Tuesday, March 24, 2009

So far behind!

To anyone who reads my blog…I am so far behind in keeping up with my blog…While in Miami, Richard and I worked 5 days a week with 2 days off…On our 2 days off, we were always leaving the campground and exploring the area…On our 5 working days, we wee busy with food events or just keeping an eye on the clubhouse…The hours were shift hours…All the work days were not the same…Towards the end of February, the Activity Directors quit and moved on…That was one couple gone and 2 couples left…With all the food events between 2 couples, all of us were very tired…It has been tough to come home and get on the internet to work on my blog…My other half, Richard, gets up early in the morning, way before I do, and he works on his blog…He has lots more in his blog than I do and probably always will…My blog is very simple and to the point while Richard’s has more charisma, charm, funniness and words that just come out of his head…but I do enjoy making my blog and working on it…I have lots to put on my blog and at some point I hope to have caught up with our trip to the Miami area…I have to talk about the Florida Keys, Miami Seaquarium, Ft. Lauderdale and other areas…Then there will be the visit of our granddaughter, Kayla, on Mar. 28…She will be with us for about 3 months…She is going to visit Walt Disney World, Seaworld, and Myrtle Beach…We can’t wait…  Well, I’m gonna go…Maybe I can work on another chapter of my life tomorrow…Good ya’ll….

Jungle Island – February 26

Jungle Island is located on MacArthur Causeway, Miami, Florida near Key Biscayne, Florida…The best way for us to get there is riding on several expressways like Don Shula Expressway or Dolphin Expressway…We could take the trip up Route 1 but it would take a while to get to our destination…

We arrived at our destination without any traffic which is great cause once you get around the Miami Airport, the traffic is atrocious…The drive towards Downtown Miami is a beautiful sight..All the tall glass buildings…All highways and byways…Hotels everywhere…Businesses everywhere…Garages everywhere…Buildings are being erected even with the economy the way it is…

Follow the signs to Jungle Island on MacArthur Causeway…As you are following the road around to Jungle Island, you can see the Port of Miami…but no cruise ships were there…We found out the day before that there is a garage but the bottom garage area is big enough for our truck…Thank goodness…We pulled in to the garage and found the end parking space…Richard and I grabbed our camera bags and headed to the front window to buy our tickets…

 

P2262288Richard buys our tickets and on our way in through the gate, there is the shop which we stop at on the way out…The restaurant is located outside of the park entrance gate too…The lady is there to stamp our hands as we go in and we are off and running to anywhere in the park…At the front of the walkway are the macaws and I got my picture with 4 of them on my shoulders…P2262297 Of course Richard got told no personal pictures with me and the macaws but he got one good picture…Along the pathway are about 20 macaws of a few different varieties…P2262377 I got to talk to a few of them and get their pictures…The walk along the pathways and to the shows was fantastic…Their was the greenhouse, alligators, shows with snakes and an alligator & a crocodile, penquins and the kids park with kangaroos, goats, a llama and large turtles…P2262337Lots of different trees and flowers were all over the place…

P2262403 One of the amazing trees in the South Florida area are Banyan Trees…These trees grow vines from their limbs and they entertwine with each other and become another limb…These banyan trees are something to see in person…It makes you say “WOW!”…
 
The guy to the right became my friend…I had lots of fun talking this guy…The African Grey would listen and he even let me pet his claws…P2262447In the cage were 2 other African Greys and they even came down from their perches to listen to  me talk to their buddy…I had a blast…
 

 

P2262691 Along the Everglades Habitat path, you come upon turtles, fish and a Great Blue Heron who came out of P2262661the bushes to find his “lunch”…Richard got a really good picture of this Great Blue catching his meal…or you could come across someone who is just visiting the Everglades Habitat area…. P2262741

Along the pathways are some beautifully placed flowing water falls…P2262462

Along our walks along all the pathways and talking pictures of anything and everything that we see, it wasn’t tough to take pictures of all the birds…In a caged area were some birds that looked like large doves, some sort of quail and a bird that we have no idea of what it is…P2262493

After being at Jungle Island all day, we stopped by the Gift Shop, took our pictures and bought our magnet…The weather was perfect, the company was great and time was fun…