Ooooooooooooooooops - one more post!

Since it is December, every place we go is heavily decorated. Many of the RV’s we see are decorated, some of them heavily. Many of the residences are decorated, even many of the condominium units’ balconies. Local municipalities have their decorations on the lampposts and in the parks. But I particularly liked the decorations put out by this pub.

The city of Flagler Beach seems to go all out, and I am sure the local pubs and restaurants take full advantage of it. On Saturday they had their Holiday Parade and the place was mobbed. I made a bad call trying to get through town just after the parade ended and was essentially stranded in a half block for about an hour before I just turned around and went back. Last Friday was the First Friday in December. The city park gets decked out, vendors and kiddie stuff galore, and local bands provide the music. It was fun!

We also managed to find the ruins of the Bulow Plantation. In 1821 Major Charles Wilhelm Bulow acquired nearly 5,000 acres on a tidal creek that was later named Bulow Creek. Milling sugar made the plantation a huge financial success. Sadly, in 1863 during the Second Seminole War, the plantation was burned to the ground. While only some crumbling foundations remain of the mansion and the slave quarters, we wandered through the ruins of the old sugar mill, and could actually get an idea of the milling process by the remains of the vats and boilers.

Talk again next February.

Talk to you soon. 

Settled in Flagler Beach

Well, we have settled in for a few months in Flagler Beach Florida. This may be the most glorious place we have ever parked, and we’re looking forward to being here to spend Christmas and the New Year. The kids are coming for Christmas and we can’t wait to get together with them. Since there won’t be much exploring going on for a few months, we’ll be signing off on the Blog for a while.

Before we completely settled down, we decided to head down to Daytona Beach and drive on the world’s most famous beach. We were here on this beach before, but it was decades ago. It was high tide when we ventured onto the beach, and in some of the narrower parts we actually had to drive through the waves as they crashed up close to the seawall. But we were able to get through the entire drivable stretch. It brought back great memories.

When we got off the beach, it turned out that we were only 15 miles from the Peter Wolf Toth Museum and Gallery in Edgewater Florida. We had only been able to drive by it the other day because there was nowhere that we could park Colectiva. So, we went back, and to our great surprise, Mr. Toth himself was trimming palm trees as we drove up. We chatted with him for maybe a half hour or so, reminiscing about having bumped into him in Cherokee NC.

Mr. Toth showed us around his gallery, which not only had a bunch of whispering giants, but a lot of other wood carvings as well. What a bonus! In Edgewater we stopped in at Dustin’s Barbeque to grab some lunch. We knew it had to be a good place to eat with great food – either that or they served donuts!

When we talk to you again in 2020, we won’t be living in Colectiva anymore. In an impulsive moment, we agreed to trade her in on a new motorhome. Merry Christmas – we’ll fill you in after the New Year!

Talk to you soon.

Another side trip

We ended up making another side trip on our way toward Flagler Beach. It was time for an oil change for Colectiva, so we found a Camping World near Cocoa Beach and headed there. We learned as we were killing service time that we were only a handful of miles from Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. While we both had visited as kids, we couldn’t help but at least visit.

As we were leaving Fort Pierce, we happened to drive by the Fort Pierce Marina. We found a number of huge sheet metal buildings that were used as sheltered boat storage. On all of our various travels we have seen a number of examples of people spending an awful lot of money just for a joke. But the one we spotted in Fort Pierce Marina was certainly one of the best.

When we bumped into Peter Wolf Toth in Cherokee NC, he told us that his permanent studio was in Edgewater FL. While it was a bit off the beaten path it wasn’t too far off. Sadly Mr. Toth must still be on the road repair some Whispering Giant somewhere, as he wasn’t on site at the Art Gallery and Museum. But it was fun to see what we have come to identify as his sculptures surrounding the grounds. Fun!

Talk to you soon.

