Christmas in Florida

On our way back to my folk’s house we stopped in to see my aunt, uncle and cousin outside Naples. They have a beautiful piece of property they have worked into a fruiting paradise. Because they are such incredible gardeners they are able to purchase fruit from the store, eat it and then plant the seeds. In addition to loads of flowers, they have banana, avocado, grapefruit, papaya and pineapple growing all over their property.

Banana Tree (My aunt took a load of bananas to the homeless shelter just before we arrived. So even though we didn’t get to see any ripe bananas we got to enjoy some homemade banana bread she made from them.)

Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Gene and Cousin Christian

In addition to the pretty flowers and fruit growing in their yard, my aunt and uncle have also planted luffas at the base of many of their tall pine and palm trees. These are the luffas you commonly use in the shower instead of a sponge. We always thought luffas come from the ocean. Turns out they grow on a vine. Before they ripen they are green in color and tend to be heavy from all the water in them. As they begin to dry out, they turn brown and then fall from the trees. It is pretty easy to peel the skin off them, tap the seeds out and cut them up for a multitude of uses, like the shower, to clean pots and pans, even tires and rims. They sent us on our way with a few of them and we are excited to think of even more uses for them.

Luffa (Am I spelling that right) Still Attached to the Vine
Notice the Brown and Green Ones

Back at my folk’s house we were treated to a ride in a Rolls Royce. Someone in their neighborhood bought one for themselves as a birthday present. He doesn’t get it out too often and dave and I will probably never get a chance to ride in one anywhere else so we accepted when they asked us if we wanted to go for a ride. The owner’s wife said I should jump on the hood of the car for the photo but I settled for just taking a photo of it after we got out.

Rolls Royce

It was really hot while we were in Florida. (Well … hot by Alaska and dave and my standards!) Poor Sprout was having a hard time in the heat and we would not allow her to swim in the pond behind my parent’s house. There are alligators in it and it catches all the fertilizer and nasty run off from the surrounding yards. So we called up one of my parent’s friends and asked if Sprout could go swimming in their pool. They have a small pool in their backyard and the only one who uses it is their large yellow lab, Bosie. Sprout had the time of her life swimming and jumping into the pool after the tennis ball. She kept going until she was about to fall over from exhaustion.

Sprout Swimming in Pool

This year we decided to make Polish food for Christmas dinner. (My family is 100% Polish.) So on Christmas Eve we started the tedious task of making pierogi and stuffed cabbage (Golumpki in Polish). Normally this is a once or twice a year occurrence in our family and we make a lot at one time to ensure they last. My folks, dave and I pulled up our sleeves and spent the morning doing what many Polish women have done before us.

Dad and dave making the Pierogi Dough

Filling the Pierogi. We made a) potato and cheese and b) mushroom and onion.

Dave Boling the Pierogi

Mom Making Golumpki

Enjoying the Fruits of Our Labor

My sister Jenny and her fiancé Tommy came in on Christmas Day. We had a great Christmas holiday catching up and as always, eating way too much food. This was the first time the whole family has been together since we met up in Alaska in June 2005.

Family Photo

Jenny and Tommy

Chloe (Our family’s dog)

Sprout got a huge box full of tennis balls for Christmas. She didn’t know which one to start with.
The weather went downhill for Christmas and didn’t look like it would improve for the rest of the time we were all together. So when we woke up and saw a clear blue sky and lots of sun we loaded up the family and headed to the beach. This was Sprout’s first time swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. The waves ended up knocking her down and she swallowed a bunch of salt water, so I don’t know if she thought it was a good experience or not.

Dogs Ready for Beach

Otis on Beach

Sprout Swimming and Otis Saying No Way

Dave and Sprout Hanging on the Beach (Dad in background)

Tomorrow we are off again. This time we will head towards Saint Petersburg, Florida to the Salvador Dali museum. Then we will make our way to East Texas to pick up work. We will stop in and see some old friends along the way in Mississippi and Louisiana.

In the Lap of Luxury

From the Everglades we continued westward to enjoy the fruits of our parent’s labor. Dave’s folks are involved with a time share that has properties all over the country. As a present to us they booked us some time in a condo on Marco Island. Marco Island is a small island on the Gulf side of Florida, just south of Naples. For four days we were treated to a two bedroom condo overlooking the pool and the Gulf of Mexico. With two bathrooms, a wet bar and the kitchen sink we had more running water than we knew what to do with. So we took advantage by drinking a lot of pina coladas and taking a lot of showers.

View From the Balcony of the Pool Area

View of the Ocean From the Balcony

Sunset Over the Gulf of Mexico

The Florida Keys and Everglades National Park

From Key West we headed back up US 1 towards Everglades National Park. Everglades was the first National Park to be set aside for biological purposes. It is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the continental US. Originally the Everglades covered vast tracks of land from central to southern Florida.

