We were on a quest to see all the gingerbread houses and as many trees as possible on our “off” parks days along with Rusty and Janet. This tree is in the Wilderness Lodge and was my runner up of the tour. There were large decorations with themes related to the WL like tepees and tools and symbols of Native Americans. It was also huge, maybe 60 feet tall. RH, JH and CJH are at the base of the tree while I take this shot from the fourth floor. A full view of the tree is the second photo.
Christmas 2019 Day One: Animal Kingdom /
We spent a few days in south and central Florida. This is the primary tree at Animal Kingdom, it featured large snowflakes, stars and a large number of animal themed ornaments. Like all Disney things it was impressive. Sorry I was unable to get the moon sharp - would have been a better shot.
Morning Mist on the Alcan /
“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.” Psalm 62:5 NLT
Degas /
An undiscovered canvas by Edger Degas, The Water Ballet Student in Blue, shared today for the first time. The classical education on this site continues and still no fees, Amazing.
Shakespeare Flower /
You got it, right?
Out To Dry /
The Carter Campaign Headquarters /
They chose this place because it was the only building downtown with a public bathroom.
Misty Morning White Pelican /
Everglades Sunset /
Just a photo today! /
No I don’t floss.
Repaired! /
Headed in the morning to park number 266 or so, Biscayne National Park. We did not really do this park justice as we missed the early boat out to an island and could not take the later one. So, we watched the movie, toured the museum, walked the 1/2 mile trail and enjoyed our view of the bay and its clear waters. Then heading to Boynton Beach where we were staying at another Harvest Host, Bedner Farms. On the way I took a stab at a repair shop for the thermostat on our trailer was not showing any numbers. I called one, no luck, tried a second, and he was able to see us. He was a mobile unit but located near where we were going so we stopped. He fixed an issue, interior fuse I did not know was there. It turned out that he was a Christian and prayed for people to show up who needed help and for those in ministry he would not charge. He even invited us to dinner with his family and friends. We were unable to because our Harvest Host locks the gate in the evening. I suggested coffee in the morning and he agreed. We showed up after 9 and ate with Chris, Kimberly and their friends Jared and Sarah and their 8 kids between the two families (and four dogs.) We had a great time with wonderful people. Also, since the repair did not hold, as Chris mentioned the day before, something may have caused it, he then investigated further and found a bad connection which he fixed. Now we have heat and air. If you are in south Florida and need assistance on an RV call Chris at TravelTech RV (www.traveltechrv.com). You will be blessed & your RV fixed!
The Engaged Cadillac
Finally we left the lizards or whatever. And the snakes and the heat. We drove past, again, the ice cream place something about not needing ice cream at 8:30 in the morning. Ridiculous. We wandered to some other water spot and then went to another fruit stand, this time no ice cream but lots of good things to eat. I was inspired by fresh corn. I am thinking crushed and squeezed, boiled down a bit to thicken add some fresh herbs and some hot peppers for a new ice cream base. Wow, I can hear your hunger rumbles from Florida.
Another day feeding the mosquitos /
Today was our last in the Everglades NP. So we rode out to a couple of trails near the entrance (we are 40 miles from there at our campsite) and they were excellent. Because of our late night we did not start early but that was ok. We arrived in time for a ranger talk with an energetic ranger that may have been a frustrated actor. Nice job! Then a walk down the Anhinga Trail where there were abundant gators, lots of neat birds, turtles and fish. On the way back we saw an Anhinga with a large fish speared on its beak and watched the show as he worked to get it off the beak and down the long throat. Amazing. Out of the park we went to the famous “Robert is Here” fruit stand full of exotic fruit and fruit milkshakes. My key lime / strawberry combo was the perfect choice. A few more stops back down the park road and we called it a day except for another round of the game Janet usually wins - predictably again tonight. Someday!!!
The Engaged Cadillac
We were minutes, inches, milliseconds from milk shake heaven and instead we sat for two days in 800 degree heat dodging large angry reptiles. I’ll never understand.
The good news is I have personally discovered a treasure of unusual fruits and the flavor palate is working overtime. Stay tuned.
Fly Day /
Off to the Florida Keys and Key West this morning. It is a three hour drive from our campsite! And we thought we were south. It was a nice, cool morning. As is just 50 when we left. The Keys were not just what I expected. Most were busier, bigger and lots of mundane businesses and tacky shops - could have guessed the tacky shops. We arrived in Key West and Janet found us a very good place to eat, outdoor dining on rough benches but excellent food. The only issue was chickens and roosters sitting at eye level and scrabbling at your feet and flying across your table at about 2 feet. Apparently people in Key West find having hoards of domestic foul wandering the streets and interrupting your dinner charming. I think this speaks volumes about the Key West “vibe.” I would need several of the adult beverages offered everywhere in quantity to begin to see roaming poultry as charming. Yuck. Rusty and I set off for the airport and our seaplane to the Dry Tortugas National Historic Site 70 miles off Key West while Cindy and Janet headed to some historic sites and to spend the afternoon negotiating the chickens.
The Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson were wonderful and the flight over the water at 500 feet exciting. The fort that used 16,000,000 bricks made in South Carolina was begun in 1826 and never completely finished but was nearly so. Three stories tall it occupies nearly the entire island save a few yards of land on two sides. It never saw hostile action yet it held, at one point, 1600 people. It was a pleasant day but most of the year it is brutal, hot and full of mosquitos. We had a nice flight back with gorgeous pastel skies. After reconnecting with Cindy and Janet we drove with one stop for dinner back to the campground about 11:30.
The Engaged Cadillac
What a contrast! A banner day! Yay! We went off to a place with real food, coffee shops and just stuff. It took a while but is was so worth it, no gators nor crocs either. We had ice cream! Finally. Lovely flavors, I picked up two or three that you will be reading about once I perfect them. Also mango lattes will soon be amongst the hottest new trend only outdone by my soon to be famous Key Lime & Pineapple latte (with a dollop of Dole whip topping). What a marvelous place. And, I got to fly another one of those floaty planes. Flighting is one of my most outstanding qualities.
Sadly we drove back to the hottest place on earth where we will spend yet another fruitless day. WHY?
/
I started the day very early walking around Eco Pond at sunrise and stayed for almost two hours. It is a bird paradise. I watched lots of herons and egrets but lots of less usual birds for me including: Little Blue Herons, White Pelicans, Rosette Spoonbills, Wood Storks, Avocets and Ibis - both glossy and white. The star of the morning was a Swallow Tail Kite. Super cool bird and somewhat rare even for here. I also got a photo of a bird neither I nor the rangers could ID, hope to get some help at some point on a name for that one. Later that morning all of us went to the Mahogany Hammock - a boardwalk through a mahogany forest of dense vegetation we saw no animals or birds there. Later after a respite at the ranger station we did a walk around the Marina and then a walk with Ranger Mike to see American Crocodiles - including one very large one sunning on the boat ramp.
The Engaged Cadillac
I’m really depressed. This place has no coffee, no ice cream and not even a restaurant of any kind. How can I learn in this food desert environment. And did I mention it is at least 700 degrees here? Oh, and the crocs are even less friendly than the gators and believe me that is saying a lot. I can’t talk to Ms. McKinley and … I’m going back to bed.
Mahogany tree with pods
Flamingo /
Today we traveled to Flamingo. First across 41 where we did a couple of stops, one at Shark Valley, the first in the Everglades. We walked a bit there viewing alligators - including several babies and a few birds. We also saw several Gar, a strange Florida fish. At the main entrance to the Everglades National Park VC, a very nice center with informative displays and WiFi, we found out that the park housed a Nike Missile Base, a relic from the cold war. On the day we were here they offered a tour and we chose to do that - great choice. There are several buildings still extant but the highlight was the missile assembly building and one of the launch “barns” where there was a restored Nike Missile. We then completed the drive to the campground at Flamingo. A short walk to Eco Pond proved that mosquitoes are not extinct in Florida. Not even close.
The Engaged Cadillac
We drove right by, right past, as in we did not stop for a fruit stand that had milk shakes including Key Lime Milkshakes. In case no one knows you make a milk shake with ICE CREAM. What is wrong with…. no never mind, I know what is wrong with the Driver. LOTS! And it is hot, who knew it would be 600 degrees in the winter. This is nuts. And those gators, they are not nice. Not at all nice. Made gathering reeds a bit dicey. But I prevailed because bravery is one of my most outstanding characteristics. So besides discovering the next new latte flavor, Key Lime topped with whipped cream and a sprinkling of crushed graham cracker, it has been a dismal zero decent coffee zero ice cream zero Ms. McKinley day.
A Saturday Drive /
We were up and out on a 26 mile loop road early in the day. We stopped at several places where we could see a bit into the swamp and watched lots of birds and gators. Then back across the Big Cypress to a few other spots for watching wildlife. We then stumbled into a “didn’t know that was there” place at the end of route 29. We were at Everglades City a pretty little town in the midst of water. Finally on to the very end of the road, Chockoloskee, at an old store (c.1906) that served this community for nearly a century. Rusty (as in R U S T Y Harman of Clermont, Fl) found us lunch at a really good sea food place, Camelia Street Grill, on the water and we had excellent tacos of various kinds. With a couple more stops at waysides on the way back we called it an early day as it was getting very warm and headed back to the campground by four. A lively game night ensued post dinner where I did not win.
