And from Pam's "Pen"......as we say goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014

Where to begin?!  It has been a whirlwind of days....from James Island and the marvelous light show to Disney World and the hectic but wonderful blur of lights, decorations, rides, crowds, more crowds, and Christmas fun, to the Everglades and the hottest, most humid weather I have experienced in many years....life is amazing!

Christmas has come and gone....we celebrated with my daughter, Amy, while she was with us for about 12 days, and we had all the joys of seeing amazing light shows and going on super Disney rides, seeing all that is wonderful in Epcot, catching the fabulous Christmas Processional show with Sigourney Weaver narrating the Christmas Story with a wonderful choir and orchestra accompanying her.....eating at the German Bavarian Restaurant first.....where half the experience was watching Ken "do" the buffet.  He can sure pack it in!  We also had a lovely meal at a Mexican restaurant ... well, as usual, there we are, recounting our food expeditions!

And one day, we all sat in the motorhome and opened our gifts in our stockings....only this year that would be in our mittens -- yes, during one of our shopping excursions in Indiana , I came upon a crafts booth at an Amish store, and someone had created big wonderfully decorated mittens using old sweaters ... and since we had not thought to bring our usual Xmas stockings with us, I thought how fun these would be...and they were!  The three of us had obviously had waay too much time to think about it....the mittens were stuffed with fun things, yummy things (food again), really nice things....and there were a few other packages lying about to open, too!  Great fun.

Since then, we have been in southern Florida.....my first experience here.  The Everglades....nothing like I had pictured them....they are lovely, have pretty lakes in which you can canoe or kayak....picnic areas, a terrific campground, marina....and oh, the friendly mosquitos!  Seems you can find out how the rangers rate their numbers....from tolerable up to unbelievable!  I am sure they were sorry to see us leave.....I lured all the mosquitos away from anyone else hoping to catch those charmers, and I gave them a real good meal!  How they love me.  Next time, if there is one, I will put on a goopy layer of bug stuff and let them have a good meal of that!  HA!

But, we also discovered a wonderful Cuban restaurant in the area of our campground (or, rather, Ken did), and surprise of all surprises!  The special of the day when we went was lamb shank in rosemary/garlic sauce with roasted potatoes and rice and fried plantains....ahhhhh.  Sigh.  What is one to do?  Of course I had that....shockingly delicious.  (And, P.S. --- I did bring half of it home!)

The campgrounds have been interesting....from Disney's Fort Wilderness - which one would love to go back to and have some down time to investigate the swimming pools, trails, lakes and rivers and kayak....to the nice Larry and Penny Thompson Park Campground near the Everglades....large,  pretty full, sites arranged in "pods" -- some sites spacious and level, some not so much.....a few sites with Xmas decorations....versus Disney where folks go ALL out.  You felt like a Grinch if you didn't at least put up a wreath or a few lights.
The area around south Miami....crazy traffic, lots of people, mostly Spanish spoken.....you take your life in your hands just driving.  There doesn't seem to be anyone adhering to traffic rules!

We said good bye to that area this morning and have driven up to the Big Cypress Rv Park, on the Seminole Indian reservation near Clewiston.....what a change!  We are about 20+ miles away from any highway, no traffic noise, no noise at all other than what a camper may make, or a dog in the area.....where alligators seem to rest nearby, a Florida panther has been spotted .... the sites are really big, really nice...and the campground folks very nice and very friendly.  A dance is being put on at their community center tonight.....just a spontaneous gathering of fun people.  We have been urged to join them.  Ken is still coughing a good bit, so not sure we will go....but we are attending their New Year's Day pot luck tomorrow evening....pulled pork sloppy joe's and lots of dishes to accompany them!  Ken couldn't say yes! fast enough.  Free food and plenty of it....his kind of nirvana!!  I have to scour the pantry to figure out what to make and take.

Would I care to return to the southern end of Florida anytime soon?  I don't think so....saw wonderful things and enjoyed our time there.....was disappointed that Key West is so commercial and crowded -- I mean CROWDED!, but liked Marathon Key and some of the other smaller ones.  Miami area itself...no sirree, not my cup of tea.  And can be waaayyyy too humid.  Glad to have seen the interesting places we saw, such as the gorgeous Deering Estate and Biscayne National Park....but am ready to move on.  2013 has been full -- very full....and we look forward to 2014 and continuing our travel adventures.  Wishing everyone of you a fun, safe New Year's Eve....and most definitely, a healthy, happy 2014.

