2 WEEKS LEFT HERE!

                         LENNY AND THE BROWNHILL CRANE TALKING TO EACH OTHER

                                   BROWN HILL CRANE OUTSIDE MY WINDOW

                                      CRAIG SPRAYING AROUND TREE FROG CAMP

                                     CRAIG BY A TRAP WE PUT TO PUT TOGETHER

                                        WORKING WITH VOLUNTEER JOE

                                             CRAIG CHECKING OUT A HUGE SPIDE


We leave here on the 28th of Feb. and are truly going to miss this place, best gig we ever had, but it is time to move on and let the new volunteers start but we will be back next year for sure, already booked for Oct. 1st, 2013.  When we leave here we will be headed for Hammock State Park for 5 days and then to Lake Kissimee State Park for 3 days and then on to Homosassa Springs to our friends Annette and Barry's place until we start heading back to Michigan the first week of April, plan on stopping by and seeing our friends and former volunteers from here Brooks and Frieda at Swannee River State Campground. We have to be back to start our new gig May 1st at Sleeper State Park in Caseville Michigan, but mostly want to be back by April 11th for my son's birthday, my Grandson's birthday April 14th and my Granddaughter's birthday on April 14th..as you can see April is a busy month for birthday's! I can't wait to see everyone and hoping they can spend some time with us in Caseville and Port Austin, I also plan on spending more time at their places this summer and taking the grandkids for a few days with us while doing our gigs.  We have scheduled a couple of our summer gigs to make it easier for them to see us without driving a couple of hours. We will be in Caseville from May 1st to June 1st, which is about 45 min. from the kids and grandkids and a favorite place for them to hang out, plus my step-children are from this area and hoping to see them again, then we head up to Tawas Point State Park June 1st to July first, now this is at least an hour and a half for them to travel but our friends Annette and Barry have a huge cabin up there and I plan on having the kids and grandkids come and stay with us there and at the campground for a few days, then we are back to the thumb area at Port Crescent State Park, which is just down the road from Sleeper and not that far for them to travel and will be there the whole month of July, now we didn't plan on hosting anymore after Port Crescent but North Higgins Lake called and they want us back, it is a couple hour drive for the family but we love this place and realized that we have to stay someplace before we head back to Florida and with the cost of a campground site being $24-$28 a night we really can't afford that, we wanted to travel further up north and stay at a few campgrounds up there and see the Lake of the Clouds and the Sand dunes, but we figure we will take the car and take a couple days off while at Higgins and head up there for a mini vacation, also want go to Mackinaw Island again!  I also want to spend some time with my best bud Peggy, we may go on a couple of overnight stays to Mackinaw City, got lots of plans for this spring and summer.  It will be filled with quality and quantity but most of all memories. We still have our house rented out and can't really go there, planned on taking it back but got a good renter in there now and can't really afford to live this life and pay the cost of maintaining a home too without renting it out.  I have the hardest time during the holidays, I miss the family soo much at that time, so I plan on flying home for Christmas this year to be with them, after that I am fine, hate missing a couple birthdays but some things can't be avoided and I know they understand!
                                          Been weeding out a lot of clothes and unsellable ebay items! Gotta make more room once we hit the road again, I have clothes that I haven't worn since we left almost 2 years ago and plus waaaaay to many pairs of shoes, plus ebay items that I have relisted and relisted and am acturally losing money on them now, so took 3 bags to the thrift store yesterday! Been slowly taking wind chimes & twinkle lights down, rugs, coolers, grills, etc. and packing them away, been washing windows and plan on giving the old motorhome a bath before we leave, it has been sitting here for 4 months and is pretty dirty, Craig also plans on changing the oil too!
                                                       Time to move on, getting the old hitch-inch feeling again, time to hit the road! We want to take our time heading for Michigan, we had to rush down here last Oct. so want to take our time heading back, hope to see our nephew Brian in Alabama as we pass thru and also when we leave here next year we are going to Virginia to spend a week or so at my daughter Susan and son-in-law Russ home in Virginia...
                                                            Enjoy the day! God Bless!

