Finishing Florida

The past few weeks have been a bit of a blur, ...we've just been moseying our way up the Gulf side of Florida. Along the way, we had a very nice afternoon with the manatees at Apollo Beach, near Tampa. As the Gulf waters cool down in the middle of winter the manatees abandon the estuaries and head up the many rivers and inlets searching for warmer waters. Some of the rivers have hot springs which the manatees have enjoyed for many years, but at Apollo Beach the slow motion mammals have found a hot tub of their own for their winter enjoyment –  a toasty (70 degrees or so) inlet heated by the cooling water outflow of the nearby coal fired power plant! The visitor center had a large display and canned 'propaganda' about how efficient, wonderful and non-polluting the power plant is supposed to be but I had a hard time believing it all.

The day we visited there were about 140-50 manatees lolling about and socializing in the outflow of the plant. The power company and some environmental groups have built a nice viewing platform and visitors center. We watched the manatees paddle about individually or swarm around in groups of 10-12. We couldn't tell what exactly they were doing but it was all very graceful and slow. Manatees are vegetarian, eating fresh water plants in large quantities, and face many challenges in the wild, the most dangerous being hit by speeding motor boat props. 

A thing of beauty!

Surface shot, really, lots of them!

Next up was a visit to Thayer's aunt Glenda, just outside of Tampa. She works horrendous hours at Disney but we found time for some very nice visits over our 3 day stay, and we ate out a lot! Thayer was also able to meet his two cousins, Kevin and Craig, that he had never seen before and they all really enjoyed sharing stories about the family. Their father, Jim, was Thayer's uncle and had succumbed to cancer about 12 years ago. As a lad, Thayer had spent quite a bit of time with Jim and had many fresh stories to tell Jim's boys that they had never heard. It was a great visit with some really nice folks.

Aunt Glenda and the family.

Manatee hot tub heater

Continuing northward up the coast, we arrived at Tarpon Springs, sponging capital of the US. It is a neat little Greek outpost with many restaurants, stores, and (of course) sponges! We learned about the history of the town, the many varieties of sponges, and how they were/are harvested and prepared for sale. There was also a big artsy craftsy street fair happening on the waterfront with vendors selling all kinds of hand crafted items. We rode our bikes around the neighborhoods and saw some lovely old homes. 

Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks

Sponging boat

Classic homes

Should've gotten one...

Our next destination was Homosassa, where we had a boondocker host lined up for several nights. There were plenty of things to do around this little burg. The old Yulee Sugar Mill was a small site but pretty interesting, signage helped explain the process of turning sugar cane into sugar and molasses. The little town of Homosassa also has a unique island called Monkey Island and I'll bet you can't guess the ethnicity of its residents... That's right, monkeys! About 5 or 6 monkeys have their own playground island just offshore of the largest restaurant in town. There was also lots of boating going on: fishing, kayaking, and airboat tours. It seemed like there was a fish market around every corner.

We also visited an Archeological Museum that was, unfortunately, closed. We were, however, able to wander around the site of quite complex earthen structures – constructied many years ago and comprised of about 10 Indian large mounds.

We visited a Nature Preserve Center that was right on the water and although the center itself was not much we did discover this funny sailboat/barge that is made almost entirely out of square cut lumber. The only rounded piece I saw was the lower section of the main mast. Very clever and unique but also clunky looking. Definitely not built for going upwind or going fast but you could sure haul a large load of goats or crates!

Monkey Island

Water, water, everywhere

Square lumber boat

Salt works

Cedar Key was a few more miles up the road; a very lovely little town perched out on the end of a peninsula. We rode our bikes around, enjoyed the warm weather and indulged on some very tasty Key Lime Pie. We were lucky enough to arrive just in time for a city parade held to kick off the homecoming celebration at the local high school. I'm sure there were more people in the parade than were watching the parade so we were able to recover lots of the candy treats that were being thrown to the, er, ...crowds.

I found a nice farmers market and bought some great fish that we enjoyed over several nights. It has a funny name that I can't recollect right now but was a lot like Mahi-mahi. BTW, the seafood around here is fantastic. As we left the area we stopped by Shell Mound, the site of a 28 foot high mound of shells covering several acres and created by the Native Americans over the past several thousand years. The mounds create whole new environments and ecosystems out of the lowlands that they are built upon. These coastal areas supported a complex society of people who were master fishermen and harvesters of the sea, supplying all their needs. 

