Florida

We've been having a wonderful time exploring Florida. Vero Beach, Peck's Lake, Cocoa , Daytona Beach, St Augustine. and Fernandina The ICW cuts through canals , cities and marshes. I can imagine that eventually we will get sick of the meandering waterways but not yet. Although the color of the water is very yucky compared to the Bahamas. The abundance of birdlife in the marshes is astonishing. There are pelicans, gulls, cormorants, ibis with their odd bills and elegant herons and egrets by the score. And we have seen many roseate spoonbills. Aren't these the weirdest birds ever? I saw a picture of them at the Audubon museum in Key West years ago and have wanted to see one since. Several searches have generated only quick glimpses of pink blobs. Up close and esp when the birds are flying they are intense pink, they have red eyes and a bill like a duck but longer. Bizarre but cool. These two birds in the marsh are just some of many that we have seen. Often I am too astonished to even grab the camera. Before I saw these I thought the only pink birds were flamingos. The abundance of life in general has been a pleasure. We have seen more dolphins than we saw all winter in just these few days. In fact the abundance of everything here in the states is quite remarkable. The other day it rained really hard and we realized that we hadn't seen more than 5 days of rain in the Bahamas all winter. I understand that it is rainy season now so things may be different, but we were ready to jump into action and save the water filling all the tanks etc. The contrast between the dry coral islands and the marshes is huge. Thunder storms also seem to be abundant and some of these are really ferocious. We have watched the lightning from far away forking down from the sky and touching the water or ground. A few days ago, near Jacksonville we got caught and had to throw down the anchor just on the side of the ICW . We were just out of the channel and the squalls spun us a full 360 degrees - twice ! The rain was so fierce there was no visibility and lightning was all around us. We had anchored near a bridge so we hoped for a "cone of protection" from that higher structure but wow. After an hour and a half things settled and the thunder became just a dull roar. The dinghy in that short time filled with almost knee deep water! wild. There has been thunder and lightning almost daily but nothing like that . It would be all right if that stuff were less plentiful.