Disney Trip for Kendalyn's 10th Birthday 2013

Five years ago we brought our granddaughter, Kendalyn, her mother, Laura and our son, Uncle Randy to Florida to visit Disney World in Orlando for Kendalyn's 5th birthday.  At 5, she was awed by the spectacle and totally surprised to realized where we were headed as we drove toward the park entrance from the airport.  At the conclusion of that visit, her Nanny promised we would bring her back when she was ten.  Last week was the realization of that promise and all three returned for 5 days at Disney World where we parked the RV in the Fort Wilderness Campground within the Disney complex.

Over 660 photos as well as several short video sequences were taken on three different cameras during the stay!  Rest assured I have selected only a small sample representative of the many activities we enjoyed including meal time.  We were a little smarter this time and opted for a meal plan for the 5 of us which really worked out well.  Each of us was able to enjoy more food than necessary for sustenance with a sit down meal, as well as lunches, snacks and soft drinks daily.

Laura did a great job making reservations for the sit down meals having arranged them as long ago as last August!  It is unthinkable that dinner reservations must be made that far in advance but Disney is so popular that is reality. 

So, sit back and enjoy a sample of our trip.

At Epcot, there was a flower and garden show ongoing and there were topiaries of, what else, Disney characters!  Above is the Lion King and you can just see Laura behind and to the right.

Part of the beautiful flower displays throughout Epcot can be seen here.

And a topiary of Cinderella and Prince Charming.  I believe these figures are all grown on wire forms pre-shaped to the desired shape.

Of course you cannot see a blog post of mine without at least one bird picture, so here is a White ibis just settling into a roost position while a gull looks on in wonder.

One of the benefits of making dinner reservations and announcing the birthday girl's presence during the planning stages of the trip ensures frequent visits to the table by various Disney characters making the rounds!  Above Chip (of Chip & Dale) gives the birthday girl a hug after signing an autograph.  Below is, of course, Pluto having completed the same.  These were taken at dinner at the Garden Grill in an exhibit called "The Land".  

After dinner we "toured" a facility demonstrating sustainable farming techniques including hydroponics for fruits and vegetables and aquaculture for seafood.  In fact waste from the fish tanks is recycled into fertilizer for some hydroponic farms.  It was quite interesting and much of the produce grown in the facility is used in the various restaurants in the complex.  Only Disney could do it!

Laura took the picture below of the two of them at Epcot with the famous Spaceship Earth Sphere in the background.

We now switch to the Magic Kingdom and Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.  Laura, Kendalyn and Randy waited in line for their ride while the photog was assigned the task of catching them in flight.  Below is the best attempt.

We had a special breakfast at Ohana, a restaurant at the Polynesian Resort.  The meal was served family style and consisted of mini waffles shaped like Mickey Mouse, some sticky bread with pineapple chunks, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon, biscuits, fried potatoes and a wonderful juice called POG a combination of Passion Fruit, Orange and Guava juices.

Mickey Mouse himself visited our table (and all the others, too) and Kendalyn posed with him and also collected an autograph.

Below Grandpa got tricked by Stitch who is a known trickster while Kendie collected another autograph for her book.

And here is the gang waiting to be called into the Ohana Restaurant.

Below we have just stuffed ourselves again at the Coral Reef Restaurant in the Living Seas attraction at Epcot during our second day there. Kendalyn tried the Seared Rainbow Trout.  It was her first time to eat trout and she cleared her plate.  A couple of us had Coral Reef Lobster Orecchiette Pasta, a dish our waiter described as "mac & cheese with lobster meat" and it did not disappoint with lots of chunks of lobster. And a couple of us enjoyed Orange Ginger Glazed Scottish Salmon which also resulted in clean plates.  Desserts of Creme Brulee and Orange Cheesecake completed the meal and caused the stuffed look on our faces!

Another autograph from Daisy Duck in front of the Iconic Epcot sphere and a souvenir photo of Laura and Kendalyn together with Goofy complete the character photos.

Oops! There is one other character who was along with the group.  Here is Nanny sampling various soft drinks from around the world at an exhibit sponsored by Coca-Cola.  She decided her favorite was ginger ale from Mozambique!

Randy got a flight back to Harrisburg on Wednesday, April 3rd and we moved the rig 17 miles to Thousand Trails Orlando. At no cost per night with our Thousand Trails membership, there is quite a difference in nightly rates compared to Fort Wilderness where we enjoyed the proximity to the parks for only $117 per night.  Only Disney can do it!!  

Laura and Kendalyn came with us and stayed until Sunday, April 7, when I drove them to the airport for an 8:00 am flight to Harrisburg.  On Friday she and Kendie went back to Downtown Disney, roughly that same 17 miles, to do some shopping and on the way back they encountered some traffic delays caused by a large truck hitting an overpass that scattered debris on the road she would be taking.  Two and a half hours later they got back to the RV. 

