February 4, 2005

Awoke this morning to a cool and overcast sky – with a light mist / rain falling. Packed up the RV and headed a couple of miles down the road to the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters’ and Campground (for those of you who are wondering a Skunk Ape is believed to be related to our Sasquatch). Anyhow, Jack drove in as we were getting out of the motor home (he was still in his bare feet) and got the WiFi turned on for Dad – while the others went on a guided tour of the menagerie of birds and animals that they have.

Dad sat outside a picnic table – under an umbrella – updating the web page and sending some brief e-mails (with a peacock literally looking over his shoulder – and a couple of Marsh Hares (rabbits with short ears) – eating the grass under the table) Mom and the boys were taken on an hour and a half guided tour through the animal and reptile exhibits. This proved to be a great experience for the boys. They got to hold baby alligators, and king snakes, while mom was able to get friendly with a white Parrot similar to the one that Beretta had. There were many animals that the boys got to play with and have their pictures taken with. This was probably the best $5.00 that we have spent ($3 for mom and $1 each for the boys).

The campground was started about 30 years ago by the parents and was taken over about 12 years ago by the two brothers. At that time they put in the tourist store and then about 8 years ago added the animals. Since that time their collection has been growing – with animals that have either been donated to them or which they have been called in to get – i.e. the 15 foot Python that was found in the area. They have an interesting collection of souvenirs in the store – everything from alligator heads, snakeskins, to blowguns and commemorative knives. In some ways it is too bad that we hadn’t stayed in their campground, as it would have probably been a real experience.

Dad’s luck does not look like it has changed – all that much – he found out from an e-mail that the BC Revenue Ministry has sent him a bill for unpaid health care coverage – even though he paid this up front before he left. He also learned that his co-worker was off suddenly and had her appendix removed – but the rest of the team had stepped forward to cover this off. However they must be running a little tight …

Travelled on from there to Lover’s Key State Park – outside of Naples – to do some beachcombing (on the recommendations of the people we met from Alaska). As the day was cool and dreary – there were very few people at the beach and we had most of the place to ourselves. Dad and the boys kept joking that although it may be cool at least they did not have to worry about any mosquitoes. Spend a couple of hours walking the beach. The boys were able to pick up some interesting shells and coral pieces which we will have to sort through at a later time.

Continued north through Fort Myers and on towards Arcadia – and our campground for the next couple of days. On the way, we drove through areas that were heavily damaged by the hurricanes earlier in the year – and huge temporary modular home villages that have been set up in fields for emergency accommodation. Many of the homes that were damaged are still just sitting in ruins – and although it has been a couple of months – there is still considerable clean up to be done. Some of the businesses in the area are just getting back into operation – and there are signs at a number of places that they are once again hiring people. However the stores and fast food restaurants were having a hard time getting or keeping employees – as many people are making more working as labourers in the construction trades during the rebuilding process.

Passed by a number of campgrounds that were pretty hard hit – and kept joking about what the site that we had booked into was going to look like when we finally pulled in (as it was one of the places that indicated that they had a vacancy).   Finally arrived at the Lettuce Lake Campground – and although it had electricity showers and bathrooms – it was condo camping and at $26 a night we are glad we are not staying long. They also did not seem to be the most hospitable people – compared to some of the resorts we have stayed at. The place seems to be mostly occupied by full time snowbirds on monthly rentals and maybe if you are not staying for months at a time they do not extend the “friendly” greetings.

Mom spent some of this evening trying to sort out problems with her car insurance. It seems that although we have storage insurance on the Jetta – while it is out at Moyie – Canada Direct has continued to bill Deb for her monthly insurance amount – as if she was driving the car. Canada Direct was more than willing to cancel the policy and repay the money – but needed a copy of ICBC storage policy to do so … simple right – wrong. ICBC proved to be less than helpful – asking her why she did not know her policy number off by heart – saying couldn’t she just go and get her policy and then indicating that due to FOI provisions that they could not release the policy information to Canada Direct (as they were also a competitor). Finally someone at customer service – who was a little more sympathetic to the situation – and seemed to understand the difficulty of the situation stated that the only way it was possible was for Deb to send them a letter indicating that she wanted a copy of policy – and they would then compare this to her signature that was on file, and if it matched – she would then be able to mail her a copy of her policy – that Deb was free to do what she wanted with. But with no ability to send a fax this seemed to be not an easy option. However – she did provide Mom with the phone number of the Office in Cranbrook where we purchased our insurance from – and hinted that a call there may be able to resolve the problem. By this time it was getting cool (mid 50’s and Mom was in shorts, outside for over an hour by this time) – and Dad provided Mom with a jacket and offered to get her a drink — Thanks Dad!!. However the local agent – after some questions confirming Deb’s identity – was willing to fax a copy of the form directly to Canada Direct – and as a result has probably held our business for other insurance matters (ah the beauty of small towns where people know you).

