10/31/06 (Tuesday): Today we're going to leave the Tiger Creek Preserve for a little hike with Wiley's Mom and dad, our niece, Katelyn, and good friends Les and Troy. We went over near Oviedo to the Little Big Econ State Foresst. This is a lovely area on the Econlockhatchee River (now you can see why we shorten the name to "Econ"!).

It was a very hot day. We started with breakfast at our favorite local restaurant, whose name has escaped me at the moment (Mag--help me out here!). It was a long wait to fit all of us in, but we had fun catching up on everyone's news and watching the ducks (a local landmark--they just roam the town at will).

The main purpose of our hike was to visit a new bridge that was just dedicated. Unfortunately, due to the heat and the sugar sand on the trail (very difficult to hike in loose sand), we never reached the bridge. We saw lots of animal tracks in that loose sand, though, which was fun. Mag and Wiley headed back by a shortcut while the rest of us pushed on. They were smart--we never did find the bridge, and it was just not a pleasant hike. We all got so hot that we turned back early. Some of us were not feeling too well, and we didn't want to push too hard.

Wiley and I spent a few more days with his parents. They're so generous in feeding us, letting us use their washer and dryer and putting up with us. They actually had us convinced they were happy to have us invade their home! Thanks, Mag and Wiley!

David and Katelyn (our nephew and niece) have grown up so much (is that facial hair already?!) and we enjoyed their company, too. Uncle Wiley took them metal detecting one afternoon. David liked it so much he's thinking of buying one for himself. We're hoping the whole family will come here for a visit.


Shortly after we got home from our visit with Wiley's folks, our friends, Julie and John, came for a visit. They only had one afternoon to spend with us, but we had a great time! We sat in the shade near the pond and got caught up, and then took a ride on the ATV through part of the preserve, ending up at the bridge over Patrick Creek. What a blast!

Well, that's about it for this time. Next time I'll tell you a little more about our jobs here and our visit to the Treasure Coast. Stay tuned!

10/29/06 (Sunday): We're finally on the internet again! Our new digs are so far back of beyond that you can't even get cable TV (there's no cable)! We finally figured out how to hook up to the Nature Conservancy's broadband.

So, with no further ado, here we go with Phase II of Joyce and Wiley's Great Adventure! I'll start with some pics of our new abode and surrounds.

As soon as you get off the main road (state road 27) you're in orange grove and cattle ranching country. There are lots of dirt roads, lakes and a surprising amount of wildlife.



Our RV is set up on top of a little sandy hill next to a barn looking out over a small lake.




This is our lake at sunrise our first morning here. We got up early and took a walk. We're on 5000 acres of sand scrub on the Lake Wales Ridge, which is some of the most endangered land in FL. The Nature Conservancy describes it this way:




"The Lake Wales Ridge is a landscape of contrasts. It includes desert-like habitats, but absorbs 50 inches of rain most years. It is the highest point in peninsular Florida, but stands only 295 feet above sea level. It is an enormous sand dune, but the ocean has long since receded. Its scrub habitat is a forest, but of miniature scale. It shelters one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world, but its well-drained sand is attractive to both citrus farming and housing developments.

The future of the Lake Wales Ridge Ecosystem depends upon our commitment to create economic incentives for private landowners to manage their land for native species, to support public land acquisition and to ensure these lands are effectively managed.








Wiley and I will work to help Nature Conservancy by maintaining the section of Florida Trail that runs through the property, eradicating invasive non-native species, cleaning the office and helping out in the office. There are four paid employees at this site, 3 volunteers and 1 intern. Our boss, Adam, is in charge of the controlled burning program to help restore and maintain the ecosystem which would be here if man hadn't stopped the natural fires resulting from lightning.

That's about it for now. In future blogs I'll have pictures of our first week here as we explored the area, including a hike with Wiley and Marguerite, a visit with Julie and John, our first ride on an ATV, a visit to Vero Beach in search of treasure, and a hike at Arbuckle Forest (including a very rare sight). Stay tuned (I love my life!).

10/27/06 (Friday): Well, I had a little problem accessing the internet here in the back of beyond, so I haven't been able to post yet (I'm at my in-laws' now). I think I have it all figured out now, so I hope to do a posting this weekend. The new job is great--love the people and the scenery. I've seen eagles every day and a pond turtle laying eggs! Wiley caught some bass in the pond right by the camper. I saw the orthopaedist yesterday and the wrist and thumb are coming along fine. I'll get the cast off in 2-1/2 weeks and then get some physical therapy. Julie and John are visiting with us this weekend and Cathy and the rest of the Dykes clan will come soon. I hope Troy and some of the FTA gang will come hang out with us a little, too. We might put you to work on the trail! Hang in there with me--I'll get it together soon!

