Florida Journal - Orlando

The first evening in Orlando we went with our nephew David to a great little Irish pub in Winter Park called Fiddler's Green. While we ate (and the food was excellent) we played Trivia. We came in 3rd against the other tables and won a $20 gift certificate to use at our next meal.

Thursday and Friday the weather was cold (for Florida) and rainy so I stayed in and did some beading. Saturday was sunny but not too warm. We went out anyway, back up to Winter Park where we walked around the shops, listened to a little Bach being played in the park and had lunch. After lunch I spotted an ospray sitting in a tree and got a rather good picture of it.

Today we drove over to the Orlando Wetlands Park were we set out on what we thought was a loop trail about 2.5 miles long. Somehow we got going in the wrong direction, we think.... Anyway, we realized that we really didn't know where we were and it was getting toward sunset, so we turned around and went back the way we came. We agreed that, all in all, we probably walked about 3.5 miles, much longer thab I was prepared to walk for the first hike of the season. We saw all the usual birds, herons, egrats, coots, anhingas and vultures. We also saw a beautiful Red-shouldered hawk.

Below are pictures I took of a Great Blue Heron, a large turtle (the shell had to be at least 18 inches long) and did I mention the gators?

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Florida Journal - part 1 for today

Northern VA, along Route I-95.

Shot this through the car window just to let you see how much snow Northern VA had. The roads were fairly clear of snow so the driving was easy. There wasn't much traffic at this point but around Washington DC and Baltimore it was a nightmare. Tweet

Florida Journal - part 2

This was taken on Feb. 8, on the way south. It shows some of the residue of the storm that delayed our departure from NY. Notice the icicles on the sign.

VA Welcome Center

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Mohonk Lake

Mohonk Lake, originally uploaded by MarthaHorman.

I have yet to figure out how to post new pictures using the laptop. So instead of Florida photos I thought you might enjoy ta video. I took this when I was at Mohonk on February 2nd of this year.

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Florida Journal

We arrived in Orlando about 4PM this afternoon. It was not a long trip, only two and a half days, but it was eventful.

We left Long Island on Monday, February 8. Strangely, the snow piles kept getting higher and higher as  we went farther south. Around Washington DC, I-95 is normally 3 lanes, but only two lanes were open in most places because the road crews were still working on cleaning up after the February 6th and 7th storm. South of Richmond, VA the snow was mostly gone and by the time we reached Emporia, VA, where we spent the night, the ground was bare.

That night, when we got back to the motel from dinner, we were just in time to see a lady slip and fall on a patch of muddy grass. We tried to help her up but, because the ground was slippery, she could not get a firm footing and she could not kneel well either because she had had knee surgery. So, I went over to the motel lobby and brought back one of the sturdy breakfast room chairs. We planted this in the soggy ground and I held on to it to make it as steady as possibly. The lady was able to use it to get better leverage and between that and Paul's assisting her, we were able to get her up off the ground and sitting on the chair. After she caught her breath and stopped shaking, we helped her to her room. I should add that after I took the chair, the motel clerk came out to see what she could do to help and she stayed to turn on the heat for the lady and make sure she didn't need any other assistance.

The morning of the 9th dawned clear and sunny and we thought that it would be a great day for driving. Unfortunately, the sun didn't last long and the overcast sky was the least of it. We drove though torrential rains all through most of North Carolina and the northern part of South Carolina. At one point we had to pull off the road because we couldn't see here we were driving. Meanwhile, Paul had developed a low grade fever and, while not too unwell, spend quite a bit of time sleeping. The fever broke about noon and he started to feel better right away. We have no idea what he had.

We spent the second night on the road in Darien, GA. We stayed at a Hampton Inn where the clerk kept baking chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies. This was a true hardship because I am trying to be good about what I eat. On top of that, right across the street was a place called Smokey Joe's Bar-B-Q. You know we had to eat there. If you are in Darien, you have to eat there too. The food is excellent.

Well, we are here, staying at our nephew's. The three of us had dinner at a great little Irish Pub in Winter Park where we won third place in a trivia contest while eating some more good food, and wonder of wonders - they had Murphy's Stout. Tweet

Mohonk - The view from my balcony

Early last week I spend a night at the Mohonk Mountain House. This is the view from my balcony out over the winter gardens and the lake. Unfortunely, the day was over cast and it had started to snow.

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