However multiple attempts to BC Medical throughout the day continued to encounter a busy signal – something that is really helpful when you receive the bill on January 30, indicating that it is past due on January 29, and indicating that if you have any questions or difficulties you should call this number. Further investigation reveals that the 1-800 number that they provide is not accessible outside of Canada – so much for accessibility. We will have to see if there is another way in which we can address this.

After saying some un-nice things about government bureaucrats at ICBC and BC Medical – Dad began feeling guilty and decided that he should phone his own department – being that they were unexpectedly down half their staff compliment, to see how they responded. There was a message on the one co-worker’s machine – by the admin staff directing them to the complaint line – and indicating that calls to that line were continually monitored and responded to. This made Dad feel better knowing that some level of proficiency and responsiveness could still be expected from civil servants and proud that his team was part of that group … and darn the rest.
Mass E-mail reprint:

Crisis – Internet Connection Gone!!!

This update has been done several times and lost – during the process of the computer crash. Our Air Card – that connects us with the Internet – went down – but not before the technicians stated that it was the drivers in windows – and therefore we have lost many of the resources we had with us on our trip. No map programs, no GPS, No MS Office, no PDA connectivity, etc. It is also hard re-installing what little software we do have with us – when we have been dry camping in the Glades and don’t have regular access to power. We are still working through ways of trying to get us connected to the internet on a more permanent basis – however have found a good old boy at a campground outside of Everglade City – who has allowed us to tie into his WiFi to post this update.

Jack, who runs the campground, a Skunk Ape Research Centre, and animal and bird exhibit – is quite the character. We came into his little store in the late afternoon – and he is walking around in his bare feet – going between in and outside – to eat fresh oyster off the barbeque. He allowed us to rinse the Stone Crabs we had picked up elsewhere for supper – and after some conversation invited us back in the morning to go through the exhibit – and he would turn on his WiFi and Dad could sit outside at a picnic table that has a plug in and post this to the web.

Great guy – and we are not even staying at his campground (too bad we didn’t find it first).

Anyhow … we are probably late in responding to many e-mails – or if we miss responding – please re-send …as it probably got caught in the crash. Hopefully we can rectify connectivity problem in the near future.

From the Wanderers.
February 5, 2005

Up this morning and off to Venice and Caspersen Beach – famous for finding fossilized shark teeth. Spent about an hour and a half wandering the beach – with only limited success much to the boy’s disappointment. They were hoping to collect enough teeth to give one each to their classmates when they returned home.   Despite this it was a wonderful morning walk and we all crawled back into the car wet and happy.

Continued south to Fort Meyers. They have a nice little Historic Museum that provides a great history on the area. In addition – they also had a special exhibit on the Roswell Incident – and since we will be going through Roswell later on – thought that a bit of more objective information may be interesting. Although there was a fair amount of text and documents – the boys (especially Mickey) really seemed to enjoy it. They also enjoyed looking at a video showing various pictures of “flying saucers” – trying to pick out which ones they thought were faked and which ones weren’t. The Museum also had an example of the old luxury train car – which was wonderfully decked out – and although a little shabby on the outside – its interior put the train cars in Cranbrook to shame.

Mom and the boys then went to the Imaginarium – where they had a Robo-Bug exhibit – which the kids enjoyed. Dad on the other hand went on to the local Flea market that advertised over 4000 vendor booths. Needless to say he was not able to get through all of them – but the sheer number was truly impressive. He ended up picking up some fresh corn and strawberries, for supper.

As it was still light when we left Fort Meyers – decided to go back to the Caspersen Beach and give another try for the Shark Teeth. Had far better luck this time – partly due to the difference in tidal level and partial due to the fact that we were now familiar at what we were looking for. We were also able to witness a great Florida Sunset – and had a great time playing in the water.