I KNOW I KNOW IT'S BEEN AWHILE!!

                                          PINE CAMP..One of the rustic campsites

                                                   EAGLE!

                                                  A FULL MOON

                                                       CRAIG WORKING

                                                   CRAIG'S NEW SAFARI HAT

                                                   GOPHER TURTLE

                                                      OUR FIREPIT

                                                                HOME

                                                                 TREE FROG

                                                                   PRETTY FLOWERS

                                                    VULTURES FLARING

                                           NORMAL MORNING SITE

                       OUR RIG..SUNSHINE IS SO BRIGHT YOU CAN'T SEE OUR DOLPHINS

                                                     CRAIG AND MR.TURTLE

 I apologize for not blogging sooner but been busy with my e-bay business and just doing our everyday duties here! Craig now has the title of Exotic Species Animal Trapper which means he baits and helps trap invasive species here at the preserve, which are feral hogs, they are so very distructive here, they just tear up the preserve bad! Feral pigs can damage the landscape by eating or trampling them and also damage while rooting and wallowing which damages plant roots and creates holes and ruts that can damage equipment and endanger operators, they need to be brought under control!
           We have a new volunteer here from Michigan, Jo who is from Otter Lake which is about 20 miles from my home town of Vassar, she has been coming here for about 4 years and is a breath of fresh air and a book of knowledge about this place! We also have gone out to eat with the volunteers on the southeat side, Sam and Diane, hoping to get together soon again, we really enjoyed each others company! Then we have Larry and Sandy who are full timers too and have also been coming here for about 4 years, then there in Steve who is in a 5th wheel and this is his second year here. Different people with different personalities!
           We are already signed up to be here again in the fall of 2013 to the spring of 2014 and we have gigs in Michigan for May,June and July...We will be at Sleeper State Park for the month of May, Tawas Point State Park for the month of June and Port Crescent State Park for the month of July, then we are taking August off and do some traveling in the U.P. of Michigan since we have never seen the Porcupine Mountains or the Lake of the Clouds! We plan on leaving Michigan around the second week of Sept. so we can take our time heading back to Florida and enjoy some of the other states along the way! Hopefully my brother Butch and sister-in-law Norma will be able to follow us down here, working on getting them a volunteer gig! It would be awesome to have family here with us, they are perfect for this type of life, they love traveling and hate winter and cold weather, plus they have the sweetest personalities and love people and nature! It will help me get thru the holidays too since I had such a hard time at Christmas with missing the kids and grandkids so I plan on flying home next Christmas to be with them! What I would love to do is have them come down here and spend Christmas with us but the problem with that is we don't have any room here for them to stay, so I would have to get them a motel room which could be pretty expensive, so it will be easier to fly there for a few days! 
                             The weather has been perfect here, 70's-80's during the day and gets down to high 40's to 60's at night, we have had a little bit of rain but it mostly rains at night, they say that this is the best weather they have had in years!  We are going on an Airboat ride next Thurs. with another volunteer Steve and his brother who is visiting him, for around 3 hours with a lunch included. Can't wait, sounds so exciting, will be posting pictures for sure!
         We have a little over a month before we are done here and since it will be too cold to head back to Michigan we are going to go check out the Keys for a couple of weeks and then head to our friends Annette and Barry's in Homosassa Fl. on the west side of the state by the Gulf of Mexico, they are gracious enough to let us park in there yard and we really enjoy their company, then we plan on leaving there around the 1st of April and slowly start heading back to Michigan! Hoping that Michigan has an early spring, don't want to go home to cold! Will be getting hitch-itch by then and will be ready to hit the road again!
                          Love this place, it is different then any other volunteer gig we have ever done, kind of like taking care of a large farm,like mowing, mending fences, keeping trails cleared, making fire lanes, brush-hogging, sign repairs, opening and closing the gates at night, cleaning the offices and visitor center, etc. so much different then camphosting because we have no campers to host, the only time we have to deal with people is at the visitor center two days a month!
                       Well enjoy the pictures and I will try to keep this blog going by posting pictures and updates! Have a great day!
                     

ARIZONA & MEXICO!!!

