Port Charlotte, FL (68 degrees, sunny, blue skies)
Today we celebrate our third anniversary as full timers. We have had a very exciting year and although initially unplanned, we never left the state of Florida. You soon find out "on the road" your plans tend to be in jello with lots of
wiggle room. Originally we had planned to workamp in Maine but decided to take advantage of a volunteer position at Ding for the summer. It's a beautiful refuge on Sanibel Island and a birders paradise.
We started our third year working at a kiosk in Port Charlotte and have returned again to work another Christmas season. In addition, we have been invited back as resident volunteers to J.N. Ding Darling NWR this January and are looking forward to being on Sanibel Island during peak birding season.
This year we became birders and this has turned out to be a very fun hobby. We have seen lots of really cool birds and are planning on going to Magee Marsh in May for the spring migration in Ohio. We wish to thank our friends Fran and Randy for introducing us to this great hobby. They have answered lots of our questions and their sheer joy of birding has certainly been contagious.
We also had a wonderful time touring Florida last winter with our friends Bev and JC. We stayed at some great parks and had lots of fun times together touring up and down the coast of Florida.
This year some of the highlights have included:
- Traveling 2942 miles (down from 7076 last year)
- Exploring many more miles in our Jeep Liberty
- Spending our time in one state this year (fifteen last year)
- Managing a sport memorabilia kiosk in a mall in November and December
- Volunteering at J.N. Ding Darling NWR from April - October
- Paddled many rivers and two oceans in our kayak
- Added 126 birds to our life list
- Rode a Segway (twice)
- Swam with manatees
- Saw loggerhead turtles being released into the ocean
- Treasured several visits with family and friends
- Broke my hand (ouch)
- Visited Walt Disney World Parks twice (whew)
- Plus so much more...here are a few highlights in pictures.
Some of our favorite bird photos
Paddling some spectacular rivers
Visits to some interesting places
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| Astronaut museum |
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| Jet boat ride |
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| Deep sea fishing |
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| Segway Tour Cape Canaveral |
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| Kennedy Space Museum |
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| St. Augustine |
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| Hobo Beach |
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| Key West |
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Cedar Key
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| Epcot Center |
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| Bahia Honda snorkeling trip |
Appreciated nature of all kinds
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| Boa constrictor hide |
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| Manatees |
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| Alligators |
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| Globe spider |
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| Loggerhead turtle eggs |
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| Loggerhead hatchlings heading to the sea |
Enjoyed spectacular sunsets
Enjoyed some spectacular beaches
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| Kite surfing |
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| St. Augustine |
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| Causeway bridge heading to Sanibel |
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| Ft. DeSoto |
Volunteering at J.N. Ding Darling
It's been another great trip around the sun. Thanks for joining us! This summer we plan on heading out west. Hope you'll come along again for the ride.
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| Our favorite co-pilot |
