Rant !!!!!!

Somebody has to say it!

Just an observation that I've made over the years and thought I would speak out about it.

If you're one of the old guys in the park,

One of the old guys with a big gut.

A big gut that hangs over your belt.

That hangs over your belt and jiggles.

And you got man boobs.

Big ugly man boobs.

Ugly man boobs that bounce.

That bounce and are covered with mats of hair.

Then for gods sake and everybody else wear a dam shirt when you come outside.

Do you guys really get up in the morning, stand in front of the mirror in your jockey short, take a good long look and yell, Yeh! Nailed it.

And for all you ladies out there that let your man go outside looking like that, SHAME ON YOU.

I mean if I need to see sickening sights like that I'll log on to People of Walmart . Com

I'm Sorry was that out loud.

WOW, just took a look and it's been close to two months since I've posted a blog. I only like blogging when we've been somewhere that I think other travels would be interested in and for the last couple of months we've just been wandering around, taking it easy and riding a ton of bike trails in Florida and Georgia.

Right now we're camped in NE Georgia, we came over here because there are three great bike trails that cover close to 100 miles, we were going to cover it over a few days but the best laid plans went south. Some how I managed to get an infection in my should blade which was really getting sore so we stopped in a clinic and they put me on an antibiotic for ten day, the problem is while taking this antibiotic I can't go out in the sun. I hid Cathy's hammer and wooden stake, just in case.

We did manage one interesting stop while in the Gainesville area.

Santa Fe University Zoo

This university is located in Gainesville,Florida and the zoo is a teaching zoo. They have about 75 animals on exhibit here on ten acres and is a very relaxing, uncrowded zoo. There were probably 25 to 35 student zoo keepers here and were all over the zoo, which was very nice since when one of them saw you at an exhibit they would stop to ask if you had any questions, of which we had many and they were able to answer them all.

From the screaming Gibbons to the rare Tree Kangaroos and the uninvited Black Water Snakes we had a very enjoyable time.

If you get to a zoo that has Gibbons, early you'll be able to listen to them screaming, no matter where you are in the zoo you will hear them. There was a family of gibbons here, mom, dad and their little girl, the keeper told us that the dad was a real push over for his little girl. They will give him one of his favorite treats, grapes, if mom gets the grapes dad will take them from her but as soon as his little girl shows up he just hands them over to her.

Another exhibit was the rare Tree Kangaroo, they have four here and are hoping for an addition this summer and they look nothing like you would expect a Kangaroo to look like.

Big nest in the middle and Dad sitting on the egg to the right

They have a pair of eagles that are taking turns sitting on the egg, if this egg hatches, which they fully expect, it will be there 14^th chick since being in the zoo. They spent quite a while building a big nest and then one day the mom raked a bunch of pine needles into a pile and laid the egg there, instead of in the big nest.

One eyed Owl

WHich shell is the pea hidden under

 When we were crossing a foot bridge over the pond we noticed a couple of Black Water Snakes racing around the pond, one of the keepers mentioned that they were not part of the exhibit, they just showed up on their own and liked the pond so they stayed.

About a third of the animals here are injured and can't be released back to the wild.

The zoo is located right off of I-75 at exit 390

A Fortnight in review

We've spent the last two weeks visiting friends, getting stuck in southern Florida traffic and exploring the area on the tandem.

We went back over to Pine Island to bike the northern half and found it much more enjoyable and prettier then the southern tip.

 I love these old twisted trees that seem to be everywhere.

This restaurant is at the end of the island and it must be pretty good because they were waiting to get in for lunch.

View from the dock

Then a day biking around Boca Granda, which was extremely bike friendly and a great place to spend the day.

 Beach at the south end of the island at the state park

 Historic Inn.

A mural near one of the marinas

 A Purple wall along one of the bike paths

 One of the many outdoor cafes along the bike trail.

 Beach Lighthouse at the State Park.

Another lighthouse further up the coast.

Then we decided to just drive up to Punta Gorda park downtown and just ride around, it turned out to be a great day with the different things we found just following bike paths and signs.

The first thing we came across was History Park, right now they have 4 building that have been moved here, three restored and one in progress.

 The Cigar house, these were build for the workers to live in while working at the cigar factory.  after the factory closed the houses were bought and moved throughout the city.

 The shadow in the middle of the tree which is located on the grounds is a large Owl, of course his sitting there has a purpose, it's to keep an eye on the female owl in the nest about 20 feet below him.

Mommy Owl sitting in the nest,  This is the second season that these owls have returned here to nest.  They never build their own nest but use an unoccupied one.  This one belongs to a couple of eagles that have returned here for five years now.  We were told that the owls will be gone before the eagles return.

The city's first jail, it was needed to take care of the drunken fisherman and cowboys on pay nights.

The Punta Gorda Flower Club takes care of the grounds and it's covered with beautiful flowers and plants.















Another 4 or 5 miles and we came out onto a city park on the beach, the best part, it's where we found the Peace River Wildlife Center.

All wildlife here is nursed back to health and released back into the wild, if they can not be released then they get to live here for life.

 Barn Owl

 This bird was healed and released from the center and they said that it still comes back just to hang around and try to get feed.  They call these birds Comebacks.

 This bird was born here while his mother was being treated and since his release he just hangs around.

Another comebacker, who flew in and landed right on the walkway with all the people standing around.

 Just visiting his buddy the eagle with one wing.  The two eagles have been here for 12 years and this is the first year that the female is building a nest, so they are hoping for a baby eagle this year.

 Another comebacker that is nesting in the tree in the parking lot right in front of the center.

A lot of pelicans here.









On the way back to the car we went by the performing arts building and spotted the sculpture out front.

Click on it to enlarge and you'll see that it's made out of old house keys.



















After we got back to the car we walked over to the Chamber of Commerce building to see the Whispering Giant that sits in their front yard.

Carved by Peter"WOLF" Toth, we bought one of his smaller sculpture two years ago when we visited his studio/home in Florida.