St. Augustine

Linda travel, wildlife , , , , , , , , ,

By Linda

I think I might have a problem sitting still too long, so we recently put our house up for sale.  We plan to travel in the motor home and ultimately settle somewhere in Washington State.  Our son lives there and we’d like to be within driving distance of him so we can visit more often.  We’re not waiting until the house sells to get going.  We can’t sit still long enough to do that!  So, we’re leaving on our trip and hoping it sells by the end of the summer.  If it does, we’ll put our household goods in storage and travel around until we find a place to put some roots in Washington State.  If it doesn’t sell by the end of the summer, we’ll come back and spend the winter in St. Augustine.  Either outcome is workable, so it’s all good.

As a result of this plan, we don’t really know where we’ll be at the end of the summer.  Our Adventure 2018 plan currently terminates the end of August.  At that point, we either head back to St. Augustine or start thinking about where we want to spend the winter.  Because we don’t know how things will work out, we have to pack as though we won’t see our household goods for awhile.  I also have to say good-bye to the wonderful friends I have made since we moved here and visit some of my favorite St. Augustine spots one more time.

While I am running around with my friends and visiting favorite spots,  Regis completes his motor home projects.  More planning is required regarding what to take since we don’t know whether we’ll be living in Florida next winter or somewhere else.  Also, knowing that we could be living in the motor home for over six months has given Regis an excuse to embark upon more projects than you can count regarding the motor home.  He is obsessed with improving this or that and spends more time at the motor home than he does at the house.  Oh, wait, he spends a lot of time at the local hardware store also.  Thank goodness they opened a new hardware store between our house and the lot where the motor home is stored.  It has greatly reduced our fuel consumption!

As I met up with some good friends recently to explore the GTM Research Reserve, they told me about a portion of an old ship that washed up on the beach near the Reserve.  One of the interesting things about living by the ocean is seeing what washes up on the beach.  Lots of times it’s garbage, but can be interesting nevertheless.  Months after hurricane Matthew visited the area, it was possible to see the objects from people’s lives continue to wash up on the beach.  It was very sad and made the ocean a dangerous place to swim.  Sometime we find cool skeletons of now dead creatures.  Having a portion of an old ship wash up was very exciting, so we had to checkc it out.  I took a couple pictures.  Here is a link to one of the many articles about the ship.  Click here. 

 

I saw this gopher tortoise at the GTM Research Reserve which is one of my favorite places.

20180416-10
Gopher tortoise at GTM Reserve.

I also visited the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.  This is a favorite place to visit while the birds are nesting in the spring.  The birds are wild but learned that the Alligator Farm is a relatively safe place to raise their young.  The many alligators keep other predators away.  Of course, any chick that falls out of the nest won’t have to worry about hitting the ground.  It will become a tasty snack first.  Those alligators are fast.  The birds are used to people watching them in this area, so you can get some very close views of them.

When I visited the other day, the alligators were restless.  While you are watching the birds, you stand on a boardwalk over the water where there are LOTS of alligators.  When the alligators start bellowing and thrashing around, you hope desperately that the boardwalk is well built!  Click here for a video on our youtube channel of some of the nesting activity and the restless alligators.  The alligator farm is a great place to visit any time of the year.  You can zip line across the alligators.  If you are visiting the area in the spring, it is a must see.  For more information click here for a link for the Alligator Farm. 

Following are some still pictures of the birds.

20180416-5
Feeding time for a baby Great Egret
20180416-4
Great Egret family picture. As usual, the kids are squabbling!
20180416-3
Tri-colored heron nesting pair.
20180416-2
Tri-colored heron scratching an itch while protecting his/her eggs.
20180416-1
Cattle egret.

 

Ready, Set, … Go?

regis maintenance, travel , , ,

By Regis.

Last post I told you I would post about the RV upgrade projects. Well I haven’t a clue how to present that in an interesting way. So what your’e going to get is a list and some pictures with a short description.

IMG_1751

But first, as the title teases, we are about to start this years trip! The continued cold weather does have us worried a bit. The plan is to head to the Pacific Northwest and spend a lot of time around in the state of Washington. Apparently, the shortest way is to head to South Dakota, then west. Fair enough, we like that part of the country. But if it doesn’t warm up we may be snow camping! Fortunately, we have a working heater. Unlike the first year in this RV, where we found out how much colder it can be at 7000 feet elevation (without a working heater) verses 5000 feet. Check this post  brrrr-and-wheres-dart-2
Our first several days will be at the local beach. We actually have a water front site! No, not the ocean water or even the ICW water but maybe a marsh of some type but we can walk to the ocean! Then we head to the gulf coast for a bit then bee line for South Dakota.