Meanderings around the South Miami area

The Charles Deering Estate of Cutler Bay.....talk about a gorgeous place!!

The Deering Estate Ballroom

Charles Deering, from South Paris, Maine, was the late 1800's
Co-founder of the International Harvester Company.

The three Wise Men painted on Palm Fronds made us immediately think of our talented
rock-painter friend back home, Debbie Schultz.

The Nikon zoom at its best brings in Miami Beach from Cutler Bay.

Pam and Ali at the Southernmost House in the USA.....at the very "bottom" of
US Route 1 in Key West

 Here is Ali making friends with our cute neighbor camper and
her three guinea pigs!

We came across a large group of migrant workers picking in a huge
planting of beans.  Across the road were hundreds of acres of green
tomatoes....we imagine these would be descended upon by the pickers in
the near future.   Whole families of Mexicans turn out for the picking....they even have
a taco delivery truck that brings in their lunch each day.   These folks are very hard workers.

We have discovered there is much to see in this land "south of Miami".  It is an interesting and very diverse area.   We are glad we visited but would NOT want to live here.....main reasons would be the humidity...it can be relentless; and the fact most people here drive like there will be no tomorrow.  Before we depart for the Big Cypress Preserve a bit north of here, stay tuned for our tour of the Everglades and much of what it has to offer.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas wishes to all our blog friends
for a wonderful and thankful Holiday.

Our wishes come to you from the Larry &
Penny Thompson Campground in South Miami
Heights, FL, where the temperatures have been
way too hot and WAY too humid for our tastes!
But the weather pattern promises to change to
something less oppressive on Christmas Day,
tomorrow; albeit with on and off showers.

Here Ali is lying on her new bed in front of our 
little Christmas Tree.   She joins with us in our
hopes that you and yours are enjoying this holiday season.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night..........!

Biscayne National Park

 

Biscayne National Park is not like most national parks....in most parks land dominates the picture.  Here water and sky overwhelm the scene in every direction, leaving bits of low lying land looking remote...almost insignificant.   Biscayne NP is a paradise for marine life, water birds, boaters, anglers, snorkelers and divers alike.  The water is refreshingly clean and extraordinarily clear. The Caribbean like climate saturates the park with year round warmth, generous sunshine and abundant rainfall.   Tropical life thrives in Biscayne National Park.

 

We visited Biscayne just the other day and made personal note of many of its wonders.  It is a wonderful place to kayak out among the coral reefs, the many and varied types of tropical fish, the manatees and yes, even the alligators.   We are hoping to have a second visit....this time with our kayaks so we can visit in a more up close and personal way.

 

That said, while we were here this time, we spotted a manatee hanging around the dock area....

 

 Here he is just as we found him (or her, as the case may be).  He seemed to surface just in time for the shutter click on the camera....lucky us.

And here he is again, this time lifting his snout above the water line to blow out water and take in fresh air....just like whales do.   He seemed content to hang around for quite awhile, just taking it easy in his tropical paradise.

Also, swimming around the same area with the manatee was this barracuda.   Very colorful and very long!  One of the many types of fish to be found in the Biscayne area.

This sign at the park pretty much sums up Biscayne's story.  Indeed a piece of our country where just south of Miami one can find beauty and serenity in a quiet place.

 

 

Here Pam enjoys the clear water of Biscayne along with the ubiquitous lush palm and mangrove trees.   We left here and drove to the Playa Grill not too far down the same coastline where, overlooking the bay at an outside table, we enjoyed a nice, peaceful lunch.





DISNEY WORLD

Pam & Amy share the Osborne Family Light Show at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

 

What can you say about Disney......(yes, that is a rhetorical question).   None of the adjectives by themselves.....fantastic....great.....wonderful.....enlightening.....just plain fun.....magical....incredible....do it justice, they all fall short of what you experience when you visit.  This is especially true during the Christmas Holiday period when everything is decked out in pure Disney Holiday fashion.   The experience is without adequate description.......





                                                                 So.....as the sign says.....

Here are Pam and Amy just before the Pirates ride.   It was a fun ride with the theme from the Captain Jack movies carrying through the displays.   The animatronics in Disney is just amazing.....the Pirates ride is one of the best to see that in action.   

