Trip12

Thursday.

This is a full park we’re staying in, without reservations. We moved to a canal-side site today so we could stay.

A lower low last night. It got down to fifty-six. Made eighty-one for a high today.

Woke up to a cloudless, windless morning. Sat out on the dock to have coffee and the ocean looked like a reflection pond. Watched schools of fish and a barracuda pass below. Sea gulls serenaded. The coffee was good.

That took up the morning. We embarked on a more ambitious project for the afternoon. We have seen some mailboxes being held by manatees. That doesn’t sound right. It wasn’t a whole bunch of mailboxes and a whole bunch of manatees holding them up all at once. One mailbox, one manatee. The manatee stands about five feet high. Our mission was to find who sells them and take a look. We drove north. Did you know there are forty-two bridges between the keys? One of them is seven miles long. We drove all the way back to Key Largo and found the shop. Outdoor statuary. Manatees holding mailboxes. Five feet tall. They’re pretty expensive. Bought some smaller stuff.

Stopped at John Pennekamp State Park to check it out. Stopped at a wild bird center. I got to grab a pelican’s bill and wrestle with it. I won! Judy had one land on her shoulder. That’s a little intimidating.

Saw a yellow crowned night heron.

I’m still bothered by the enormous impact of those giant cruise ships docked at Key West. They dwarf the town. My observation was that most of the cruise passengers weren’t getting more than two hundred yards away from the ship. Everything within two hundred yards of the ships has been built within the last two years. Is there a logic problem here? You travel to an exotic port on a cruise ship. Get off the cruise ship. Look at all the stuff they built for you to see in cruise village. Then get back on the ship and head for another exotic port. Sound just a little too much like Disney World? Disturbing.

We had a romantic candlelight dinner for two. Just the two of us… and rags, the giant furry moth. We have Annie the giant caterpillar asleep on Judy’s lap, and Rags, the giant moth. He just can’t help himself. He’s drawn. His whiskers are shorter now and a little curly on the ends. He’s still trying to get the rest of the wax off his paws.

Traveled three hundred feet in the motorhome today. No new birds. Motorhome moving. Cat drooling. More dock sitting (picture). No lunch: just munched all day.

Tomorrow, the eco-tour aboard the trimaran: snorkeling or kayaking or both.