Tripometer – 16,090 mi
Gas Gauge – 1257.666 gal
Location – Long Point Park and Campground, Melbourne Beach, FL
Lodging – $35
Cans of OFF – 4
Today was the hottest day we’ve experienced since the desert. The temperature approached and may have actually exceeded 90 degrees. We spent the entire day in camp playing with the dog, kayak, and fishing rods. We may have also consumed a few beers in the process.
Again, Ranger swam himself to death. By the time Kelly decided to give Ranger his first kayak ride he was exhausted and willing to sit still long enough to take a ride without trying to tip the kayak. We’ve done this with other goldens in the past but never with a dog as young as two. He has got to be the most level headed of any golden we’ve ever had. He seems to know when being boisterous will only cause trouble and the kayak ride went off without a hitch.
We’re not what anyone would call very social people, but during this trip we have adapted to our chosen path and have begun to be more chatty with our neighbors. Today was by far the most we’ve interacted with our RV park neighbors so far in this trip. As we said yesterday, the little beach that we are camping on has several other families camping on it, a few with dogs. Today we met most of our neighbors and now know most of them by name (dogs included). At one point today Riley, an older black lab three sites down got loose when Ranger was playing fetch in the water. Riley lost no time bounding up the beach to steal Ranger’s toy which was lying on the ground waiting for Kelly to throw again. Ranger was horrified. It will be a long time before we forget the look on his face as he looked back and forth between Riley prancing around with HIS toy and us. The confusion on his face was evident. He clearly could not believe that another dog was playing with HIS toy. We were genuinely concerned that all of this might cause a dog fight. Ranger hasn’t played with this toy in the water except with his sister Cutie well over a year ago when he was less than a year old. All ended well as Riley was taken back to his site to play with his own toys. We wish we had captured the look on Ranger’s face… so funny.
Right around dusk Paul took the kayak out to fish using live shrimp as bait. This, according to the fellow at the local bait shop, is the secret to catching fish in this part of the world. Floating around the little islands in front of our campsite he had several bites and lost no less than half of his dozen live shrimp to nibbles. After returning to camp as the light started to truly die he landed a very healthy-sized whiting from the shore. There are fish here other than catfish!
Special Note: Ranger sleeps in the bed with us most nights, travelling back and forth between the bunks as his whim hits him throughout the night. For most of the trip we have had copious amounts of dirt and debris in our bunks every night. Since he’s been swimming on a sandy beach, this has reached epic proportions. When climbing into bed several of the past few nights one of us (whomever had the pleasure of Ranger sleeping with them the majority of the prior night) has scooped out almost a cup of sand from their bunk. We’ve both contemplated stripping the sheets to have a truly sand free bed but haven’t knowing that as soon as he jumps up, all of that work will have been for naught. Add that to the list of things we’re looking forward to when we get home. A sand free bed.