1/15 Bike Ride Loop

In retrospect, taking a long bike ride on a Sunday in a high-tourist area was probably not the best idea, even if a lot of the road was not highway.  Actually, the high way had sidewalks.  It was the back residential roads that had a lot of motorcycle and other traffic.  Lots of people just enjoying the beautiful weather!! 

The map here shows my start at the Gamble Rogers Campground where I am staying and the route I took.  Note that the four hour estimate is the walking time estimate.  Frankly, it would take me about three days to walk this route! 

I headed south along the sidewalk on Highway A1A.  It would have been an impossible trip along this very busy road without the nice, wide sidewalk.

This is looking backward after a couple of miles.  The land on the left is mostly nature reserve. 

I crossed the border into Ormond Beach, and this is High Point Bridge Park.  There is fishing here and a boat launch into the Inland Waterway.

 

 High Bridge Road connects to John Anderson Highway, which is really this pleasant scenic road with lots of interesting homes along it.  Many of these homes back up to waterways and have access to the Inland Waterway and the ocean.

This house looks extremely southern in architecture because of the large porch.

 

A really young brown pelican.  You can tell he or she is young because there is no white on the head area. 

 

A "cracker" house.

 

 And an almost identical cracker house right next door that someone has fixed up.

There were several interesting pairs of roads going to houses a long way away.  Almost all had locking gates, and I assume the houses were on the waterway, which was why they were so far from the road.

Here is another set of driveways.

These photos are taken from the bridge over the Inland Waterway back on the main highway going into Flagler Beach.  This looks south.

The Inland Waterway looking north.

The main waterway is maintained, but lots of little channels go off through young mangroves and other water shrubs. Good places for young fish and birds to hatch and grow up!

I stopped taking photos of the ride from Flagler Beach to my campground because these were shown in the earlier photos I took a couple of days ago.  In any case, it ended up being a 14 mile bike ride--tiring and hard on my arms and shoulders, even with my electric bike. 

1/13 Flagler Beach and a Little Hurricane Damage

It is extremely easy to really get lazy around here, with the constant sounds of the surf and my view of the ocean and beach!

I went for two long bike rides this day.  This first ride, I stopped at the Farmer's Market and bought too much stuff, so I ended up coming back to the campground and putting stuff away, then going back for a more leisurely ride.  This small town is unusual because it is directly on the beach, with Highway A1A running along the beach for several miles in either direction. 

Being so close to the ocean makes it very susceptible to hurricanes, so it had some damage from the recent Hurricane Matthew.  You can see from the photo below how the pavement is new here and a temporary curb barricade has been set up so people do not park on the shoulder, which is newly added sand.

 

I noticed a lot of construction crews putting new roofs on houses.  None looked completely destroyed, but many had missing shingles or missing siding in spots.

It is hard to see, but this one had some of the aluminum missing from under the front soffit.  The sidewalk here looks new, as well.

The pier is closed, so I assume some damage there as well.

This was a very nice day for sitting on the beach--slight breeze and 72 degrees!

It was very busy in the main part of town, partly because of the Farmer's Market and mostly because of it being high tourist season. 

This kite had several strings holding it down.

 

Just a really nice day for sitting outside.

 

1/12 Kayaking at Gamble Rogers State Park

It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day here at the beach, but I had signed up for the last spot in a kayaking tour, so that was my activity for the day.  Only a small part of this state park is along the ocean.  Most of it is on the other side of the highway and consists of a saltwater marsh and a part of the inter-coastal waterway. 

Here we are getting ready to get into (or onto) the kayaks.  They helped me in because my knees would not bend enough for the approved method! 

This is the fishing bank for this part of the park. 

 

 

I did not realize the seat backs were adjustable.  Since I am so short, the life preserver added bulk, which made it uncomfortable on my back.  Next time, I will ask them to loosen the back so I am not pushed forward so much. Thanks for my neighbors for taking this photo of me.   

Most of my photos will have other kayakers in them because it was hard to take a photo otherwise, but these are my campground neighbors.

It was a little windy and the tide was coming in, so it was hard not to bump into another kayak as you tried to keep up with the group or listen to the volunteer guide.

