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Go West, Old Man Report and Photo Essay

June 15, 2025 by · Leave a Comment

Go West, Old Man Report and Photo Essay

Thank you for reading this Go West, Old Man Report. Because we travelled, no fishing was done by this reporter this week. Happy father’s day to all you men with children!

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

Monday was spent in preparation and packing.

At OIA

Tuesday Susan and I boarded a United Airlines jet headed to San Francisco. Five hours later, we were there! Maxx and Catalina picked us up at the airport and whisked us back to their house. They now have a tiny house in the yard, from which I am writing this.

View at 35,000 feet.

Wednesday and Thursday we didn’t do much, but we did visit the dumpling store in Castro Valley. Yum! I also took some photos of the local flora. Plants sure seem to love it here.

Bougainvillea

 

Hibiscus

 

Corn tassel and honeybee

 

Passionflower

Friday we got a ride as far as the hospital in Castro Valley, and walked the rest of the way to town. We strolled and window shopped, got a couple treats, and then hiked back to our temporary abode.

At the BART station

Saturday was adventure day. We drove to the BART station, got on a train, and went to San Francisco.

Headed to No Kings Day protest.

From there we got on a boat and went to Alcatraz. After touring the Rock, we went to back to San Francisco and went to a sushi restaurant in Japan Town. Then it was back onto BART, and back to Castro Valley.

Approaching Alcatraz.

 

Indians took over the island for a while, after the penitentiary closed.

 

 

 

So far, so good…

 

Lots of nesting birds out there.

 

In the Pen.

 

 

 

Not a stimulating environment.

 

The exercise yard.

 

You could buy a T-shirt, etc.

 

San Francisco is not very far away.

So we are out west, and that’s my Go West, Old Man Report. As always, thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go walking! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, © John Kumiski 2025. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: , , ,

Orlando Wetlands Park

November 13, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Orlando Wetlands Park- a photo essay

Thank you for reading this Orlando Wetlands Park blog and Photo Essay. Due to Eta no fishing happened by me this week. But I did take a four mile stroll through the wetlands park.

At Orlando Wetlands Park you’ll find a wetland that was built by workers using bulldozers, trucks, and other heavy equipment. It was built to clean water coming from the sewage treatment plant in east Orlando. The water runs through the marsh, the vegetation absorbs the nutrients. Lots of birds, fish, reptiles, and invertebrates love it. The St. Johns River gets unpolluted water, which Lord knows, it needs.

An anhinga dries its wings.

Through the marsh run berms that you can walk or ride bikes on. They wander for several miles. You can take the wife and kids on a walk or a bike ride and have a picnic under one of the strategically placed pavilions, and see some wildlife. Or, capture some images if that’s more to your liking.

There’s a modern restroom and water fountains near the park entrance. Speaking of entrances, you can enter for no charge. What a deal!

Caveats- no pets allowed. There’s no shade. This is not something you want to do on an afternoon in August. But I’m posting this in November, so several months of great walking weather are upon us!

Provided they’re willing to walk, this is a great place to bring those visitors from “up north” when they want to see some alligators. On warm, sunny winter days the gators sometimes come right up onto the berm to sun themselves.

Find the park at 25155 Wheeler Road, Christmas, FL 32709. The official website URL? https://www.orlando.gov/Parks-the-Environment/Directory/Wetlands-Park

 

Thank you for reading this Orlando Wetlands Park blog!

 

 

Bird’s eye view of a black vulture.

Life is great and I love life!

 

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go for a walk! or travel!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide
Purchase Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2020. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: central florida destinations, Photo Essays, travel blog · Tagged: , , , , , ,