10/24/06 (Tuesday): No, I'm not giving up on the blog! We've been a little busy setting up in our new home and taking care of some appointments. Also, the laptop had to go into the shop for a while. Starting tomorrow, I'll be doing a blog of Phase II of Joyce and Wiley's Great Adventure (Florida edition). Please stay tuned!

10/17/06 (Tuesday): We made it! We arrived yesterday evening and spent the night in Wiley and Mag's house (parked the camper in their driveway). Today we dropped the camper off in its new home near Lake Wales. We met the 4 Nature Conservancy employees. I think we're going to enjoy this a lot! Wrist killing me right now--more later. Seeing orthopaedist tomorrow.

10/14/15 (Saturday): Well, we're in NC now (Smithfield, which I think is not far from Raleigh). We're doing okay--the driving is very stressful because my arm gets tired. We're stopping frequently and ending the day early. It'll probably take us two more days at this rate. We're going directly to the preserve and leaving the RV, then we'll go stay with Wiley's folks for a week while we get physicals, go to the dentist and (for me) see the orthopaedist. We're scheduled to start on the 20th, but they're very flexible.

We had a hair raising experience yesterday. We pulled into Patapsco State Park around 4 PM and followed the sign to the campground, but we were confronted suddenly with a bridge too low for us to go under. We hadn't seen any signs at the entrance, but there we were about 1/4 mile down a curvy road with fairly heavy traffic! Bummer! We called the park office and they sent a ranger out to stop traffic. I had to back up the hill one handed around the curves! When I was almost to the end, a kind guy took it the rest of the way for me. I thought my arm was going to fall off! But I figured if I could do that one handed, I'm doing okay!

Here are some pics from our trip so far--the color was beautiful thru NY and PA, but it was still pretty green in MD. It's actually warm here in SC!

See everyone soon!




Sunrise at campground in PA



Hay wagon in field in PA















MD rest stop













View of our camper from restaurant window (MD)

10/10/06 (Tuesday): This will be short because I'm typing one-handed. I KNOW IT'S NOT POLITE TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS, BUT IT'S MUCH EASIER, SO FORGIVE ME!

WE'RE LEAVING THE CAMPGROUND TODAY AND HEADING BACK TO FLORIDA. WE HAD A GREAT TIME WITH JULIE AND JOHN, AND I'M SO THEY WERE ABLE TO STAY FOR A WHILE SO I COULD GET USED TO DOING EVERYTHING WITH MY LEFT HAND. W E TOOK SEVERAL SCENIC DRIVES AND ENJOYED THE FALL FOLIAGE.

WILEY HAS PLOTTED A ROUTE FOR US THAT AVOIDS MOUNTAINS AND MAJOR CITIES. WE'LL ONLY DRIVE FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS A DAY SO THAT MY GOOD ARM DOESN'T GET OVER TIRED.

WE'VE HAD A THOROUGHLY GOOD EXPERIENCE THIS SUMMER AND ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR WINTER IN THE FLORIDA WILDERNESS.

HERE ARE A FEW PHOTOS OF OUR LAST FEW DAYS IN MAINE.

10/7/06 (Saturday): It's been an exciting couple of days! Julie and John arrived Tuesday evening. Wednesday we did our famous trip to Port Clyde to see the lobster boats come in, with all the stops along the way. Unfortunately, we only made it to the Birch Point Beach stop--I fell and broke my wrist and thumb walking on the beach! I have a temporary cast on and still plan to head back starting on the 11th. Typing is tiring, so I'll post more details another time. I'm okay--don't worry!

10/2/06 (Monday): Well, no pictures tonight, but I'll post some random news and thoughts for all you adventure junkies!

We miss Monkey so much. Every time I come into the RV, I expect to hear her little greeting sound. When I'm lying on the couch reading, I miss her warm little body in my lap. Some kind person posted anonymously on the last blog that they made a donation in her name to the local cat shelter--wasn't that a kind thing to do?! I know we made the right decision, and I'm not wracked with guilt or anything, but I really do miss her!

We've been very busy putting the finishing touches on our new tile floor. I'll take a picture of it as soon as we finish. We're putting down shoe molding now. Wiley's a genius at cutting all those angles. I'll pat myself on the back, too, because I did a really nice job putting down the tile. The lines are all straight and it's a nice, tight fit.

The campground is not busy at all now. I take my book (and sometimes my laptop) to the office with me on work days. We've sold off most of our merchandise with our 40% off sale, so the store looks empty, too. Monday, 10/9, is our last day (and I only work 2 hours that day). The owners have invited us to dinner on the 5th, but we declined because Julie and John will be here and we'd rather do something with them. But that was very nice--they've already had a year-end celebration for us.

