Lo-o-ong bike ride!

The sky looked a bit ominous this morning - could it be that the weather-man was right for a change?  He's been forecasting rain all week and it hasn't.  We decided to take a chance.  Today we biked down Hwy A1A, the main road that connects the islands where the beaches are all the way down the east coast of Florida.

And guess what?  It rained!  Only for a short time, though.  We sheltered under an overhang in front of a resort, and left as soon as it quit.  Then it started again.  :-(  Jeff and Kerry, remember that white rain Anorak (I think that's what it's called) you gave me for Christmas one year?  I pulled it on - and then it quit raining again.

We came across this Trump Resort and it is HUGE and beautiful, and then a little further down the street we came to 3 more HUGE Trump Towers!

We stopped for a break on the beach to drink our coffee and read our books.  It was a VERY hot day again, but there was quite a strong breeze, which made it bearable.

We found a pretty strange flamingo in a park by the beach.  It seems he's very patriotic!

We kept riding until we reached the end of the island, which means we have been from one end of the island(yesterday) to the other.  Even up through the inlet (to the intracoastal), the water looked that beautiful aqua-marine colour.  I think it looks that colour because of the white sand that is on the bottom.  When we had the pool at the Danforth Road house, it was plastered white, and it looked like that as well.       This area is called Haulover Beach Park.

Hollywood has had a LOT of feral cats, and this year we noticed that there are hardly any - at least we have seen very few.  I imagine this one that we saw at the inlet was feral.  He was not anxious to see me, and he scurried down among the rocks.

This boat was coming in off the ocean, going under the bridge which separates this island from the one where Miami is.

I saw this pelican from a distance and thought it was a white one.  It turned out to be a brown one, and he was just sitting there letting the waves break over him - guess he was hot too!

We saw a bunch of kites flying - this one appears to be a diver with a fish for a tail.

For the first time today we didn't take a picnic with us for our bike ride.  We decided to try this fast food place, which I had seen lots of times, but we had never tried.  It was really good food, inexpensive, and I think had healthier food than most fast food places.

By the time we got home, we were pooped - too tired to even go for a swim.  The shower was much closer!

Biking in Hollywood

This is the scene that greeted me as I looked out the window today - awesome!  We got ready and headed out on the bikes, down the broadwalk.

We rode down through the John U. Lloyd State Park, which goes all the way to the Fort Lauderdale Port and outlet from the intracoastal to the Atlantic Ocean.  At the boat launch, we came across some people who had been out fishing and were cleaning their fish.  This one is a tuna - not the kind we get in cans apparently.

As they cleaned the fish, the scraps were thrown into the water, where some pelicans were waiting to snatch them up.      These are brown pelicans, the most common in Florida.

This fellow got lucky!

This one is a juvenile brown pelican, and the adults really didn't want him around - kept chasing him away.

This is a type of Mangrove - I think it is the Red Mangrove, because it has it's roots in the water.  Mangroves live along the coasts of Florida.  They can't take freezing, so they are mostly in the south, in salt or brackish water (like in the intracoastal).

It was another really hot day, and we were glad to find a shelter in the park to eat our lunch.  With the breeze and shade it was very pleasant!

After lunch, we went for a nice long walk on the beach in the park.

We found a nice shelf of sand that was just the right height for a rest.

I love watching these little fellows run on the sand.  As the waves retreat, they follow them out, sticking their beaks into the sand for whatever it is they like to eat.  Then as the waves come in, they run like crazy so their feet don't get wet!

I thought this was an unusual looking sea bird.  He has an all-black head, and is really quite pretty.

Pelicans often fly in bunches like this.  It's cool to watch them as they all flap their wings at the same time, and then soar at the same time.

We took the intracoastal waterway part way back home.  Part of it has a boardwalk, and this little blue heron was perched on the rail.

The little blue flew over to the shore and walked beside what I think might be black mangroves, whose roots are not IN the water.

