MOSS PARK! A Florida Favorite! SPFB for the pictures of the long lanky gray sandhill cranes and big tall swaying pine trees and the huge sprawling live oak trees! These last 2 weeks have just flown by - - - like the cranes and hawks have been doing! It’s nesting/mating time for all the creatures that live here so there’s been A LOT of squawking, and courting and chasing – including the Jurassic Park sounding sandhill cranes and the frisky little fox squirrels that zing around and around the tree trunks! One of the tom turkeys has been busy strutting and gobbling and pecking at the shiny bumpers on George’s SUV!! George is the resident camp host and wildlife photographer here in Moss Park and has put together a really good movie with narration of all the birds and animals that call the park home. On last years blog we talked about the baby cranes and G has them featured in his movie presentation! They were SO cute!
The canoe made it off its home on top of the Jeep for several days! We bought fishing licenses at Walmart but unfortunately we got the ones that didn’t work. Never the less, it was great to be able to drag that lure around the lake and enjoy the wonderful 70-80 degree weather, taking in the serenity of the peaceful 2 lakes and the small cypress lined river that joins them. Most of the time the surface of lakes and river was like a dark tinted sheet of glass with an occasional ribbon of baby rickrack ripples disturbing the calm. The rushes would whisper in the gentle wind and the red-winged blackbirds would sing to each other - - - BUT THE FISH WOULD NOT BITE!! Oh well – there’s always next time.
Bobbie and Gene arrived and were joined by their friends, Ron and Ginny – who soon became our friends too! Twice we enjoyed a meal together and got to know each other better around a perfect campfire, which included the making of blueberry or cherry pies! Those 4 folks are musically inclined so H and I were treated to several interludes of dulcimer, lap harp, metal drum and even Indian flute music! This old blind lady can play the lap harp and I couldn’t even see the strings!
R&N moved from Davenport to Melbourne and had to pass thru St Cloud, about 20 miles south of here. We met them for lunch at the Catfish Place and indulged in yet another good seafood meal! Another fun side trip was last Saturday when we joined G&B at a surprise birthday party for B at their daughter’s home in St Cloud! We met so many of their friends and family!
As most of you now realize – the Space Shuttle is set to launch for it’s historic final trip on Thursday Feb 24th. H decided we should drive over to Titusville and Merritt Island’s Canaveral National Seashore to see if we could see the shuttle on it’s launch pad at the adjoining Kennedy Space Center. We stopped at the Merritt Island visitor center and then drove out to the beaches but unfortunately the day was hazy and the view was not very clear. You could see the assembly building and the two launch pads but the shuttle itself was on the furthest away pad and the shuttle was on the wrong side. We did walk the white sandy beach and took in the sand and white rolling surf. All along the beach were signs about nudity and how it was not permitted on the beaches. HOWEVER – at the north end of the National Seashore beach – were more than just a few folks who had on little more than just a hat! I wanted to post on this blog the picture I took of an older couple walking in front of us up the beach, but H said NO! The shorter, rounder lady was fully clothed – her taller, thinner gentleman had on - - - YEP – a hat!! Nice buns tho, for an old guy!
Our stay here at Moss Park is just about done. Our two weeks are up. We’ve taken attendance of all the animals, we’ve drug those beetle spins up and down the shorelines, we’ve given our bikes a good workout, we’ve enjoyed the company of good friends and breathed in the WARM fresh air of Central Florida so now it’s time to pack up the sewing machine, roll up the carpet, put away the chairs and hang the bikes on the rack. Time to go to Sebastian Inlet and hopefully see the shuttle launch!
