full moon setting on the beach
31 December 2022 Saturday - Largo Florida
Last day of the year, and very foggy walkabout at Boca Ciega park.
30 December 2022 Friday - Largo Florida
Morning walkabout of the neighborhood to enjoy the last of the Christmas lights.
29 December 2022 Thursday - Largo Florida
Morning walk at Eagle Lake then food shopping at Natures Food Patch. Last minute telephone call from my sister's eldest son and his family wanting to visit mum this evening! They were in Orlando for a soccer tournament.
28 December 2022 Wednesday - Largo Florida
Morning walk at Botanical Gardens then visit with mum at alf
27 December 2022 Tuesday - Largo Florida
Catching up with friends via telephone.
26 December 2022 Monday - Largo Florida
Stores closed yesterday so stocking up on produce today.
25 December 2022 Sunday - Palatka to Largo Florida (175 miles)
Merry Christmas Day, return drive to Largo with stop at Eureka on the Ochlawaha River, part of the cross Florida barge canal. The lock is now hidden in the trees.
24 December 2022 Saturday - Palatka Florida
Happy Christmas Eve!
A very cold clear windy day with wind chill temp in the teens, thanks to winter storm Elliott intensifying into bomb cyclone.
23 December 2022 Friday - Palatka Florida
Morning drive to Dunns Creek State Park then afternoon walkabout of downtown for visit to the railroad museum and for ice cream. Walked one mile to the Dairy Queen but closed for the holidays so another mile walk to Hoot Owl Farm House for cone of ice cream from Wisconsin.
22 December 2022 Thursday - Palatka Florida
A very foggy morning so opted to not drive but walk the two mile roundtrip to Ravine Gardens State Park then heaps of up and down hiking in the two ravines 120 feet deep. Initially walked the very rooted Springs trail along the Whitewater spring-fed creek then to Palatka Waterworks and the natural rock amphitheater on a hill. The gardens were developed in the 1930s as WPA project with azaleas as the theme flower. The Miss Azalea contest was held each year where the winner was crowned with white azaleas. The festival is no longer held in the gardens but now on the river front. I also toured the Green Gables Inn (the magnificent palatial 1860s Major Sherman Conant house) on the way which was good timing as the entire house is booked for the next several days.
21 December 2022 Wednesday - Palatka Florida (56 miles)
Rainy, windy and cold morning turning to mist and fog but decided to weather the elements and drive to Welaka, small fishing village on the St Johns River. Visited the small aquarium at the hatchery then great chat with Grant at the Welaka State Forest office before hiking the two mile loop to Mud Springs which pumps out up to 1.4 million gallons of water each day. No mud in this underwater garden of crystalline waters of blue green color, just gorgeous, and very quiet in these woods. I had planned to walk the short Beecher Run trail at the hatchery but it was closed so continued on to Fort Gates Ferry which was damaged by hurricane Irma. I wanted to find the Mount Royal burial mounds, one of the largest in Florida and documented by John and William Bartram in 1765, but found from a local that they are now surrounded by megamansions with private airport in a gated community…so tailgated another car in to view the mounds that were constructed between 1250 and 1500 to bury their dead. More rain in the afternoon so returned for late Mexican lunch.
20 December 2022 Tuesday - Palatka Florida (50 miles)
Morning drive to the Buckman Lock on the St Johns and Ocklawaha Rivers, constructed during mid to late 1960s as part of the former Cross Florida Barge Canal project, which was halted by Nixon in 1971. Many feared the salinization of the aquifers. It is also the only current gateway for the West Indian Manatees. One was sighted yesterday but I saw none today. This area is now off limits to the public but I was there early when the visitor center had just opened and Adele got the approval of Arthur the gate keeper to let me in past the gates to view. About 2500 boats pass through the lock each year. I then visited the Rodman Dam/Reservoir, another controversial project, to watch the fisherman. I continued on the road across the dam to a dirt road through the woods and found the Davenport Historical Landing on the Ocklawaha River where steamboats would stop. Then back on the main highway with stop at Caravelle Ranch Wildlife Management Area, frequented by hunters. Late lunch of grilled mahi.
Sunny drive to the coast and the oldest town in USA, St Augustine, with visit to the lighthouse and the Castillo de San Marcos and walkabout of downtown, which got too crowded for me by midday.
18 December 2022 Sunday - Largo to Palatka Florida (175 miles)
Slow backroad drive to Palatka then walkabout of downtown but most shops are closed.
17 December 2022 Saturday - Largo Florida
Joined the volkswalkers for walk on the beach at Indian Shores and to visit the new James J Lawrence Veterans Memorial Park honoring the legacy of the Tocobaga indigenous people who lived in the area in the past.
13 December 2022 Tuesday - Largo Florida
Morning walk on the beach, cooler with a bit of breeze and very few people, then visit to car wash, then Kahwa coffee, then church thrift shop (only open Tuesdays) where I found nice yellow cotton shirt for one dollar (so difficult to find cotton clothes)!
12 December 2022 Monday - Largo Florida
Morning walk at the Botanical Gsardens.
8 December 2022 Thursday - Largo Florida
Beautiful morning walk on the beach with the full moon setting and the colorful sun rising and the birds singing and feeding in the pools of water of the low tide.
1 December 2022 Thursday - Largo Florida
Filled up petrol at Costco, $2.74 per gallon, most other stations at $3.29
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