Grandma, Grandpa, Laurie, and Dylan spent the day in the Park. Chip was left home to do chores before going to work tomorrow.
We left around 10 a.m., went to Publix to get sub sandwiches for lunch, and then went to Jonathan Dickinson State Park, which Laurie calls Jonathan Stick-in-the-mud State Park for no apparent reason. We had planned to take the 11 a.m. boat tour on the Loxahatchie River, but the tide was out, so we opted to wait for the 1 p.m. tour when the tide would be in enough so that we could get to Trapper Nelson's Island.
So off we went on a tour of the Park roadways, aiming to see the Observation Tower. We drove around one campground which had been totally destroyed by the hurricanes last season - It's called Piney Grove Campground, and there is not a tree in sight. We couldn't believe that people were actually camping there because there are other, nicer, more intact campgrounds quite nearby.
On the way to the Tower, we stopped to see if there were any alligators at the alligator viewing spot - and we were lucky - there were a couple of really quite large alligators and some young ones - we enjoyed watching them swim back and forth. Dick got some good pictures.
We hiked up to the Observation Tower and were quite amused to see that at 86 feet above sea level, it's the highest spot south of Lake Okeechobee. 86 feet! Anyway, the view wasn't that exciting, but Dylan was interested in the big bumble bees that were flying around the lantana blossoms, and Dick found a bench mark to photograph.
On the way back to the River, there was a large snake lying in the road. He eventually slithered into the grass at the side of the road, curled up, and rattled at us. It was a diamondback rattlesnake - glad we were in the car. Dick got some good pictures of that, too.
On down the road, and next we saw a tortoise "running" across the road. We stopped, got out and inspected him, and helped him across. Dylan liked the tortoise better than the snake or the alligators. Wise choice.
We ate lunch, and caught the boat tour - it was quite a hot day (for us) - around 85F, and the breeze on the boat tour felt heavenly. We rode to the Island, where the volunteer gave us a great tour of Trapper Nelson's compound. It was very primitive, and we had a hard time understanding why anyone would want to live there. Dick bought a book about Trapper's life, so maybe that will help us understand.
On the river we saw ospreys, snowy egrets, cattle egrets, vultures, alligators, turtles, baby blue herons, and mullet. The mullet jump clear out of the water and do a flip before falling back down. We really enjoyed the Loxahatchie.
After we left the park, Laurie drove us to Jupiter Island, where we did some sight seeing of fantastic homes, and went to a public beach so Dylan could play near the water and collect shells.
It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time. Best day of the trip, maybe - although it's all been great.
Pizza for supper.
Chip and Laurie's neighbors are putting in a pool, so they're thinking that this might be a good time to put in one for themselves, since the workers are right there anyway, and then things would have to be torn up only once. I think they'll do it, but they haven't finalized anything yet.
We leave tomorrow.