One more thing before I get to the upgrades and pictures. I wanted to let you know how you can follow our blog posts! I know some of you get our posts forwarded to you by a friend or notice the Facebook post. You can “sign up” on our blog site, then you can get notified when ever we post, you won’t miss any of the action and you can comment as well!

to sign up on our blog:

goto landrtravel.com or click here ====> Button

It should take you to our latest post. On the right side panel you should see a list of older archived posts. ( read through and catch up!) Below the archives will be a “button”  “follow us we’re lost.” Click it and enter your email.

Now you should get notified when we update our blog! FYI… The first time you comment on a post it will need to be approved by us, so be patient, we’ll get to it! (internet access out in the wild can be spotty!) Once you get approved your comments will post immediately.

On to the upgrades!

I’ll list what I’ve been doing then expand on a couple;

  • Air horn
  • espresso holder
  • basement organization
  • reroute some electrical
  • Flash light holders
  • Four wheel weight RV
  • Align headlights

Espresso holder?

In the RV space is at a premium, even in a big RV. One thing Linda and I will not do without is our espresso drinks. She, a cappuccino, me a latte. Our espresso machine, while not big, will not fit in any of our cabinets. It resides on one side of the stove in camp and on the other side when traveling. Problem is when traveling ANYTHING not tied down will bounce and shift around while going down the road. My solution is to brace the machine on the counter with a “stop” wedged into a gap between the stove and counter. This works great and version 2, made of IPE wood, even looks great!

IMG_1762
Pretend the basket is an espresso machine. It will not slide to the left!

Basement organization.

There are several compartments below the living space, the “basement”. This being the longest trip planned and other factors, we need to be more disciplined with the basement storage. I had seen a great Vlog from the RVGEEKS about how they organize their basement with plastic totes. I went with the concept about the totes. What it has done is to delineate space, which helps keep stuff in its place. One compartment was a big problem in that removing one thing causes two others to fall out! No more!

RV Weight.

For two years now I’ve been wanting to get the RV weighed. Ever since I found out that I under bought (not by much, but still over loaded) the truck to pull the 5th wheel, the RV weight has weighed on my mind. I even had a weigh in scheduled last year be had to cancel. The manufacturer does supply a sticker that lists the weight of the RV, full of fuel and propane, out of the factory, but is it accurate? Well it probably is. But how much STUFF have you added? Great news is that the manufacturers weight was darn close and even with most of our stuff we were well within weight limits on all four wheels! FYI we have been adding more stuff and will be getting a per axel weight soon but I don’t think it will change dramatically.

Headlights?

The only time slot I could get to weigh the RV was 9:30 a.m. and it meant I had to leave at 6:30 a.m. Since I had to fuel up before going I had to leave by 5 and that meant getting up by 4. At O’dark thirty you tend to rely on your head lights while driving. Besides not driving in the rain much (see is winter over yet) it was probably the first time driving the RV in the DARK. HA! Two summers on the road and just now driving in the dark for the first time and realizing the head lights are all akimbo! Well, I spent some time tweaking the lights and probably need some more.

Last but not least AIRHORN.

The RV is built on a medium duty truck frame, a Freightliner M2. Think of the largest UHAUL truck you can rent. Pretty big right? Now think about driving it and having to hit the horn and it sounding like a Toyota Corolla. Not impressive right. It might be a GUY thing but I had to install some air horns on the RV. Still not the sound I want but much better!

IMG_1755

Is Winter Over Yet?

regis Uncategorized

By Regis,

Hello all!

In preparation for our 2018 adventure I was looking back and noticed we have not posted since January! Well, to be honest, we haven’t been doing much to share. Plus, It’s been COLD! Yes even here in Floridia it’s been way too cold to even wear shorts! Just last month we had frost!

In February, my mom came down to visit and we piled into the RV and headed to Clearwater on the gulf coast. My Aunt Toni and Uncle Mike were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. As I was in the wedding party, oh so long ago, I scored an invite! I felt very honored to be able to share the occasion. It was great to see everyone and to share some adventure stories with cousin Mike, including a story about Mt. Baker.

