Take Flight!

Pensacola Naval Station houses the coolest Aviation Museum.  I remember visiting when I was in 10th grade.  Sitting in the cockpit of a Blue Angel jet is just as exhilarating now as it was then.

Did you know that rare WWII planes were
found on the bottom of Lake Michigan?
Read about it here.

                                                                                              

T loves a good gift shop.  The boys purchased balsa wood planes to remember their trip to the Naval Aviation Musuem. If you are looking for an inexpensive non electric toy, we highly recommend the balsa planes. Like these

James was amazed by the inventory the museum maintains.  The amount of money spent on these planes from inception to restoration is outstanding,













According to E, there aren't many things cooler than sitting in a turret.

In addition to sitting in aircraft, we watched documentaries on restoration and shipbuilding.  We walked through displays of engine types, mock up military outposts in different war settings, and a deeply disturbing but informative display on POWs from the Vietnam War.  It would be easy to spend many days/months at the museum learning about each plane and its history.

Gulf Islands National Park

Gulf Islands National Park is white sand beach and forts. Team Mobley loves both of those things!

It rained most of our stay.  The road was in danger of flooding. We didn't get to lay on the beach.  However, we did get to explore 2 forts, play in the rain, and poke at dead jellyfish.  It was totally fun!







The boys found a path less traveled and so, of course, we traveled it.  It led to the sound side of the barrier island.  T said "the trail felt like a portal to another beautiful world."  It did.









This was the morning after the big storm.  We counted 15 dead cannonball jellyfish on the beach.  The ocean side was incredibly windy still so we forgo a walk on the ocean side.

 I love to eat out. I love food and seafood.  I am attempting to pass the love of  food but not the love of eating out to my kids.  However,  I am already unsuccessful.  We arrived at Sneaky Pete's just before the dinner rush. Honestly, I just wanted a good seafood market. I  would have cooked it myself.  But I couldn't find one on the island so I thought let's go in, order some seafood appetizers, and go to camp and have rice and beans for dinner.  James doesn't like seafood so he wanted something different. Ezra found good food on the kid's menu. Terje liked the atmosphere, they had a playground.  I will always eat out if given the option.  So we ate at Sneaky Pete's! The great ratings on Urbanspoon were accurate.  Great service, awesome food, and not totally outrageous prices for a tourist town.  They were also helpful in avoiding gluten.

The oysters were mild and succulent.  James and T tried only a bite.  E tried a whole oyster!  He says one a day is his limit.









This was also the first time the boys tried Tabasco.
 So many firsts on this trip! It brings me great joy to see my children expand their horizons.  Even if they don't like the oyster, now they know.

These forts were built by slaves. The NPS hasn't been able to track down who built these amazing forts.  The slave masters received payment but didn't list who they sent to work.  When I saw the craftsman ship and skill it took to build the arches I was in awe. We took a moment of silence to honor the men.  Geronimo was also held captive here.  The only battle these forts saw was against each other as Union and Confederate troops tried to control the area.

The tunnels were just tall enough for the boys
 to walk through standing up.

If need be, the fort could be set ablaze by lighting the gunpowder that was stored in these (there were 3) tunnels.  That way the enemy couldn't use the weapons or the fort.  There is so much history in each fort, on each island, in each city that we visit.  There have been lives lived and lost in these spaces.  I can only imagine what life here was like and then be thankful for the 72 square feet we currently call home.

Florida Keys

We lived large for 5 days at the KOA Key West.  We had a pool, hot tub, beach front/mangrove site, water, and electric.  A good internet connection was the only thing missing.  We spent our days relaxing, playing in the pool, listening to music in the pub, and fixing the bus.  We met a new VW friend; he owns a Syncro.  Super nice guy who understand traveling in a VW with kids, although his are grown. He is SO knowledgeable and he gave James some great advice on caring for Love Dove.

