Home again, home again

We arrived home today at approximately 3 pm. We had a great trip and returned with memories, suntans, and many photos. We are sad to have finished the trip and glad to be home. We are already thinking about our next adventure. Stay tuned.

Spring in the Blue Ridge

The photo above was taken this afternoon on the Blue Ridge Parkway in VA. Spring has arrived. As we travelled yesterday from SC to here in VA we saw spring everywhere. The redbud trees along I81 are putting on a show that is beautiful beyond compare.
Today we also visited the home of Cyrus McCormick who invented the first mechanical harvester. That one invention was the start of farming as we know it today.
Tomorrow we finish our journey home. We are sad that this wonderful trip is ending.

Conflict with a gator

While taking this photo yesterday Bill got more attention than he wanted from this hugh gator. He stooped down on the edge of the bank to get a photo at gator eye level and this guy immediately lept into the water and swam very close. He thoughts and intentions were very clear. Camera, tripod and husband came into the truck quickly!! This was in the Santee Wildlife Refuge.

Tomorrow we travel to Va for the last planned stop on our trip. We are both sad to see this adventure coming to an end.

Santee State Park, SC

This is the view from the window of our RV. The lake is Lake Marion and we are camped in the Santee State Park in South Carolina for a few days. We have begun our trek homeward. We have one more stop, in Virginia, before arriving home in PA. This is a beautiful location. We have been so fortunate to be able to see so much of God's creation on this trip! We plan to explore a nearby Wildlife Refuge later today.

Truck attacked. . . .

by a Tufted Titmouse. The guy in the photo above was attacking both mirrors on our truck here in the campground. Our theory is that he is trying to establish territory and thought his image in the mirror was another bird that he wanted to chase away.
We are now at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville, Fl. This park has a herd of wild Spanish Horses and Buffalo. It is also a nesting place for Sandhill Cranes.

A day on Homosassa River and the Gulf

This is Captain Zarker in the pontoon boat we rented. He and First-mate Clifton took us to the Gulf of Mexico to enjoy the water, the sun and the lovely day. On the way out the river to the gulf we saw Manatees and Dolphins. After enjoying lunch while anchored in the gulf we travelled back upriver to the source of the river, Homosassa Springs. There we saw more manatees including a baby with its mother. Babies seemed to be the theme of that area, we also saw wood ducks with four little ones. A wonderful day!!

Pink flamingos. . . . . .Nooooooo. . . . . . .. . .

PINK ELEPHANTS!! As we drove around the area on our way to Inverness on Tuesday we found this guy along the road. That's Linda and Nancy keeping him company. We visited the Old Courthouse in Inverness and had lunch at Stumpknockers on the square.

Floating rocks

Monday at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park Bill saw a large rock in the river through his binoculars! Then it swam away. Turns out it was a manatee. Rocks normally don't swim!!! At the park we saw many other animals and birds that were being cared for because they can no longer survive on their own due to severe injuries.

Earlier that morning John swam with the manatees, while Nancy, Bill and Linda cheered him on and took pictures.

Sunday was spent at a flea market and then an evening church service with a gospel music concert by the Mercy Mountain Boys-a very good group if you ever get the opportunity to hear them.

Friends, Old and new

The photo above is of a neighbor here in our RV Park in Homosassa Springs, Fl. He came over to entertain us with his musical instrument which is constructed of an old bedpan, wood, strings etc. He is Bill Bates from Ohio and he says he has learned to play stringed instruments since his retirement. That is our new friend. Here in this park we also have old friends, John and Nancy, from PA. They arrived today and we will be spending several days together seeing the sights of this area.

Orchids and Parrots

The guy in the photo on the left thought he needed my shoestring. Soon he had help in his shoestring task as you can see in the other photo. Eventually there were 3 of the Sun Conure Parrots trying to relive me of my shoestrings! I had a hard time getting away from them.

Today we visited the Naples Botanical Gardens and their Brazil exhibit. They had birds and plants from Brazil and also an exhibit of orchids. The birds were adorable, the butterflies beautiful and the orchids beyond belief-more beauty than I can describe.

Tomorrow we pick up stakes and move further north to Homosassa Springs, Fl. There we will be met by friends from home. We plan to see manatees and any other interesting things we can find in that neighborhood. We'll be there for a week.

Meet Traveller and his cousin

This is traveller! He/she is a young night blooming cereus plant that Bill started to bring on our trip. Traveller's parent plant is at home being watered by an elaborate self watering system. Traveller is insurance that Bill always has a plant if something happens to the one at home while we are gone. Traveller is enjoying the southern warmth and growing daily. The photo on the right, with the lovely Linda, is a night blooming cereus plant that we found in one of our visits to a park here in Fl. This one is growing wild and is MUCH larger than Traveller! The tree is a large palm and the cereus is wrapped around the tree all the way to the top. It's leaves are a bit different that Traveler's but it is certainly a relative. Shows what a lot of warm weather and sunshine can do for a plant.

Gopher

Gopher Tortoise that is! He is a rare and endangered species that is found in this part of Fl. Today we found this guy while visiting Koreshan State Historic Site in a park nearby. He was hiding out under and near the porch of a historic building. Along with this guy we found many blooming wild flowers. Some so tiny you would almost miss them if you weren't looking closely.

Pelicans

These white pelicans were conferencing yesterday on Sanibel island. Note the 3rd one from the right. He's bored to yawning with the conversation and the one on his left is already asleep.

We did the Sanibel Stoop(bending to look for shells) and found some nice shells. There were millions to choose from but unfortunately the large ones weren't piled in any obvious place. It was a great day at the beach!