Two days ago my son and some friends decided to have some fun cruising the Everglades at sunset and launched the two canoes west of the Miccosukee Tribe. In the video you will see some gators splashing in the calm waters of the river of grass, many birds and bald cypress trees.
After paddling for close to three miles they decided to return with some help from the outboard motor installed in one of the canoes. I couldn’t join the party because was working… : (
Mud runs are trendy now and I just ran my first one. To “document it” and show others what to expect id they are newbies like myself, I attached a Go Pro Camera
In this case was a 5K running with a swimming portion and many obstacles, all accompanied by colorful ambushes (more details in the organizers website).
I must confess that the last time I did something like this was in my early 20s during my 3 year as a soldier. Anyway, I did better than expected and really enjoyed the run (now planning and training to repeat the experience). Just would advice to train and be sure of your health condition before signing for these type of events.
Enjoy the video and hope will give you an accurate idea.
A new photographic exhibition will open next June 7 at the Dante Fascell Visitor Center Gallery in Biscayne National Park. The photographer this time is Paul Marcellini and the main theme the park’s wildlife.
According to the artist “The project is dedicated to reconnecting people with the wildlife on their own doorsteps – and enriching their lives in the process.” It’s interesting to note in the technical side that the photographer used a pure white background from a portable field studio to take the images.
This show is part of the larger global Meet Your Neighbours initiative (check the link for info and great photos). If you want to explore the work of Paul Marcellini check his website.
The event looks like an interesting excuse for a trip to the park. Don’t you think?
Via: Biscayne National Park. Image Credit: Poster for the event published by Biscayne National Park | Photo: Potugues Man-o-War by Paul Marcellini.
Follow two of my photos taken from the same vantage point in Eco Pond, Everglades National Park. The first-one is from April 2011 and the second picture is from May 2013. Big difference in 25 months.
Photo Credit: oncamping.net
This comes as a curiosity to me from an article published yesterday in The Daily Beast about a battle where American soldiers, French prisoners and Germans joined forces against the attack of an SS Division at the end of the war (Read World War II’s Strangest Battle: When Americans and Germans Fought Together).
Pointed by a comment also found an older page that narrates the event accompanied by some photos published by the Texas Military Forces Museum.
Everything happened in the Austrian Itter castle (click the link to see photos in Wikipedia).
Herpetophobia means fear of reptiles and if you suffer from it check the website Reptile World from Michael Shwedick. Education and knowledge can go a long way in controlling unfounded fears; what we need to do is to learn to identify the dangerous species that in the case of Florida include the coral snake, copperhead, cottonmouth or water mocassin and timber rattlesnake (also known canebrake of banded rattlesnake) and the pigmy rattlers.
Photo Credit: oncamping.net | One of my photos of the Tusayan Ruins in the Grand Canyon.
The recent terrorist attack in Boston put the Caucasus in the map for many Americans, specially the region of Chechnya where the attackers were born.
According to Pliny the Elder’s Natural History written in the first century, the name Caucasus comes from a Scythian word meaning “ice-shining” in clear reference the snow in the peaks.
I remember a Russian movie named Prisoner of the Mountains from the late 1990s that was based in the work of Leo Tolstoy A prisoner in the Caucasus (you can read the text here), but casually I found now that exists also a narrative poem written by Alexander Pushkin with a similar name.
Pushkin is considered by many the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature ( check Ruslan and Ludmila, Eugene Onegin, etc). I found his poem published online and can be accessed through this link.
Photo Credit: The photo illustrating this post is from Svanetia, Georgia, and was released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 by his author Petrusbarbygere.
His camper may look wacky but it’s a piece of art and at the same time a testimony of what you can do with interest and effort. I learned about the story via one of the blogs I follow, Adventure Journal, where you can read the article accompanied of a nice video (check it here).
An applause to the beauty of imperfection because life is not perfect. Worry less and enjoy more!
Note: You can check more projects in the Jay Nelson website.
Enjoy a video montage of some of my Anhinga photos accompanied of some facts about these bird.
Some facts about the bird.
To learn more visit this page of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
For the scenario paintball fans this is a huge event scheduled for June 15th. What’s all the buzz about? Well, usually has been said that Oklahoma D-Day is the world’s largest paintball event. Check the following video and if you want more info go to their website.
The answer may come from a website specialized in the popular compact tool with reviews and information related to their functionality. Check BestSwissArmyKnifeGuide.com.
Note: To complement your search check also the many buyers reviews written in Amazon
Etón Corporation announced today the availability of the BoostSolar, a backup battery that can be USB or solar powered. The battery can be acquired in Amazon or REI stores.
This link takes you to the product page in the Etón website.
I just read an article published by The Blaze (The firearms statistics that gun control advocates don’t want to see) that compiles some criminal data and surprisingly to what many would expect, points to a sort of relation between strong gun control laws and crime rate.
The stats used by the writer come in part from FBI reports and data compiled by the Brady Campaign to prevent Gun Violence for their annual scores (in general the organization advocates for more restrictions but facts are facts). Some of the data that called my attention follows (most is from 2011): Continue Reading →
If you go to Everglades National Park’s Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center this month you will enjoy some oil paints inspired in the park created by the artist Tony Scarmato. A visit to the painter virtual galleries reveals that his skills painting landscapes, something that we saw first hand in the park exposition.
I liked how he represented the fine details in the grass, water and trees. Judge yourself in the following photos taken in the gallery (I also included some of my images from the area for sort of a comparative reference).
Photo Credit: Oncamping.net
Yesterday I had the exact time to click some photos of a little American Croc before it disappeared in the murky waters of West Lake in the Florida Everglades. It was a nice and unplanned encounter when we got abruptly face-to-face in the boat ramp (he was as surprised as I was).
There has been a comeback in the population of American Crocodiles in South Florida, the only place in the United States where you can find it in the wild. Enjoy the photos of the little fella!
Baby American Croc (close up).
Humans are dangerous… Time to go!
The croc leaving the boat ramp.
How do you differentiate American crocs from gators? Check the following photo of one of his grownup cousin.
Alligator.
Photo Credit: Oncamping.net
Note: To get a rushed intro on the American crocs read the entry in Wikipedia.
In general FWC (Four Wheel Camper) builds very nice truck campers but at least for the small models (Finch in this case) looks like they considered that the battery separator was supposed to last forever.
After receiving notice of the recall from Sure Power (check this post) I was obligated to remove mine, and because the cramped space didn’t allow for using any tool without removing the water tank (the separator was obviously installed before the later), the only solution was to create my own L-shaped “screwdriver” that you can see in the image heading this post.
After a lot of effort now I managed to remove the defective part and now can send it to the manufacturer (Let’s hope that from here all goes well!). For sure the next separator won’t be installed in the same place.
The Adventure Journal published a post about a ten days trip in a car (a station wagon to be exact) with some pieces of advice for those who dare to go overland in such a cramped space. Enjoy Surviving the Purgatory of Living In Your Car.
Photo Credit: Oncamping.net | Camper packaged for a trip.
The Firearms Blog started a series of articles about building an AR-15. Before getting into a such a DIY adventure (that won’t be easy) remember to check and get familiar with the laws about building a firearm by yourself . The first post is here.
Also read in the same blog an interesting review about the NRA instructor certification program.
Photo Credit: Public Domain image of an AR-15 (Source: Wikipedia).
