April 12, 2006 - Lovers Key S.P., FL

Yesterday we played tourist again.  Actually, we took advantage of our volunteer status with the State Park system and went to another park for the day.  Heath, our Assistant Manager here, made the arrangements for us to get there and back for free.  That's because the only way to get there is by boat.  Cayo Costa State Park can be accessed by the Tropic Star ferry system or by the park rangers boat, and that's what Heath arranged for us (the rangers' boat).  Turns out that park is special to Heath and his wife because they spent one week of their honeymoon there, and it was that experience that convinced Heath he wanted to be a park ranger.  And Mike, our park manager, used to be the assistant manager there and he had some good tips for us as well.

We took our bikes with us, our lunch, and all the rest of the stuff we thought we'd need for the day, including windbreakers.

In my fanny pack I usually carry my Garmin etrex Vista GPS, and this time was happy I had.  Their trail map has coordinates at all intersections, and it saved us some wandering around.  And for those of us who are information junkies, we walked and rode a total of 8.86 miles, moved for 3 hours even, were stopped for 2 hours and one minute (before I shut it off, of course); our maximum speed of 14.3 MPH, a moving average of 2.9 MPH, and an overall average of 1.8 MPH.

But before we get there, does anybody here know what flower this is?  It's in the park nursery, and it's an exotic so it won't be planted here, but it sure is pretty and we'd like to know the name so we could get one if/when we sell this RV and get a house.  And by the way, the picture on the right has not been enhanced.  It really is that color.

That egret was hanging around one day when Barb and I were fixing the ramp leading up to the footbridge across this little inlet.  He spent more time strutting his stuff, with all his fancy plumage, than he did hunting for food it seemed.

And we're finally off to Cayo Costa in the 25 foot C-Hawk boat belonging to the park.  There's three women and Lee the skipper in the cuddy, and I'm sitting outside on deck, using a milk box for a stool.

The "marina" has room for about three maybe four boats, and is up this little canal that is really pretty shallow.  Lee has to tip the engine up so it doesn't get stuck in the mud.  Only we keep getting stuck in the mud.  Our first duty of the day was to help the two women and Lee pull the boat off the mud so we could load it!  Not only was the tide out, but the prevailing winds from the night before had moved much of the water out to the main channel.

I have no clue how far it is to open water, but it's not near close enough!  You can see the engine kicking up the mud as we struggle to get out.  As you know, Barb and I have lived aboard and had lots of boats, and yeah, we've been stuck ourselves, so this wasn't really all that stressful for us, but Lee doesn't seem to be having any fun.

Well, I think I see a larger canal ahead, and it's a good thing too, because I don't know how much more mud this engine will take getting pumped through the cooling system!

Once into open water, things are better.  Wet, but better.  And while these homes are beautiful, it's amazing to us that people would build that close together.  Barb and I like our space too much for that.  Of course, we have no use for a huge home like that so we obviously don't understand those kind of people anyway.   Barb thinks it's a inn or some type of tourist facility; maybe she's right.....again!

The ride to Cayo Costa takes about 45 minutes or so, and we pass lots of other barrier islands on the way like this one.  That spray is soaking the bikes, but by shifting over a bit, I avoid most of it myself.  The same isn't true for Barb!  She's inside getting soaked because Lee has to open the windshield so he can see, and the spray is coming right in, mostly on her.

Yup, that's a pig.  Or more accurately, a feral hog.  A bane to society here in Florida.  They are really hard on the landscape and destroy lots of property.  Open hunting, no limit, and the hogs are still expanding their territory.  Sow can have 3 litters a year of 8 to 12 piglets each time.  And finally we made it, no blood no foul.  The park assistant manager, Ken, on the right, Barb you know (she's still wet in this picture) Shirley, then Lee our intrepid skipper, and finally Mary.  Ken took the boat back to the mainland right after this picture as he had some kind of meeting to go to.  At this point there's some question as to how we'll get back to the mainland.  If the wind pipes up any, Ken won't be able to bring the boat back today..........  As it turned out, the wind calmed down, and we got home just fine.

The island is a popular destination for lots of boats that are anchored offshore, as well as private boats just coming out for the day.  That building houses the restrooms, which we were happy about!

And then a trail marked "Cemetery Trail" beckoned to us, and sure enough.........a cemetery was there.  Huge shells caught Barb's eye, and dates from the early 1900's caught my eye.  Nothing spectacular or unexpected.  In the early nineteenth century Spanish fishermen from Cuba established "fishing ranchos" on many of these barrier islands, and in 1879 the Smithsonian Institution conducted a survey and found two fishing ranchos here.  In the last part of the nineteenth century, a quarantine station was established on the northern end of the island for immigrants entering the country through Boca Grande Pass.

One of the graves had a cross made with white lightning whelks (shells).  Yup, I'm taking a picture of one of my favorite subjects while waiting my turn for the restroom.