The weather is very cool here now. The high today was only 56 and it's only going to warm up to the lower 60's later this week. At night it's going down into the lower 40's--definitely sleep under the down comforter weather!

We're looking forward to Julie and John's visit. It'll give us a chance to re-do all the things we enjoyed the most before we leave. We'll probably pull out on 10/10 or 10/11 and head for FL. We're ready for some warm weather and seeing family and friends again!

9/28/06 (Thursday): This is a very sad day for us. We had Monkey euthanized this morning. Her kidneys have been failing for about a month now, and she had a very bad night last night. We decided early this morning that it was just a matter of timing and we were going to need to do it sooner or later. We're replacing the flooring in the camper and getting ready to make a very long trip back to Florida, and it just didn't seem fair to put her through that.

Monkey has been a joy to us for 19 years since we found her in our front yard where she was almost killed by a pack of dogs. She was quirky, smart, affectionate and funny. We'll miss her.

9/27/06 (Wednesday): Coming into the home stretch here--just 12 days to go! We're still enjoying work, the weather and the great scenery.

Last night we said goodbye to some camper friends who have been here the whole season, Gary and Nina. We had them over for hamburgers and enjoyed some wine around the campfire. It's getting cold enough that we really appreciated the fire! Then we came inside and gobbled up the delicious apple pie that they baked for the occasion. We hope to be able to stay in contact with some of the wonderful people we've met while we were here. Gary and Nina are on their way to Texas.

Monkey is having some health problems that have us worried. We've had her to the vet twice now. She's in the early stages of kidney failure. The vet has us giving her IV's every other day and has put her on special canned cat food. If she's not better by the end of this week, we've made the very difficult decision to have her put to sleep. We don't want to subject her to the long trip back to Florida, and we want to remember her for the nutty, engaging kitty she's always been, not as an invalid.

We've been tearing up the carpeting in the bedroom today (in addition to doing laundry and normal chores. Tomorrow we'll put down some tile (same as the tile in the living room). We've been enjoying the way it looks as well as how easy it is to keep clean. I enjoy this kind of project, but poor Wiley doesn't--he usually gets stuck with the hard and dirty parts of projects. He's doing the bulk of the ripping up and removing staples part of the job. I'm the expert on the finish work. I'll cut, fit and stick down the new tiles and then put down the toe molding (trim). We make a good team--everyone who's seen the work we did here has commented that it's very well done.

No pictures this time. The leaves are just beginning to change and I'm sitting here looking at the evening light slanting through the trees and casting colored shadows on the sides of the camper. There are very few people here now. We pick up a few over weekends, and we'll probably pick up some more next week (leaf peepers). Our friends, Julie and John, will be here next Wednesday. We're looking forward to viewing the colors with them and making one last round of our favorite haunts.

I've got to get back to work now--we're trying to finish up so that we can go buy some trim pieces we need and then go to Pizza Hut for dinner.

9/22/06 (Friday): We had a fantastic day today! We took my cousins, Donna and Dave` to Port Clyde where we caught the ferry (the Elizabeth Ann) to Monhegan Island--something I've been wanting to do since we first got here.

We left right on time, but about 10 minutes out the captain came on the loud speaker and said we were going back to the dock to pick up some stragglers. It was unbelievable the outcry that arose--you'd have thought the trip was canceled or we'd been asked to make some huge sacrifice! I felt sorry for the people who came aboard. They were teased and even treated sort of rudely by some of the passengers.

We hadn't gone too much further when someone spotted a whale. It came up twice and then a few minutes later I spotted one on the other side of the boat! What a treat! I went over and thanked the folks who'd come and late--I said we'd have missed the whale if we hadn't been delayed! They appreciated that, and I later heard them repeating it to some of the other folks. The captain said the whales we saw were minke (pronounced minkie) whales. This picture is from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_Whale), and this is about how much we saw of the whale. They're pretty small, but what a treat!

Monhegan is a small (about 1 square mile), rocky island about 10 miles from the nearest mainland. It is accessible only by boat. There are no cars or paved roads on the island, although we saw a few pick-up trucks doing construction.

Many of the houses do not have electricity (we could see kerosene and oil lamps through the windows of many homes). A few had hand pumps outside the kitchen doors.

The explorer John Smith visited the island in 1614, but it was well known as a prime fishing area to the Native Americans long before that. Fishing and lobstering are still the mainstays of the local economy, although it's also well know as a haven for artists.



Most of the homes had lovely gardens and there were lots of artists working outside everywhere--also sculptures in front of many buildings. The year-round population is about 65 people. This tree guy was carved in place on a stump!



There's a hotel, a school, a library, a general store and a couple of small gift shops and restaurants.









The first thing we saw when we got off the boat was Elva's P.O. Store. That was my mother's first name, and it's a very unusual one. I've never met anyone else with that name. It turns out that Elva was the postmistress in the 1890's.









