Spring & Early Summer Update

It was a very wet and cold spring for us in Upstate NY this year. We did squeeze in a couple of trips to the annual Gallupville Gas-up though, and this show never lets us down, even with the muddy conditions. As usual, many kids (and kids-at-heart) were out driving tractors around, which we really enjoyed seeing. Dave brought his mini-bike that he put a Honda 200cc twin engine in, which was a big hit. 

Soon after the show, Mother Nature flipped the switch and summer arrived with 98 degree temps for a few days. We kayaked and swam in Lake George to cool off several times, once with early morning fog in Huddle Bay (Bolton Landing) with the famous Sagamore Hotel barely visible in the distance. 

Another day we went further north to kayak Long Lake, then had a great lunch at the historical Adirondack Hotel. 

Then it was time to exercise our ChrisCraft Speedster 'Moxie' on Lake George with lots of cooling off in the 72 degree water. We must have winterized the boat well, because it (and we!) were raring to go and have fun. Bring on summer!

😎

Coexisting

On my walk this morning, I spotted this turtle and gator warming up in the sun along the banks of Warner Creek. Neither one of them cared that the other was there. We had quite the cold front storm last evening, including hail, so they must be enjoying the mid-day warmth.

How Many Outboards Does It Need?

We witnessed this boat come in Jupiter Inlet and thought we were seeing things when we counted the number of engines it had. Yup, that's right, it's six outboards! 😵‍💫😲

Back To Kayaking With Gators

We have been having some great kayaking adventures. Today we went to the Kitching Creek Preserve near Hobe Sound, where the fresh water pond is small but filled with birds, frogs, and gators. 

We also went to Hillmoor Lake in Port St. Lucie with friend Ken and his sister Jerry. This was the first time they have paddled in Florida, so it was the perfect place for beginners. Bird life abounded and several alligators surfaced nearby. Luckily they are more afraid of us than we are of them. 

We sure were surprised when Jerry arrived with a pink kayak just like mine. We don't think too many of them exist.

The four of us took a paddling tour of Manatee Pocket one day too, but this time it was to see a different kind of wildlife...yachts!

Not to bore you with an abundance of kayak photos 😉, but Dave and I recently went back to Peck Lake, which is just a wide part of the Intracoastal Waterway south of Stuart. We found a different ocean beach access at the southern end of the lake, which is really shallow, so few people can access it. That suits us just fine!

One other time we kayaked the shoreline from East Island off the Stuart Bridge. When we returned, we saw the funniest thing...a dinosaur! It all had to do with a photo shoot and they had this guy in a blow-up dinosaur suit out on his foil board. He told us that it couldn't get wet or it would wreck the inflator. He sure had good balance and the costume must have been so hot.

That catches you up on all our kayaking adventures for the past month! 😎

On Safari

After coming to Florida many times, we finally decided to check out Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach. The animals roam freely in the drive through sections (except the two female lions we saw behind a fence), ad they appear to be well taken care of. We saw numerous assistance trucks and a vet vehicle traveling the grounds. There was lots of emphasis on education. It was a cool day so the animals were close by warming up in the sun, including the zebras, rhinos, and ostriches (thank goodness the windows were required to be closed). Another advantage during this cold front was that there were very few people around so we didn't feel rushed. There was also a walk through area, and best of all was getting up close to the giraffes and feeding them!

Busy Port

What a perfect day to go to Peanut Island in Palm Beach. The kayaking was pretty easy, the water was super clear for snorkeling, and the port was busier than we have seen it for awhile. 

As we approached the island, I was lucky enough to have a manatee pass under my kayak. I didn't have time to take a photo, but as the day went on, we ended up seeing three different starfish! Now that's clear water!

The Port of Palm Beach was bustling with ships and mega yachts. 

I watched the 236 ft. 'Arbema' leave the dock and head out the inlet.

Once the outside dock was empty, we could see the 351 ft. super yacht 'Andromeda' even better. 

To top it off, the 269 ft. 'Haven' came into the port's turning basin and headed up the west coast of the outer Palm Beach island.

The past two times that we have walked the perimeter of Peanut Island, we've noticed that there is construction equipment working on the interior part of the island. There used to be a huge hill in the middle (it is a spoil island from dredging), and now the sand is being taken by loader to a hopper and a conveyor belt to a storage area near the Intracoastal Waterway. Then the sand is loaded onto a barge to be used for other projects elsewhere.

As with most of our adventures, we came across a few sunken and abandoned boats as we paddled around the island.

This sure was an interesting trip and one of our best!

😎