Horseshoe Crabs

The Horseshoe Crab had started to show up at Cedar Key just the day before we visited. This is one of their breeding grounds.














The female is the larger of the two and the male attaches himself to her so he can fertilize her eggs as she lays them.

The horseshoe crab is one of the oldest species on earth and they have changed little in over 250 millions years. Contrary to popular belief, they really have been around longer than I.

Their blood has no hemoglobin and is blue because it is copper based. Our medical industry uses it and much of what we know about our eyes were learned by studying theirs.

The Keys

No, not the Florida Keys but Cedar Key, Florida. A small island of the western coast of Florida. Quaint little place with about 1000 full time residents, it's is a haven for artists and writers with very narrow street and golf carts are a popular mode of transportation.

Fishing and seafood abound plus just doing absolutely nothing but kill a few hours seem to be the standard.












From the parking lot for the marina,

from the pier looking back, porpoises were playing about 100 yards off the pier but there was no way to get a photo of them.

this is First Street, about 100 yards long. The is full of bars and restaurants and one lawyers office.

This small village seems not have the big tourist trade and likes it that way.

Manatees

We spent over three hours in Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park and enjoyed every minute. It is really just a zoo of sorts but I had here for the main attraction.

From the visitors center there is a tram or boat ride to the back of the park. We took the boat out and the tram back.














As we left the visitors center, this alligator was sunning on a log,














once inside the park the bald eagles had a flag in their cage,














Pink flamingos were fun to watch,














they have one hippopotamus,

beautiful cougar ( the wild animal type but I guess the applies to the middle aged female too),

The main attraction, sorry but my photos didn't turn out very well,

here is a picture of a manatee I found on the web. The manatees live in the ocean but come into the warmer river as the ocean cools off in the winter. The river is fed by Homosassa Springs and its 72 degree water. The manatee have to have warmer water to survive.

They move slowly and over 200 were lost this winter because they couldn't make it to warmer waters as this winter came on quicker tha usual.

Suwannee River

This is the view from our lawn chairs. Very laid back rv park.

Dakota Winery is a small father-son affair that grows several varieties of Muscadine grapes for their bottling operation. They have a very nice Blush that we purchased.

This nice little day use park is on the Suwannee River.

They saved one side of the Fanning Springs bridge trestle and have it on display.

A little closer look,

and even closer so you can read the sign.

The Suwannee River looking up stream,

the dock floats and as the river level changes, it rides up and down on the metal pilings.

Old Town, Fl.

We are settled in Old Town Campground in Old Town, Florida. We are west of Gainsville about forty miles, about fifteen miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and a couple miles from the Suwannee River.

It is a privately owned park that is more like a fishing camp. No pavement and the sites are haphazardly scattered about. Sounds terrible but really pretty nice except for the sandy roads but everyone knows about them and keep their speeds down.

Only 30amp and water, no sewer. They have some sewer hookups but none were available when we checked in.
We are here for a few days as there is a lot of things to see in the area.

Leaving Tomorrow

This is our view from the picnic table








From our lawn chairs.
















From the couch.

Some of our neighbors.

Chattahoochee, Fl.

OMG, does life get any better than this. We are on Lake Seminole just about 3 miles north of Chattahoochee, Fl.

Our C.O.E. campground is just over in Georgia. Beautiful spot just off the water. High temps in the 70's and night time it drops to the 50's.

As soon as we were set up, I started the charcoal grill, grabbed our lawn chairs, and while the grill was getting hot for burgers and dogs, I kicked back with a beer or two. Don't tell anyone but I might have even smiled a little. We had our burgers and dogs outside in the shade of the Cardinal facing the lake and enjoying the sunset.

Our front door faces away from the water with a picnic table and grill just outside. We are on a peninsula and also have water in front of our truck .

This is the view out our living room and dining room windows. Nice park to spend the weekend.

Great temps, satelite tv, internet, water and electricty. I think I could get used to this.

New Brake Controler

As previously mentioned, I was not happy with the performance of my brake controller. I ordered a top of the line Tekonsha P3 brake controller,

very compact as you can see side by side with a 12 oz soda can.

When I removed the old controller and makeshift wiring (the new controller came with "plug and play" wiring designed for my Dodge), I found the old controller was actually broken.

The new controller worked great on the 200 mile trip to our next destination, but that is for tomorrows post.

The beach

On Thursday we did our shopping for or upcoming move and fueled the truck. We also went to the beach at Gulf Shores to collect a few seashells and was surprised at so many young people on the beach in the middle of the week.















Bikinis were everywhere (not that I would look),














even a beach volleyball game.

USS Alabama

U.S.S. stands for United States Ship.













Mobile, Alabama is home for the USS Alabama and a small aviation museum plus a submarine.














Please click on the photo to read about the ship.













The self-guided tour could easily take a half day on the ship, add the aviation museum and submarine and it can take all day.

Walking the deck where so much history has accrued is quite humbling.

Super Bowl Party

A couple dozen of the campers at Azlea Acres rv park assembled in the clubhouse for a Super Bowl party. Not one Steeler fan was in attendance.

Lots of snack foods and a few adult beverages were consumed.

One couple left early and I wonder if they were undeclared Steeler fans.

We enjoyed ourselves but I found the political undertone a little too far to the right for me.

3 weeks = a month

As of yesterday we have been here for two weeks. The weather is better than most parts of the country but still a little chilly today. The temps are back to the low 50's after a thunderstorm came through last night.

I vowed not to pull our Cardinal in the rain if at all possible and also due to the fact that we have not been up to par, we have decided to stay a little longer.

I could have signed up for another week but the price of 3 separate weeks is almost as much as the monthly rate. They prorated what we had already paid toward their monthly rate.

There are still things to see around here so it is a win-win for us.