We walked around the village and then got on a very pretty road that became a hiking trail with a kind of ugly name--Burnt Head. It led from the town to the uninhabited side of the island on the Atlantic.

The wildflowers were gorgeous. When I saw this one, I knew immediately that it was a fringed gentian. I'd never seen one, but I remembered the poem by William Cullen Bryan that I learned in high school:

"Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye
Look through its fringes to the sky,
Blue—blue—as if that sky let fall
A flower from its cerulean wall."

We could hear the breakers even before we reached the sea. This side of the island has some of the highest cliffs in all of Maine. It seemed like we were taking photos at every bend in the trail. This is absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life.

There were artists working here, too.







This cross with a life preserver on it was a sad reminder that the cliffs can be dangerous as well as beautiful.







The trail curved back toward town, passing by the highest point on the island where the Monhegan Lighthouse stands. There's a museum there, but we reached it too late and it was closing. Plus we had to get back so we didn't make the ferry late (didn't want to receive any of the verbal abuse of the unfortunate passengers on the outgoing ferry!). We enjoyed a view of the town and Manana Island with its abandoned Coast Guard station on the way down. There are rocks purported to contain Norse or Phoenician inscriptions on Manana Island. Wish we could have gotten over there to see that!


We had ice cream in a little store with a beautiful view before we headed back. No whales on this trip, but lots of fresh air and our great hike had given us an appetite that the ice cream didn't satisfy. Donna and Dave treated us to a great seafood dinner at Cappy's in Camden. We all turned in early. Donna and Dave are leaving in the morning and Wiley and I go back to work.

9/21/06 (Thursday): We did my favorite day trip today with my cousins, Donna and Dave. We started by driving up Mt. Battie in Camden Hills State Park. It was a crystal clear day--we could even see Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, which is a 2-hour drive away. Aren't those clouds magnificent?!

Next we headed for Owl's Head State Park. We had a picnic lunch overlooking the water and then walked up the steps to the lighthouse. I've posted pictures of the lighthouse many times before, so I won't bore you with more. We walked a bit on the beach looking for beach glass. The beach glass up here is really beautiful and many crafts people make lovely jewelry and mosaics from it. I found a piece of blue glass that's really nice.

Our next stop was Birch Point Beach State Park. Dave took a nap on the warm rocks while Donna and I sat by a huge tidal pool and watched a couple of crabs and some hermit crabs and hundreds of snails. Tidal pools are absolutely mesmerizing. I can sit and observe the life in them for hours! We also enjoyed watching this cormorant fish in the midst of a school of small fish. Every time he (she?) dove underwater, a little school of fish would jump out of the water and then (s)he'd reappear with a little fish meal in his bill.

From there we headed down the St. George peninsula, stopping here and there at little stores or scenic spots that appealed to us. We happened upon a lobster dock where a couple of boats had just pulled in. First we watched some guys load their boat with bait and fuel. They were apparently headed out for some evening lobstering (or maybe getting ready for a really early departure tomorrow). Then we watched them unloading one of the boats, and I called down and asked one of the men if we could buy some lobster. He sold us 3 big ones for $28!! That's a great price. The guys are out cooking them right now. This is the third day in a row that they've eaten lobster, but that's what they wanted to do. I'm not crazy about lobster, so I'll eat leftovers from last night.

We're planning to go over to Monhegan Island on the mail boat tomorrow. Should get some fantastic pictures there--a lot of artists live and paint there, including my personal favorite, Andrew Wyeth. Tune in again!

9/20/06 (Wednesday): Today started out rainy and dreary and then turned into a gorgeous indian summer day. Dave's car has been in the shop since they got here, so he went with me to Walmart and the grocery store.

After lunch it cleared up and we took a walk on the breakwater. The breakwater is almost 5,000 feet long. It was built from 700,000 tons of stone, starting in 1881 and finished in 1899. The lighthouse on the end was erected in 1902. The water is very clear and there's lots of seaweed. We usually see starfish and sea urchins on the rocks and lots of seagulls and cormorants. Rockland harbor is full of interesting boats, including one that looks a lot like a pirate ship. We can never get a good picture of it because of the sun.

A lobster boat was working quite nearby and we saw the lobstermen retrieve several lobsters from their traps.


Although the wild flowers are fading, we're seeing more butterflies than ever before. I haven't figured that one out, yet.

After our walk, Donna and Dave picked up some lobsters and clams for us. We ate at the picnic table and had a nice fire.

Tomorrow we're going to go to Camden Hills State Park and then down to Port Clyde (the same trip we made with Wiley's parents). I've made some pasta salad and tomorrow I'll make some wrap sandwiches for our picnic lunch. I sure hope the good weather holds!