The Engaged Cadillac
This is an awesome place. They have large, leftover dinosaurs called gators. And tons of weird birds. And lots of swamp water and great new grasses for experimental lattes. What a find! I am sure these will be the talk of Alaska once Cups & Cones gets open. There has been a paucity of ice cream on this trip. (The Driver tried to pass off little bricks wrapped in paper but we are not accepting that as actual ice cream.) I guess we will get that soon. Meanwhile off to the swamp to gather exotic ferns and grasses for the next batch of lattes.
Travel Day /
Today was mostly a travel day. We left Clermont about 10 with the Harman’s leading the way south. Black Friday had lots of people out shopping and even our plan of Interstate avoidance was only moderately successful, the roads were still pretty full of traffic. We drove straight south and then east to Big Cypress Preserve, our 263rd park. We arrived just a few minutes before the VC closed, got a map and strolled the short boardwalk behind the center. There we saw a few Manatee, Great Blue and Little Green Herons and a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher and the eyes and snout of an alligator. Heading east toward the campground we stopped at a mile long swamp boardwalk and saw a few wading birds, a Yellow Bellied Turtle or two and another Little Green. We had a dinner of Thanksgiving leftovers and plotted the next day’s activities.
The Engaged Cadillac
Wow, was I a hit at this Thanksgiving thing. Everyone wanted to meet me and talk to me and taste my lattes. Except on the lattes they must have gotten mixed up because no one came out to my stand at the correct time -there must have been a mixup. Oh, well, still perfecting some of those. However, I did meet an actual barista, Laura, and she gave me several tricks of the trade. My cafe is getting better and we are not even open. I also met Angie, the daughter - and the grand-daughter of the dapper Stan. She adored me, naturally. I think I could get used to this T-Day meal. Wonder how many times a month they have this? I’ll have to ask. On the endless trip further south (I did not know the was more south?) I worked on my flavor combinations. I added a salted gravy to my list of experimental lattes and a cranberry/orange/horseradish mix that I think will really excite the beverage world.
A Remembrance of Thankfulness /
We enjoyed a delightful Thanksgiving day in Florida with the Harman’s and their family. A very traditional meal of turkey (expertly grilled by Rusty - who knew his chefiness quotation was so high), stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, home made rolls (Yay, Olya!) pies and more. Lots more. There were about 20 people and one moose. We enjoyed their company a lot and Rusty hooked up his TV to show some of our Alaska photos. A low key, no travel, sit around very full day in all senses of the word.
Target Tortugas 3 /
We spent the night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot in Florida then in the morning drove to Payne Prairie Preserve a bit south of Gainsville. This is a unique place where there are bison and wild horses, we saw neither but did a nice long walk and viewed a lot of birds. Then on to or friends in Florida. So far we have visited three new NP sites. All interesting.
The Engaged Cadillac
OK, I was close to heading back to Ms. McKinley but we finally stopped at a decent coffee shop, actually rated one of the best in the country. I think it was good but not as good as several I have been in and no unique flavors. That of course does not discourage me as creative flavoring is one of my most outstanding characteristics. So, inspired by the travel, I have already sussed out these potential great latte sensations. One I’ll be working is a Ginger/ Peach combo, another effort will be a Pecan & Chocolate with a touch of swamp water and a Boiled Peanut Pumpkin Mousse. More later!
This is the gate (reconstructed ) that greeted prisoners entering Andersonville.
Gratitude /
No travel posting today but a reflection prompted by traveling. Just this week in two locations, Andersonville Prison and Jimmy Carter Historic Site I was reminded about being grateful. Not for things or the lack of them but for people who love and support us, who pray for us and nurture us, for kindness great and small, for words spoken that heal or help or advise. In Andersonville among the most horrid of conditions people still found support, encouragement and hope. One of the information posts there told about how men who were dying would ask to be moved back to their circle of friends so they could spend their last hours among the ones they cared for the most. Regardless of what you think about President Carter’s presidency and his decisions, you have to be impressed by his family and friends and that he never wavered in expressing gratitude for them and for their influence and the direction they gave to his life of faith. It seems at thanksgiving we are focused on our material and physical blessings (and it is good to be a grateful person) but more so we ought to show gratitude to the myriad of people who make our lives richer, fuller and more meaningful every day. That is after all how God designed us. Living a life of gratitude ought to be the air we breathe.
Happy Day of Thanksgiving
