Crystal River, Florida (12/18/2005) (We see Whooping Cranes)

I have been struggling for 2 days trying to publish pictures. I’m giving up for now but will try again later.

Week Dec 12 - Dec 18

This week Bob & Connie arrived at the RV Park. (They traveled with us in Alaska.) Since Alaska they have been traveling across Canada and down the East Coast. They will be here 1 month before leaving to head west.
We all went to a Whooping Crane Flyover in Dunnellon, Florida. The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (Non-profit organizations, individuals and government agencies joining forces to bring a migratory flock of whooping cranes back to eastern North America) had spent 61 days (51 flying days for 1200 miles) leading whooping cranes with ultra light planes from the northeast USA to Florida. Whooping Cranes are highly endangered with only 300 in the wild. The WCEP hatches eggs, imprints the birds, feeds them using crane puppets and then leads them along a migration path. This has been going on for 5 years. The largest group ‘the class of 2005’ is 19. 45 birds from previous years made it to Florida on their own this year. I have photos if I figure out how to publish them.
We also saw Cirque du Soleil - Varekai in St Petersburg. As usual it was an awesome show, great costumes, great movement and another great new apparatus with amazing flying. I think I enjoy Cirque du Soleil because they use their considerable talents (both physical and mental) to transport me to another world, in this case, to a forest on top of a volcano.

Week Dec 05 - Dec 11

I spent most of this week working on quilts and taking sewing classes. I was able to take an all day class for my new sewing machine at a local Bernina and Quilt Shop. In addition I attended their Christmas Party to introduce their classes for next year. I should be able to take several before we leave the area. I spent 3 days working at the shop on my quilts.
The weather in Florida has been cold and damp. I caught a cold so haven’t been feeling all that well. Saturday night the RV park had a concert, boy was the park full. At midnight (the end of the concert) they had fireworks. It woke all three of us from a sound sleep. We could see them out the bedroom window. It was cool.