Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach campus is home to at least one colony of cats. In 2018, some students, with the support of faculty and staff, formed a club to help feed and care for the campus cats. They called it the Protecting Animal Wellness Society (P.A.W.S.).
Each year I donate money to P.A.W.S. During Winter Break, when most students are away from campus, local staff sign up to feed the cats. I previously wrote about feeding the Embry-Riddle cats in 2019.
After I completed a morning hike at Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, I stopped to pick up lunch at Firehouse Subs, then drove back south to Turkey Creek Sanctuary Park. I ate lunch in my car before walking to the park entrance around 12:45 pm.
The weather was unseasonably warm during the last week of December, so I decided to complete two more hikes from the 50 Hikes book. I woke up early and made the long drive south to Melbourne. I began my hike around 10:00 am.
St. Francis Trail is in the far eastern side of the Ocala National Forest, just outside of DeLand, Florida.
Nearly all of my previous hikes from the book had been solo. My companion on this hike was my friend Olga. We started the hike around 10:30 am on an unseasonably warm December day. Olga was actually overdressed in jeans.
The Historic Sportscar Racing Classic 24 Hour at Daytona for 2021 took place from October 27-31. Instead of one 24-hour race, this event consisted of 24 one-hour (42 minutes of green flag) race sessions. The sessions began on Saturday afternoon, October 30, 2021, and finished the following day.
I had attended this race previously in 2015, its second year.
When HSR announced that Porsche would be the featured marque, I knew I wanted to go back this year. I bought a package of tickets and a Porsche Car Corral parking pass.
Although I hadn’t planned—or even participated in—a major Sunshine MINIs event in many years, when I heard that Mickey & MINI was cancelled for 2021, I decided to create a new event during its traditional timeframe in the Fall. Because I live in Daytona Beach, it obviously would be a MINI Beach Weekend.
I took the idea to longtime Sunshine MINIs member, Janet Ford, to determine whether there was interest from the members in the Sunshine MINIs Facebook group. People liked the idea and the interest seemed strong. One comment with several ideas came from Amanda Hancock who lived nearby, so we recruited her to join the planning team.
On Tuesday, June 1, 2021, I returned to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and to my office in Hunt Library on the fourth floor of the Student Union. I had last been in the library on Friday, April 3, 2020. At the time, we thought we might be out of the building for only a few weeks. It turned out to be about 14 months.
Orlando Wetlands Park is located in Christmas, Florida, which is east of Orlando. I arrived a little after 10:30 am. I accidentally brought my old, unusable, hiking boots, so I completed this hike wearing my Vans shoes. Fortunately, despite the park’s name, the trail was dry.
This was my first hike in 2021. Spring Hammock Preserve is a place I am very familiar with, having visited many times as a kid. The suggested route was only 3 miles on a flat trail. But I laced up my new waterproof Merrell hiking boots in case I encountered any wet places (I didn’t).
I set off down the road looking for a short parallel side-trail to the right. It didn’t seem to exist now, so I continued down the road to the trailhead instead.
The hike began a little after 1:00 pm on the Osprey trail, which was a wide and sandy trail where I encountered many other hikers.
I passed the Robin Trail on the right, intending to take that trail on the way back.
Just before the large pavilion, I took a left on a wooden boardwalk to explore a short side trail, as suggested in the book. The trail followed a small stream. Not far down this trail I heard a sudden rustling just ahead, so I had disturbed some animal. I wondered if it was an alligator. I never found out, but the possibility of it wasn’t unreasonable—as I would soon find out.
I hiked a short way down this trail until it was blocked by a fallen tree and seemed to be unmaintained beyond. I returned to the Osprey Trail and continued east.
Soon I arrived at the main point-of-interest on this trail: Question Pond (see photo, at top). This spring-fed pond usually has a hazy light-greenish-blue appearance. On this day it had another interesting feature: an alligator.
I watched the alligator for a bit and then continued down Osprey Trail. After a while I came to a broken boardwalk displaying a “BOARDWALK CLOSED” sign. The book said this boardwalk may be rebuilt soon, but it hadn’t yet.
Not far after I reached the end of the trail, clearly marked so with a sign.
On the way back I noticed a tall tree that I had missed, distracted by the view of trail’s end ahead. It looked like a storybook tree that might be home to elves or a portal to another land.
When I returned to Question Pond, the alligator was still there, floating nearer to the center. Again, I stopped to watch and photograph it.
When I came to the intersection of Robin Trail, I turned left to walk a short loop back to my car.
The trail followed the ridge next to a creek and ended at a railroad trestle. I climbed up the hill to have a look down the tracks.
I left the railroad tracks and walked back the way I came, looking for the side trail that would take me back to the start. I think I found the correct trail, but I missed an intersection somewhere along this section because I exited the woods in the wrong place, further to the west (next to the Environmental Center) that the map showed in the book. But my route was not significantly different.
Post-Hike Beer
Because I had plans to meet up with a friend later, I didn’t immediately stop for my traditional post-hike beer. Instead, I drove home, showered and changed, and drove to Beachside Brew Pub for beer and darts. I brought my copy of 50 Hikes so I could explain my ongoing challenge.
On September 15, 2020, my new Microsoft Surface Duo mobile phone arrived. The phone runs on Android but uses the Microsoft Launcher interface. Mobile Microsoft Office apps were preinstalled. Here is the unboxing.
The box included the white phone, protective bumper, and USB-C power supply. I did not install the bumper.
Because the phone does not have a headphone jack, I had already ordered a USB-C to 3.5 mm audio adapter separately.
Google and Microsoft apps were pre-installed.
Setup was very simple. I set my old Google Pixel XL phone on the table next to it and followed the prompts to transfer all apps and settings (including passwords) from one phone to the other. I was up and running in less than 30 minutes.
Here are some specifications:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform
6 GB RAM
128 GB memory
Two 1800×1350 high-resolution 5.6” touchscreens
11.0 megapixel camera with 4K video at 30 fps and 60 fps