Ah, back to the dock!  My neck, back, and shoulder muscles will never be the same.

Also managed to get a photo of these kite riders.  Looks like fun, but it also looks like a long way up there and a long drop into the ocean, so I think I will pass.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Flagler Beach farmers' market, so I may ride my bike the two miles down to it in the morning.  This assumes, of course, that I am not too sore.

It was a fun day, but padding constantly for two hours really wore me out. 

1/11 Gamble Rogers State Park Beach Damage

Gamble Rogers is one of my favorite state parks.  It has no paved campsites, and certainly has no grass or landscaping, but it has the impressive advantage of being the only Florida state park which is directly on the Atlantic Ocean.  (Fort Clinch is on the ocean, but there is a substantial boardwalk between the sites and the ocean, while Gamble Rogers has sites which practically overhang the beach.)

It is two miles down the road from Flagler Beach, which also is one of the few Florida towns that has direct beach access.  This is due to highway builders putting highway A1A in Florida so close to the beach that homes and big hotels and condos cannot be developed on the beach side of the highway, limiting development over the years.  It is one of my favorite places in Florida because it is an honest town, without all the frenzy and gated communities of the rest of the state.

Unfortunately, this town also got a direct hit from the recent Hurricane Matthew.  You can see in this photo the cement buffer and new pavement that replaced the washed-out highway. 

Campsites at Gamble Rogers State Park re basic sand, but with electric and water hookups. I have one of the prime sites facing the ocean where there is not a lot of greenery blocking the view.  This made getting up at 4:30 am California time last December and making my reservation just when the site became available worthwhile. 

The state park is named after a man who died trying to rescue a swimmer from the surf at this place. The swimmer survived, but the rescuer did not, sadly.

One advantage to the hurricane is that the beach is wider and there is a lot more sand.

You can see here how about 10' of dune has been destroyed, making the beach wider.

A disadvantage is that all but one of the beach access stairs were destroyed and have yet to be rebuilt. This means there is no longer any handicap access--just stairs.

 Another damaged beach access boardwalk.

My motorhome is really not in any danger of falling off the dune, but it IS closer than it was when I parked here two years ago!  Today was grey and chilly, but the ocean wind really felt good.

In Florida, birds of a feather do NOT necessarily flock together!  In any flock along the beach, you can find several varieties of gulls and terns. This big bird really stood out from this crowd.  I think he is a juvenile ring-billed gull.  Note how the rest of the birds are making identification difficult by hiding their bills! 

The second photo on this site shows a parent and a juvenile:  http://www.sibleyguides.com/2009/12/variation-in-immature-ring-billed-gulls/

Tomorrow I join a guided kayaking group, so more photos then.  I am taking my old camera along as I do not want to get my expensive new one wet in case I tip over!  Cell phone will be in a waterproof case I have.

1/9 Back from Visiting Family

I got back from visiting family yesterday and was happy to find my motorhome where I had left it in the Tampa Airport economy parking lot.  In case you are not aware, a lot of airports have parking for "oversized" vehicles.  I have parked at Tampa at least three times and have always been happy with the security because the lot is paved and lit well.  The other positive is that the shuttle drivers circle around from one of the two economy parking buildings and into the other, so vehicles get a lot of eyes watching them!

So, tomorrow I am headed to another one of my favorite campgrounds--Gamble Rogers, directly on the Atlantic Ocean, north of Daytona Beach and just south of Flagler Beach.  It is nice that the state built the main highway directly overlooking the ocean, so that there are no homes on that side and obviously no enormous hotels blocking your view.  Flagler Beach is one of the very few places in Florida where you can buy a small house only a block or two away from the ocean at a reasonable price.  You can also buy a house on the opposite side of the main highway with an incredible direct view!!

The campground has a lot of road noise because it is built on a very narrow sliver of land, but the ocean views and breezes more than make up for that--except for one huge exception--bike week where 500,000 motorcycles roar up and down the road until very early morning.  The first time I came to Florida in my motorhome, I made the mistake of scheduling my second week during that time!!!  Since then, I have learned not to make that mistake again! 

I was amazed at how many people read my end-of-year summary post.  Hope it gives you all some idea of what this life is like, especially those of you considering full-time motorhoming.