INTJohn's VERY Belated Winter '20-'21 Truck Livin

[INTJohn]

Pix while in the Keys.

Above: Bahia Honda State Park
Below: nice spot on Lower Matecumbe Key



Above: shoreline hike at Long Key State Park


How bout above pik of an awesome thermonuclear beach Key sunrise?
INTJohn

 

[INTJohn]

Above: my view from fav spot at Long Key.
Below: largest tulip shell I’ve found while hiking Long Key shoreline.



Above: Keyhole Limpets. They naturally have those lil holes in the top but they look to me like lil itty bitty teeny tiny volcanos.

Above: Santa’s Xmas elf Florida Keys style….
Not thru
INTJohn

 

[JDub]

Nice trip report! I'm not a fan of Key West either. I do like the Islamorada area and we stayed at Big Pine Key on my last trip there.

Cheers!

 

[INTJohn]

Todays Word of the Day is Operculum:
(can u say Operculum?) basically it’s the “trap door” on a gastropod mullusk that closes up the animal inside the shell. When the animal retracts inside the shell the operculum is the leather like trap door cover that’s visible from the outside.

The brown oblong shaped object visible in this alive lightening whelk I found is it’s Operculum. Why I’m writing about this is because have found 2 of them washed up on the beach to a couple large Gastropods. See below pix.


Above is the operculum to a lightening whelk that is about the size of the live one shown in upper pik. The Operculum below is a very large one almost the size of my hand that I’m guessing is from a huge Horse Conch that prolly died from old age.

These are amazingly rare finds and I’m fortunate to have even recognized them for what they are lying on the shore while hiking at Long Key.
That’s todays lesson on gastropod anatomy. Haha
Intjonny luzsha

 

[INTJohn]

How bout this find? Not every kool thing I find on a beach is a beautiful shell. Sometimes it’s something totally unexpected like this really old medicine bottle from around the late 1890’s, I think after researching the embossed company name on the bottle.

I noticed the corner of glass in the mud while launching my kayak and while I don’t usually give much attention to glass this piece I thought larger than most and thinking it was part of a broken liquor bottle and mud buried from who knows what storm/hurricane I started to dig it up to throw it away and this awesome old bottle is what I found. Found this at Long Key Beach.
Itsa keeper……intjonny boi

 

[INTJohn]

28 Dec I left the Keys prior to New Years Eve Keys craziness traveling back to the Gulf Coast at the Marco Island, Naples, Bonita Springs areas for a couple weex and then returned back to the Keys. Spent several days there doing what I do - exploring Island shorelines & kayaking. Then left again spending several days hangin out at Big Cypress & the Everglades.........

After that went back to Bonita Springs/Naples exploring the low tide mud flats & estuaries around Lover's Key and on 17 January I left and returned to Florida's Atlantic Ocean coast cause, well, I had gotten bored with the Gulf Coast. Weather was in the 70's and thought i most likely would spend the rest of winter slowly migrating North along the Atlantic Ocean coast until April and then return back to Kamp Koon in Michigan.

Ciao........INTJohnny

 

[INTJohn]

Above: Display of Seashells I kept; found at Lovers Key.

Above: Some beautiful seashells are teeny tiny


At most beach parks you’ll see squirrels running around but at Delnor-Wiggins, west of Bonita Springs, it’s raccoons and I knew I could count on always running into some of my old friends hangin around the trash……

INTJohn

 

[INTJohn]

Lightening Whelk Courtship: At low tide On the walkway bridge at Lover’s Key, I observed these 2 lightening whelks for over 2 hours as they slowly crept across the bottom from some 30 feet apart until they finally got together.

The approach……..


The connection…….


Yeah, we’re an item…….

Yep, I guess Jonny boi has turned into a lightening whelk voyeur.
Ain’t sayin, just sayin……

 

[INTJohn]

Above: Deer Cowrie shell found at Avalon Beach north of Fort Pierce. Yes it has a crack as well as a small hole but cowries are sooo hard to find that aren’t broken pieces well I’m keeping this one.


My truck house parked at one of the beach lots at Canaveral National Seashore. Background are space launch related structures at Kennedy Space Center.


Spectacular sunset on Hutchinson Island at Fort Pierce. Taken 20 Jan. 2021.
INTJohn

 

[INTJohn]

Bone World Part 1:

Above & below is pik of a complete Manatee skeleton I stumbled upon while exploring the low tide mud flat estuaries near Bonita Springs area. Int the close up below the skull is a little bit to upper left of center and you’re looking at it upside down - at what would be the throat and nostrils where it breaths are visible. The bones are scattered around as seen in both piks from high tidal storm wave action. The overhanging mangrove growth is shading the site so pic lighting isn’t good.

If unfamiliar with Manatees please google. They are on the federal protected endangered specie list and a rare treat to see them alive & active in the Florida waterways.
Thanx…….INTJohn

 

[INTJohn]

Bone World Part 2:

Above & below: while kayaking in the Eddy Creek Basin at the Canaveral Seashore National Park I found the remains of this dolphin that had washed ashore. Many kritters have been scavenging it and almost all that is left is bones.

Enjoy…….INTJohn

 

[INTJohn]

Bone World Part 3: last bone pik for awhile

Above & below are piks of a Dead Sea Turtle that had washed on shore and is about 300 yards from where I found dolphin skeleton in previous post.

