Florida Day 15

Oh what a day! Up early to sun and clear blue skies. Yippee!

We headed to Fort Morgan and the 10:15 ferry to Dauphin Island. On our way, we saw a fox (no pics, sorry). Again, the road became lined with large condos and subdivisions of pastel-coloured homes, all built on stilts. It was a beautiful drive.

We got the to the ferry and prepared to board with our bikes. The ferry was late and someone called and they said fog would delay until 1:15. We had our home with us so decided to hang around.

We rode to the beach and saw dolphins feeding. So exciting. Spoke with a family from Missouri and found the woman taught Composition at a Community College, face-to-face and online. We could have talked for hours (but our families weren't quite as enamoured).

We rode some more (saw another Cottonmouth snake) and walked out along a seawall and noticed the ferry was in. I checked the schedule and it was due to leave at 11:45. It was 11:41, so we booted it, and they waited for us and we flew up the ramp. Phew.

Great 30 minute sail full of gulls and pelicans (people were feeding them) and some more dolphins.

David, the photographer, got amazing pictures:

Dauphin Island is lovely. It has a wide, paved bike lane and we rode and rode. The island is known for birding, and we took the trails at the Audubon Sanctuary. No real bird sightings, but so much more.

Looking for a Kingfisher, I happened to see yet another snake, a Water Moccasin, flicking its tongue. THIS time (sorry Heather, Ann and other snakophobes) we got some photos.

Onward, we met two women and warned them of the snake and they told us of the alligator at the other side of the lake. We walked along and David had another wild animal sighting: a naked couple going at it in the bush. Yikes. He saw bare buttocks, which apparently became VERY still, but not photos!.

Laughing, we walked along and saw the alligator, fish, some mid-sized turtles and an old Snapping Turtle.

Look very closely; I promise you, that's a gator not a log. Note the long, bumpy tail!

Next stop, some BBQ for lunch. Yum. We had a great ferry ride back and we're relaxing after a beautiful day. We rode and hiked 11.5 miles today. 


Enjoyed the sunset and happy pelicans being fed to scraps from fish cleaners on the dock:

 Here's a view of our campsite: