This next leg of our winter journey took us cross-county
past cattle pastures to Stuart.
Florida St Rt 714 had a tunnel of trees that reminded both of us of the
tunnel of trees in Cross Village Michigan.
The live oaks and cypress trees crossed their Spanish moss draped
fingers over us for several miles.
Luckily H got us a spot in the St Lucie Lock campground, but
it was only for one night. Do I need
to say “SPFB”? Out of the 9 campsites
there, folks from Michigan occupied 4 of them. It was a friendly group that spent “Happy Hour“ together that
day and we even kept in touch after we moved around the corner to the Phipps
County Park for the rest of the week.
In Phipps Park our site backed right up to the St Lucie Canal and as
always the view of all the passing vessels was neat to see. If they had to wait for the lock to open,
they would hover right in front of us!
With all the rain that Florida has had in the last few months, there is
concern about Lake Okeechobee getting to high – after all, it is 13 feet above
sea level - and rising. 15 feet and the authorities really get
panicky we were told! For several days
the TV news was full of the controversy over releasing too much of the water
from the lake into the canal and causing another green algae bloom and killing
the fish, like what happened last year.
There were protesters at the lock at 7am one morning and 2 TV crews were
out broadcasting each day. We could see
them from our campsite on the down side of the lock and dam! On the our side of the lock and dam is salt
water and the folks on this side are saying that the algae is caused from the
pollution from the ”fresh” water that drains south into the lake from the
orange groves, cattle ranches and dairy farms further north in Florida. Of course the sugar cane farmers on the
south end of the river don’t want more water released in their direction and
neither do the folks on the Ft Myers end of the lake! What a dilemma!
High humidity and heat were the buzzwords for the week – a
big difference from the cold damp rain from weeks gone by! H is always saying that I’m in a fog and
this week it was true! The extreme
humidity was giving my old eyes a fit!
Besides that, it was too hot to even think of putting the boat
together. By noon the windows got
closed and the air came on and we were out exploring! Restaurants with good fish on their menus were on the agenda for
a few days!
On one venture we ended up
in Ft Pierce and back out on the long fishing jetty that protrudes into the
Atlantic. Fishermen dotted the length
of the jetty and the pelicans were at their post, guarding the fish cleaning
station. We watched several boats
venture out to the end of the protective jetty and then slowly turn back, not
willing to fight with the rough choppy waves beyond. To the east, the sky was as blue as can be and the expanse of
salt water below was a beautiful aqua.
The sun was shining brightly.
To the west was another matter!
Heavy clouds were beginning to intrude on the peaceful scene and you
could see the dark vertical ribbons, which meant rain was successfully escaping
the overloaded clouds. We made it off
the jetty and out of the park but did not make it off the island and back to
the security of the “condo” before the deluge began.
On another day, downtown Stuart was explored again and
Hutchinson Island was revisited also!
Last year the tide was way out and folks were sitting in the sand in the
alcoves created by the huge jagged boulders.
Not so this year! The large
white crashing waves were exploding over the very tops of those craggy rough
rocks! Just south of the Refuge and
rocks, Bathtub Bay was now open but mammoth dunes of white sand now edged the
soggy cramped parking lot. The beach
that had been damaged by previous storms was cleared but the sand under the two
neighboring 2 story houses was missing.
Supports under the houses were exposed; doors were missing and windows
were broken. “No Trespassing” signs
were posted. We wondered how long they
would be allowed to stay that way.
We’ll have to check, next year!
