Ocean, Turtles, Dunes, and Caches

January 10, 2008 - whatta day! In the morning, while Dick was scrubbing floors, I played WOW and completed a couple of really fun quests. One of the rewards was a new high quality fishing pole - I know that sounds silly, but in the game it's a Very Good Thing!

I wanted to go for a ride to see the ocean. Laurie came over and chauffeured us around all afternoon - and we had the Perfect Afternoon! We drove south to Jupiter, and along the beachfront there you can park and use boardwalks to get to the beach. It was another gorgeous day - the whitecaps were beautiful, the waves were crashing - some waves make a kind of a cracking sound!

We stopped in at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center - we just walked in as confident as you please, and were stopped at the door by folks saying "We're closed today - we're having a special event tonight." Laurie spoke to a really nice gal at the door, and lo and behold, the gal said "OK, you can come in and just take a quick look at the turtles!" So, feeling really privileged, we went to the turtle tanks and saw the loggerhead turtles, ranging in size from a dinner plate size to a coffee table size.



Dick's favorite was Jonah, who had been caught up in a fishing net - inside a fish! The fish coughed him up. He had been swallowed, hence the name Jonah! When he was brought to the center, he weighed .1 lbs. Now he's the size of a big lobster.

We were approached by a man who wanted to know if we were with the event people, and we explained that we were just visitors from Michigan who had finagled special treatment to get inside. Then for the next 10 minutes he wanted to talk about Gordie Howe, who used to live in Traverse City. This guy was a serious hockey fan - his name is Howe also, and when his son played hockey, he wore the number 9 - it was a fun conversation.

There was a cache next door at the Juno Dunes Natural Area, and another one across the street behind a shopping plaza. The last one was one of those that's back by the dumpsters, and you wish it was somewhere else! But we found both of them.

We toured Jupiter Island to see all of the big homes - it's an amazing place. The road is very narrow with no shoulders. Many of the homes have a second driveway with a "Service" sign by it - so no service people would actually come to the front door. The speed limit is 30 mph for most of the drive, and you share the road with golf carts.

We stopped at the Hobe Sound Beach, which is in the center of the island. It's a wonderful Martin County park - nice facilities, picnic pavilion, short walk to the beach, and great people-watching. It's a controversial park because the Jupiter Island residents don't like having the hoi poloi so close to their property. Dick and Laurie found a cache there, too.

Farther down the road at Blowing Rock, they found an interesting earth cache. The rocks were not blowing this day though.

Dick's logs:

Found it 1/10/2008 You found Sugar 'n Spice 'n Everything Nice (Traditional Cache)
We came down today to look at the ocean and to see the turtles. The recovery center was closed but the supervisor recognized Mrs Sharkie and let us in for a quick look. Afterwards we took a short walk to find the cache. Traded a TB for a coin and left a Geopatch and a star toy. Thanks for the fun.

Found it 1/10/2008 You found Faux's parking only! (Traditional Cache)
Came down with Mrs Sharkie Crew to enjoy the scenery and to look at the turtles. If it were not for Geocaching I know we would never have found this place. TNLNSLTFTC

Found it 1/10/2008 You found Ocean to Lake Trail #1: Hobe Sound Beach (Traditional Cache)
Out with part of the sharkie crew looking at the ocean. We think that this is one of the nicest beaches we've visited. Lots of folks enjoying the sun and sand today but we were here either to early or too late to witness any criminal activity. There were people fishing outside the park boundaries however. I guess they could spoil a homeowner's view. Found cache, signed log. Thanks for bringing us here.

Found it 1/10/2008 You found Blowing Rocks, The Anastasia Formation EarthCache (Earthcache)
We have been following the turf war over public beach access on the island and came down to see what the squabble is all about. We have visited and donated to many Conservancy areas in the past but I don't remember any others that had a fee. That was reflected by the fact that there were only 4 others enjoying the beach today.

Gee, I had a good time. And to cap off the perfect day, we all went out to dinner at Shell's, and I had great fish and chips. Dylan sat by me and did his homework - he's so cute!