Friday, February 21, 2014: After seeing the family off to work and school, after packing and petting Harold, the cat, I was ready to travel even farther south at noon. The outside temperature in Jacksonville, Florida, USA was 64 degrees, the time was 12 noon, and my car odometer read "97,502 miles."
The weather channel on TV promised rain and I hoped it would rain really hard because the car (Toyota Camry, nearly 8 years old) was dusty and needed washing. My wish was granted with periods of a downpour so heavy in Jacksonville I would have stopped if there was a suitable place; I actually had to turn on my car's "hazard" lights periodically. The thunder and lightning let up shortly after leaving town but there were some periods of showers on Interstate-95 south. Traffic was as heavy as I've ever seen it on an interstate highway.
At the Daytona Beach exit, at 1:15 p.m., I noticed the temperature had climbed to 82 degrees. Some interesting names on road signs: Exit 284: Gamble Rogers State Park; at Spruce Creek was the first large marsh area I saw on this trip south.
As I was in no way needing to hurry on this trip, I stopped at several rest areas and took my time. The rain cooled off the weather down to 72 degrees but it was not to last! Passing Exit 212, the Kennedy Space Center turn-off, I was reminded of seeing actual wild alligators in the ditch there, something I had not seen at all this trip, but I'm still looking. There was a large orange grove just bursting with oranges.
At 3:11 p.m., I reached St. Lucie County. The retaining walls along the highway extended for miles; they are unusual with relief pictures of pelicans in various poses on the walls. Then, the temperature was 86 lovely degrees! It's so nice to have summer so quickly!
Shortly after that, I reached my destination, my brother, Don and sister-in-law, Kathleen's house in Port St. Lucie. It was so good to see them! We had a dinner of fish and chips at Sam's, a restaurant in the Sam Snead Golf resort hotel, and a quiet evening at home catching up with family news. Yay for family! Yay for summer again!
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| View of the lake from my brother's back yard in Port St. Lucie, 2/21/14. Notice the black ducks gliding along on the left side of the photo. |
These beautiful Sandhill Cranes stayed around to entertain us Friday evening and Saturday morning, in the backyard around the house and paddling around the lake. They are quite tall, I estimate at least 2 feet tall. It is awesome when they spread their wide white wings. When in the water, only their necks and heads are visible. It looks like snakes standing out of the water!
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