Bix in the Black Hills

Bix enjoyed his stay in the Black Hills too.

Indiana Dunes State Park

We left Ohio and headed west to Indiana. We stayed at Indiana Dunes State Park, an unexpected surprise. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan just east of the steel mills in Gary, Indiana, it is a pristine shoreline with large sand dunes. It looks much more like an ocean beach than a lakeside.

Our site backed up right to the dunes.

Bix makes a new friend on the beach

Adjacent to the state park is the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Between the state park and the NPS land, there’s about 10 miles of remarkably pristine beach, lakeshore and sand dunes.

Kelleys Island

A short ferry boat ride from the mainland is Kelleys Island. It is less than 5 square miles and most visitors get around by golf cart.

We went to the island to see the glacial striations or “glacial grooves” in the Glacial Grooves State Memorial. They are 400-foot long scratches in the bedrock cut by glacial abrasion. These are considered the largest and most easily accessible in the world.

When Jill heard that Geoff and Nike were going to take their dog Ben to the island, she decided that she was going to take Bix. He especially enjoyed the golf cart ride.

Dinner at the Kelleys Island Brewery. Nike, Ben, Glenn, Jill and Geoff. Bix is not visible but is by Jill’s feet. Bix is totally not perturbed by dogs, a fact that irritates some of them.

And as the sun slowly sets over Lake Erie, we say good by to Kelleys Island.

Richmond, Virginia

We stopped near Richmond, Virginia at the Pocahontas State Park. It is a lovely park and we had the place almost completely to ourselves. 

We then met up with Jill's nephew John, his wife Katy, and their wonderful kids, Jane and Cogan. John has just started a new job in Richmond and the family is in the process of moving there from Illinois. We were lucky to be able to meet up with them for dinner in "The Fan."

Bix

We have a cat. We were not supposed to have a cat. There was supposed to be a moratorium on cats.

But back on January 7th, Jill went to the Hardee County Animal Refuge to visit the feral cat colony there again. 

As Glenn puts it, Jill called from the park and said “Remember that cute cat we saw? Well he’s been hurt and I’m taking him to a vet.” At that moment Glenn knew we had a cat. 

Three vet visits and hundreds of dollars later, we still have a cat. He is a striking animal and does have a sweet personality. But not all his habits are so pleasant. At first light (now about 6:00 AM) he wants to hunt. Toes are often a target.

He’s cutest when he’s asleep. 

He’s named after Bix Beiderbecke, a jazz cornetist and composer who drank himself to death during prohibition. Glenn or Jill would often say “Poor Bix” whenever one of his recordings was heard on the radio. “Poor Bix” seemed to fit his personality when he first came to live with us. But not any more. Now he’s just “Bix.”

The Hardee County Animal Refuge

Not far from the SKP resort in Wachula is the Hardee County Animal Refuge in Pioneer Park in Zolfo Springs, Florida. Not a zoo, all the animals are “non-releasable” for some reason or another. The animals are in “natural habitats” and the people walk over and around them on an elevated walkway. It is a very nice little facility and we spent a very enjoyable afternoon there today.

You can clearly see the walkway in this aerial photo from
Google Maps

Jill and this ostrich seemed to both enjoy their time together. An ostrich is a very large bird!

Isn’t there an expression about letting “sleeping lions lie?” This is one is a  cougar, also known as a puma or a mountain lion.

 

The swallows may return to Capistrano, but large black vultures return to Zolfa Springs each winter. A lot of them. They are rather a nuisance, but the staff puts up with them and the animals seem to ignore them. 

 

Of all the animals, the raccoons seemed the most interested in the people. This guy was putting on quite a show: the walkway was 20 feet above the ground at this point, but he didn’t seem to mind in the least.

A solid-white peacock.

Abandoned and feral cats hang out at the refuge. The staff feeds them, gets them spayed or neutered and tries to get as many adopted as they can. This guy seemed especially friendly.