Machu Picchu

So, of course the Woman’s favorite part of our visit to Peru was the Inca Trail. In the 1,300’s the advanced civilization of the Inca’s built over 25,000 miles of roads, far more than the Roman’s built. While the trails still can be found, and in many cases are still in use, many of the roads built by the Inca’s are far more strenuous than anything the Woman has encountered on the Appalachian Trail.

We were very fortunate to have two days at Machu Picchu. One of our days we met an entire day of rain. We learned that our Amazon guaranteed waterproof products were far from waterproof – maybe water resistant, but even that might be a push. I will say that my raincoat held up for about an hour, before the long-sleeved shirt I wore for warmth began to drip from being waterlogged. While it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm to check one off our bucket list, we did get a bit soggy.

We found it hard to imagine the scope of this city, especially since it was built in the early 1,400’s with no heavy equipment. They had no cranes. All stones utilized in the construction were moved by human power. The carving of the stones to fit together so precisely were apparently made using obsidian stones with sharp edges. The Inca used no mortar – they stacked stone on stone with such a precision fit that they have weathered the earthquake ridden area for over 600 years.

Exploring Machu Picchu, we saw how the Inca made sure that water was available. The evidence of managed water flow was clear – they diverted nearby water sources, routed them through their city, and made it easy for the residents to access fresh water. They knew that water was an absolute need, and set their cities adjacent to reliable water sources.

The other need for a city is food. The Inca built extensive networks of agricultural terraces where they grew the food needed to feed the estimated 1,000 people living here. They carved the hillside, carefully placed 4 layers starting with rock, then gravel, then sand and finally fertile soil. With the water sources they created and the created agricultural terraces, the Inca were able to grow the food necessary to make life possible.

We climbed to the sundial where the Inca monitored the growing season. There is reason to believe that the Inca clearly understood the solar year – they appeared to have built structures that could predict the summer and winter solstices – with the assumption that they used that information for their agricultural activities.

This was amazing. We walked through homes inhabited by Incas in the 1,400’s. We walked through the house that the Inca – the name given to the leader – which was obvious because it had water directly to it, and was the only house in the city that had a latrine – apparently the Inca had to figure out how to do their business.

We loved our visit. One of the two days we got sunshine and warm weather – it was glorious. Even though it was sunny, we saw rainbows across the valley from us. I hiked up the trail to Huayna Picchu, the peak that overlooks the city of Machu Picchu.  While I didn’t make it to the top, in part because the trail was one where you had to walk using your hands to grab the trail, I walked far enough to get a magnificent view of the city from above.

Talk to you soon.

Side trip

When in Dunedin we had been a 20-minute drive from where our good friends, Bill and Randy Horn winter. Sadly, they hadn’t arrived for the winter yet. Luckily, they arrived a few days before we left Fort Pierce, so we set out on the 3-hour (one way) drive to Venice Florida. With a population of a little over 20,000, and being on the Gulf Coast, the town has the amenities to make living there comfortable, but is small enough not to get completely overrun. The home is ideal – it has a pool and hot tub in the screened in courtyard – and perfectly situated. We walked to the quaint downtown for a great lunch, then to the beach, always under the cover of trees keeping the hot Florida sun at bay. Made us think a bit!

We got a chance for a bonus as well. It turns out that Florida is lucky enough to have two Whispering Giant sculptures. One is in Fort Lauderdale and is still on our list. The other, Calostimucu, is at the Chamber of Commerce building in Punta Gorda. While checking it out added about an hour to our trip, it turned out to be well worth it. We learned that Calostimucu is the only one that Peter Wolf Toth decided to carve a face on both sides of the statue.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We are celebrating here in Fort Pierce on our last full day in town. Tomorrow we will be heading north to Flagler Beach where we will spend a couple of months. We sure hope there is a lot to do there!

Talk to you soon.

