Today had to be the cloudiest one so far, as we never did see the sun. Our windows were covered with water early this morning, and huge puddles could be seen in the parking lot and streets. Obviously rained pretty heavy last night. Of course, on the positive side, the temperatures were more bearable today. We understand that it has been somewhere in the neighborhood of 107 degrees in Palm Springs, California, so we certainly are not complaining.
So we packed the umbrellas, and took off for a 10 mile hike today. This time we headed for an area we know well…….the waterway that follows the freeway 595. Last January, while staying at the Renaissance Hotel before the world cruise, we always walk this stretch of canal from Pine Island Road to University Drive. There are benches along the way, and some interesting things to see.
And we were not disappointed, because we spotted dozens of iguanas of all sizes. They were just starting to come down from the nearby palm trees to bask in the sun, or today, in the light of the day. The concrete heats up enough for them to take off their chill from the night. Funny thing was that we were recently watching the hunting show on the TV, and some folks actually hunt these in countries like Mexico and Ecuador. And they must be edible, since the hunters haul out the BBQ’s and cook every part of them. While in Ecuador for the first time many years ago, we were informed by our tour guide that the homeless kill these large lizards and eat them to survive. And guess what? They say they taste like chicken, no less. We’ll take their word for that…..
There were not as many birds here like we saw in January, so we suspect the ones we saw were migratory. Today there were a few egrets, herons, and crows. Always crows. And we did see one pretty woodpecker all by himself, digging for insects in the trunk of a tree. And anywhere you find any body of water, there will be ducks and geese. We have a question that someone might be able to answer. It is curious to us why there are decoys of geese or ducks placed in some of the canals. Are they there to attract more birds, or scare something away? Just wondering…..
A sign on the freeway showed the current Florida lotto prizes. That reminds us of when we were here in January, and there was a huge jackpot just waiting to be won. At the time, we had shopped at a local Publix, and picked up some tickets. Keeping them until now, we wondered if by some chance, that we had some winning tickets. Obviously not the big one, but anything. But when we scanned them yesterday, none of them had even $1.00 on them. Hmmm, just like being at home, as we seldom win anything there either.
We passed through The Renaissance, and found it unbelievable that it has been over four months since we stayed here. Don’t know how time can fly by so fast. Going out past the swimming pool, we found our shortcut to Bokampers Sports Grill and Bar. Another fun place for lunch or dinner. It was a five mile walk to get here, but worth it.
We ordered sodas first, downing them, and ready for more. If the heat and humidity don’t get to you here, dehydration definitely will get the better of you. Ice cold drinks sure do the trick. Then we followed with a house salad and a BBQ bacon cheeseburger with fries to share. Then we had to try their Oreo cookies fried with a sweet batter, and served with vanilla ice cream. Very, very sweet, but also good. The five mile walk back helped burn some of those calories.
It did threaten to rain, and we did feel sprinkles, but the sky never did open up. That’s mostly the case when we pack umbrellas. The breeze that came with the black clouds passing over did help a lot. We got back to the hotel by 2:30pm, and never left for the rest of the afternoon.
After that satisfying lunch, we had a light dinner, and enjoyed all the TV shows we will not get on the ship. Or even at home, as we don’t have cable there. On the plus side, we can watch older shows that we have never seen before.
These days have flown by, and there are only a few more left before the cruise begins on Thursday.
Bill & Mary Ann
Lunch at Duffy’s yesterday
Walking and biking lane
Prehistoric
Hotel’s pool
Paradox
Full-grown ibis