Sonya's Blog - Day 199 - Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge and Jupiter Beach

Sonya’s Blog - Day 199 - January 7th - Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge and Jupiter Beach

We didn’t do much for the morning. The kids did school work and caught up on their blogging some more. Blake contacted more work associates about possible work opportunities. I just did some more cleaning up and organizing. Otherwise I just hung out and helped out where needed.

We finally had lunch and left to go to the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge. They have a small museum there with live animals. They had a hawk and an owl, that had both been rescued after being hit by a vehicle collision. The owl’s wing was obviously broken, the hawk looked in better shape. They also had several snakes, lizards and a couple of tiny alligators. We also learned how to pronounce Hobe (rhymes with Robe) Sound. We had been pronouncing it Hobee, but that is not correct.

We then set out on the trails. There were several trails that went around the refuge, but they were not very long. We walked most of them. First we headed down to the water. The refuge backs onto a Hobe Sound, which is a narrowing of the ocean with Jupiter Island on the other side. Well, it was beautiful down by the water with the whitest sand. Here is a picture:

We met a couple from Dallas down by the water and had a nice chat with them for a bit. We then continued on our way and hiked a few more of the trails. We loved the Mangrove trees and we also saw Prickly Pear Cactus. If they did not have trails, there is no way we could hike through the woods, they are so dense with growth. Here is a picture when we are on the path:

It was a nice little stop. There is a larger Wildlife Refuge area a few miles up the road at the tip of Jupiter Island, but we cannot take dogs there. I had read that Blowing Rocks Preserve was also something to see, so we headed over there. It was about 10 minutes down the road and was on Jupiter Island. We made our way there, but then discovered that dogs are not allowed, so we drove down the road a bit and parked where there was beach access. Dogs are allowed on Jupiter Island beaches, as long as they are leashed. What an amazing beach! The water was beautiful, the waves were quite large and very strong, there were rocks down the beach that the waves were crashing against - it was great. Not somewhere I would want to swim, but great to walk along. We had fun walking along the beach, dodging the waves and getting some pictures.

On the way back to the campsite we decided to take the beach highway instead of the main highway. It was a lovely, meandering road with some spectacular properties along it. It took a little longer to get back, but it was worth the drive. Blake dropped Natasha and I off at the RV to start supper and he ran to the store with Isaac to get the remainder of the ingredients. This worked out well, Natasha and I could just get to work without any distractions. We are making Thai Coconut Cashew Rice with Ginger Peanut Sauce and grilled Mahi Mahi for supper. Should be tasty. I washed the vegetables and cooked the rice while Natasha did the grating and chopping. I have a mini-chopper for my handheld blender (which works like a mini food processor), so it was pretty fast going for her. The carrots wouldn’t chop up in it though, so those had to be grated. The boys got back just in time for Blake to grill the fish and for me to chop up the green onions and cilantro. Soon we sat down to a very tasty meal and we all enjoyed it.

After supper I took care of the laundry while Blake and Isaac cleaned up. Natasha looked to see if we could watch the movie Ladyhawke. It is referenced in the book Ready Player One and Blake and I have never seen it. Alas, it was not available on Netflix or on our drive with all the movies on it. Natasha had downloaded Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2, so we watched Pitch Perfect. Blake was skeptical about it, but he sat down to watch to humour Natasha. He was surprised that he liked it and even found it funny. I had seen it with Natasha, but it is funny and could Anna Kendrick be any cuter, really?

Sonya