12 Oakdale

Saturday, we drove the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive after our stint as ambassadors there, in hopes of seeing an American flamingo, one of the many that were driven north in front of Hurricane Idalia back in August. Some made it as far as Wisconsin. We didn’t see the reported flamingo, but spotted 3 purple swamp hens, lots of galinules, blue wing teals, a black crown night heron, and great egrets.  Camping at Bahia Honda this week, it dawned on me that perhaps flamingos had been seen in the Keys. Yes, down Indies Road on Summerland Key. We decided to look on our way to Key West. As we slowly drove down the gravel/shell road with houses on our left and mudflats on our right, we begged any white bird off in the distance to have a tinge of pink. We looked and looked, creeping along. Then, I realized there were 3 flamingos were right next to the road. Duh. After taking some pictures, I did a little flamingo happy dance. They were not impressed. We enjoyed them for a while, then travelled ...

Acadia stuck me as a mirror to the Everglades: one has to find the majesty in subtly. Nothing particularly took my breath away, yet there was much to enjoy at a micro level. We did get up early enough to see the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain, albeit not from the top. Rather than parking in the west lot and hoofing it up to the summit, we opted to retreat a little down and used a pullout all to ourselves. We sat on boulders, having the truck as a wind barrier. It was our second time up the mountain, so we weren’t concerned about walking around on the paths at the top. We took a carriage ride with Mike as our guide and his granddaughter Sally driving most of the time. Horses Charlie and Charmer did the work, pulling the wagon on roads built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., beginning, I believe, in 1904, continuing until the start of World War II. Mike claimed his operation of 26 horses puts $100,000+ each year into the Mount Desert economy, hiring locals to work in the barns and drive the ...