We had a good direct flight from Ottawa to Ft Lauderdale. There were several dogs on board also and this one was such a good dog, it was amazing. He stayed in this carrier the whole trip. If it was Teddy or Barbr's Bear, their whinging would have made the plane turn around or do an emergency landing or something. This little fellow just looked around.
Isn't he cute. I asked the lady who had him, does she put him under the seat in front on the plane and she said yes, there is room for him to lie down there. In the photo he almost looks fake but he was so calm.
The Fort Lauderdale Airport baggage area was half screened off in black panels where the shooting took place last Friday. I could see that all of the ceiling tiles had been removed on that half and there was a regular security presence in the baggage area. I am sure everyone's nerves have been on edge there since the tragedy.
Well I Never get colds...I just don't. I cannot say that anymore. I had some sort of hellacious cold that turned up Tuesday afternoon at home. NO cold symptoms, only I a lost my voice which was very annoying. I could barely whisper - a low talker... oh no!! Anyways today I am about 10% better. But yesterday it was bad plus when I got off the plane, I had two plugged up ears and could not hear!!! I was trying to read lips at the car rental counter and managed to get a full sized car for us for the cost of a standard size. Each time I coughed, some hearing came back all cracklely. I hear fine today though and only have a cough like a heavy smoker but it is better. Thing is I feel fine, just have these nuisances. My voice is still gone.
Last night's hotel room was a Days Inn and once we got into our room in the dim light in the room one could tell the carpet had not been cleaned or vacuumed in a long long time. The bed was clean though. I had taken about an hour in the registration line up and we had a reservation. There was only one person working the desk and boy did she work hard. We were lucky to get a bed. Barbr went back to the lobby area to get some hot tea and they did not have any and told her not to drink the tap water which |Barbr told me about when she came back and by then I had drowned two glasses of water (I was fine). The whole place was dicey. We will try to get something else in the area around the airport for our last night in Florida on the 25th.
Nevertheless we slept like the dead. I took a bunch of cold medication and it was only in the morning when I first woke up that I could smell the chemicals in the room (it had surely been treated with Bed Bug chemicals). I can't believe I fell asleep in this chemical soup atmosphere but that's how tired we were. Traveling there, our day is a lot of waiting in a lot of lineups: check-in lineup, Customs lineup, security lineup, boarding lineup, baggage lineup, rental car shuttle lineup, car rental lineup and then the check-in hotel lineup which was super slow. We never thought of just going to another place, we were too tired, even though people came back to the lobby asked for their money and said they were not staying in the place.
Today, the morning was beautiful and warm. We had Ibis in the parking lot and a pair of Muscovy Ducks, one of which wanted to get in the car with us. We laughed taking photos and said they could call this dump the Ibis Hotel. I guess it is fine for birders, these were the only Ibis we have seen so far.
Isn't he cute. I asked the lady who had him, does she put him under the seat in front on the plane and she said yes, there is room for him to lie down there. In the photo he almost looks fake but he was so calm.
The Fort Lauderdale Airport baggage area was half screened off in black panels where the shooting took place last Friday. I could see that all of the ceiling tiles had been removed on that half and there was a regular security presence in the baggage area. I am sure everyone's nerves have been on edge there since the tragedy.
Well I Never get colds...I just don't. I cannot say that anymore. I had some sort of hellacious cold that turned up Tuesday afternoon at home. NO cold symptoms, only I a lost my voice which was very annoying. I could barely whisper - a low talker... oh no!! Anyways today I am about 10% better. But yesterday it was bad plus when I got off the plane, I had two plugged up ears and could not hear!!! I was trying to read lips at the car rental counter and managed to get a full sized car for us for the cost of a standard size. Each time I coughed, some hearing came back all cracklely. I hear fine today though and only have a cough like a heavy smoker but it is better. Thing is I feel fine, just have these nuisances. My voice is still gone.
Last night's hotel room was a Days Inn and once we got into our room in the dim light in the room one could tell the carpet had not been cleaned or vacuumed in a long long time. The bed was clean though. I had taken about an hour in the registration line up and we had a reservation. There was only one person working the desk and boy did she work hard. We were lucky to get a bed. Barbr went back to the lobby area to get some hot tea and they did not have any and told her not to drink the tap water which |Barbr told me about when she came back and by then I had drowned two glasses of water (I was fine). The whole place was dicey. We will try to get something else in the area around the airport for our last night in Florida on the 25th.
Nevertheless we slept like the dead. I took a bunch of cold medication and it was only in the morning when I first woke up that I could smell the chemicals in the room (it had surely been treated with Bed Bug chemicals). I can't believe I fell asleep in this chemical soup atmosphere but that's how tired we were. Traveling there, our day is a lot of waiting in a lot of lineups: check-in lineup, Customs lineup, security lineup, boarding lineup, baggage lineup, rental car shuttle lineup, car rental lineup and then the check-in hotel lineup which was super slow. We never thought of just going to another place, we were too tired, even though people came back to the lobby asked for their money and said they were not staying in the place.
Today, the morning was beautiful and warm. We had Ibis in the parking lot and a pair of Muscovy Ducks, one of which wanted to get in the car with us. We laughed taking photos and said they could call this dump the Ibis Hotel. I guess it is fine for birders, these were the only Ibis we have seen so far.
Off we went to Hugh Taylor State Park which was about 20 minutes away. There were some very nice birds here so the quality was there but not the quantity. We had to search for each bird.
Here are some of the birds we saw. Most of these are Barbr's photos like the White Ibis above. The Prairie Warbler, Red-bellied Woodpecker. We also saw my favourite bird the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (no photo was taken, bird too flighty).
There at the beach on the Atlantic Ocean we walked and took our first selfie (sorry for doing this to you but they are fun and show that we are alive and birding that day and not shopping)!
In the afternoon, on the way to find one park (we know where it is now), we found Grassy Waters Preserve which is the water source for West Palm Beach. This place had the best boardwalks: miles of boardwalks through the mashes. There were just no birds around. We managed to get a good look of the preserve's signature bird, the Snail Kite. The park states that this is Florida's most endangered bird since the bird's diet is so specific. I managed to get a photo of it flying.
Tonight we are in the Super 8 in West Palm Beach and it is fine. All clean and tidy. Tomorrow we head into the interior of Florida in search of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker.
Oh yeah did I mention the weather was 75 degrees today, just perfect weather with a slight warm breeze.
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