Kayak Day

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Kayak Trip

Thursday was a beautiful day in Florida. I know I keep saying that but the weather has been super.

Our walk was on the other side of the park, the river side, where we went through the hammock to the lagoon. It was a delightful walk and back home I made myself a big breakfast because I needed lots of energy for the afternoon. I got to go on the kayak trip because they had to change the day because of high winds. Some people had to cancel and I got lucky.

There were about 9 of us on the trip and we got a quick lesson on paddling a kayak and safety. We had to cross the Intercoastal Waterway to get into the estuary so we grouped up and paddled quickly. Sure glad we didn't have to paddle like that the whole trip or I'd still be out there. We wove through the black mangrove patches and I would have been lost in a heart-beat, good thing our guide knew where he was going. There were clumps of oysters beds everywhere that we had to dodge and the wet lands were very shallow so we had to pay attention to where we were. There were lots of paths through the mangroves that could get very confusing but our guide said they all came out at the same place.

We saw osprey, egrets, cormorants, raccoon prints and an immature bald eagle that sat tight in a tree close to us so we all could get a good look at him. I saw a sting ray that surprised everyone and as we rounded a corner 2 deer ran out of the mangrove, through the water, rounded a corner and were out of sight in a flash. They were huge. I was really surprised to see them let alone see how big they were. They were every bit as big as a large buck in PA, very tan colored.

Then we had to zig zag through a channel where the tide was rushing in and the wind was against us. It was a grueling paddle, thank goodness it was only about 10 min. Then it was "downhill" the rest of the way. We made it back to the Inter-coastal where the tide was going our way as was the wind. We quickly paddled across then took our time observing cormorants perched on some pilings. Then we noticed a big boat coming our way so we all headed for the side to watch it go by.

The trip lasted a little over 2 hours and I was proud of myself that I made it without having to be towed. When we landed there were 3 different water birds across the lagoon so I had to grab my camera to get a picture. I chose not to take my camera on the trip, didn't want to risk getting it wet, so I have no pictures of the experience, only in my head.

Back at the campsite I got Watson and we went to the beach. It was such a beautiful day didn't want to miss the gorgeous weather. I snapped a few bird pictures, relaxed then went home. Advil tonight.

Friday is Farmer's Market in town. Watson insisted on a beach walk then I left him home and headed out for the market. No breakfast, there is a baker at the market where my breakfast was coming from. I walked around the square, found the baker, bought some peanuts at another stop and just enjoyed the experience.

Back home Watson was glad to go back to the beach where he laid in the shade of my chair, dug in the sand, and chewed on some sticks and feathers. A couple from Texas came over to see Watson since they had a long hair doxie tool They were so excited to see another long hair, I guess they thought they had the only one. Their's was named Scooter and was smaller than Watson but not as handsome. It was their first doxie so I had to suggest they get a harness for him instead of a collar and watch his back. Just can't help myself.

It started getting cooler so we headed back to the camper where I drilled some holes in shells and talked with Perrier and his wife about his successful fishing day. He caught several white fish and caught one bluefish. He has an electric knife that he uses to filet the fish and in no time I was presented with a bag of filet for the freezer. Such nice people.

I went over to the river side in the hopes of photographing some birds but there were none about. It was a while til sunset so I headed back to the camper to see if there was anything to shoot on the ocean side. A man drove by in an ultra-light just off the beach and all I could do was watch, no picture. OH well.

I have one more full day here, I'll be sad to leave.

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