Monday Jan 20 - Sunny and a little cooler today, with the usual breeze. We've had a good week since my last report, basically not doing much except riding bike, reading, playing games, and doing a walk or two each day around the park.

The only exception was on Saturday, when we had to do a clean-out of the tanks, so we used the occasion to go to the Wakodahatchie Water Preserve to see some birds. Dave MacKay and I discovered this resource a few years ago, if you can believe it, and Gail and I have been back to wander about several times. There are lots of different species in the area, along with an occasional gator, and even a coon, a rabbit and some iguanas. Plus tons of people. The parking is rather limited, so no way for the r.v.; but the security guy told us of a parking area not far away we could use, so long as we didn't tell anyone how we heard about it. Worked for us! Tons of people wandering about, almost as interesting a variety as there were birds. All ages, all levels of knowledge about birds, from novices to experts. So it was a good day to roam about and share viewings with others.

We usually walk around the park at night. A few nights ago the wind was fairly howling, and we came across a guy near the lake trying to put up a tent. He was having a heckuva time, so we offered to help. His name is 'Snow', the name on account of his white hair, which contrasts with his black skin, he pointed out to us. We had a great time wrestling the tent into place, one he'd just bought so he could stay here. He knew nothing about it, but it was one of those simple 'stretch her out, raise the poles, and peg the corners', so we managed to get it up. Woulda made a good You Tuve video, I think. He was so grateful. Neat guy.

Our park continues to be full of Quebec folks, so we hear French more than we do English. They are great socializers, bikers, petanque players (boules, bacchi ball), and are friendly, although not to the extent of sharing a glass of wine with we Anglos. That's okay. We do our own thing, as usual, and are quite content. We bike about 30 kilometers every day (Gail sometimes a little less), so are getting the legs in shape, getting some exercise, and enjoy looking at the various activities around the lake, which our bike trail follows. A good place to be for a couple of weeks.

We decided to try to go to the Keys, which we have not done before. We knew it would be expensive in the r.v. parks down there, but what the heck! So we managed to find a place in Key Largo for Saturday night, and another place at Key West for 3 nights. We're looking forward to this little adventure, and hope we get good weather. Will post some pictures once there.

We think of Kathy and Casey every day. We think of our friend Dave Forsyth, who just had his second kidney surgery. We think of daughter-in-law Sharon's brother Howard who just did the Shouldice repair job. We think of Connie Marshall all the time, who is going through another round of chemo. We think of friend Mo Daniel, who has to go into a special home today, and of his wife Dodie, who will find this a very difficult day. We count our good fortune to be healthy and in the saddle. We wish it could be thus for everyone.

That's it for now. Not too exciting, but maybe that's okay. More later. Stay tuned.