Our time with Oscar is Up

Friday January 27, 2012
Osprey Land near Tampa Florida

It seems we are always wishing
we could stay longer.

Our reservations at Oscar Scherer sadly came to an end.
Our plans have changed and rather than travel
south to the Everglades we returned to the Tampa area.
We are now hanging out at a small spot recommended
by our good friends Gin and Syl of Wandering Sylville. 
We’re holding the fort until they get here.

WHOO HOO!!

So we can go kayaking any time we want.
Well anytime the tides and the winds will agree
to allow us.

We find a fisherman was scouting from the canoe ramp.

We arrive on Friday January 28.  Friday is always
a sketchy day for moving and finding a campground site
without having reservations.
But we are lucky and after setting up,
we set out on our bikes to see the lay of the land. 

We first stop at the really nice
canoe/kayak ramp and just as we start
to walk up this heron flies right in and
pays us no mind at all.

The heron hangs around while we snap away
with our cameras until David gets just
a little too close.

The ramp is really cool too. 

See the rollers??  On both sides.
Just roll yourself right into the water.
Not sure exactly how you roll yourself out
but since we have OUR OWN PERSONAL put in,
it doesn’t matter.
Cool beans as Judy would say!

 

Seems we have arrived in Osprey Land.

As we bike we find lots of palms in
the park and mangroves on the edges.

Some of the palms are missing their tops.
But they are still being put to good use.

On we pedal, more osprey.

I’ll save you the dozens more we see.
But suffice it to say there are a lot of them here
Well, actually, just one more with his fish
on his personal bald palm.

Flashback to my past, I do love beagles!

All of my adult life, before David, before Carrie
and through all our years on the farm, I have always had
a pair of beagles.  I promised them and
all my farm animals I wouldn’t leave for full timing
until they no longer needed us.  And I kept that promise.
But I miss my beagles.

When we pedal through the other campground loop,
I see that this Journey has a GREAT guard dog.
I have to get some pictures.  Her name is Jo and she
lives in Ontario Canada when she’s not on Journey Watch.

Can’t you hear the AAAAARRRROOOOOOOOOOOO??

 

Not sure who she is baying at.
And the Journey’s excellent insulation keeps it
from being as loud as I fondly remember.
But I LOVED it just the same.

From there, we go out on nice piers
from which we have great water views
of the mangroves.

And views of more fishermen of all sorts.
Nesting and otherwise.

 

A Beautiful beach but no swimming.

I wonder about all these fishermen eating
fish from waters too polluted to swim in.

Notice that the sign is hinged.
I guess sometimes you can swim and sometimes you can’t?

Where does this varying level of pollution come from
and why isn’t something being done about it
I ask myself.

Just before we head home for dinner, we see
more signs of the times at the large boat dock
for power boats heading out to the bay.

Sad that they have to have these signs,
but I’m glad that they do and hope the boaters
and others around the waters take them seriously.

And speaking of dinner,

time to head back to create
this delicious meal
including totally yummy cornbread cakes,

 

and time to eat it!

SO good!!