Day 22 Sun 1/4/09 More Time with the Boys
We spent the morning jogging along the Hanna Park nature trails and doing laundry. In the early afternoon we picked up the boys again and brought them back to Hanna Park. We hiked along the same nature trails we had run this morning then along the beach. The boys loved it, finding sticks and sea shells and looking at the birds we pointed out to them. Back at the coach, we played three classic card games, Crazy Eights, Old Maid and Go Fish. Very nostalgic. Sadly we had run out of time and could not dissect the second Owl Pellet. We took the boys for supper at a local pizza place before bringing them home where they were scheduled to bathe, clean their rooms and got to bed at “school tomorrow” time.
Day 23 Mon 1/5/09 Monday, Monday . . .
With the kids at work and the boys at school, we spent the day alone. We got some exercise in the morning and went to Amelia Island and Fort Clinch State Park. It was still as beautiful as we remembered it. We hiked along the beach and found a 45 minute nature trail. The weather was fantastic. In Amelia Island we also found some shops ;-). We spent a quiet evening in the coach. Life is indeed Good!
Day 24 Tue 1/6/09 Friends from Alaska
We started the day with a bike ride then did some chores around the coach. In the afternoon we visited with Jim and Evalyn Campbell, a couple we met during our trip to Alaska last summer. It was a delightful afternoon and in the evening their friends Larry & Amy Cahill joined us for dinner. The Cahill’s are going to Alaska this summer and we and the Campbell’s gave them lots of ideas about what to do in Alaska and along the way.
Day 25 Wed 1/7/09 Shopping and Wind Swept Birds
Much of today was like Mondays in Anchorage. We shopped in Costco then went food shopping, spent time on the internet and watched some birds. After all the shopping we went to Huegenot County Park just a few miles north. Prior visits here let us see lots of shorebirds. However, today the wind was blowing 25 MPH with gusts over 40! We walked along the beach for a while and saw a few interesting birds but we got a lot of sand in our eyes, ears and mouth. Fortunately, this park has a broad hard packed sand beach that we could drive on. We cruised the beach and found several different mixed flocks of birds that included black skimmers and red knots, new birds for this trip.
Day 26 Thu 1/8/09 Back to Okefenokee
We drove to Okefenokee this morning and were warmly greeted by the refuge manager George Constantino. We settled into the same site we occupied last year. After we got set up, we drove to the Visitor center to meet some of the new volunteers and pick up mail. We then took our first trip down Swamp Island Drive where we saw a few turkeys but little else. Back at the coach, Sandy went for a run and Carl went for a bike ride, retracing our ten mile trip along Swamp Island Drive. Supper and our first full time internet in the motorhome, brought an end to our first day back in the swamp.
Day 27 Fri 1/9/09 Settling Into the Swamp
We spent time updating our seminar presentation and taking some additional photos to add visual interest regarding volunteering. We checked the booth displays and inventoried the brochures and other handouts we need for the booth. After lunch we drove into Folkston to do some shopping. Later, back at the coach, we met some of the other volunteers and relaxed outside reading until the sun set and the temperature dropped.
Day 28 Sat 1/10/09 Life in Volunteer Village
After breakfast we took some more photographs for our Okefenokee presentation then hiked from the Chesser Island Homestead to the end of the boardwalk. From the tower we saw many sandhill cranes, perhaps 25 or 30. After lunch in the coach we continued our preparations for the first outreach venue in Titusville on the 19th. Now that we are settled into the refuge we are getting plenty of much needed exercise. In addition to our two and a half mile hike, Sandy jogged a couple of miles and Carl did a ten mile bike ride.