Last Day on the Peninsula

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Last Day on the Peninsula



Didn’t wake this morning til almost 8 and the sky was overcast with a little breeze. The temps were mild last night, I didn’t need the heater.

Coffee was wonderful and enjoyed with leisurely pleasure. Great way to start the day.

I decided to try the other bath house for a shower this morning. I have been having a shower in the old bath house and freezing myself to death as the ever constant breeze blows with a vengeance through the shower room. How did it take me all week to discover this heaven! The other bath house is new and the shower rooms are temperature controlled with NO fans blowing the cold air over your wet body. It was a heavenly experience. I said before, it’s the little things in life. That just made my day….

After breakfast Oscar and I got in the car and went to the only hiking trail I didn’t hit yet. We walked over a boardwalk through a swamp, over a forested dune, through the dense jungle to the St Joe Bay. The ever present wind was blowing from the bay and had it all riled up. Oscar suddenly went crazy, running around like a nut, from one end of his leash to the other. I guess he was just having fun in the sand, it was cool, easy footing and great smells.

I took some pictures as we went, smelled the forest, examined the trees and bushes and just enjoyed.

On the way home we stopped at the marina that has free wi-fi as mine has not been working lately. The Verizon signal is intermittent at best but lately I just can’t get a signal for the internet at all. I need to map a course for traveling home and find a campground for tomorrow night.
I did get the course set but no luck with a campground, I may have to stay in a motel, I’ll have to wait and ask along the way. I am going to eventually end up on Rt 85 and intersect with 95 in VA then stop at Dave and Lisa’s B&B along the way. It may take me a few days to get there but I am in no hurry, not driving through snow.Back at the camper it was lunch and a nap for Oscar and beach for me. The Gulf was calm as a pond, first time I’ve seen that since I’ve been here. PicturesI settled myself into my chair and read my book for a while when I noticed some commotion down the beach. There must have been 50 brown pelicans along with other smaller birds diving into the water like a very disturbed bee hive. I just had to investigate.Don’t you know as soon as I got there it all stopped. A ranger drove up on his 4 wheeler to see what was going on and he said probably a school of mackerel set them all off. He said the school would regroup and it would start all over again. There were pelicans, turns, seagulls and other birds I didn’t recognize just sitting on the shore preening their feathers and just resting. PicturesI passed this one pelican that just didn’t move, I thought he might be sick until I saw his stomach! He was a barrel, he couldn’t even walk let alone fly. Picture He sure could use an alka-seltzer…Well that just made my day. I went back to my chair and sat there for a while thinking about the everyday drama that goes on right under our noses. The bay was the prettiest I’ve seen it all week, peaceful, green and full of life.Once back home I fed Oscar his dinner and started packing up some things so I didn’t have it all to do in the morning. Deflated my kayak, that I didn’t use here, cleaned and folded the rug, stacked the chairs, disconnected the water hose, and washed the windshield of the van. All the wind had sand and dust covering it.I made a great dinner, cheese burger, baked sweet potato, fresh green beans and sliced tomatoes. Sunset time where I said good-bye to Becky and the beach. I came home and washed the dishes and tidied up the camper so things don’t go flying tomorrow. It has been a wonderful relaxing week here and nature has renewed my spirit. I have to finish this blog with a quote from Art Wolfe a very famous outdoor photographer. “It is in the wild places, where the edge of the earth meets the corner of the sky, the human spirit is fed.”

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Photos

boardwalk over the swamp
Pictures got out of order