It was a beautiful day for sailing, since it was quite windy.  There were a lot of boats on the water today.

Ice cream on the broadwalk on the way home was welcome!

Apparently the mockingbird imitates other birds' cries.  I don't know about that, but they sure do sing their hearts out!

I'm sure by now you are "getting" why I love it so much in Hollywood! 

Shark Valley

Today we drove to Everglades National Park, to the entrance off Tamiami Trail called Shark Valley.  There is a trail called The Loop, which is paved, and on which there is a 2 hour trolley ride.  You can also ride bikes around the 15.5 mile loop, which goes through a portion of the everglades.

We figure we saw at least 100 alligators along the way.  And no, I didn't take a picture of ALL of them, and some I took I deleted.  I took 218 pictures, but managed to get them down to 55.  There are more pictures than usual today, but not all 55 of them, honest!

One of my favorite birds to see was the spoon-billed roseate - so pretty and unusual!

I also really like the little snowy egret.

You didn't REALLY think I would only put in 1 alligator did you?

I've never seen one draped over rocks like this.

This very evasive bird was perched in a tree when I saw him - the least bittern.

A female anhinga drying her wings, and a turtle in the background.  I love the way they grip the tree branch with their webbed feet!

You don't often see these fellows up on all fours walking.  He went across the road in front of our trolly.

Another sight that you don't often see - a gator with it's mouth open.

This is just to show you how close we passed by them on our bikes.  We were often within a few feet of them.  These ARE in the wild, but I think they get very used to people going by on trollies or bikes, and it doesn't bother them.  They are NOT fed in the park, that's why they are not usually agressive.

This heron had its mouth open, but wasn't making any sounds.

Now here is something I bet you've never seen, won't likely see again, and never thought you ever would - alligator poop!  They won't "go" in the water, have to come out onto the land, and often go on the trail.

This thistle is similar to our Scotch Thistle, and the bee looks a bit like a bumble bee.

About halfway through the loop, there is an observation tower.

These are 4 baby alligators - "grunts" .......

.......and Momma gator was on the other side of the path, which we didn't notice til we got back on our bikes to go.  They say that the most agressive ones are the Mommas with babies.

We didn't realize the wood storks are endangered.  They shuffle their feet around in the water til they find what they want to eat, then grab it in their long bills.

You can just barely see Paul way ahead of me on the trail - that's because I always stop to take pictures and get behind.  :-)

The everglades are known as a river of grass.  There is actually water in there that moves from east to west - very slowly!  There are culverts all along the trail to assist it with it's moving.  The alligators tend to hang out near the culverts.

That was a really good day - I sure enjoyed it all!

Sunday in Hollywood

Today we went to the Hollywood Alliance Church.  It was great to hear a lady missionary from Brazil - she was a really good speaker.  But again, we found another struggling Alliance Church.  It's so sad!                             This is a flower that is growing in the entranceway to  this resort                                        

We went for a walk this afternoon at the water's edge.  We're very close to the outlet from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, which is one of the ports in Florida  that the cruise ships sail out of.  We saw at least 4 of them leaving the port today.

It was a day that it was supposed to be raining all day, but it managed to wait until just after we came in before it started.

This is the Hollywood Beach Resort and Cruiseport, where we are staying this week.  We were a wee bit disturbed to find out that we have to pay $18 per day to park here!

We often see these beautiful seabirds on the Trent River, just below Hastings.  I think they are called Royal Terns, and are really quite pretty.

This bottle was washed up on the beach, but there was not a note in it - just lots of shells attached to it.

This beautiful creature is called a "man-of-war", and often washes up on the beaches with the tide.  It is quite lovely to look at, but has long, string-like tentacles which apparently give a terrible sting if touched.

These colourful boards often show up  on the beaches as well on a windy day like today was.

It is looking a lot like it might rain for the next 2 days, but the rest of the week is looking pretty good right now.  Here's hoping!