We returned to campground – to find a note on the Motor Home wanting an extra $10 for the kids (2.50 per day per kid) on top of the $52.00 they had already charged us. Dad provided the money along with a somewhat sarcastic note outlining how it did not surprise him that a place that lost their reservations, and couldn’t tell that we did not have a picnic table in our site – yet it is almost the only site visible from the office – would notice that we had two kids – and so that we would not cause them any further bookkeeping irregularities – we will be glad to be moving on tomorrow.

February 6, 2005

Up early this morning and on the road headed north. Again in passing through Arcadia and surrounding area the evidence of the hurricane damage was everywhere. This was made worse by some ongoing dispute between the levels of government as to who was responsible for clean up. It seems that the people were told that they should cart their damaged property to the side of the road where it would be picked up. Since then the various levels of government have been arguing as to who should pay for the pick up – and therefore it has yet to occurred. To make it worse, people and animals have been going through the piles – and the winds have been scattering it around. Therefore although efforts have been made by many to clean up after the hurricanes – the piles are a constant reminder of the devastation and make the area more unsightly than it needs to be.

Our route took us within about 20 miles of Disney World. As we had forgotten to pick up a few items when we were there – we dropped off the Motor Home and swung into downtown Disney. It was funny in that although it was only a couple of weeks ago that we were here – we have seen and done so much since then. Also our pace had slowed down considerably since we were previously here – getting back into the crowds and hustle – was somewhat of a shock. Therefore we got in and out as fast as we could – and headed back down the road. Even the kids seemed to be glad not to have to deal with the hectic pace of the crowds.

Arrived in our campground outside of Ocala with enough time to set up and get settled in before the Super Bowl game started. The campground is fairly large – and we were put into a back area (as we wanted to have cable as we do not have the luxury of satellite TV that other units have – and they were not sure if the Game was broadcast on the channels available by antenna). There was an old truck (sans muffler) half parked into our site when we arrived that a good old boy quickly came out and roared away in. The neighbour (who has three different fishing boats, a Ford extended cab with big balloon tires, and a gun rack in back window) came over several times to offer help or to move one of his boats if it was going to be in the way, etc. This could be an interesting place?!

We have the next couple of days to explore the area – and figure out our routes and campgrounds for the next month. Hopefully Dad will be able to also be able to use some of the time to get both his medical bill and Internet issues resolved, as mom seems to have been successful in addressing the overcharges on her car insurance.

 

February 7, 2005

Kids were up this morning doing schoolwork in the screened shelter. Although it kept the mosquitoes away, they were pleased to be joined by an Anole who hung around for the next couple of days. Dad spent the early morning working on restoring some of the programs to the computer – and begin the process of discovering what all had been permanently lost. It was much more comfortable working in an environment with electricity and comfortable surroundings – than in the “glades”.

Mickey finished his work early – and went with dad on a mission to see if we could get the boat motor repaired – and to find a fax machine in order to send something to Mom’s auto insurance company – in order to correct that overpayment. No luck on the boat motor repair – in time for our leaving – but was able to find a fax machine and rectify Mom’s issue. Also got a lead on a possible WiFi location in order to get access to the Internet – and post the web entry.

When we returned, the boys started the process of going through all the seashells and shark teeth that they have collected – sorting, washing and laying them out to dry. When they have dried for a couple of days – the best will be selected and put in the cargo tub on the top of the RV for the journey home.

February 8, 2005

Up early this morning and off into town with the computer to see if the rumours about WiFi access at Town Square are true. Stopped into the Chamber of Commerce which is located directly on the Square – and Mom went into check to see if they had a WiFi site – while Dad fired up the computer. About 10 minutes later one of the boys came out to tell Dad that the woman in the Chamber of Commerce did not know anything about a WiFi site – but suggested that we try down by the library. However, by that time Dad had already been logged on for several minutes and was checking e-mail. The site allowed you free access to the Internet for 30 minutes and was “sponsored” in part by the Chamber of Commerce. (I would have thought that if you went to all the trouble to set up and sponsor a free WiFi site to promote your City – that it would be a good idea for your employees to know and promote this – silly me).