We also rode through the Haunted Mansion....a really fun ride....Space Mountain, the in-the-dark roller coaster ride that throws you side to side as you zip up, down and around in the DARK!   Yes, Pam did that one too.....but I have to say, it is probably the last time I ride it....not much fun being jostled around to that extent.  It took over an hour before I felt everything in my body was back in its proper place!!

Other rides we enjoyed were Soarin'....a glide over the many scenic highlights of California (much like an interactive IMAX movie); Star Tours, a wild and fast simulated ride in the vein of Star Wars....and Amy and I did Fast Track.....where you design your own fast automobile and then take it for a ride on the test track....we got up to 63 MPH (but it felt like 100mph!!).    We took the Safari Ride through the Animal Kingdom Park, the ride through the ages in the Epcot Globe....and the Land ride also in Epcot.  

We stayed in our wonderful motorhome in Disney's 900+ site Fort Wilderness Campground.  It was tight getting our 45 footer parked in its site, but once there we thoroughly enjoyed the place.....Ali enjoyed the nearby dog park also!!  

Many of the campers went all out when it came to Christmas decorations at their campsite....others (like us) showed the spirit of the season in a more modest fashion....and the "bah humbugs" didn't put up so much as a wreath or a string of lights or hang a red ribbon.   We drove around about half the 20+ circular "pods" of campsites and were "wowed" by many of the displays.

Each day we either took the boat across the lake to the Magic Kingdom or one of the many buses Disney has to transport folks like us all over the place!   At the beginning of each day we would take the Outpost Yellow bus to the campground's offices....and from their one of the many buses to Epcot, the Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.   At the end of each Disney day....and more than once it was later in the PM....we would take the Fort Wilderness bus back from the park to the campground and then get on the Settlement Yellow bus to get a ride back to the 500 block of campgrounds, whereupon we would walk back to site 522 and be greeted by Ali who invariably had slept a good portion of the day away.

Here we are welcomed to the Magic Kingdom by Cinderella's Castle....as well as several hundred other folks!!   Disney can be crowded, but I think we chose a very good time to visit as it was prior to when kids begin school vacations.   It seemed crowded to me and you always had to "dodge" the hundreds of strollers being pushed by harried parents, but it could have been much more crowded than it was (and my definition of 'crowded' is colored by the fact I simply don't like crowds).

As mentioned, Disney goes all out for the Christmas Season when it comes to decorations.   To the left is just one of the many trees Disney puts up for the season.....this one is at the entrance to Animal Kingdom.

> 1500 trees are used for decoration around the Walt Disney World (WDW) properties;

> 8 million lights are used in the 4 parks during Christmas Season.

> 15 miles of garland and 300,000 yards of ribbon are used throughout WDW at this time of year.

> All in all 150 semi trailer truckloads of decorations are used to adorn the WDW parks during the season.




Aside from the many rides we enjoyed in the park, we also had great fun at a Biergarten Buffet in the Germany Pavilion at Epcot.  It was all you can eat.....so not only was the food scrumptious....we got "our money's worth" too!   ha ha.    We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas concert one night in Epcot...it involved the Disney orchestra, over 400 choir members and readings by celebrity Sigourney Weaver.  It was a top drawer experience.   After the concert we stayed to watch the nightly Illumination Show at Epcot with dancing lights and lots of fireworks set to music.   And to top it all off we experienced the "Osborne Lights" at Hollywood Studios (you can google Osborne lights to get some background) which were simply fantastic and put even the most curmudgeonly among us into the Christmas Spirit!!

Here are a few PM photos of the Osborne Family Lights...........

At dusk this light comes on.....a few minutes later the show really begins!

 

 

The lights you see are also designed so they "dance" to the music.

 

This one Pam took with her phone under the Canopy of Lights with the buildings all lit up in the background (yes, that is yours truly in the blue shirt and the Tilley hat).

 

 

Here we are enjoying the light show.

 

Disney memories will stay with us....it is an unforgettable experience.   Kudos to Mr. Walt whose vision, determination, risk taking and just plain hard work made it all happen....and with a mouse named Mortimer, until his wife suggested to him that Mickey might be a better name....imagine that!





The Okefenokee Swamp

The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000 acre peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia-Florida border. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.  The Okefenokee is the largest "black-water " swamp in North America. The term Okefenokee in Native American is "land of trembling earth". The swamp was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974.