Shell Mounds

Cedar Key man-made beach

With colder winter weather looming just to the north, our course turned westward into the panhandle of Florida. We spent a night in Apalachicola, which at one time was one of the largest cotton shipping towns in the US and is still one of the more prosperous small towns we have seen. The shops, restaurants and streets were quite busy without seeming really touristy. A local resident recommended Crooked Island as a favorite beach stop and, being along our way, we checked it out the following day. Crooked Island is located on a U.S. Air Force base and turned out to be very beautiful with white, sandy beaches stretching far in both directions. The panhandle coastline is much different than the west coast of Florida where there are very few beaches. We ended up spending two nights on the island and I finally spent some time painting and drawing and sitting still. Very challenging for me! I also had several nice long beach walks.

Crooked Island beach

Strange shell casings

Too bad it wasn't a little warmer!

Lotsa pretty little shells

As the weather deteriorated and we headed into Georgia, the rain turned into ice when it touched anything, transforming the road into a skating rink and our antennas into crystal stalagmites. We wisely decided to layover at a nearby Walmart and spent two nights there, using our wonderful Wave 8000 propane catalytic heater to ward off the freezing cold and keep our rig warm and toasty inside. What are the chances that the one winter I spend in the southeast happens to be the coldest one they have had in 25 years? Just my luck. 

Notice the little icicles!

snow in Georgia!

Bring out the plows! Oh yeah, we don't have any!

After the Great Ice Storm of '14, we zipped along through the continuing cold, but clear, to Saucier, Mississippi. It is not pronounced the way it is spelled and heck if I can remember how they say it.  "So-sha", I think. We spent two days there with our friends Larry and Wendy whom we met and stayed with on PEI. It was really great to see them again. In no time Wendy began whipping up wonderful food for us and Larry, being an advanced male, wasn't afraid to ask Thayer for help with his battery disconnect solenoid. Initially they thought it needed replacement but you might be surprised how hard it is to get simple RV parts from regular auto parts stores. So, Thayer just ended up taking it apart and fixing it good as new, saving $85.

We cooked sausages over the fire, drank wine and Gin and tonics and had a lovely old time with them. Over the past few years they have migrated to the same small, private campground which includes all the amenities for a reasonable price and they've gotten know all the other campers, all five rigs worth, as friends. We've found this to be typical in the RV'ing community. There aren't a lot of entertainment options nearby but I've discovered that not all people are like me – they don't mind sitting in the sun, reading and doodling around. Windy was also having computer issues that Thayer quickly solved by buying a Macbook online for them (their dime, obviously). We will rendezvous with the computer in Arkansas, Thayer will work his magic on it and then forward it to them. Sadly, Wendy will then really be able to dominate on 'Words with Friends'. I was nice enough to help her get started but now she just goes ahead and starts taking me to school! Once she gets that new machine there will be no stopping the carnage. Anyway, we had a really nice time reconnecting with some of our boondocking friends!

Wendy and Larry

An advanced male.

We continued west toward New Orleans but first there was work to do for Habitat for Humanity in Mandeville, just north of N.O. Inspired by Emerick, a SLC friend, I contacted the local H4H office, near the boondocking that we already had lined up. It took about 5 minutes to get on the schedule for this week. The three houses under construction are located less than 10 minutes away from our comfy camping spot, the Mandeville Christian Church, which has provided us with everything we need this whole week including electricity, showers, laundry, hot water, great company, dinner on Wednesday, recliners, cooking facilities.... It has been just wonderful. There are four other RVs parked here under the trees. On Super Bowl Sunday I whipped up a giant pot of gumbo and we enjoyed watching Seattle shame Denver on the big screen in the church sanctuary with our new friends (who included only one Bronco fan). We've had some cold weather, below freezing two nights in a row so having all of these conveniences has been terrific. 

Mandeville Christian Church

Building wheelchair ramps

The three houses under construction were all in the drywall phase so we were mudding and taping seams, windows, corners, walls and ceilings for four days. It was hard work! It was very tiring being on our feet all day and using muscles that haven't seen much action lately. One of the sorest areas was my left forearm, just from holding the heavy mud pan. We were working alongside a group of Mennonites, 10 young women accompanied by two couples from Ohio and Kentucky, and our H4H supervisors. We were a pretty hardy crew with some of us enjoying the relative warmth inside (unheated but out of the wind) while our other H4H folks were outside freezing! Yesterday was colder though and we could hardly feel our fingertips. At lunch Thayer and I put on long underwear and extra fleece up top. The girls were fun to work with as they chattered away in Dutch, sang songs and laughed a lot. They were strong and worked very hard for the most part, certainly harder than your "typical" teenager (boy OR girl). There was also an outside crew working on wheelchair ramps, siding and porch railings. The houses are not big but they are well laid out and will be very comfortable for the new owners.  We enjoyed our experience but are very tired and sore. Now we can get back to lounging around and seeing the country! 

One of three H4H houses

Mud me! 

Knocking out windows

Siding/handrail crew