In the afternoon, M&M and I went out for a driving tour of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (near the Canaveral National Seashore). The scenery was beautiful, and we saw so many different kinds of waterfowl. M2 knows quite a lot about Florida birds and identified and described most of them for us. (I wish I could remember it all, but I've forgotten everything, except that we spotted a relatively hard-to-find large white wading bird with black wing tips... a white ibis, maybe?)
The one-way trail is so narrow. Looking out the car window, the paved lane falls directly into swamp. Kinda makes you nervous, but there were a few other cars out with us, so we were never going to be stranded. Halfway, we stopped at an outlook point. Breathtaking view.
We also saw a couple of small(ish) alligators sunbathing on a tiny island, and a very old species of bird that never developed oily, water-resistant feathers, so it has to dry its wet feathers in the sun for hours.
On the drive back, we spotted wild pigs on the roadside! We stopped to look (and take pics) and saw a large boar (mother), a medium pig (teen?), and a little piggy (baby) hidden by the grass. Other cars stopped too, and the piggy family retreated into the bush. Brief but marvelous sighting!
Lastly, we took a breezy walk through Space View Park to look at the monuments to the crew members of the space program and its many missions. Fascinating and beautifully designed.
Shuttle Program
Apollo Program
Gemini Program
Indian River
Mercury Program
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