We stopped here en route to Florida....a visit with my son, Doug and his girlfriend....and our week long stay at Disney.   I have always wanted to visit the swamp, so when we found ourselves "in the neighborhood" we drove the 40 miles or so to the swamp and took a boat tour.   It was very interesting.

 We had just begun our 2 hour boat tour when we spotted this alligator nestled on the side of one of the swamp waterways....he (she?) was just relaxing in a mud bank.   We were told there are some 2500 gators in the Okefenokee.

 There are many species of birds in the swamp.   Flying along our route and staying just ahead of us was this flock of southern ibis and a few wood ducks.                                                                              

 

 

 Here is the second alligator we spotted.....this one was on the prowl.   We can hope that it already had its lunch!!

 Another species of birds in the Okefenokee is the ever graceful snowy egret.  This one was frozen in place....its elegant neck pointed upwards....in hopes it would not be noticed.

 "Spanish" moss is everywhere hanging from the bald and pond cypress trees.  It seems the local Indians, the Seminoles, coined the term after their first experiences with the Spanish Conquistadors who first came to the area.   The moss hung from the trees as the beards did from the conquistadors chins.

 The swamp is indeed a series of byways....and large open areas called prairies... very easy to get lost or confused....so journeys out alone are not for the unfamiliar.

 These two Tupelo trees mirror each other in the Chesser Prairie part of the Okefenokee.   We had a great visit and the swamp remains on our "to do list" as we want to do some swamp kayaking next time we are in the area.   If you find yourself near Waycross or Folkston, GA do yourself a favor and visit the swamp.  It is fascinating.

Festival of Lights.....part II

James Island County Park in Charleston is famous for its annual

light show festival every November / December.   Folks from all

over come to the Park to see the lights.   We thoroughly enjoyed

them.

 

 

We have now (Sunday the 8th) just arrived at Disneyworld's Fort Wilderness Campground where we will be until next Saturday.    We stopped in St Augustine on the way.....Pam and Amy went to Jacksonville for dinner at the Bahama Breeze Restaurant.   I had the opportunity to have dinner in St Augustine with my son, Doug.....where we enjoyed blackened Grouper at the Conch House restaurant.    A good meal indeed.

 

Here are a few more photos of Charleston's light show......

 

 

Santa & Rudolph trying to determine how best to get down that chimney.

 

 

The Snowman Family is one of my favorites.

 

 

Greetings of the Season from the elves.

 

 

 

Happy New Year to ALL......it won't be long now!!

 

Future blogs will show our boat tour of the Okefenokee Swamp....AND Disney, of course!!!



Tis the Season for Lights.........

The James Island County Park has 650 acres of recreational area, a 100+ site campground, camping cottages for rent....TWO dog parks complete with ponds and on and on.   It is a GREAT place.  

November and December are the most popular times for the park as this time each year it offers the Festival of Lights.....a three mile drive around the park with wonderful Holiday lights at every turn.  We are here in campsite 101 for almost a week and we have thoroughly enjoyed the drive through the park each night between 5:30 and 10.00pm when the lights are turned on.   Families from far and wide drive to the campground to experience the wonder of the lights....while campers like us are a bit spoiled as we simply drive out of the campground to the main road of the park and begin the 3 mile drive.  Here are some samples of what the Festival of Lights has to offer:

The angel and the church....sponsored by various Baptist Churches in the area.

This bridge and lighthouse and their reflections from the park pond.   This and others around the pond can be seen from some distance.

Churches and secular organizations....and some individuals....sponsor the various segments of the light show.....this one of the airplane and the air craft carrier is sponsored by, you guessed it.....
Boeing.

This Bridge is from the same set of lights as the bridge above....just amazing how they set up the lights to transition from one scene to another.

This Candelabra surrounded by the red Poinsettia is one of the light exhibits that sets
in a field alongside the park road.  It makes for a beautiful scene as you round the next

turn in the road.

The nativity scene is quite elaborate and colorful....and celebrates the real

meaning of Christmas.

The peacock light exhibit begins with the outline of the bird and a single plume....and then builds to the full shape feather by feather.  A great exhibit.

The Rocking horse is a wonder to look at....the lights are set up in such a way that the horse appears to be always rocking back and forth.   One of our favorites.

                        
                                   And the festive camper with Rudolph and Santa at the campfire
                                              is at the top of our choice list!!    A great show in Charleston!

..........stay tuned for a sequel to the Festival of Lights with more great light exhibits.........