Fort Pierce Florida

We learned that Fort Pierce was where the UDT (underwater demolition team) were first trained. The UDT were initially trained to be the advance force to make holes Germans’ beach defenses to allow for the invasion of Normandy to be a success. The UDT continuously evolved and ultimately became the Navy SEALs. The National Navy SEAL museum is located in Fort Pierce on part of the former grounds of that training facility. We enjoyed the museum so much we spent over 4 hours there – long for us to be in a museum.

We headed to Lake Okeechobee to check out a battlefield from one of the largest battles of the Second Seminole Wars. We learned that in the early 1800’s the US government began actively pushing the Seminole out of Florida. These actions resulted in 3 wars with the nation, the first from 1816-1819, the second from 1835-1842, and the third from 1855-1858, By the end of the third, all the Seminole were forcibly relocated to reservations in the southwest, with the exception of small numbers that escaped into the everglades. We spotted this Ladderback Woodpecker at the battlefield.

We managed to find Lake Okeechobee, although that shouldn’t have been too hard. The lake is the largest freshwater lake in Florida, and is the 8^th largest in the world. Circling much of the lake is the Florida Trail, a National Scenic Trail, that runs the length of the state.

As we were making the Woman happy by hiking a few miles of the trail, we managed to see a number of birds that we really like. We spotted the typical Egrets, Ibis, Great Blue and Little Blue Herons and a number of Osprey. Our favorite part of the hike though was coming across a few Sandhill Cranes – bonus!

We will often mosey around in what appear to us to be really old cemeteries. The Riverside Cemetery in Fort Pierce seemed to fit the bill. In addition to a number of stones that predated the Civil War. But I found this one quite intriguing. Not only did Lacy J Harris seem to outlive her husband Joseph B Harris, but she’s still going strong at the ripe young age of 138!

Talk to you soon. 

Final Galapagos

We got a chance to score a few more of the unique species of the Galapagos before setting our eyes on the big kahuna itself. We had a number of encounters with the Galapagos Hawk. We had a chance to watch it hunt for an opportunity to grab an unsuspecting Marine Iguana. We didn’t actually see it grab its prey, but we did see it satisfaction after it finished.

While not endemic to the Galapagos, we did get to see a number of American Oystercatchers. We had not had a chance to ever spot these before, so it was one for the bird list for us. The eyes on these guys are totally spooky!

On Balta we headed for the high ground to find the Galapagos Tortoise. I assumed we were going to see them in a managed persevere – in my parlance, as zoo. But when we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised. The landowners in this area were farmers, but have learned that they can make more money allowing their land to be a home for the Tortoise, and charging tourists a modest fee to access their land.

The Galapagos Tortoise roam wild at this elevation, well at least the males do. Females actually descend to the ocean in order to lay their eggs and raise their young. The males hang at high elevations where food is abundant. Galapagos Tortoise live well beyond 100 years in general, with the oldest documented being a bit over 170 years. They are massive, the largest weighing over 900 pounds. They don’t move quickly, but maybe that is the key to their longevity.

In the middle of the Islands we visited Post Office Bay. Allegedly, this may be the oldest post office in the world – supposedly in operation since the early 1700’s. Early Europeans plied these waters looking for the prolific whales that came here, taking advantage of the waters rich with food. They placed a barrel here with written instructions that whalers could place letters there, and that others visiting the barrel, if they would be going to the area where a letter was addressed, would take the letter and hand deliver it when they got to their destination. No postage is needed – delivery is all on the honor system.

Interestingly this played a role in the War of 1812. In 1813 the US Frigate Essex anchored in Post Office Bay and Captain David Porter scoured the contents of the barrel. The letters gave him essentially a list of British whaling vessels in the area, allowing Porter to capture a considerable number of British assets. Sadly, Porter also released 4 domestic goats on the island, which are still creating the need to eradicate their destructive influence still today.

Tomorrow we head back to the mainland to visit Peru – can’t wait!

Talk to you soon.

