NEWS

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Finally. For those of you who read this blog to 'travel' with us each summer to our latest adventure job we're ready to head out again...finally. We're headed to Yosemite National Park to work as visitor transportation service bus drivers. So, after nearly 5 months of waiting to find out which location would get our 'treasured' presence we have one week to get ready to head out. Fortunately, 'Lil Blue' (above, on the road to the Tioga Pass entrance to Yosemite on our way home in '07) is ready to roll...with plenty to experience: '05 Glacier NP; '06 Skagway, AK; '07 Denali NP, AK and now we head to the Left Coast.

"the usual suspects"

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of ....." If you're old enough to recognize what radio show those famous words came from (I know I left out the final word...men, but bear with me.) you may be eligible for more than AARP benefits. Anyway, we found the head of a lizard on the bathmat in front of the shower in the master bedroom. We later found the real scene of the crime, easily distinguished by blood on several tiles on the walkway to the living room.

The call went out: "round up the usual suspects." These 'felines of interest' were quickly located. They sleep almost all the time and usually in the same locations. Suspect A (above) is 17lbs. of beautiful bitchiness. The Queen's motto is 'never purr when you can bite.' Suspect B (below), weighing in at 12lbs of affection, goes by the name of Princess, aka 'Cuddly." Her mellowness is the perfect antidote to the Queen's more strident attitude.

The search for clues involved the inevitable: check for lizard-breath. Problem: Get too close to Queen and she would bite your nose; get too close to Princess and she would lick you. We're sure we know who did the deed, but we cant prove it. Solution: mark this case unsolved and turn it over to the cold case squad.

On a cloudy day you can see...

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Sunny and 91-degrees yesterday; cloudy, windy and mid-60s today. So we made another trip to Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge. We saw - - but didn't get pictures of - - at least 5 manatee; a family of wild pigs; wild turkeys and three otters who looked like black slinky toys scooting across the road from one canal to another.

What I did get pictures of was heavy traffic on the Haulover Canal which, by the camera angle, makes the three fishermen about get run over. Actually, they just got tossed about in a heavy wake as the vessel did pass quite close to theie small boat.
The Black-necked Stilt is easily recognized by its long red legs. Overcast skies made this pic a bit washed-out, but it's the first Stilt we've seen this season
This Great Egret appears to be marching to his afternoon repast.
A Snowy Egret in flight
Tricolor Herons are year-round residents of Florida

Breezy day

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - The appropriately named 'Tally Ho' out of Muskegon, MI, heads up the Halifax River (Intercoastal Waterway) on either a day trip or to a new destination. It's sunny, 91-degrees and there's a favorable 15mph win out of the southwest.

Two years ago we were already one week into our trip to Skagway, AK, and last year we were two days away from departing on the journey to Denali National Park (AK). This year we're still waiting to see where the wheel of fortune takes us.