Mom also asked the woman in the Chamber for recommendations on a restaurant for breakfast – and she identified a couple of the fancier or chain restaurants in the area – all of which were either more expensive or of a usual fare than what we wanted. When Mom explained that we just wanted to a local diner that could offer some home cooking cuisine – the woman at the Chamber – said that there was one down the street if you did not mind that sort of place. The diner turned out to have great large portions – and a couple of energetic waitresses – who were very outgoing. One of the regulars showed up with her new baby – which the waitresses took turns carrying around the restaurant introducing to people. I have also not been called love or hon so many times in an hour in a long time – it sort of catches you off guard.

After doing a grocery shop – went to the Information Center for the Ocala National Forest to see if we see if there were any reasonable hikes that we could do in the area. A number of options were presented – most around lakes that could offer some opportunities for swimming – however, they seemed to go through marshy areas (read mosquitoes). The lady there also said that the ticks were particularly active in the woods right now – and therefore it was important to be vigilant in checking for the little suckers after being in the woods.

Returned to the campground, put away the groceries and then decided that given the lateness of the day it was probably easier just to let the boys play in the solar heated pool and hot tub at the campground. Don’t think the pool has seen much use lately (due to the temperature) – as it was a little cool – but the kids enjoyed it and the hot tub just the same.

February 9, 2005

We were greeted with a light fog this morning – but it was soon burnt off. Down the road a couple of miles is Silver Springs Park. Silver Spring presents itself as Nature’s Theme Park. The spring itself is the largest spring in the US and the main spring (Mammoth) discharges a flow of approximately 840 million gallons of water per day. With the other springs in the basis (Abyss, Star Spring, etc.) the total flow is about 1.2 billion gallons of fresh water per day or the equivalent of all the water that New York City uses in a day. Because of this flow – a river (about 40 feet across of with a flow of about half a mile an hour) comes directly out of the ground and starts its trek to the ocean. The spring has a constant temperature of about 21 degrees Celsius and the waters are crystal clear and you can easily see down 30 to 40 feet in the main cavity. The spring water coming up through the aquifer also discharges of about one ton of dissolved minerals every three minutes. The combination of the clear waters, warm temperatures and all the minerals make for an ideal environment for plant and wildlife to thrive in.

Over the centuries, the river has been the site of many different people. Both the Paleo-Indians as well as Seminole Indians have used this spot – and there are indications that the Spanish also spent some time in area (a good sized boat, too old for English or French and not of native design can be seen sunk under the water). Archaeological digs in the area have also revealed an almost intact Chilean Mammoth and several other pre-historic animals that probably used this as a watering hole.

Silver Springs was also home or rather set to a large number of movies.   “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” which was filmed here – as were many of the early Tarzan movies, all of the underwater scenes from the series “Sea Hunt” , a couple of James Bond movies and many others. The clear waters make it ideal as a location for filming many dive sequences.

The area has been drawing in tourists for over 130 years – and in that time the resort has tried to evolve into any number of things to augment the springs themselves. One gentleman back in the 1920’s brought in 30 Reese’s monkeys – and put them on an island in the middle of the river – figuring that he could advertise the exotic animals and increase the number of people on his boat tours. Unfortunately, he did not realize that Reese’s Monkeys are very good swimmers – and by the time he took his first boat of tourists up to the springs – the monkeys had all swam away. You can still see descendents of these monkeys in the area – and they have been seen as far away as Tallahassee and Jacksonville. Twenty years ago the government of Florida passed a law stating that the monkeys are not indigenous animal – and therefore feeding or assisting them is against the law. Prior to that time – you could feed the monkeys while you were on the boat tours – as they would swing down from the trees upon the arrival of a boat in the springs.

Today Silver Springs consist of three different glass boat rides (One over the springs themselves, one to see the wildlife that the spring supports, and one that takes you back into the history of the area). In addition to the boat rides, there are also bird, reptile and snake shows, panthers and alligator exhibits, etc.   During the year, Silver Springs also offers a number of outdoor concerts that they hold in a grassy area in front of stage shaped like an old Southern Mansion. They bring in about 15 big name performers per year and – draw on the populations in Tampa, Orlando, Daytona Beach and Gainesville – all of which are within a 75-mile radius.