Back in the US of A

We got back to Tampa, picked up the pooch, and headed to Fort Pierce Florida, where we will spend the rest of November. The pooch was beside himself when we picked him up – the Woman snuggled with him for pretty much two days straight. We only picked Fort Pierce because it was not about half way between Tampa and Flagler Beach, where we will spend a couple of months over Christmas and the New Year.

Fort Pierce is a bit of a sleeper, but its downtown area has a number of very art deco style buildings that makes you think of the older parts of Fort Lauderdale. Apparently Fort Pierce was booming back in the mid-1920’s at the height of the Florida real estate boom. The locals nick name their town The Sunrise City, but since it is all fogged in every morning, I don’t see how you could possibly tell

We did get a chance to hand at the Grouper Square Tiki Bar and watch the Minnesota Vikings come back from a 20 – 0 halftime deficit against the Denver Broncos to grab another victory in a very good year. Nick, Val and Karen met in Minneapolis and met Deanna, Jay, Jenny and Jake to watch what started as an immense disappointment, and turned out to be a fun game to watch – except for Miss Valerie, who is a diehard Broncos fan.

The Woman did get a chance to get a really good look at her favorite bird – the Little Blue Heron. This guy chose the exact moment we were strolling along the channel to land and show himself off. Nice!

Talk to you soon.

More Galapagos

The bird life on the Galapagos Islands was spectacular. In addition to the Blue Footed Booby, we got a chance to get a really good look at a species found only here, namely the only known Cormorants that have over time lost their ability to fly. 

The Galapagos Cormorant over time adapted to the unique environment by developing the ability to swim as though it was a marine species, giving it the ability to get its food from the sea. The Cormorant’s large wings made it slow in the water – over time they changed to where they are almost flippers. Since they can’t fly, they live and breed in a very small, confined area.

The Galapagos Penguin is the only penguin species residing at the Equator, and interestingly enough, is the only penguin that resides north of the Equator. Apparently this is only possible due to the Humboldt and Cromwell currents, some of which come up from the southern tip of South America and bring cool waters that result in two things – conditions that allow the Galapagos Penguin to survive, and conditions that create an abundance of sea life that feed the abundant residents. These guys were fun to watch either on land, or swimming like fish – or maybe I should say like Galapagos Cormorants!

There are 13 different species of the Darwin Finches on the Galapagos Islands. They actually belong to the Tanager family rather than the Finch family, and all likely descended from the same South American Tanager species, then adapted to their new environment. They got their name in that their variations from island to island when Charles Darwin visited on the Beagle in the early 1830’s aroused in him his theory on the origin of species, and evolution.

Every day the majestic Frigate birds would soar along over our ship, seeming to take advantage of our draft and they glided nearly motionless, with virtually no wing movement at all giving us a grand view of their deeply forked tail. These guys tend to hang around the Equator, so you can find them in northern South America as well as Africa. It was the beginning of mating season, so the male Frigates had adopted their bright red chests to lure a mate. We got a chance to see a couple of the males who had inflated their gular sac – it is quite a site to witness.

We were surprised to learn that Flamingoes are very visible residents of the Galapagos Islands. Because of the abundance of crustaceans in the waters surrounding the Islands, these wild Flamingoes display some of the deepest pink colors we have ever witnessed. While they are not particularly unique to the Galapagos Islands, and while they didn’t really have to evolve much to thrive here, they were still a joy to see in the wild.

We saw all the water birds we expected to see. We saw some Great Blue Heron chilling in the tidal pools, munching on the abundant food. We saw a lot of Great White Egrets doing pretty much the same thing. My favorites were the Striated Herons. They look very much like the Green Herons we see in the South Padre Islands, and even occasionally in Vegas. While similar, their apparent striped coloration really makes them striking. Striated Heron are generally non-migratory, so we never saw these guys in Texas – they pretty much just stay here.

Talk to you soon.

