Heading Further South

We left "M" RV Resort earlier this morning heading further south. We took State Highway 27 down past Lake Okeechobee covering the same territory we had a couple of days ago when we drove around the lake. You sure can see a lot more from the height of the motorhome than you can when driving in Toad.

Highway 27 is a really nice four-lane road, but we turned off onto 997 to avoid the congestion around Miami. We saw these HUGE power lines heading in that direction --

Not sure if all of these dead trees along the road are left over hurricane damage, but there were miles of them --

 As we got further south, we picked up a bit of a shower -- there was just enough rain to make the windshield wet. As you can see 997 is only a two lane road, and it is not in very good shape --

We had put the address of our destination, The Boardwalk RV Resort, into the GPS unit, but when we got to where it said it was, we found a school instead. After a couple of phone calls, we finally got to the right address... It turns out that Homestead has both numbered streets AND avenues -- we went to 6th Street not 6th Avenue!

Lake Okeechobee

After a trip into the Post Office in Moore Haven to pick up the fat box of mail forwarded to us by Daughter MM, we headed for our planned trip around Lake Okeechobee. We'd seen a bit of it last week, but today wanted to drive all the way around it. We headed east towards Bella Glade, then north on 78/441.


We saw this Double-Crested Cormorant sitting on a power line. The orange bare skin on its face make it an easy one to identify --

These big turtles - the big one a good foot long - were sunning themselves on logs floating in this weed-filled canal --

This absolutely gorgeous Osprey was keeping watch on a power pole near the lake --

It's hard to see much of Lake Okeechobee from the highway. It is surrounded by a huge dike (Herbert Hoover Dike built in 1938) that averages 30 feet high. The dike does have a walking/biking path atop it, and there are occasional approaches like this one with boat launching ramps. The lake doesn't look very big as it is very shallow (averages 9 feet) and much of it is covered with vegetation.

These stately Royal Palms line the streets of Pahokee. I don't know how old they are, but they must have planted hundreds of them many years ago.

We came up on this flock of adult White Ibis a few blocks from the city center --

Their curved red bills and legs are quite distinctive --

They're about two feet tall -- the same size as snowy egrets -- which it's easy to mistake them for at a distance until you see the beaks!

You can barely see the black wingtips tucked back against their tails --

By the time we made it around the lake (the 2nd largest fresh-water lake totally contained in a state in the US), the sun was starting to set. This cormorant was taking advantage of the last rays of sunlight to dry her wings --

I took this final shot of a Great Blue Heron silouetted along the bank. It's amazing how they tuck that long neck back and in --

A Rest Day

After a couple of pretty busy days, it was time today for a down day. One of the things we've discovered as we've gotten older is that we cannot go "full-steam" too many days in a row without getting cranky (or crankier than normal...) or too tired.

I had washed three loads of clothes yesterday before we took our jaunt to Lake Okeechobee, so I didn't even have that to do. I suppose I could have spent some time cleaning -- Auntie Violet's cabinetry could certainly use some Liquid Gold -- but it was too nice a day to spend inside.

So I took my Kindle, my cell phone, a can of Diet Squirt and a fresh pear and went to sit outside in the gorgeous warm Florida sunshine. What a lovely way to spend a couple of hours!

When I came inside to start a pot of chili for supper, Forry (who had been napping in his chair...) suggested we go for a walk first. Looking back at Auntie Violet, you can see what a beautiful day it was --

I'd guess that "M" RV Resort is only about half full. I don't know if it will fill up as people move south following the holidays or if this is normal for them.

I do know that when we were in process of making reservations for further down in the Keys, we ran into Parks that had no openings until next March. We did get neighbors toward evening, but I noticed that the office was nice enough to escort them to a site a couple over from us, still leaving space in between.

BIRDS!

It's not been a very good trip for birding so far this year. Until today! I think we saw more birds today then we've seen on the whole trip so far! It started early this morning when we saw a large flock (25-30) of cattle egrets foraging in the field next to the RV park.

One of them even wandered over into the park and was bug-hunting next to the line dividing the RV sites --

This afternoon we headed over towards Lake Okeechobee and saw this Little Blue Heron in the marsh --

And then there was this Great Egret --

And lots of these Loggerhead Shrikes --

We stopped at one of the blinds along the road and I saw something across the pond moving in the brush --

 And out popped this wild sow. She turned and ran the minute she saw us looking at her --

We stopped alongside a bridge because we thought we saw another Great Egret, but it turned out to be a White Ibis -- a new Life Bird for me.

This Belted Kingfisher was perching on the wire, watching the world go by --

And Forry got a new Life Bird as well! He's been looking for a Limpkin -- and we saw four of them today!

Some birds that we have seen a lot of in the South have been the vultures! This big Turkey Vulture was perched on a pole as the sun set outlining its feathers --

 This Black Vulture was feasting on a road-kill raccoon alongside the road --

Here's a shot of the two kinds of vultures side-by-side. The Black Vulture has no feathers at all on its neck and head.

In addition to all the birds I took pictures of, we saw Big Blue Herons, Northern Mockingbirds, Boat Tailed Grackles, American Kestrels and blackbirds. It was a GOOD day!