Musings From Paradise

Portal to Paradise

Nick Viani — Sat, 12 May 2012 19:11:06 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve posted our adventures. Email access is sketchy and we’re here in Portal, AZ, and the local library is the place to be. Patrons walk in the screen door to be greeted with a, “Henry, how ya doin’?” from Polly the friendly librarian who lives in New Mexico and considers herself a “foreigner.”

We’re camping at an absolutely fabulous campground, Sunny Flat, a short bike ride from the South Fork of Cave Creek (arguably some of the best birding south-eastern Arizona).
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Shark Valley: Everglades National Park

Nick Viani — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:15:03 +0000

It’s interesting how unplanned events somehow fall into place in the general scheme of things, and our visit to Shark Valley was no exception. We’d planned on exploring the 15-mile tram road at 4 p.m. in order to catch the wildlife returning to their roosts and illuminated by the warm light of sunset. An early arrival at 11 a.m. was planned in order to obtain tickets for the tram (as we’d been unable to make reservations on the phone).
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Canoeing at Key Biscayne National Park

Nick Viani — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:54:40 +0000

What started out and ended as a peaceful canoe ride was punctuated by a most remarkable event. The canoe with Jim and Chris was 20-30 yards away from the 5 other canoes hanging out in calm water near the mangroves. They were in somewhat deeper water when the sea suddenly began churning and boiling up directly beneath their canoe, nearly capsizing them.
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