Entrance Sign

In the 1940’s Marjory Stonemen Douglas awoke people to the notion that the Everglades is a vast, flowing river that literally drops only inches in the course of miles. As the park brochure stated, today this fragile ecosystem is “on life support, alive but diminished.” Water control structures around the park’s boundaries control the flow of water into the Everglades. Agriculture, vast housing developments and rapid population explosions in the area are dumping large amounts of pollution into the system. Roadways that are not raised above the ground restrict the flow of water into manmade canals, eventually disrupting the natural ecological order. It is ironic that in a state that has so much fresh water in the form of swamps, marshes, lakes and other wetland areas that residents are facing water shortages. But hey we always need another green lawn and golf course right!?

Everglades Scenery

Notice the alligator sunning in the mid-ground of this photo.

Tree Covered with Ressurrection Ferns and Airplants

Man .... it was tough to climb to the top of this ridge to get this photo!

Mangroves:
There are three different types of mangroves which grow in southern Florida. Along the seaward edge of the coast are found red mangroves, one of the few trees that can live in salt water. Their arching prop roots trap silt eventually building up islands of dry land. Further inland, the black mangrove, with their erect, pencil like roots replace the reds. The white mangrove usually occupies the highest elevation farthest inland than either the red or black mangroves. These mangroves swamps form a dense tangle that is often impenetrable by people but is a wonderful habitat for wildlife. They provide protection and food for a variety of small fish and invertebrates, as well as, birds, snakes and small mammals. Similar to coastal marshes all three of the mangroves are an important buffer against tropical storms. Unfortunately, the importance of these plants is often overlooked in the name of development. Vast tracks of them have been removed and the side effects are noticeable after the intense storm season of the past couple of years.

Red Mangrove

White Mangrove

Wildlife:
Wildlife was not hard to find in southern Florida. Despite the large tracks of development, the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park continue to be a place where wildlife flourishes. Here is a small sample of the many different species we saw:

Anole

Crab

Snail

Turtle

Alligators

Big Cypress National Preserve:
On our way west through the Everglades we went through Big Cypress National Preserve. This preserve is located where temperate and tropical climates converge, so it offers an unusual diversity of plant and animal life. About 30 Florida panthers still reside here, although inbreeding is now another obstacle they must overcome. We were not fortunate enough to see one of these shy, nocturnal animals but we did get a glimpse of a stuffed one in the visitor center.

The biggest tourist attraction in the preserve is the large bald cypress trees. Just a few of these giants survived the logging onslaught. A short boardwalk offered stunning vies of these beautiful trees.

Bald Cypress Trees

The Southern Most Point – Key West, Florida

From Ocala, Florida we headed to my folk’s place about an hour north of West Palm Beach. We spent a good ten days there relaxing and cleaning out the van. Come to find out all the rain we have been hitting on this trip had taken its toll inside the van. When we pulled out the mattress to air it out we discovered mold on the underside. No matter how much time we had spent cleaning the van we never imagined that mold could be a problem in an area we never thought to look. We took advantage of the warm sunny weather and aired everything out. We even used their steamer machine to get the mold out. Then the dehumidifier went in and we closed the doors up. In two days of dehumidifying we got a couple of gallons of water out of the air and wood in the van. Now we are as good as new. But we still didn’t like the fact that we had the back carrier attached to the hitch. Another purge of stuff later and we were able to ditch the entire back carrier without sacrificing anything we really needed to have with us. From the outside we now look like just another Sprinter on the road. Without the back carrier it’s hard to tell that we are traveling. The only thing giving us away is our Alaska plates.

All the photos from this portion of the trip are on my folk’s camera. We will attach these in our Christmas blog later this month.

My folks agreed to watch the “grandpups” while dave and I headed to the southern part of the state. It was probably for the best that the dogs were not with us. We experienced a lot of hot weather in areas that were not dog friendly. I was glad we didn’t have to make the dogs sit and bake in the car while we were off enjoying ourselves.

First stop Key West, the southern most point in the contiguous US. I braved the cold Arctic Ocean water to go swimming the farthest north possible in the US so I wasn’t going to leave Key West without swimming there too. As you can imagine, it was much warmer.

Southern Most Point in US

Key West is similar to the French Quarter of New Orleans, without the varying economic classes that make New Orleans so eclectic. If you are living in Key West there is a good chance you have some money. Even the homeless people we talked with were there by choice and were not having a hard time finding something to eat. When we first arrived on the island we thought it looked like any other place in the country, lots of big box stores everywhere. It wasn’t till we got downtown that we saw Key West’s true character. The streets are more conducive for riding bikes, walking or skateboarding than driving. In fact it seems most of the locals got around in one of those fashions.

Typical Key West Street

One strange feature of Key West are the chickens. There were chickens everywhere. They were crowing at all hours of the day. We spent the night parked on a side street and were woken up by one who crowed constantly from four to five in the morning.

Chicken Chickens Everywhere

Mallory Square is the big tourist attraction downtown. It is here that everyone gathers each night for the sunset. Overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, Mallory Square is a beautiful place to sit and people watch. A couple of hours before sunset many local artists and performers come out of the woodwork to sell their crafts or stun you with amazing displays of magic or juggling.

Mallory Square

Dave had a little bit too much fun in Key West. This is his Key West personality, Matilida. I’m a bit worried about him!

Alabama to Ocala, Florida

From Chattanooga we headed back into the forest, this time in northern Alabama. The highlight of this trip wasn’t the spectacular scenery or the wildlife. Instead the highlight had to do with hot running water …. free of charge if you stayed in the campground. Ahhhh, the joys of a hot shower. We will never take it for granted again!! We had not showered for over a week so this shower felt extra good! Alabama was good to us. There weren’t many people around and the forest was easy to walk through, not dotted with briars and other unmentionables like in Louisiana. We had a good time relaxing in the forest.

From northern Alabama we headed to Dothan, Alabama near the Florida border. We stopped in for a doggie play date with an old neighbor of my folk’s. Brigit’s dog Buster was best friends with my folk’s dog Chloe. We wanted to see if Otis and Sprout would get along as well. Unfortunately it was so hot out the dogs couldn’t play for too long without overheating. Regardless it was fun to catch up with Brigit and finally meet her mystery man, Chuck.

Brigit told us a scenic way to head south to our next destination. Along the way we came across vast fields of cotton. I had always heard about cotton plants but had never seen one up close. So we stopped to take a few photos and grab some samples of fresh cotton. It pulled off just like cotton balls but there were a few seeds in each puff.

Cotton Fields

Cotton Plant Up Close

Our next stop took us to the Tallahassee National Forest in northern Florida. We found out the next day this probably wasn’t the best place for us to camp. But we got suckered in by the thought of another free nights camping. Only later did we realize that the place was infested with fleas and ticks. We started the dogs on flea and tick prevention medication before we left Alaska. Although there are no fleas or ticks in Alaska, we knew we would be getting into infested areas soon. Good thing we planned ahead. As much as I hate putting chemicals on our dogs, those chemicals prevented what could have been a very nasty situation. Otis only had two fleas on him and one tick. Sprout got away scott free or her black fur duped us into believing that. Either way the fleas didn’t infest the van and dave and I got away with only a couple of flea bites. So much for not letting the bed bugs bite!!

Northern Florida is sprinkled with a variety of freshwater springs. The thought of jumping into one got the better of us and the next thing we knew we were in the Ocala National Forest camping at Juniper Springs. The springs have been developed for awhile now. In fact the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) were responsible for much of the development. For awhile the facilities were powered by a small hydroelectric waterwheel powered by the flow of water coming out of the spring. The waterwheel is still there and the old building next to it has been turned into an interpretative center. Sadly, although the wheel was still turning, the building was now being powered by grid electricity. The place was beautiful. Only one other couple was camping in our loop and we had the boardwalk and springs to ourselves when we finally went swimming.

Juniper Springs

Boardwalk Trail

Fire Ants
dave hit this fire ant mound with a rock and the ants didn’t seem to like it too much. If you should be unlucky enough to step on one of these without knowing it, it won’t take long before you realize your mistake. Lots of them will run up your leg and all at once they will bite you. After you have brushed them all off these tiny blisters appear that itch like crazy. The only way I have been able to get them to stop itching is to pop the blister. But it leaves a mark. My legs told that story pretty well when we were living in Louisiana!
Resurrection Fern
This is a pretty common plant in the south. It grows on the branches of mature trees, mostly live oaks. It is called resurrection fern because it will wither up and look like it is dead if there haven’t been any rains recently. But once it rains it turns green again and starts looking healthy.

Truckstop Honeymoon

From the Smoky Mountains we headed towards Chattanooga, Tennessee to catch a show by a band called Truckstop Honeymoon. Some of you reading may have caught their show last winter in Fairbanks or may have heard them before hurricane Katrina when they were living in New Orleans. They are a two person band that play standup bass, 12 string guitar and banjo and sing about topics such as communism, uniting union workers and getting kicked out the Waffle House for making out in the booth. In other words they are a very fun, energetic, great dancing and a good old knee slapping band. Truckstop Honeymoon and the guy’s solo work (Mike West) have quickly become my favorite bands since we downloaded some of their music from our friend Jock before we left Fairbanks. I encourage all of you who don’t know either band to check out their web sites (truckstophoneymoon.com and mikewest.net) and pick up some of their music. It won’t take you long before you’ll be hooked too!!

Mike and Katie from Truckstop Honeymoon