Special side trip

We made arrangements to fly from Tampa (near Dunedin) to catch the Silver Galapagos for a 7-day cruise of the Galapagos Islands. Even before we boarded the ship in San Cristobal, we were greeted by one of the more famous of the residents of the islands – the Blue Footed Booby. Its blue feet come from carotenoid pigments from eating only fresh fish. The healthier a Booby is, the bluer its feet get, so this guy looks quite healthy.

The Galapagos are volcanic islands with little or no fresh water, making human residency difficult. That is why in 1832 when Ecuador claimed them, nobody really cared, so no disputes over title arose. Plants and animals, many arriving on debris floating from South America, developed very unique adaptations to successfully live in this hostile environment. That is why Charles Darwin developed much of his theories on the Origin of Species here. While he never mentioned this, I am sure he found the sunsets as beautiful as we did.

Since food supply on the islands is limited, some of the iguana learned to swim so they could dive to the ocean floor for their food source, primarily algae. On some of the islands you can hardly walk without almost stepping on one of the Galapagos Marine Iguanas. Some we saw are upward of 4 feet long, and so darn ugly they bordered on being cute.

The Galapagos Land Iguana never developed the skill to swim. They are about the only animal that can eat Prickly Pear Cactus despite the abundant needles, and get most of their water by eating them. Scientists believe that both the Land and Marine Iguanas descended from a common ancestor, but developed very different skills in order to survive in their new habitat. These guys are nearly as ugly as the Galapagos Marine Iguana, but are much more colorful.

Talk to you soon.

Iceland

The only actual city in Iceland that I know of is Reyjavik. That is probably because over 1/3 of the entire population of Iceland lives in Reyjavik – all 130,000 of them. That doesn’t leave very many folk to populate all the other cities in the country. But with all the volcanos and the glaciers, I guess that doesn’t really leave much room for people anyway.

In October 1986, a summit was held between Ronald Regan and Mikhail Gorbachev to discuss a nuclear arms treaty. Being a safe, neutral location, Iceland was selected. We got to visit the former British Consulate, called Hofoi, where the summit was held on the 11^th and 12^th. While the talks broke down near the end, the progress that was achieved eventually resulted in the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

We visited the nearby Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, one of 30 active volcano systems on the island. The reason there are so many active volcanos is that Iceland is the only place in the world that is both above sea level and has a junction of two tectonic plates – the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate. All other places were the earths tectonic plates collide are deep under the ocean.

Eyjafjallajökull Volcano is actually underneath a glacier, as many are here. That is why its eruption in 2010 resulted in an enormous disruption of air travel across western and northern Europe for many days. When a volcano erupts under a glacier, the molten lava hitting the ice results in a massive cloud of ash being spewed into the atmosphere. Such ash can easily destroy a jet engine. Over 20 countries closed their airspace for days, affecting 10 million passengers. 

While it can cause problems, the volcanic activity also provides a benefit. We visited the Hverageroi geothermal garden and hot springs. The geysers here were not as predictable as Old Faithful in Yellowstone, but they were just as impressive. These kinds of geothermmal formations show up in many places in Iceland. Locals harness the heat and steam to drive industrial centers, provide heat for homes in a wide area, and provide heated water as well. We even to boil an egg in geyser water and eat it on the spot.

We got to see site of Geysir, also known as "The Great Geysir", which was the first geyser actually described in a printed source, and the first geyser known to Europeans. The name Geysir is a verb in Old Norse meaning to gush. The English word geyser derives from Geysir. While "The Great Geysir" has had few eruptions since 1936, we did get to see its neighbor erupt – Little Geyser, or in Icelandic, Litli Geysir.

Because of all the glaciers, there is waterfall activity pretty much all summer – what little summer there actually is. We hiked up to the Seljalandsfoss and the Hraunfosser waterfalls, as well as many other magnificent waterfalls during our time in Iceland. They were both truly impressive as were the many waterfalls we saw all over the island. But our favorite, even though we have no idea how to pronounce it, was the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.

