Florida Saltwater Trail

I was just surfing the internet and saw that our Florida Department of Greenways & Trails is almost finished mapping out a saltwater paddling trail circumnavigating Florida...pretty cool!
Click here to go to their website and read about the different segments - they highlight interesting sights along the way and give route details. You could use this if you ever want to paddle different areas of the state.

A Jumanji-Moment

Remember the moment in Jumanji when the Police Officer Carl Bentley (played by David Alan Grier) was floating down the street on the house door...and the shock he expressed when a very large gator swam by? Well, that's kinda how we felt yesterday...like we were sucked into another world.

We were leaving the storage facility, driving down a two-lane road which parallels US Hwy 1 when Andy says, "There's a monkey!". I'm figuring he's referring to a funny stuffed monkey that a truck driver must've decorated his rig with (two semi's were parked on the side of the road). But Andy continues to say, "There's a monkey!" several times. I look behind us and lo and behold, but *there's a monkey*! A real one! And he's literally loping along side the car at a good clip. He was beautiful: short-haired, tan & cream, a long curling tail, and he was probably over knee-high when on all fours.

At first we thought he was dumped by an owner who no longer wanted him...or he abandoned the Bonnet House...or escaped from Wildlife Care Center. So, I went online to try to identify what kind of monkey he was. I figured I'd call Wildlife to report the sighting in case they were looking for him. Then I came across a couple of interesting articles from 2004.

Apparently these monkeys - Green Monkeys or Vervets - have been living free in the Dania Beach area since the 1950's. Possibly having been released when a local attraction closed it's doors. There used to be two families of these monkeys, and they are led by dominant females. Good thing we didn't get too close to this guy because they have 2" fangs. Because they are non-native they are not protected, so I don't know how many are still alive today (four years after these articles were written).
Photo Credit: St Petersburg Times - Click on photo to link to article.

We continue to be surprised by the non-native species running wild in our little area of the world.

Kayak Wilton Manors/Island City Loop

Andy took me out for a paddle today. We did the 7-mile Wilton Manors/Island City Loop for the first time.
View Larger Map It's a nice urban paddle - you get to look at homes and boats along the way. But we thought it was a little nicer then the New River because there weren't nearly as many boats out on the water. Actually, we saw only one motoring. This made for a peaceful paddle. Wilton Manors is a town just north of us and is surrounded by either the North Fork of the Middle River or the South Fork of the Middle River, which is how it got it's nickname "Island City".

We also got to watch fish jumping, ducks and birds, and the big green iguanas.

If you are interested in paddling this route, you can click on the map above. I made notes of boat ramps on the blue pushpins, and the pink ones have route notes. My only cautions would be: 1) there is no midday shade, so bring plenty of drinks, sunscreen, and a hat; 2) during high tide you will have several low bridge crossings to scoot under; and, 3) there are lots of inlets and the like - so bring a map if you don't want to add miles to the loop!

Baby Muscovy Ducks are so cute - so what happens to them when they get bigger?
A local resident repainted their boat lift to look like 2 giraffes - very creative!
This was probably the highest bridge we had to paddle underneath. The tide today was extremely high, even flooding a lawn or two.
Andy checks out the biggest iguana we saw on our paddle...look in the tree for the orange reptile:

Colorado and the Rockies

As expected, we had a wonderful time in Colorado.

From Colorado2008

We spent our first night in Boulder in order to (try to) acclimate to the higher elevations. This was Mom's first trip to Colorado and we didn't want to spoil it with altitude sickness. Well, that and Boulder is a great city to visit! "We" included Andy and I; Andy's sister, Carol; Carol's daughter, Rosie; and Andy's mother. The trip was timed to celebrate Mom's 80th birthday.

Our time in Boulder was rainy and chilly, but we still enjoyed walking Pearl Street - shopping and eating. Luckily we were staying at the St Julien hotel, which was just a block off of Pearl Street. I have to add that the St Julien had the most incredibly friendly and efficient staff that any of us had met before. We'd highly recommend it.

From Colorado2008

In Estes Park, we stayed at Pine Cone Cabin. The cabin is one of many private residences that are rented out. This way we were all able to stay together in a very homey, cozy environment. We had three decks: one with a mountain view, one with a hammock, and one with a jacuzzi. The decks alone were a little slice of heaven!