We visited Bahia Honda.  A state park with gorgeous blue water.  When you think Florida Keys water you think Bahia Honda water. This park is an intersection of the new Overseas Highway, the old highway and Flagler's railroad.  Did you know that Flagler had a train track built from Miami to Key West in the early 1900's. BTW, driving Love Dove on the Overseas Highway on a windy day is freaky!



Our day in Key West included the tourist spots like Mallory square, the southern most point marker, the  Botanical gardens, Fort Zachary and The Florida Eco-Discovery Center.

Besides a peaceful and beautiful garden the Botanical garden had a display of Cuban Chugs. Chugs are boats used by refugees escaping from Cuba.  The ingenuity of the refugees is brilliant. They use any resource they can find: old tarps and fiat motors to name a couple. The boys realized how badly some people want to leave their country when they are willing to sail 90 miles on the open ocean in these tiny boats.






The Eco-Discovery Center has displays describing Florida habitats, a mock up of the world's only underwater ocean laboratory, and several aquariums.  It is run by several agencies and because of that it is a donation based facility.  I love that even more because it is accessible to more people! T spotted jellyfish floating by the piers.  It was our first view of living jellyfish in the water.


















At Fort Zachary we snorkled and swam.  We explored the Fort.  T hoped this brick would lead to Diagon Alley :)

Sculpture in Mallory Square made for belly laughs and good pics.

 Eat at Help Yourself. Delicious. Lots of local foods. Homemade. Healthy. Oh and Delicious! They even had Master Cleanse drinks and tons of gluten free options. E says it was an epic place to eat.  We had so many choices, even homemade coconut yogurt!

We walked the streets, explored the fort, ate good food, people watched, and looked at lots of fun art work.  It was a long good day.  To end I give you Love Dove and the men at the Southernmost point in the continental United States. 

Everglades, Big Cypress, Biscayne National Parks

 Let's talk wildlife.  Southern Florida, obviously, has a dramatically different environment than what we are used to.  Although we do have mosquitoes in common :)





I am so thankful we didn't stumble upon an unwanted Everglades visitor, the Burmese Python. This one was found a few years ago.  People have let their pets free into the Everglades and they are destroying native animal species. Boo-Hiss

 This picture and several of the following were taken at Shark Valley Visitor Center.  So much wildlife so close to humans! The facial expressions are true to life; T and E are excited and I am holding on to my children fearing for their safety. I loosened up and began appreciating how close we could get to them without invading their space or vice versa.

Baby Alligators cuddling on the bank

Turtle

Our day at Biscayne was cold and windy so here is a photo of the wildlife we saw that day :)

Crocodiles

We saw gators throughout Southern Florida.  The only Crocs we saw, besides on E's feet were in the Flamingo Marina.  While there we also talked to a kayaker coming in from the Florida Bay.  We were also coming in from the same bay, anyhow he video taped a 10 ft shark next to his boat!  

We saw lots of Manatee tails.

There were several manatees living in the marina.  We saw tails and an occasional snout.  They were busy eating seagrass. 

Crab

Gull Army!

The Black Skimmer is a peculiar bird.  This one hangs out alone or with a flock of seagulls.  He rests his beak on the ground and looks almost dead.

I love this mural. It shows some of the beautiful animals in the Everglades.

The endangered Panter being ridden by the fearless T

James and the boys enjoyed taking pictures of the wildlife. It was hard to choose a few for this post.  I am astounded and saddened to know that the bird population in the Everglades has decreased by 90-95% from the late 1800's.  And now animals like Pythons and iguanas are destroying habitat.  It is amazing how much influence humans have on this planet and how we don't even realize it sometimes.  Being here has reminded us to be aware of our water use, think about the pets we may want to own and how they influence the environment around us, and of course not littering.  I challenge everyone out there to learn the life of the products they buy; where do they come from, who do they impact, and how it leaving a mark on the world that fits your comfort zone. I leave you with this gorgeous photo of a Heron, a bird that represents balance. May you find the balance you need.

taken by James Mobley

Bear Creek Canoe Trail

I have hiked many a trails. I have aimlessly wondered city streets.
I have never, until now, paddled an official canoe trail.

