01/29/2025 ICW Day 29 : A mound of fun; a quarter undone

by Brian · Published January 29, 2025 · Updated February 3, 2025

A glorious sunrise to start the day… it’s going to be another good one. We doffed our bubblegeese as the fog disappeared and the sun came out.

Everything is flat in Florida, yes, but here is a huge hill now named “Turtle Mound” that was built by the Timucua people, a Native American group that inhabited the region for thousands of years. The mound is made primarily of oyster shells, discarded over centuries, forming a massive shell midden that rises about 50 feet high, making it one of the tallest shell middens in North America. It looks like a turtle from a certain angle, hence the name.

We meet plenty of folks when we come ashore; the typical refrain is them telling us how many feet of snow there are back home. Florida has been introducing us to much of middle-America.

Speaking of ‘Merica, get out your temporary markers, as the “gulf of Mexico” was just renamed to the “gulf of America.” That happened just a few days ago.

Last night, Janet pointed out some possible concerns.

“Mayday! My boat sank in the gulf of America, please come help me,” Janet joked.

“Where the F*** is the gulf of America?” The other person in the tent thought.

Good thing we have made it further North on the “Indian River” - we are almost done with that. Hoping it’s still called “New Mexico” on our drive home, though.

Oh yeah, the quarter…. We decided to splurge and treat ourselves to a shared Diet Coke. Janet went inside the government trinket sales shop to see if she could get some quarters because the machine outside wouldn’t accept paper dollar bills.

“That machine is operated by a concessionaire. We can’t give you change for it.”

Janet said, “if I buy something, can I have change?”

“Yes. If you want, we have cans of water over there that you can buy,” she replied snippily.

They also had one of those fountains with a digital counter that optimistically counts how many bottles of water it has saved, and decided to use that to fill our waterskins instead.

Well the coke machine ended up swallowing our quarter, but like the Fox and the Grapes, I’m sure we feel better now without the Diet Coke in our bloodstreams. So while past-me was disappointed, currrent-me feels better as a result. Thanks, American government!

Photos:

Good morning! Cooking tea and sausages in the tent. It’s a happy way to start the day!

As we have headed North, the architecture has subdued.

This machine! Loads of fun and access. Janet and I took turns riding to the midden - the other staying back with the electronics suckling the outlet… We’re charging on the government dime… uh, I mean quarter.

A nice view from the top of the shell hill.

The view from the top of the hill of shells.

Janet and I wanted to camp where we ended up camping… except a guy was out here blasting his boat. We decided to go grocery shopping so he could move on. When we returned, a foot of water had disappeared, along with the guy… but he left this shark behind. 🦈

As a result of the disappearing water, we had quite a distant trek to a dry beach. I disassembled the boat and portaged our stuff in 3 trips: All the gear on two paddle board loads (on wheels)… and then the empty boat. Fortunately, I am expecting the water to be back by 8am tomorrow.

Long portage, right??

Our camp photo, courtesy of my sweetie Janet who set up the tent all by herself while I was doing the portages. It is tricky to get that tent up solo; she did a good job!

Strava Comments:

Gary G.

Speaking of Diet Coke... "The Diet Coke button returned to Donald Trump's Oval Office, offering the president immediate access to his favorite soda beverage."

Gary M.

That camp looks beautiful!

Deb J.

🤣😂 I’m loving your commentary! So glad that you kept the cart!

Judy I.

That shark…dead? And why? Inedible? Looks pretty fresh…🙀

Janet W.

Judy Isvan , yes the shark was dead and about 2 feet long. We don’t know why. We haven’t seen any sharks swimming so far. 🦈