We will be here until the 17th when we will begin our travels back to PA generally via I-95 and will arrive at the Thousand Trails Hershey Preserve on May 2 for the summer.  Several doctor visits are planned for regular checkups and to see if Larry's back pains can be better managed with improved chemistry to delay surgery.  Cathy will have cataract surgery in one eye soon after we get settled and some dental work is needed by us both.

That's all for this time.  Hope to hear from you.

A few Birds from Florida

We stayed at the Escapees Sumter Oaks RV Park where we have camped many times.  It was from here we traveled to Leesburg FL for Cathy's Oncology treatments 6-years ago.  This year we are simply biding our time until the Spring Break for schools in PA when our granddaughter, Kendalyn, will join us with her mother, Laura, and her Uncle Randy to celebrate Kendalyn's upcoming tenth birthday with a 5-day stay at Disney World in Orlando.  More about that in a future post that will have many pictures.

While here this year we were entertained by some of the local birds, some old friends and one first-timer for us.  Below is the Red-headed Woodpecker which  is a new addition to our life list of bird sightings.  A pair were nesting in this lamp pole and apparently tending to some offspring.  Here in flight leaving for a new batch of food for the brood.

And below here, working on the nest opening.

Old acquaintances, the Bluebirds seemed to be quite numerous this year and this one was checking out one of the many nesting boxes around the outer perimeter of the park.  This one happened to be directly behind our space so we saw lots of activity,

And a visit to Sumter Oaks in winter would not be complete without seeing the local Sand Hill Crane which was frequently seen first thing in the morning on my walks with Dixie.

The treat of the stay was numerous sightings of the Swallow-tailed Kite and this year the bird seemed to be much closer to the treetops and I was able to get some great action pictures.  This bird's range in North America is limited to the Southeastern states including Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.  It is seen in Texas where it is considered to be a "threatened" species as it is also in SC.  In Georgia they are "rare".  So we were fortunate to enjoy this wonderful bird. The photo below shows the characteristic tail shape that gives its name as well as the distinctive coloring.

Swallow-tailed kites eat and drink on the fly and apparently only roost in tree tops at night.  I was taking continuous exposure shots as I tried to follow its sweeping path across the open area in front of our rig.  In the picture below the kite had just taken a baby bird from a nest in the oak behind it.  I have annotated the picture with two red arrows to locate the catch.

And below it has the bird in its talons as it flies away.

Here turning to make another pass at the tree.

And my favorite as it turns to get close to the trees for still another pass.  We have seen them in past years but usually much higher in the sky so photography was not as good.

At the rear of the RV Park is a wet, swampy area with a stand of Bald Cypress trees between the camp road and the swamp. 

Cathy is fascinated by cypress knees, the short shoots the tree sends up from its root system.  You can see them in the shot below.  The function of the knees is not known but it is suggested by some biologists they may help with oxygenation of the roots of trees growing in water.  Others think they may aid in anchoring the tree in soft muddy soils under the swamps.

It seems to us we are seeing more beef cattle in the fields and ranches around the central part of Florida.  Perhaps the high price of beef  has gotten the attention of the local ranchers who recognize potential profits.  The property adjacent to us has about a dozen or so cattle that appear around sundown every day.  Sorry about the butt shot, but they wouldn't listen to me to pose!

We also had a great experience while driving near Center Hill FL which is just about 10 miles from our park.    As we were driving along a secondary road we saw a large bird swoop down across the highway and land on the shoulder.  To our surprise it was a mature Bald Eagle and looked magnificent.  Alas, no camera, no photo.  Our friend, Lynell, who volunteers at a Maryland Natural Environmental Area near her home tells us injured raptors are often victims of collisions with automobiles.  Careless drivers toss trash and leftovers from fast food lunches which attract small rodents which in turn attract the raptors who are not traffic wary.  It is likely this eagle was after prey attracted in the same manner. 

Other regular visitors to Sumter Oaks are Barred Owls and Red-tail Hawks.  We heard the owls during the first few evenings after we got here, but not since.  Maybe the cool weather has chased them farther south.  Cathy has seen the hawk in her tricycle excursions with Dixie leading the way.

The following morning as I was walking Dixie in the frosty chill I saw this wildlife in the field adjacent to our parking spot.  Below are some local deer out for breakfast.  I can see 5 in the photo.

And here are at least 9 wild turkeys browsing for their morning meals ...

Now we really do have top get busy packing!

Rocky Bayou State Park FL

Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park is named in honor of the U. S. Air Force Colonel who was instrumental in preserving this site with a large stand of old growth longleaf pine trees.  Rocky Bayou is the central feature of this park and is a small branch of the much larger Choctawhatchee Bay situated just north of Destin, Florida.  Eglin Air Force Base is also nearby the park as is the small town of Niceville.

