First Few Photos From Florida - January 2, 2015

How about that title for alliteration? We have been settling into our site at Thousand Trails Orlando and I would like to share a few pictures from our first month and a half here.

We decided on minimalist decorations this year!

We do have a few other favorite things inside the rig including our Card Rack which hangs on the wall and holds all the greeting cards we received from so many of you reading this.

Let's get right to the wildlife...

Sandhill Cranes are resident in the park and wander all around in their quest for food.  Here and below they are gathering the fallout from our songbird feeder.

Closeup of the Sandhill Crane.

Sandhill Cranes may reach the age of seven before breeding. They mate for life—which can mean two decades or more—and stay with their mates year-round. Juveniles stick close by their parents for 9 or 10 months after hatching.

Below is the Gopher Tortoise which is a long-lived reptile  that occupies upland habitat throughout Florida including forests, pastures, and yards. They dig deep burrows for shelter and forage on low-growing plants. Gopher tortoises share these burrows with more than 350 other species, and are therefore referred to as a keystone species. This one's burrow is just behind the next door neighbor's site.

Gopher Tortoises eat mostly grasses and leaves.

After this picture was taken this one ambled over to our flowers and gobbled a fallen hibiscus bloom while I watched!

The Park Staff have the burrows marked throughout the property with these little fences. Burrows can be 6 feet deep and extend 15 feet or more.

While walking Dixie one morning I heard the roar of the gas heater of a hot air balloon very close by.  I located it and thought it was coming down so I grabbed the camera and got these pictures as it landed very near us.

This picture of the brightly colored fabric through a stand of long needle pine trees almost looks like a blaze of fire.

I never did find out why it landed on the Park property. There is a Balloon Ride attraction near Disney World and we often see them passing overhead as we are only a few miles from the Mouse House! On occasion the operators dip low over us and the locals chat with the passengers overhead!

There seems to always be something blooming here and this is striking on the drive into the campground proper.

Our more modest "landscaping" is shown below.

This little planting area at the front of our site was in pretty sad shape when we arrived. A neighbor across the street offered to remove 3 shrubs that seemed to us hopeless causes, but she wants to try and revive them. With a little help from the internet and a friendly clerk at Lowe's, we selected the perennials shown here. Our little gnome, who has been with us our entire time traveling has a place of honor in the front. He has been repainted twice by our daughter, Laura, and looks pretty spiffy. 

The taller green bush to the rear is Hibiscus and we have fed it so we are hoping it will produce more blooms. We are not sure what the dry stick looking thing to the right rear is, but the neighbor says it will have purple flowers in the Spring. Someday I will take pictures of the individual flowers and post them.

And speaking of Daughter, Laura, here is some of the Christmas Goodies package she sent. She never ceases to amaze with her creative talents. Nor have I ever eaten prettier cookies!

That is all for now.  Stay tuned for more when the notion strikes me.