After Christmas

Dec 26, 2015:  Temps pretty warm (85+) and humid for our work week.  All of our campsites were pretty much full.  Even though we had a lot of people in the campground we don't have a lot to clean up as they all leave their sites and the bathrooms in pretty good condition.

Eric hard at work....

our gator pond

We did go for an organized bird walk on Sunday with our counterparts Larry and Ruth. Our guide was very good.  He had a lot of very interesting stories and hints on bird identification.

An Anhinga eating a walking Catfish..

Monday we took a ride East towards Miami.  We have not been more than .25 miles east of our campground since we arrived.  We did a bit of shopping, its a bit closer than going West to Naples.  As we were arriving back at camp we seen a Rattle Snake!!  Freaked Eric out..

the snake is just under the gate by the big rock

Suppose to cool down for the weekend.. we will see but in the meantime we are heading to Fort Lauderdale to hang at the beach for a few days.

Christmas day

Dec 25, 2015:

Merry Christmas.  Today is our work day, we got an early start.  Eric set up the booster.  We only get 3G so it is a bit slow but at least we can get online from the comfort of our home..

The weather is exactly the same as in July!!  It is a bit warm and humid, we might see  "normal"temps in 7 days.

The volunteers that stayed here all met for a pot luck meal at Headquarters.  There was about 30 of us  and the Law Enforcement crew on duty joined us.  We had a wonderful meal, of course too much food.  Played a few games and was able to meet the other volunteers.  Great day!

Naples beach day

Wed Dec 23, 2015:

We headed out early for Delnor Wiggins Pass State Park in the northern part of Naples.  The beach was our destination.  We spend the afternoon walking and birding then sitting and swimming and paddle boarding...

the water was a bit cool at 75

after checking into our hotel we went for dinner at Fish Resturant.  The food was OK.. Not the best we have had but good, service could have been better.  but it was pretty close to the hotel and on the water.

Dec 24,  Morning at Ludermilk Park beach about 3 miles from our hotel.

A few birds were kind enough to let me take their picture

Willet

Snowy Egret

Royal Terns, they have fun hair cuts

Eric spent a bit of time on the paddle board

fun sand sculpture

relaxing on a dolphin, we did see a few pods of them in the gulf

I had ordered a booster for my phone and internet.  We stopped by the Visitor center and great luck it was there!

We had a Christmas Eve gathering of volunteers at our campground.  although it was pretty warm night we enjoyed the fire and friendship.

Full moon on Christmas morning:

fun time in Naples, we will try that again..

Dec 21-

We headed into Naples early this morning. We went to Eagle Lakes Parks for a very nice walk.  about 3 miles around the ponds and park.  We seen 49 birds but nothing new...

Anhinga

butterfly

Wood Stork

Butterfly

After a quick lunch we took the truck in...  then headed to Verizon.... Radio Shack and Best Buy but no luck in finding a booster.  We finally arrived home, where I ran next door to get info on our neighbors set up.  (they were leaving in the morning to go home for a week).   He showed me what he had, gave me the box and info..  I then used his booster to order my booster!  it is a bit costly ($400) but we can use it at home too..

We are settled in at Big Cypress!!

Dec 15, 2015.  Well it was very foggy this morning when we got up.  We departed at about 8:45 for our final destination.  Big Cypress National Preserve, Midway Campground.  We got to Headquarters at about 10:30.  Got some of our paperwork out of the way then it was time for their Holiday luncheon!  Famous Dave’s catered the meal along with some homemade sides and deserts.  We were able to meet a lot of the other volunteers and staff.   

We left the party so we could get set up at our site:

 Nice Campground, nice people.  We went to pick up our shirts etc. at the Visitor Center about 3 miles from our campground.

Sat with the other 3 volunteer  couples for a bit before the rain chased us all inside.  2 couples are campground hosts,  one couple from Maine the other from North Carolina.  The other maintenance volunteer couple (Larry and Ruth) are from Michigan.    We have good TV but will set the satellite up sometime this week.  No phone or Internet.  Not sure how that will work for 3.5 months!

Dec 16:  Larry and Ruth took us around the camp to show us how to clean, pick up trash and check the water.  We then went to meet with the volunteer manager, signed a bunch of papers, got a bunch of information then off to Everglades City:

Lunch time at:

fried grouper and shrimp..  both very very good.  we Have to try the Stone Crabs someday.

Then into Naples, found the Ford Dealership to have our truck serviced, found Walmart and other stores before heading back.  We did stop a few times for a bit of hiking and birding.  

some of the trails are a bit wet..  we turned around

this is the country's smallest Post Office and it just so happens it is our Post Office!

Very nice day..  tomorrow is our 1^st work day. 

We were looking for a booster for our internet and cell phone but no luck yet.  We will have to find Best Buy or Verizon to get a good one next week. 

Thurs- Sun

Our uniforms: 

We worked Thurs-Sun this week.  Basicly our job is to keep the camprounds and bathrooms cleans.  It takes about an hour to do both, so we head out to the road to walk a mile there picking up trash.  We have met some really nice people camping at our campground.   we can leave the campground for a bit during our shift or after..  we did hit a few trails

On Sunday we volunteered for the Christmas Bird count.  seen 2000 Tree Swallows!

The weather has been unseasonably hot and humid.  Which is the exact opposite of what we encountered on our journey down here.  We have had the A/C on since we set up .  not complaining, just saying…. 

Going to Naples tomorrow (Monday) to get the truck serviced, hopefully get a booster, bird walk and some shopping...