Interesting finds
INTJohn

 

[INTJohn]

26 January, 2021
Gator Encounter, Part 1
I was kayakin around Eddy Creek Basin at Canaveral National Seashore where I was scouring the shoreline for shells or any other interesting things I might stumble upon; that is how I discovered the dead dolphin & turtle shown in previous 2 posts. I rarely carry my cell phone with me on my jaunts so I thought well I'll return the next day with fone and get some pix. i decided not to launch the kayak as the water is quite shallow and I would only be walking/wading along the shoreline and could get a lil excersize as well on the hike. Away I went and got my pix of the dolphin carcass and headed toward the turtle some 300 yards distant. About halfway there as I went into the water to wade by an overhanging mangrove tree I came face to face about 40 feet away with the largest reptile I have ever encountered.


This gator is all of 12 feet long, possibly 13 and maybe 14 feet in length. Estimated weight around 400 to 500 pounds and I'm walking along His sidewalk where he is peacefully enjoying the beach & solitude while soakin up rays. (Him & me actually have alot in common in that regard). I stood there abit took the above pik and thought to myself well it must be time to turn around & return to the truck as I'm not going any further. While I'm turning to retreat, gator gets up on all fours, slowly turns around and proceeds to casually enter the water where I watch it swim out about 100 yards from shore. Cool! I thought. Nice of him to politely & cordially let me pass. So I continued on my hike along Gator's sidewalk, got my turtle pix and kept on exploring for another hour or so.
To be continued..........
Intjonny boi

 

[INTJohn]

Gator Encounter, Part 2:
After an hour or so I turned around and started heading back toward the truck, about a couple miles away. I'm coming up on where I met Gator again walking around another overhanging mangrove brush and low & behold what do I see?


You guessed it! My friend, Gator has returned to his fav sunnin spot. Only this time he is between me and my truck - about a mile away and there is NOOooo turn around option for me. At some point in time I got to get by gator...........

At this time 2 young guys fishing aways out in a 14' pram are yellin at me - warning me about Gator. I'm like, yeah, dudes - I see him!
They're like; Hey how about we go up by him in the boat and try to scare him into the water?!
(And this is the difference between 20 yr old men and 65 yr old men)
I'm like, No, No, I don't think we want to do that; but hey if you don't mind could you pick me up over by that dead turtle and give me a ride around Gator and drop me off over there where those buzzards are feeding on the dead dolphin?
Oh, yeah, sure thing - no problem. And thats what we did. I got off the boat and told them both if I ever saw them back in town or you see me come over dudes and I owe you a 6 pak.
So, Round 1 went to me as Gator gave in by going in the water to let me pass and Round 2 went to Gator as I reciprocated his friendly jesture............
Intjonny boi luzsha baybee alway have alway will

 

[INTJohn]

20 Feb, 2021
For most of the last month I've been bouncing around, up & down the central Florida Atlantic Coast. From Fort Pierce north to Canaveral Seashore then South to Vero Beach & Fort Pierce again and then south to Stuart when a major cold front - for Florida anyway passed thru. Spent several days in the Stuart area, hangin some at Dickinson State Park, then back north to Vero Beach, then to Sebastian Inlet, Cocoa beach and then again to Canaveral Seashore.........
There were even SNOW FLURRIES - briefl- at Titusville!




Cold at Fort Pierce, too but back to warmer weather now.
more on thay.......intjonny boi

 

[INTJohn]

Oops double post

 

[INTJohn]

After leaving Fort Pierce/Vero Beach area for the last time, I began to kreep my way North along the Atlantic Ocean coast. Ended back at Titusville for a bit and then went to New Smyrna Beach for several days where hung out at Apollo Beach which is basically the North half of Canaveral Seashore National Park.

Then it was onto Daytona Beach for a couple days but didn’t stay long as it was the beginning of the 10 day long hell raising festival known as Daytona Bike Week. A gahzillion motorcycles take the city over for a 10 day orgy of raucous rowdy lewd & lascivious raunchy & racy motorcycle behavior. Was entertaining as hell but after a day or so it grew VERY boring and I moved north to Ormond Beach.

At Ormond I split my time between hangin at Tomoka State Park to the East and Tiger Bay State Forest to the West. Both places kept me solitary & serene; quite the contrast to the completely nonstop 24/7 LOUD & NOISE of the motorcycle melee mess of just 15 miles south at Daytona……..

After Ormond, moved to Palm Coast for a night and then back to St Augustine Beach which I always enjoy and then farther North to the coastal Jacksonville area. Hung out here at Anastasia State Park, Big & Little Talbot Island State Parks, Fernandina Beach and Fort Clinch. All on the Atlantic Ocean.

22nd March I said good by to Florida where I had spent most of the last 5 months and drove into “Jawja”.
More to come…….intjonny luzsha baybee

 

[barefootrebel]

Thank you for the trip down memory lane! I lived in Florida for 14 years; the Daytona/Ormond area. Later I moved to Pierson. Should have never sold my land there.

I miss those sunrise/sunsets; don't get that in the mountains.

 

[INTJohn]

Pix I took at North part of Canaveral National Seashore.

Above Atlantic Ocean sunrise.
Below my ocean coast view while perched atop my truck.

That’s about as calm as you’ll see the Atlantic Ocean. Beautiful……..
Intjonny serene solitude 4evah.

 

[INTJohn]

I get a kik out of some of the random kritters I seem to attract……..

Like this pair of Sandhill Cranes who evidently took more than a simple interest in me.
Below: They seem to have gotten quite comfortable around me…….. haha



……and then the resident parking lot cat had to arrive and check things out.
Ciao…… jonny boi livin it