The area is still suffering from the effects of the hurricanes this year. The water level is still 15 inches higher than normal (partially a result of the of the 29 inches a rain that fell during the storms), and where it is not under water, the ground is still too soft to be able to bring heavy equipment to take out the trees that have fallen. It is a shame to see some of these large cypress being knocked over – as the cypress tree grows so slowly (after the first couple of years it’s growth rate slows to about 1 1/2 inches diameter gain every 45 years.
The price of one-day admission to the park is fairly steep – however you get an $11.00 dollar a person discount if you bring in a coke product (They keep the bottle of coke – as they still want you to pay $3.00 for a bottle of Coke inside the park). The kids really enjoyed the shows and were right up front when the trainer went into the water to get the alligator. The trainer went into great detail on how to tell the differences between an alligator and a crocodile. The alligator has 65 teeth the crocodile has 80; the alligator has a flatter wider nose while the crocodile has a thinner and narrower nose. However, the trainer of the next show on snakes said she might be blonde – but if you are close enough to count the teeth – you are too close. They were also amazed to watch the trainer put a gator to sleep by rolling it over on his back. Seems like their small brain cannot handle being rolled over and goes into shock and passes out for about 30 seconds. The boys also enjoyed the trips up the river and around the springs in the various glass bottom boats. They were somewhat disappointed that the panther exhibit was actually stocked with Texas Cougars – (which someone had tried to cross-bread with the Florida Panthers several years ago). The wild population of the Panthers is only about a 100 in number, however that is up significantly from the 25 that existed about 2 decades ago. The worry was that the gene pool was so limited that the panthers were inbreeding – and it was therefore thought by introducing the Cougars it would increase the mating options. It did, but the offspring had over 75% Cougar traits rather than Panther traits so they cancelled the program.

Headed back to the campground and started to pack up – in order to head out in the morning. Had a great feed of Mahi Mahi for supper and then started on another round of Canasta (Mickey got a hidden wild Canasta tonight and as a result, Dad was beaten so badly that he is pouting).

February 10, 2005 –

Rained heavily throughout the night – and there are pools of standing water all around the campground when we got up in the morning. The cloud cover and rain – kept it from getting as cold as it was supposed to – however the true Floridians were still running around in heavy coats – while we were out side in shorts.

Stopped by the Chamber of Commerce to log into their WiFi and check e-mail before leaving town. The staff at Dad office had managed to sort out our medical coverage issue – (thanks Jackie) and Dad was able to get virus updates, etc – at a speed at something quicker than a crawl. There are still do not appear to be reasonable / viable options for dial up ISP so it looks like we will be relying on WiFi sites – and therefore communication and journal updates may not be as regular as they have been in the past.

Travelling West and North from Ocala – we first entered horse country – with many large thoroughbred and racehorse breeding operations. There are lush green fields surrounded by miles and miles of three rail fences. They seem to prefer brown fences down here – rather than the tradition white that you see in Kentucky.

From there the countryside changed into pastureland – with first dairy and then into beef cattle grazing land. Even saw a couple of “crackers” moving cattle from one field to another with the use of bullwhips. Speaking of cowboys – one piece of trivia to note. When the Spanish arrived and started to settle the area – they let their cattle roam free – and then would have them rounded up by the local natives on a yearly basis. In other words the first paid cowboys – were in Florida – and not in the Wild West – and were in fact Indians.

By the time we got to the campground – we were in a combination of marshland and pine forest areas that were being actively logged. The undergrowth in the forest was Palmetto – similar to the Okeefenokee region. The Ecofina River runs right behind the campground – and flows into the Gulf of Mexico several miles away. However, there are no beaches close by as the coast here is mainly covered in marshlands. This is also their quiet time – as there currently is no open fish season – and that appears to be the main draw for people to the area.

The Ecofina River State Park which surrounds the campground has some unusual history. The river itself is a small blackwater river that winds for 40 miles through the marshes and wetlands. It was also an area where confederate deserters camped and hid out during the Civil War. They pledge their assistance to the Union blockade ships and used the river to deliver contraband, provisions and information to the Union ships. (With all the pick-ups with gun racks and rebel flags it is difficult to conceive that this area was originally Union sympathizers.)

An older couple from California pulled into next to us and were excited at the fact that there may be an alligator in the pond behind the RV’s. They brought this to Dad’s attention asking if the kids had seen it – and being somewhat concerned as they were out running around on their scooters. Dad had to explain to the couple that the kids no longer got excited about single alligators – unless they were really big. They assumed that we must be from the area and were even more surprised to see the licence plate on the rig.