                                            HELLO!!!

                                                    SURPRISE!!

                                                    BEAUTIFUL BRAHMAS

                                                        CRACKERS!

                                          CRAIG WORKING/SPRAYING WEEDS

                                                       CHRISTMAS

                                                           DOLPHIN LIGHTS

                                            MORE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AND CRAIG

                              OUR CHRISTMAS TREE WREATH & LENNY WORKING

Hi, haven't been on here because had to go to Arizona because my grandson was sick, got home on Tues. and then had to leave Thurs. for Mexico with my daughter while she had a medical procecure done and returned back here Tuesday! So didn't have much time to blog! Craig has had to take care of everything including sitting at the visitor center Fri. & Sat. for 6 1/2 hrs per day, he wasn't pleased but it is all part of the job, he would rather I take care of that, he does all the mowing and spraying for weeds, plus opening and closing the gate in the am and pm! But I am back and helping him with the mowing and spraying!  Don't have to worry about the visitor center for a couple of weeks because we have 2 more volunteers here, we have Steve in a fifth wheel with a toy hauler where he stoles his model A, he will be in charge of the plumbing and electric, he is next to us and we have Larry and Sandra in a motorhome, they will share opening and closing and working the visitor center plus cleaning the offices with us and Brooks and Frieda! We all went out to eat and listen to some bluegrass at the Landing Sat. night.  I put up the Christmas decorations and got some pictures of some brahma bulls down the road from us, as I was looking in the camera to get a picture I looked up and a brahma was right there in my face, lol! I don't know why but they had cut their horns off, but still they are so huge and majestic!  We mowed and sprayed weeds today for about 4 hrs., so plan on taking tomorrow off and relax! Craig and the guys are going fishing tonight after closing!  I look forward to having the place to myself!! Well, know this is short but at least got a few pictures and plan on posting more tomorrow!

SICK GRANDSON!

Haven't been on here because my grandson Nathan has been very ill, he is in Arizona so I flew out there to be with him and his mother/my daughter! Was there from Thurs. to Sunday. He is doing a lot better but it was touch and go for awhile.  I am now getting ready to fly to be with my daughter has she has surgery now!  Will fly out tomorrow and be back Tues.! Thank God for understanding Rangers and for Craig for carrying the load himself, it was our week off so it wasn't too bad for him, what was tough was he had to package and ship several e-bay items that sold while I was gone, he did and awesome job!  I will be flying Thanksgiving day, so we had our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday since we will be on the road today, going to get a hotel room because my flight leaves at 5AM and it is an hour and a half to the airport! Craig will have to work the visitor center by himself Friday and Saturday, plus more shipping and handling for me!  He is being a real sport about all of this, but he knows that family is important and knows I have to do what I have to do!  When I get back we will be cutting grass and spraying weed killer, we get to use a z-mower so it isn't all that bad, I will be doing all the work at the visitor center, it is all real easy here, they realize that Craig is limited on what he can do so they allow for that, the other volunteers are pretty cool about filling in for us when we have to be somewhere else!  We had pizza and beer night at Pat and Jerry's Sunday night, Brooks and Frieda were there too, had such a great time, laughed and shared funny camphosting stories with them, this is thier first volunteer jobs and so of course us pros (lol) had to fill them in about all the fun and horror stories! Got to see some of those wild hogs at their site, scary to think how close they can get to your campsites!  Seen an 8 point buck right outside our MH and seen a 6 pointer while out riding around checking the gates! The manatees are starting to gather more and more, hoping to get some more pictures!  Well, will be busy the next few days and will be back on here next Weds. hoping to have some pictures!  You all have a great Thanksgiving and God Bless you all!

BONFIRE WITH THE OTHER VOLUNTEERS

                                                 THE FAMOUS SCRUBJAY BIRD

                                                        CUTE SCREECH OWL

                                  CRAIG FREAKING ON SOME OF THE SPIDERS THAT ARE HERE

                                               THE GREY FOX

                                                 COYOTE

                                   BONES OF SOME OF THE ANIMALS HERE AND A POSSUM
                                        BELOW: AN ALLIGATOR SKULL

                            ABOVE; HOW FLORIDIAN'S DRESS WHEN IT IS ONLY 65 DEGREES

                                    THE SET UP FOR THE 100 MILE RUN!