To get up close and personal with a glacier, we headed to Skaftafell National Park and Vatnajokull National Park. Here I strapped on some crampons and followed the expert guide for a two hour hike up onto Skaftafell Glacier. I thought walking with ice crampons would be difficult, but it turned out to be relatively easy. And the terrain was gorgeous! I enjoyed every minute, and didn’t want to leave. The Woman took a pass, and instead hiked to the glacial moraine (its end) while I hiked above.

The Woman got a treat with a visit to a traditional Icelandic farm. While the owners raise all kinds of livestock and feed, the Woman’s favorites by far were the Icelandic Horses. The Icelandic Horse is a breed that was developed in Iceland. While a bit on the smaller side, these horses have few diseases, live long lives and are extremely hardy. Icelandic law prevents any horses from being imported into the county. If fact, if an Icelandic horse breeder decides to enter a horse into an international competition held outside Iceland, it had better win and collect a purse – once off the island, even a horse born in Iceland cannot return. The distinctive horses are gorgeous – they all look a bit like Fabio.

Iceland was first settled by Viking Chieftain Ingolfir Arnarson in 874 AD near current day Reykjavik. He named his settlement Reykjavik because of all the geothermal activity in the area – Reykjavik literally translated means “Bay of Smokes.” Various waring Viking Chieftains followed making for continuous strife on the island. In 930 AD, all the waring chieftains agreed to leave their weapons at the door, and held the Althing, the first national parliament of Iceland.

Thingvellir National Park was established in 1930 (on the 1000^th anniversary of the Althing) to preserve the site of the first parliament, which actually ran here until 1798. In 2004 it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lodberg (Law Rock) was the site of first parliament gathering, with rough structures being built to house the many subsequent parliament gatherings over 850 years. Unfortunately, none of those structures were substantial enough to still be around today.

The other cool thing about Thingvellir is that much of the park lies in the rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. We got to hike along the edge of the North American Plate in part because Law Rock is actually a part of the leading edge of the Plate. Where we strolled, we could actually touch the towering front edge of the North American Plate. Off in the distance we could clearly see the edge of the Eurasian Plate, perhaps not as high, but clearly the edge nonetheless.

The Golden Circle continued to impress. We stopped at Svartifoss. Because of all the volcanic activity on the island, there are many different basaltic column locations. We couldn’t help but think about the Devils Post pile in California, or the Giants Causeway in Ireland. But when you can combine two magnificent natural wonders – basaltic columns and a waterfall – how could you not take it in!

Our last major attraction was Deildartunguhver Thermal Spring, the highest flow hot spring in all of Europe. The spring is so powerful, its water is piped over 40 miles to the city of Akranes (in addition to numerous other municipalities), serving 3000 residents there with 80-degree water for heating, bathing and other use. We got to enjoy the experience ourselves at the Krauma Spa.

Krauma has a total of six natural geothermal baths. One is cold, but the other 5 range from body temperature to nearly 108 degrees. And, as a bonus, when you checked in to get your robe and towel, you placed your order for your adult beverage, which would get delivered to your pool after you settled in. What a pleasant way to spend the afternoon!

Sad to say we had to eventually leave Iceland and head back to pick up our pooch, Kona. Not very long after we left, we were jerked back into the reality of the world as it now stands. On August 19, activists held a funeral for the Okjokull  (Ok) glacier, the first glacier in Iceland to be lost to climate change. While we were near the glacier – its about 60 miles northeast of Reykjavik – it was almost imperceptible at the time, and accordingly not an attraction.

We said goodbye to Oliver and sincerely hope we might see him again. There were only 18 people on our tour, so we used a Mercedes Sprinter van as our bus. Oliver was both driver and tour director. As it turned out, he also served duty as porter, attraction guide, restaurant booker and pretty much everything else we needed. Thanks again Oliver!

Talk to you soon.