Let's go back to the beginning.  We have two 9ft Swifty kayaks made by Perception.  The swiftys have met our needs perfectly.  The boats are well suited to playing in a river or lake.  The cockpit is large and open so we can fit 1 adult and 1 kid in each boat.  This will absolutely be the last year we can pull off 2 people per boat.  The boys are getting bigger and the boats just don't track and paddle as well with 2 people in them. We will get to that in a moment.








We were camped at Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park when we decided to try our first official canoe trail.  We walked down to the Visitor Center and talked to a Ranger.  She informed us that some of the trails were closed due to low water conditions.  We chose Bear Creek because it was near the Flamingo Campground and it lead to Bear Lake, a decent fishing spot.

As we walked to the trailhead we could feel how different the habitat was from our own. The water looked shallow and golden brown. The air was heavy, thick really.  Mosquitoes buzzed in our ears. Epiphytes hung all around.  The trees and plants were unfamiliar. And the insects and animals were a total mystery.  We were honestly scared or at least out of our comfort zone.  But we are Team Mobley so we started paddling.











The trees hung low over the narrow creek.  We ducked our heads to avoid  hitting the beautiful plants dangling from the trees.  The smell was distinct.  It smelled rotten, like a nasty old potato. The water, brace yourself, looked like watered down baby poo. There is honestly no other way to describe it. As we paddled we were in awe of the spiders and there webs.  There were so many!

We started paddling in the early afternoon.  We packed some snacks but there was no place to stop.  The entire trail required our attention.  If we weren't paddling, we were running into spiderwebs or red mangroves.  By now the trail was feeling like this post, long and never ending! The creek was getting shallower and smellier.  It was more difficult to paddle as the water lessened and the mud increased.  We could only get 1-3inches of our paddles in the water without scooping up muck.  It seemed like we were paddling and going no where! No where! Our arms were pumped. Images of our family sleeping in the Everglades crossed my mind. How would I be brave as the darkness set in. How would I be brave for my kids when there were spiders all around.  I knew we were not lost on this canoe trail called Bear Creek.  I mean how could we be lost? There was a clear trail map at the put in.  The trail was straight.  There was one main waterway with only tiny impassable tributaries. Then again the trail we were on was close to impassable. Scary stories flooded my head.  In the midst of my stories James asks me if we are lost.  He was worried too? Fabulous! I better get my brain together. I took a deep breath and let the stories be just that, stories. I used one of my favorite techniques: acknowledge the story and then watch it float away on a cloud.  Man I miss yoga class, but I digress.

We agree we will paddle another 20 mins and if we don't get to the lake we will turn around.  We do not want to turn around. I know we must be so close!  Paddle, Paddle, Paddle. For every 5 paddles we travel a foot or two.      Finally we can see a small turn in the river that leads to the lake! LAKE! LAKE! As we entered the lake we were able to get out on a tiny beach.  The beach would be our fishing spot. Based on the trash picked up by our JR Rangers, others have fished here too.  Time for a snack and for fishing.

 

We caught nothing.  Not even a nibble. Lost a nice weight in the mangroves. Enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. The paddle back was almost as treacherous as the way in.  It was made easier just because we knew what to expect.  E and I paddled back together and created a lovely song to keep us occupied as we struggled through the muck.

Sung to Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Row, Row, Row Kayak 

with epiphytes above

liquid poo under you

and a gator or 2

(and repeat!)

Luckily we saw no gators! After reaching the parking lot, E and I took the boats and paddled the canal to the marina. James and T drove back.  The kids have been looking for the Florida Bigfoot, also called Skunk Ape.  As we paddled, E called out with his best Bigfoot call.  A few moments later we heard a call back! James and T had parked down the river and T had heard the call and responded!  It caught E and I off guard.  We all had a good laugh as the boys continued speaking to each other in Bigfoot language.  E and I paddled into the marina just after sunset. We loaded up the boats and headed to camp for dinner.