                                        THE VISITOR CENTER!

    BEAUTIFUL DAY..VEIW AS I WAS SITTING ON THE PORCH OF THE VISITOR CENTER

                                                      DINASAUR HIP BONE

                                            OUR HOME!

Had a busy day at the visitor center Saturday, they had the 100 mile race going on, yep, 100 miles race, which takes 36 hours to finish, they run none stop into the night!  I had to laugh because the friends, family, visitors were all dressed in heavy sweatshirts, jackets and even blankets because the temperature was only around 65 degrees, I was dressed in shorts and a Hawaiian blouse, they thought I was crazy and I thought they were but one thing they knew for sure, I wasn't a native Floridian! 
                 After the events of the day and work day done, all us volunteers sit around a bonfire with snacks and drinks!  Brooks(volunteer) wife showed up and is a sweet and awesome lady, she fits right in, Pat and Jerry the volunteers from the southside showed up also, we all had a great time, lots of laughs and stories!
                            Had some bad news from my daughter who is in Phoenix with her son, my grandson Nathan is very very ill with viral mono, viral meningitis and EB Stein Bar, they had to move him into ICU!  This is the part that makes it hard for me, I want to be with family when they need me and may being flying to Phoenix in next couple of days to be with them, right now my daughter says she is ok and to wait and see how the next couple of days go! Worried sick about both my grandson and my daughter, but been keeping in constant touch by phone and have checked on plane tickets if I need to go! Been doing a lot of praying!
               Got the next few days off and am able to get all my merchandise listed on ebay, over 100 items for sale right now!  Helps pay the bills!  We are going into Palm Bay today to eat at the Golden Corral, vets eat free so only have to pay for my meal! God Bless our vets today!!
                 Everyone have a great day!

A DAY AT THE VISITOR CENTER TODAY

                                                            We working the desk!

                                                            Craig reading about spiders!

                                                     Library/TV/DVD player area!

                                               Bones and  a stuffed possum!

                                             Dinasaur Bone!

                                                         Tools from the Old Railway!

                                                  Comfy Rockers and a red fox!

                                                           A stuffed Sketch Owl!

                                                  A Strange but pretty beetle!


Worked at the visitor center today for 6 1/2 hours today, just had to answer the phone and any questions visitors had when they came in!  Interesting place with lots of stuffed wild animals, bones, and books about nature and the park!  Was a busy place today with lots of visitors because of the 100 mile race that takes place tomorrow at 7 am and ends Sunday! Some will run the full 100 miles, while some will do the 50 mile run and the 25 mile run!  They will run into the night with the trails lit with solar lights, they have food and water stands along the way!  A lot of people showed up today and pitched tents in the back of the visitor center, some got a motel room, some will sleep in there cars!  I give them a lot of credit but I could never do it, my knees wouldn't allow it!  More power to them!
                                        Craig cleaned the offices while I worked at the center, he got the dirty end of the job (no pun intended) he had to vacuum, clean the desks and windows and then clean the bathrooms and clean the toilets!  Tomorrow I work the visitor center again but this time I have to clean it too, oh well, part of the job!  While I was sitting on the porch I noticed a bright green beetle, grabbed my camera and took a picture of it, that is the actural size above, kinda neat!  Took the picture then kicked it off the porch!  Also seen a huge spider yesterday under our MH, I reached underneath to grab a box and the thing almost ran across my hand, scared me so bad that when I tried to scream nothing came out!  I called Craig out to check it out and he said it was a wolf spider, nasty looking thing!

                       I finally got a couple of good manatee pictures, thanks to a good camera with a zoom lens! They only come up for a few seconds so you have to be fast! I have been told there are a couple of alligators out there too! So I don't get too close!
                                            Well, long day today, last day of work tomorrow then a week off! We are going to have a big bonfire here tomorrow night with the other volunteers, so should be fun!! So until the next time God Bless!