Close-Up With Dolphins

What a fantastic dolphin encounter we had yesterday! We had gone kayaking from Cove Rd. to 'Hole in the Wall', which is a keyhole saltwater lake off the St. Lucie Inlet. We had never done this trip before, so it was a fun new experience. At times we had to paddle like crazy against the current, but then it turned around and it was like running the rapids. The lake itself is bordered by the St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park that I have previously posted about. We beached the yaks and walked the sandspit to where the walking trail that we took before, ended (sorry no photos). We had checked Google Earth to see what backwaters we could use to get to the inlet, to stay off the Intracoastal as much as possible. There is a large lagoon we kayaked through, and Dave noticed a couple of dolphins in the distance, heading our way. I decided to slap my paddle on the surface of the water to try and draw their attention and it worked! One went right under Dave on its way to me. Taking photos of dolphins is pretty hard because they surface and go back down so fast. This is a photo of both of them and I don't know if I caught the spray from their exhale or it is just a spot on the camera lens.

You can see how their speed lifts the water and leaves a wake. Nice fin! Good thing it was only a dolphin. 😉 

Off they go, leading us the whole way out to the ICW and across the channel. 

This certainly was a great experience that we will remember for a long time!

😎

2 Stroke Show

Dave and longtime friend Scott went to the 2-stroke vintage motorcycle show held in Punta Gorda. The event was at Bert's Harley Davidson and the place was huge! This Saturday's attraction was the display of about 100 various 2-stroke motorcycles from different people and brands (brother Rick, your Trailhoppers would have been the hit of the show!). 

(Although this one is a combination of the red and black versions, we used to have two of the black Honda MB5's)

Besides the 2 -strokes, there was also a band...

And you could have your bike worked on while visiting their restaurant...

Or how about getting your bike washed? 😉

The Harley store itself had tons of bikes and trikes for sale.

At 2 PM they had the smoke out, where everyone started their 2 stroke bikes at once.

Then the rains came so it was time to leave, but the guys had quite the experience (there are lots of other photos posted on 2-stroke bike show's Facebook page). Next year they want to go to the Dania vintage motorcycle meet, which is supposed to be another awesome event. 

1926 Flight

Our octogenarian neighbor Bill stopped by at noon today to tell us that there is a 1926 Ford Trimotor plane at the Stuart airport, and they were offering tours and flights. He was headed over there to book a flight and we said we would take the Silverwing scooter over to see him go flying. Bill got there in time to jump on board, and we arrived just as this magnificent restored aircraft took flight. 

The ride was about 15 or 20 minutes long and we waited until they landed to see Bill, along with touring the outside and inside of the plane.

The inside is luxurious for the period, complete with wood paneling, drapes on the windows, and classic lighting.

Nine cyclinders run each of the three motors.

What a novel looking windshield and the wing flaps are run manually with those cables. The other side of the plane is the same, but said "City of Wichita". These were cities that it originally stopped at during its transcontinental flight schedule

The gauges are outside the cockpit on the wing struts! The pilots have to monitor them by looking out the windows.

Engine emblem...

View from the tail of the plane. The skin is all corrugated aluminum.

There were 199 of these Trimotors built between 1926 and 1933. There are 18 left in the world and only eight are airworthy. The builder's emblem...

The passenger windows are single pane and had quite a view.

Sometimes the spur of the moment opportunities turn out to be the best experiences, just like this one did. We sure enjoy being diverse! 

😎

Tuesday Cruise-In

Barry and Barb took us cruisin' to the weekly gathering at Elliott Museum in their 1963 Impala last night. What a great car and a fun ride. 

Other stand out vehicles included: A '57 Chevy Bellair convertible with a 283, 2x4 carbs.

A 1971 Plymouth Fury 1 reconstructed to look like a NYC police car from that era.

A post WW2 Mopar 5 window coupe.

A 1968 Camaro with a modern color. 

This 1953 Ford F-100 was made in a very a good year...the year Barry and I were born!

A C-8 Corvette with Lambo doors and an interesting patterned full body wrap

A 1970 Chevy C-10 long box resto-modded with a LS 2 small block engine.

A 1954 Ford F-1 Rat Rod.

A first edition two-seater Ford Thunderbird.

Yet another Corvette, supercharged with a nice paint job on the hood.

Our KEWL '39 Plymouth sure would look at home here in the car shows!

😎

Blast Off

Last evening we watched a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, here at our house in Jensen Beach. I remembered that it was happening right at the 6:11 blast off time. With the sun having just set, the view was spectacular, even though we were so far away. We even got to see the first stage separation and head back for a landing at the Canaveral. It looked like someone had hit rewind when it headed back to earth, seeing the flames like it had just taken off, only in reverse. It would pulse every once in a while, and it left quite the clouds. The rest of the rocket continued on its path, which this time was directly over our heads and heading south, which we had never seen before. 

This was our 4th rocket launch viewing this winter, each of which we have said is the best one ever. Technology is amazing!

😎