed longer to explore more there and the Audubon Swamp Garden right next to it. Took the Nature Train Tour and the driver was very informative. I had no idea this area produced the most rice in the world in the mid 1800's. After the Civil War this was one of the few plantations to survive and that was only possible because they discovered phosphate on the acreage. We saw lots of alligators out sunning and the driver would slow so we could take pix. There's a petting zoo that I enjoyed and of course wonderful gardens. How wonderful to see green grass and flowers. Here are my plantation pix.
It kept getting warmer as I drove south to Georgia. Stopped to buy gas for $2.99/gallon - bet I don't find that again.
My next planned stop was going to be a stroll down memory lane - The Cloister at Sea Island, Georgia where we vacationed in the 60's, 70's, and 80's with my grandparents and then with my parents. Alas there have been many changes there since our last visit. It is now a gated resort and only members and guests are allowed on the island. So that plan was thwarted. The stable where I loved to ride - we would ride across the marsh and then along the beach - is gone. There is a sign there - Old Stable Corner. I considered calling the hotel and asking if I could be put on 'the list' to be allowed in tomorrow, but decided not to even try. I guess some memories are best left in the mind.
Spending the night on St Simons Island, a few memories here too from our vacations. It's a lot more built up now, more chain stores. No wireless in my room and the ethernet connection slow. Seems to be a colony of feral cats in the parking lot here, an interesting feature. I went over to the beach hoping to get some sunset pix, but I was a little too late. Here are some pix anyway.
Over 300 miles today. On to Florida tomorrow.

Photo Fun Trip 2

Day One of Photo Fun Trip 2011
I am happily in the south where the sun is shining and the air is warm. No pictures to share of day 1 of this adventure because it was a travel day, but I will post a few comments.
An observation ~ Logan Express doesn't do enough advertising or post information about specials/changes on their web site. I happened to hear on TV that they were offering a vacation week special for parking and I called to confirm because there was nothing on their web page about it. It's true: $22 for up to 14 days of parking! Can't beat that. I've paid that much for an afternoon of parking in some cities. When I called to confirm the price for parking, and check on availability of spaces, I also found out that they were running Saturday buses every half hour instead of just hourly, again because of vacation week. I think there were just 8 of us on the bus - if you don't advertise, then you can't expect riders!
Something to ponder ~ should I he happy or depressed that the clerk at Logan Express offered me the Senior Discount? I declined - their age for seniors is 65!
Easy airport/flight experience. Short line to check my bag - first bag flies free. Windy at take-off and landing, but smooth in between. Always fun to discover what kind of car the rental will be ~ this time it's a Kia Sportage, so I feel safe on the highway and it shouldn't get lost in too many parking lots. Laverne, my GPS, got me to my first motel in Latta, SC without any wrong turns.
There were a few times on the drive east from Raleigh where I wished I knew the area. I kept seeing a wonderful sunset in my rearview mirror and wished I could stop somewhere to photograph it. I didn't think pulling over on the highway to snap a few photos would be a very smart idea after so many people told me to have a safe trip. Also considered getting off at the exit for Pedro's South of the Border to take pictures of the neon frenzy there... memories of drives south when the boys were young.
Logged about 1 miles... many more to go. Camera batteries are charged - looking forward to Day #2.

One year later

Here I go again!
Heading south tomorrow afternoon to take lots and lots of photos. This blog will be a journal for this 2011 adventure. Most of the photos will be up on Picasa, some will be here as time and space permits.
“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.” ~ Andre Gide