That's her alright.  Relaxing in the shade.  While not particularly hot, it wasn't particularly cool either.  Probably mid 80's or so, but we've been riding the bikes in the sand and sun, and that bit of work kept us very warm for a while.

A sand bar that seems to be building right offshore, a nice big lightning whelk Barb found (well, at least part of a nice big one--the tail was missing), some guys going out for a day of fishing the flats, and an shell egg casing we're not familiar with.  Maybe I'll luck out and Pam will read this and let me know what critter laid these.  We're walking the beach looking for sharks teeth.

Well, not all the boats made it back to harbor safely.  I have no clue what kind of boat this is/was or what the circumstances were that got it here.  It looks a bit like some of the gillnet boats I've seen in the Pacific Northwest and Columbia River.  Big outboard engines in that well near the center of the boat, with room over the transom and both sides to haul the nets.

The beach wasn't quite deserted, there were plenty of campers on the island, but you'd be hard pressed to call it crowded.  Barb's comment regarding the dead turtle:  "Phew!  Hurry up and take the picture -- it really stinks!"  The cross painted on its back means it's been logged by some environmental type.  Nobody we asked knew what kind it was, either.  Nice display of shells and other sea critters in the main building visitor center.

Good thing Barb's honest or they'd have lost a shell from their garden!  That's a pretty good example of a full-sized horse conch.

Yup, the gopher tortoise lives here too.  The opening to its home is to the left of that pile of sand.  I half expected this one to hiss at me as I approached, but it only retracted a little and waited to see what I was going to do.  I left.  These guys always look like they're mad . . . maybe they are!

Seems we spent way too much time pushing our bikes.  Been really dry (no rain) lately, and all the sand has gotten soft.  Plenty of kayaks in the campground and it's easy to see why.  These were in a nice 80-acre lagoon that's full of nice fish.  As she was waiting for me in that first picture, Barb said, "Hey, this shell is moving really fast....and it's going sideways!"  Yup, hermit crab.  Good sized one, too.  Lunch break in the shade.  That house behind the fence is where the assistant manager lives, and where Mike, our Lovers Key manager, and his wife lived when he was the assistant manager here.

Well, all the groceries have to be brought to the island by boat, so the garbage has to leave that way.  Every day when the volunteers go home, they haul the garbage with them to the dumpster at the marina.  Some days, after a holiday for instance, the garbage bags are piled as high as the cabin and unfortunate passengers will occasionally have to sit on top of it all!  What a smelly ride home that would be.

So, we said goodbye to Cayo Costa for today.  We'll probably be back, and I'll bring my fishing gear so Barb can look for sharks teeth without having me rag on her for picking up so many shells.  Never did find any sharks teeth by the way.  And goodbye to the hogs, too.

Caught a pelican perched on the sign on the way in.  That's not our marina by the way, ours is the Pine Island marina.  I really liked the way that boat following us was riding.  I watched it come in from quite a ways off, and it was taking the chop (tiny waves) real well, keeping the skipper dry.  The mangroves absorb the wakes so well that our speed is limited only to the boat's ability to stay in the channel and not run aground.  Oops!  That commercial fishing boat is hard aground.  Wonder why it's not stripped of its gear yet.

That snowy egret is ready to go wading.  As usual, it has its galoshes on!  Just one of the nice homes along this channel.

Some condos mixed in with the single family places.  I wonder why that bothers me, and the single family places don't.  Finally, our little canal entrance.  Glad the tide is in.  No getting stuck in the mud this time, just feel the clunking of the boat hitting logs not yet removed from Hurricane Charley--two years ago!

AHA!  A Ranger (not the driver, the boat name)!  No wonder that boat was riding so well.  It's one of the good ones.  That platform over the engine is to keep the pelicans from leaving their droppings on the engine........no it's not.  It's so the fisherman (or guide) can see where the fish are as he's poling the boat across the flats while standing up there.  With that trolling motor on the bow, this boat is rigged to fish a variety of waters.  That white thing sticking up alongside the engine is a shaft that can be driven into the mud to hold the boat like an anchor, but without doing damage to coral like a regular anchor would.  Besides, in the flats with about 3 feet of water under the boat, an anchor would be difficult to rig.  At least that's what I've been told. 

Evidence of hurricane damage in the mangroves.  These sturdy trees are really handy!

That's the marina, and marks the end of the boat ride, and the beginning of the garbage toss.  And, back home at Lovers Key, a spade fish that was caught at neighbor Ron's place.  Amazing how many fish here have those dark strips running up and down their sides.

Well, this is it for Lovers Key updates.  We leave here Monday the 17th, Lord willing, and head to Nacogdoches, TX, to get some warrantee work done on the coach along with some normal maintenance things taken care of.  Still not sure where we'll go from there.  Looking forward to meeting Hector and his wife while we're there.