From Colorado2008

Of course, our main goal of the trip was to take Mom and everyone up into Rocky Mountain National Park - to the alpine area; to the Continental Divide; to the BIG mountains! So, weren't we a little shocked to find out on our arrival that Trail Ridge Road (thee Main Road, thee only road through the park) was closed for *snow*?! We had arrived on Friday afternoon and we were scheduled to leave Monday. So Saturday we stayed in the 'lower regions' - Moraine Park/Sprague Lake area and around the town of Estes.
Here's everyone at Sprague Lake:

From Colorado2008

We got to watch some elk:

From Colorado2008

We took a bike ride around Lake Estes:

From Colorado2008

We even got to watch a small herd of elk swim across Lake Estes and listen to them bugling - fascinating!

Finally, Trail Ridge Road reopened Sunday at noon. They had two feet of snow, and seven feet of drift to plow. But it was reopened just in time for us to take a drive up. Whew! Once we got above tree line and into the alpine area, the obvious occurred -- snowball fights!!

From Colorado2008

After leaving Estes Park, we headed south via the Peak to Peak Highway. One of our stops included the "Chapel on the Rocks" - St Malo:

From Colorado2008

The Peak to Peak Highway was the slower, more scenic route back to Denver. It was worth it.

Denver is a great city with lots to do. We've only ever been able to see the downtown area near the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall and the Capitol. Next time we'll try to stay longer and visit some of the other areas of the city.

From Colorado2008

To see more pictures from our trip, just click on any of the photos above and it'll take you to my WebAlbums.

Fort Myers, FL - Biking to Sanibel

The island of Sanibel has lots of bike paths. It's a great way to get around. But this was the first trip where we actually biked TO Sanibel. This means biking OVER the skybridge on the Causeway. The bridge is pretty steep, and the guardrails are pretty low, but it was still a beautiful ride. Not to mention that riding your bike saves you on the $6 toll! ha!
Once we got to the island, we just rode to the lighthouse and the beaches in that area. Every beach seems to collect different shells, so if you ever visit this area, don't limit yourself to one area for shelling. Hit Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Captiva, and you'll be amazed as to what you can find.

We were happy to finally get on our bikes for a little exercise this week, but after arriving at the beaches we wished we had our snorkel gear with us. It's so much fun to snorkel for shells. You can just lie out there on the flat water, about a foot deep and just keep your face down. So relaxing! But the water at Bunche beach is brown with tannin from the mangroves, and several of the days the water was choppy from the storm, so we didn't even think about carrying snorkel gear with us on our bikes. Oh well, next time.

Fort Myers, FL - Kayaking

We finally left Fort Myers on Saturday morning. We're glad we stayed so we could take advantage of some of the toys I brought with us. Our kayaks were able to get wet two days this past week. Both times at the end of John Morris Road. It's called Bunche Beach.

The one evening we put in, we instantly sighted three dolphins who came into the shallows for some feeding. It was wonderful. Since it was so shallow where they were, they created their own waves as they spun around and zipped back and forth in search of fish.

I'm also trying to upload a video I took from our kayaks. The video shows us under attack by Black Skimmers. We must've gotten too close to their beach for their comfort. Quite frequently two to three of these long-billed birds would fly at us, low over the water, squawking loudly. Hopefully I'll get the video loaded...

But our kayaking was cut short when we turned around and saw this cloud behind us...

Besides kayaking Bunche Beach, some of the locals recommended kayaking on Sanibel and Captiva. I'll keep these in mind for our next trip...(you can click on the pushpins or the line to get more info)
View Larger Map

Fort Myers, FL - To Go or Not to Go

We’re sandwiched between two storms. Gustav’s presence is diminishing as he moves northerly, but Hanna is now on the radar. We decided not to leave on Monday as we planned because we wanted to finish some maintenance projects on the RV and to also enjoy the area. So, we’ve now accomplished washing the RV and Andy has repaired the awnings. He bought some special sail-repair tape from West Marine and clear duct tape to use on the tears and cracks that are progressively getting worse on all three awnings. Hopefully this will buy us some more time before we have to replace them.

We also got to go for a nice paddle in the waves along the beach north of John Morris Road, which is part of the Calusa Blueway (Trail Marker 48). And, of course, I am adding to my already overflowing collection of sea shells. We’ve found some good ones, too…Pear Whelk, King’s Crown, and starfish…
The beaches were littered with sponges from the storm. Now, if I can only figure out how to add some of these colorful and ornate beauties to my collection...
We’ve decided to stay the week here in Fort Myers. We’re hoping to avoid Hanna by doing so. We have our laptops with us and the RV park has internet, so we we’ll work from here. This will be fun!