January 7 -- 'tween day

Yesterday was our dolphin adventure and tomorrow is our trip by boat to the Dry Tortugas National Park, so we decided today would be a rest day. That didn't turn out to be quite the case because we also wanted to try the canoe trail in the Long Key State Park, which just happens to be accessible across the lagoon from where we are staying, and today the wind was very light.

It has been a while since we canoed. However, the biggest obstacle was figuring out how to get into the canoe from the dock at low tide! It was a bit tricky, but Smoky managed it. We had found a small take-out point just beyond our driveway, so he picked me up there. In fact, if the path around the house had been wider, we would have tried carrying the canoe to that take out.

Regardless of the drama getting the canoe in the water, we had a great paddle through the mangroves. We saw a number of little fish and jellyfish, and the weather was beautiful. Later I'll post some photos of this trip, so check back. I wish I could tell you we saw a lot of birds, but that wasn't the case.

Tonight we are getting to bed early so that we can get up at 4:30 to drive to Key West to catch the ferry to the Dry Tortugas.

Following up on yesterday's experience with the dolphins, here are a couple of Smoky's photographs.

Both these photos show the dolphins doing one of their learned behaviors. In the first one, the dolphins were skimming across the water like a motor boat. In the second, the dolphin is standing on his head.

--Shann