2015_0700

While driving back from Clearwater, it rained a good part of the way. I think, in the three summers of camping, we have not had to drive in the rain more than 2 or 3 hours TOTAL. However, it rained fairly constant on the way back to St. Augustine. One thing constant rain and driving 60-65 MPH will do is highlight any weakness in your weather proofing.

About 2 hours into the trip home Mom hollers from the back ,” There’s water dripping from the roof!” Linda was driving so I jumped up to investigate. Sure enough water was dripping just between the cab and “living room”. I went back to the bedroom and grabbed some towels and sopped up the water.

Later investigation showed that the water was dripping directly under an external roof seam. Now the manufacturer does do a good job of minimizing roof seams. In fact there are only two – one where the front cap connects to the roof and one where the rear cap connects. There are also multiple holes for vents, sky lights and AC units and such. One of the pre season tasks I do is to inspect the sealant around the roof penetrations and apply more sealant as needed. After last years trip I made a mental note to remove and replace ALL the sealant in the next year or two. Well it should have have been done sooner I guess.

Word to the wise. If seam sealant has been painted over, remove sealant and replace as soon as possible! Part of this seam had been painted to match the color of the front cap. However, the paint may have hid the true condition of  the sealant. So what looked good was not.

In other news, Linda has been planning and revising and revising the next trip! I think there are alternate versions as well. We have also been doing some projects on the RV. Nothing major, just little things to make day to day RV life better. I think I’ll write a post on some of those later, with pictures!

We have been organizing our stuff to take on this years trip. Linda is finding this to be very hard. We are planning to leave near the end of April and be traveling into September. Our longest trip yet! One problem with that is how much and of what type of clothes to bring. Ten sweaters and one pair of shorts or ten shorts and one sweater? Me, I have it easy, I have only one sweater!

I had started writing this post three week ago and the title is still true! Today April 10 and it only got up to 63 degrees (17.2 C). When will it stay warm?!

 

How to Know When the Gray Tanks are Full

Linda travel, wildlife , , , , ,

If you have been following our posts, you may recall me whining about how the gauges on the gray and black tanks don’t always work.  Therefore, you never know when they are full.  Regis tells me that I will know when the gray tank is full if I’m taking a shower and the water starts to puddle at my feet and stop going down the drain.

At the Koreshan campground, we have water and electricity but no sewer.  We were only planning to stay 4 nights, so that should not have been a problem.  On our last morning, prior to leaving, I took my shower and lo and behold, the water began to puddle around my feet.  Thank goodness I was almost done.  There was a dump station in the campground, so we didn’t have far to go to dump the tanks.  Jeezy peezy there has to be a better way!

IMAG0352[1]
This is our shower. The reason you can’t see the drain is because the shower is full of soapy water that will not drain because the tank is full!
While hanging around the campground, Regis made friends with this little anole.

1129 Anole (1 of 1)
Anole in Koreshan State Historic Site.

We spent our last full day here going back to J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  I love the place and cannot get enough of it.  Since the tide was in, we didn’t see as many birds.  It is easier for them to fish when the tide is out.  Nevertheless, I got some more video of a Reddish Egret fishing.  Click here.

Here are some more bird pictures.

1129 Pelicans (1 of 1)
Birds at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
1129 Egret (1 of 1)
Birds at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

We checked out the Bailey tract at the refuge.  We didn’t see many birds, but we saw this little guy hanging about.

1129 Alligator (1 of 1)
Alligator at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

In Search of Florida Panthers

Linda travel, wildlife , , , , , , ,

Let me start off by saying we never saw any panthers.  We didn’t expect to see any panthers.  They are very elusive.  But, we camped not too far from the Florida Panther National Wildlife Sanctuary.  There are some trails there, but pets are not allowed on them.  Also, you can’t walk alone and must keep a close eye on your children.  Hmmmm.  We thought a drive through the area would be pretty cool just to see where panthers hang out.

On the way to the refuge, we went to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  According to the sanctuary literature, the sanctuary was “established to protect the largest remaining stand of ancient bald cypress left in North America.”  National Audubon had been protecting wading birds nesting in the swamp since 1912.  In 1954, the Corkscrew Cypress Rookery Association was formed and purchased the property and the National Audubon Society manages the area.  There is a visitor center and 2.25 mile boardwalk trail through the sanctuary.

Since pets are not allowed, Regis and Dart went for a walk outside the sanctuary and I went inside the sanctuary.  There were lots of Wood Storks flying overhead, so I think Dart and Regis saw as many birds as I did.  The sanctuary is amazing and the boardwalk makes it possible to visit a swamp that would normally be inaccessible.

IMAG0344[1]
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
IMAG0345[1]
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
IMAG0348[1]
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
I expected to see mostly wading birds, but saw many birds flitting through the forest.  I couldn’t identify most of them but I know I saw an Oriole.  I also walked right under a hawk.  One of the coolest things I saw was a ghost orchid.  This is a very rare orchid that looks like a ghost.  There are people who visit the sanctuary just to see this orchid.

1128B Ghost Orchid (1 of 1)
On the left side of the trunk is a rare ghost orchid.

After visiting the sanctuary, we took a ride by the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.  There are several signs along the road nearby warning of panther crossings.  I regularly get email from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (myfwc.com) on happenings related to panthers, so it was thrilling to see the area where these events take place.

1128B Nesting Anhingas (1 of 1)
Nesting Anhingas at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
1128B Hawk (1 of 1)
Red-shouldered Hawk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
1128B Wood Storck (1 of 1)
Wood Stork outside of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. The Sanctuary has the highest concentration of nesting Wood Storks in the U.S.

Koreshan

Linda travel, wildlife , , , , , , , , , , ,

It was time to move the motor home to keep every lubricated properly.  We took advantage of that need to head on a short adventure to southwest Florida.  We wanted to visit J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge again and chose Koreshan State Park in Estero as our campsite.  It was considerably less expensive than the local private campgrounds and it was very nice.  It is located on the Estero River, so we brought the kayaks.

The drive to Estero from St. Augustine was awful.  It’s rough getting through the Orlando area and Routes 95, 4, and 75 are always congested.  After we set up camp, we took the dog for a walk and I’m surprised that Dart didn’t wear out his sniffer on the walk.  It wasn’t long but Dart sniffed every square inch.  I was beginning to think we wouldn’t get back to the motorhome until nightfall.

The next morning we went on a hike through the historic site and found the biggest bamboo we have ever seen.  It sounded a little creepy with the wind blowing through the bamboo and causing them to make creaking noises.

IMG_1732
Linda and Dart with large bamboo in Koreshan State Historic Site.

After Dart’s walk, we put the kayaks in the Estero River at the campground and headed down river.  There are lots of houses along the river.  The river looks very dirty.  We only had to step in it to launch and then take the kayaks out of the water, but we hated stepping in it.

IMG_1738
Launching kayaks on the Estero River at Koreshan State Historic Site. That’s Linda checking out down river and Mango and Tango in the lower left corner.

It was an okay trip.  We saw someone paddle boarding with a beautiful husky.  We were hoping to kayak all the way to Estero Bay but it turned out to be further than we expected.  I was concerned about having the energy to return up river.  There isn’t much of a current, but you still have to paddle against whatever current there is.  We didn’t see many birds on the way downriver, but saw some on the way back.  The tide was lower on the way back, so it would have been easier for the birds to fish.

After we got back, we ate lunch and then headed to J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  It is only 18 miles from our campsite but took an hour to get there.  It was worth it!!  There were lots of birds.  There were also lots of no-see-ums. Those are bugs you can’t see but when they bite you, you can feel it.  I find their bites itch more than mosquito bites.  Since we left the bug spray in the motorhome (of course!), we didn’t do any walking.  My favorite bird to watch was the Reddish Egret.  I love watching them fish.  I got some video (see here) of one fishing.  If you have never seen them fish, you should watch.  I was using my regular camera with the long lens when I saw the Egret and it is hard to handhold and video with that lens so it is a little shaky.  The tripod was with the bug spray back in the motorhome!!

1128 Flock (1 of 1)
Birds at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
1128 Gull (1 of 1)
Gull bathing at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
1128 Ibis (1 of 1)
Ibis at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
1128 Pelican 2 (1 of 1)
White Pelicans at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
1128 Roseatte Spoonbill (1 of 1)
Roseatte Spoonbill preening at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. A lot of people mistake them for Flamingos.
1128 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (1 of 1)
Yellow-crowned Nigh-Heron at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.