Event Update - SOSish Walk

Well, it's been a while since we have tried an SOS walk. We started off with the best of intentions, but only got about 5 miles due to being attacked by incredibly vicious deer flies. I am still itching like crazy, for some reason they go for the back of my knees, really annoying. The good news is that as always we saw cool stuff out at Goodwin. If you didn't GOYB and join us, here's what you missed! Click on the pictures to enlarge, there was some really neat stuff out there this week!

Started off the walk with one of my favorite birds, the shrike. He was actually eating a lizard or something but I didn't get the camera on him in time to capture that.

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I'm always fascinated by decomposition. This was a really incredible skeleton of a snake. Compare and contrast with the one a few pictures down where the ants have not yet finished their work.

One of my favorite live snakes, the ring neck. This little guy was only about 3-4 inches long and super fast.

This is a really pretty ant. Known as both the velvet or cow-killer ant, it is lovely to look at, but I've been told their bite in incredibly unpleasant. Was not going to get close enough to find out.

This is another, more recently deceased snake. Make sure you click on this one to enlarge it, you can see the ants still working on it. I was kind of amazed at the methodicalness of how they were working from top down.

This little guy was out for stroll with us. If you look closely in the dirt you can see his foot prints. Heather felt bad for him as it was VERY hot so she shared her water with him on our way back.

This is a close up, he was really pretty.

Have no idea what kind of caterpillar this was but it was cool looking.

This was a neat looking butterfly. Not sure what species, but I love that big eye, he was so tiny but that crazy eye made him look totally evil.

This was another caterpillar that I had no idea of the species.

It was a hot and buggy walk, but as always was lots of fun, good conversation, and lots of cool stuff to see. We haven't been going out into the wilderness too much lately due to weather, but we have been walking pretty much every day after work, either at the park or on the river. Make sure you watch the schedule and come out with us. You can always look at pictures here, but you'll never REALLY experience the world from a laptop!

30 miles

So, with being sick and all, I got behind on my mileage goal. Heather and I decided to step it up (literally!) starting last week. Since last Saturday, I've covered over 30 miles. We've been walking in the evenings, and I've also been trying to up my mileage in the gym in the mornings. Be sure to keep an eye on the event listings and join us for the evening walks. We usually walk at Riverside in Vero, which in addition to being safe, well lit and not buggy, also has the advantage of being loopy which makes it easy to go as far as you want without having to worry about going back the way you came if you get tired. So, come out and join us us for at least a mile or two. Almost guaranteed that you will some cool stuff there including woodpecker families, ibises, and depending on how late we walk, owls and bats! Hope to see you there.

Event update

We resumed our weekend walks today. We did 4 miles today at riverside park. If you didn't GOTB and join us, you missed this very cool caterpillar:

I haven't forgotten my blog!

I haven't updated in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been getting out there. July was a busy month. I had surprise gall bladder surgery on the 13th, which wouldn't have been bad except I was supposed to be having adventures in MT, CA, and on up the west coast, then onwards to Alaska. Well, the adventure didn't happen, but I was able to salvage the Alaska part of it (thanks to the handiwork of Dr. Domkowski in Sebastian), so that was cool.

Unfortunately, between the weather and being sick for a while before the surgery, I haven't gotten in nearly as much walking as I had wanted, not sure if I will make the thousand mile mark this year. Kinda bummed about that, but I certainly still plan to try!

I didn't post my pictures from Alaska here as it wasn't an official DeeMotivation event, but if you are bored and want to see the pictures, you can view them on my personal blog at:


http://deederange.blogspot.com/search/label/Alaska

It truly was the ultimate GOYB event though, saw lots of birds, critters, got a lot of walking in, spent lots of quality time with the family.

But now, back to reality. I need to get more miles in, let me know if you want to join me in a walk on week days! I think I need to start walking in the mornings since the rain still moves in every afternoon when I usually plan to walk. Drop me an email or reply to this post if you want to join me!

Update: Walk on A1A

We did 3 very hot miles on a1a tonight. We found this weird tree. Don't know what the fruit is but it looks like pineapple.

Unofficial Event: 4th of July Parade

It was an insanely hot day, but well worth it. I got a walk in (about 2 miles) and go to see a parade, which is always fun. The only downside to the parade was the candidates. I made a vow that I will not vote for any candidate who served no purpose other than to delay floats that people actually put effort into (I'm looking at YOU sheriff candidate McMullen). But other than that, the parade was fun. If you didn't GOYB, here's what you missed: (click on picture to enlarge)

It's not nice to laugh at the misfortunes of others, but it was a candidate, so it's cool. If you can't catch what's going on, the car is being towed by the little tractor.

 The Sea Turtles float.

 Someone got run over by one of the parade floats. When I mentioned the accident to a friend, she asked if they were dressed like a peanut. I had to take this picture for her.

I suspect that this kid works at Liberty Tax Services when he's not in the parade.

This was a really cute float. I liked the ones that look like people put effort into, including this one.

 Very proud, PIPS chose to use my osprey puppet to grace their float. And it won first prize! Go PIPS!

 Another shot of the PIPS float.

As anyone who has birded with me knows, I am not a fan of airboats. That said, the airboat club put a huge amount of work into their float and it was soo very cool. This isn't a great picture, but there are all kinds of critters and stuff in the grass.

I like the pink fire truck!

My favorite year corvette.

 Does anyone watch Community? This guy had a bizarre costume on that was WAY too close to the Greendale Human Being. Really freakish. Did not make me want to vote for the candidate, but did make me question their mental stability.

 This poor fella ran out of gas right where I was standing. But he got going again!

 This was my favorite car in the Christmas parade and probably my favorite car in this parade as well. Heaven forbid, but if anything ever happened to Jack, I would totally let these guys work on him.

I got to say, this one scared me a bit. But it turns out, that is a volcano, and it's SUPPOSED to be shooting flames. But the first time I saw it i did freak out  at bit!

It was a hot day, but totally awesome. Be sure to join us for upcoming walks and evens; you will never see cool stuff like this from your couch, you  only can experience it if you GOYB!

Walking Indoors

It's been raining for days, so no outdoor walks cause heaven knows I am sugar and just might melt. The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow and Friday into the weekend. Anyone up for evening walks the rest of the week? Drop me a note if you want to GOYB!

In the mean time, I'll be walking indoors in the usual place: