On Monday Dec. 12, 2015, I am 1,200 miles south from O.C.  All has gone well and I expect that to continue.  Why not; this is my 18th year of doing this.  Maybe I know how to do it!
    Tonight made me think of my grandfather. He owned several homes, but none had hot water and a well was the chief source of water.  I’d taken a nice walk in Fakahatchee Strand and it was muggy, so I needed a shower.  The road to where I walked was rough enough to jar fillings loose; it bounced my nest mercilessly, and shuffled my stuff in it like an egg beater had gotten loose in there.  Anything not fastened down was somewhere else.  A drawer of camera and compu/digital gadgets jarred loose, fell on the floor, and the stuff went everywhere.  That was the first chore - to pick up all that stuff.  As I did that I heated some water to shower with.  I’m sure grandpa did that his whole life!  On my walk I was greeted by an alligator, that opened its eyes and hissed at me as I eased by, but close enough to get some photos!  On the way driving back, a falcon escorted me!
    The drive from O.C. to Savannah on Saturday was a piece of cake.  I got a little thrill right at the end.  On US 95 the accelerator seemed to stick and I watched the speedometer climb to over 80mph!  I steered towards the shoulder; once there I pressed hard on the brake. When the speed was down to 40, I shut the ignition off, and the truck came to a stop.  I got out and raised the hood.  There was a cloud of smoke/steam for an instant.  I checked things.  Everything looked normal, so I got back in, started the engine, and it ran normally.  I eased my truck carrying my nest (slide-in camper) back on the road and thought about what had happened.  Then, I remembered this is not the first time this has happened.  I reached down on the floor, grabbed the floor mat, and pulled it back about four inches.  It had gotten under the gas pedal, elevated it, which pressed the other end of the pedal down, and the engine had accelerated because of it.  All was fine!
    As I sit here at the bridge that goes to Everglades City in my nest at 6pm, I check the thermometer and it’s 78° in here now.  The predicted low is 74° for the night and no air is moving.  No blanket and probably no sheet on me tonight!  Now, I'm off to the Oyster House for some Broiled Grouper.  My first night in Pooler, Ga., near Savannah it was 70°, where I parked at WalMart.  There used to be only chain restaurants, none of which appealed to me, but this year there’s been a lot more building, and there’re 4 or 5 restaurants that have real food.  Sunday night I was in Deerfield Beach, where I lived for my winter of 1998, and had seared tuna fresh caught by the owner at RattleSnake Jakes, absolutely delicious!  Then I watched their Christmas Parade of decorated boats on the intercoastal water way from the drawbridge.  Nice ending to the night.
    It was too windy yesterday to catch any crabs from my kayak.  The wind would’ve blown me away as I tried to net the crabs if I’d seen any.  I’ll try again today (Tuesday Dec. 15) or kayak the mangrove tunnels on the Turner River, always wonderful.  Then I’ll be going to my parking spot 26 miles deep in the Everglades at Big Cypress, where I expect to see several panthers.  When it’s this warm they’re active and I’ve seen so many of them there other years!  Bears are harder to see, but there are so many there was a hunting season this year.  The wind has died down, so I’m hoping to catch some crabs! 
    I’ve been listening to my digitized albums done by DAK gizmo.  They sound good!  And my computer is running on my batteries that are powered by my solar panels, plus I charged them up with my home electric.  I expect to do that again in Key West and again in Las Vegas on the way back.  I should have plenty of electric for the computer that is my filing cabinet, photo processor, and plays lots of music!
    I’m ready to go crabbing, see a panther, eat Orange Beach, Al., oysters, buy some crabs and oysters in Sulphur, Louisiana and take them to eat at Big Bend, Kayak St. Elena Canyon in the Rio Grande at Big Bend N.P., Tx. (I’ll take some crabs along for a snack!), see a Sequoia Tree, go to ToroWeap on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and take the three hour long ferry ride to Ocracoke Island, N.C.  I’ll settle for a whole lot less and get a whole lot more than I expect!  If you read last week’s article, you know what happened and didn’t happen!
    Life is good!  On the downslide and lovin’ it!
 Bob R  o.c.FotoGuy
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