Along the Gulf Coast of Florida

We get up early, but hung around and lazed a bit because we are traveling east into the sun.  So we wait for it to get a little higher in the sky.  We are traveling US 98 which follows the coast pretty much the whole time we have traveled on it.  It is quite a nice trip.  We do travel through small towns, but you see a lot of interesting things that way too. We also will travel over many bridges when we are navigating the edge of the water.

This is the Florida state line sign shot through the front window.  Well we gathered a lot of juicy bugs along the way so the pic is a bit messy, sorry.

We went through so many little towns I can not remember which one had these military pelicans.  Rog tells me it was Pensacola.  I did get a pic of a group shot of the rest of the service departments, but taking pics on the move a lot do not come out.  But this shot gives you an idea of what the others would look like.

There are birds all along the rock or tree stump line out in the water.

We would cross over rivers and canals as we traveled and towns would also follow the edge of the coast.

Looks like snow, but this is sand and rye grass and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are just on the other side of the white sand.

This is on the other side of the road from the above pic.  Rog loved the trees.  They are pretty.

Another river and town

Interesting sign and yes they do have bears.  They have a sign on the trash cans about keeping them closed because of the bears.  Interesting because they are just ordinary trash cans with plastic lids.  I guess these bears are just little weaklings compared to the bears a little farther north where they have heavy duty, complicated to open trash cans.  Rog thinks the Florida bears are retired seniors. lol

Florida Black Bear

The Florida black bear is the largest native land mammal in Florida. It is shy and secretive, hiding in dense vegetation and rarely seen in the wild. The Florida black bear has a shiny, black coat of long fur and a light brown nose and snout. Some black bears have white diamond-shaped patterns on their chests. The black bear has a short tail that is almost always hidden by its long fur, and long, sharp claws that help the bear climb trees or dig for food. Bears are omnivores, meaning they eat both vegetable and animal matter. Some foods a black bear may eat include acorns, insects, berries, saw palmetto and sabal palm fruits, armadillos and honey. Long thought to only be in search of honey, many bear biologists now believe that when a bear cracks open a bee hive, it's actually looking for both the sweetness of the honey and the protein provided by the bee larvae! 
  Most Florida black bears are between 5 to 6 feet long and are about 3 feet high at the shoulder.
  Biologists aren't exactly sure how many black bears live in Florida today, but they estimate that only about 1,500 black bears remain. But black bears no longer roam throughout the entire state. There are just eight locations in Florida where black bears live freely Biologists aren't exactly sure how many black bears live in Florida today, but they estimate that only about 1,500 black bears remain. But black bears no longer roam throughout the entire state. There are just eight locations in Florida where black bears live freely
 
Pic of a Florida Black Bear

  We are on the road when I took this pretty pic.

You can see how close we are to the water here

Another river and bridge to go over.

We are at our new over night home on the beach.  I am out on the pier and you can see our rv in the center of the shot.

Rog out in the water.  He is always amazed at the temperature of the water in the gulf (85) compared to the waters in the Pacific Ocean (62)

Pelican near the pier.
 
 While out on the pier I took this shot of a fish jumping out of the water.  Rog asked me what kind it was and I said it was probably a medium sized one.  I learned the names of fish from my brother, Jerry.  lol

Rog and Maggie on the beach.

I am sitting on a chair by our rig looking out at the pier I was just walking on.  It has been a beautiful day.  Oh yes,  remember the pic with the big rig hauling the big thingy?   Well I was told by a reader, my brother, that is part of a very big wind machine.  The part where the blades are attached.  Thanks bro.