Our parking spot, above, was just a few yards from Rocky Bayou nestled among pines, magnolias and native palms.  And below, you can see our front window view.

We had to hunker down for most of our stay here as we were inundated by heavy rains for several days. More about that in the post about Falling Water State Park.  Below is a Red-bellied Woodpecker who was a frequent visitor to "our" pine trees!

Falling Waters State Park FL - 2013

This very small park and campground (24 total sites)  is situated on and around the highest point in Florida at 323 feet above sea level.  We were both fortunate and unfortunate to have been here when we were!  We left Rocky Bayou in a relative break in an ongoing rainstorm that had been with us for more than two days and when we got to Falling Waters the storm caught up to us.  Until it ended early this morning (2-26-2013) the region had experienced from 10 to 21-inches of rain in a little over 4 days.  Local schools were closed today due to road flooding.

The good news is that there was a good flow over the falls and we were able to see it at its best.  It is located in an area marked with many sinkholes formed when underlying rock collapsed. Falling Waters Sink is a 100-foot deep, 20-feet wide cylindrical pit into which flows a small stream that drops 73 feet to the bottom of the sink.

Left above is the top of the falls and on the right is looking down into the sink.  Below is a view from a little farther away.

Native Americans utilized the nearby sink holes as a hideout by warriors fighting against Andrew Jackson during the Seminole War. The waterfall was harnessed to operate a grist mill to grind grain and in 1891 a distillery was established on the site to serve the needs of railroad construction crews.  In the 1920s the first oil well in Florida was drilled here based on information in a 400-year old diary to a depth of 4,912 feet, but proved to be a dry hole.

Spring seems to be underway as some decorative trees are in bloom. 

If you in the northeast think you have stinkbugs, they look like babies compared to this one.

Above is a native azalea which grows in the woods in wet areas.

The park is comprised nearly completely of long-needle pine trees which are also native to the region.  The park staff conduct controlled burns of areas of the park to discourage invasive hardwood species such as oak and others.  The pines are unaffected by the fires which are set about every 2 to 3 years.

Above is another native of the southeast, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker seen here on a tree by our bedroom window.  One curious behavior of these birds is to peck holes in the pine trees adjacent to their nests causing the pine gum or resin to ooze from the holes.  We have seen them in Florida on other occasions but this is the first photo for us.

On our drive from Falling Waters to our next stop we saw this sign on a little-used highway through the Appalachicola National Forest.

We got a kick out of the "Rooter to the Tooter" line but a quick look on the internet suggests it is commonly used in the BBQ community. 

Way Down Upon the Suwannee River...

On our final stop of our trip across the Florida Panhandle we tried a different campground than we had used before and we are glad we did!  The name of the place is somewhat off-putting, Yellow-Jacket Campground, but it is a piece of old Florida situated adjacent to the Lower Suwannee Wildlife Preserve and the Suwannee River.  The river rises in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia and flows south west into Florida being joined by other drainages along the way.  In summer months the river is visited by Manatees, but at this time they are usually in one of the fresh water springs which also feed the river.  Temperatures in the springs range from 70 to 74 degrees year round and that attracts them in winter. So we did not see manatees this time.

However we were lucky enough to see some beautiful birds rather up close from our vantage point at river's edge.  I'll mention each below with the photos I took. 

First is the view of the River looking downstream from our site.

And from the boat dock in front of us, here is our parking spot.

On the chilly morning as were getting ready to leave this Blue Heron was huddled on the dock trying to keep warm.

And he eventually flew to the edge of the water exactly in front of our windshield.

 This turtle sunned itself every day on this same log.

I had walked out to the dock one morning and was treated to quite a show, first by a Blue Heron and later by a Great Egret.

 The following sequence of 3 pictures shows the arrival of the Egret to a quiet place along the river bank.

Adjusting the flaps for deceleration...

and braking hard for touchdown.

I had seen this on TV about jumping fish on some southern rivers.  This warning sign is at the public boat launch site on the campground.

Another camper saw me taking pictures and told me he had seen a Pine Warbler and that would be a new sighting for us so I was on the lookout and finally saw it working in the Spanish Moss hanging in the trees.  When I went outside the Pine Warbler was nowhere to be seen. But this Yellow-Rumped  Warbler was flitting around the bases of the cypress trees.  It was getting toward evening and the light was failing so his record is a bit dark.

While I was watching the warbler I saw a large bird flash to my right and eventually I spotted the Pileated Woodpecker you see below.

And once again, as at Falling Waters State Park, the Red Cockaded Woodpecker was a regular afternoon visitor the to trees in front of our rig.  The red topper appears almost brown in reality as in the photo.