Roof Project Continues

Yesterday I started by rolling out 32 feet of Peel and Stick on the cement pad on the site next to ours and then cutting it into one 12 inch strip and two 6 inch strips. I took the 12 inch wide strip up to the roof and put it down along the seam between the trailer and the porch. First I wiped the area down with mineral spirits. Then I rolled the long strip out and got it centered on the seam. I peeled the backing off a little at a time and pressed it down and once the sun heated it up it stick very well. I then worked on the seams on the porch roof covering them with the 6 inch wide strips. After that was done I got the calk gun and started calking around all the pieces I had put down. Then it was time to go for a swim but here are some pictures.

View Full Album

After going to the dentist for a cleaning (teeth and my bank account) I got back into the roof. I finished calking the around the last strip of Peel and Stick I had put down yesterday. The next step was to paint the roof with Elastomeric Coating. I got the trailer roof and the P&S strips all painted with a little more then 1 gallon so the 3 gallons I bought should be enough to finish the roof with 2 coats.

Bad News, Good News

The bad news is that the roof still leaks. The good news is I called a roof contractor and he told me what to do to fix it. First step is to power wash the roof, Curtis let me borrow his power washer again (I used it last month to wash the trailer) and the gentleman in spot 16 Billy III let me borrow his ladder for a few days so I am all set. See the before and after pictures of the roof.

View Full Album

Then I have to go to the roofing supply store in Melbourne and buy what is called Peel & Stick and a few tubes of a caulking called Quad (this has to be done Monday as the roof supply store does not have weekend hours). Next I need to wipe down the area that is going to be covered with the Peel and Stick with mineral spirits (that should be fun). Then cut the Peel and Stick into 12 inch wide strips (it comes on a 36 inch wide roll) and run it down the seam between the trailer and porch. He also recommends I run a 6 inch wide strip down the seams between the porch roof panels. Next I have run a bead of Quad down the sides of the P&S. and when that is all done the roof on the trailer gets two coats of Elastomeric Coating.

Ray’s on the Roof

After the last rain storm a third leak on the porch appeared so going on the roof to see if I can fix them got put on the top of the list. I had to go around the neighborhood to find a ladder to borrow and I did find one. I got up on the roof and after seeing all the cracks I had to go off to Home Depot and buy sealer and some other stuff.

View Full Album

I cleaned the areas to be patched and while I was waiting for them to dry Barbara and I went for a swim. After the swim I went back up into the roof and patched most of the cracks, two of the larger ones did not dry completely so they will have to get done tomorrow. Then after that I have a special paint to cover all the patches and roof seams with. I hope all this work stops our leaks.

ELC

The Environmental Learning Center or ELC (http://discoverelc.org/) is one of the places my Brother-In-Law George volunteers at while he is down here in Florida and yesterday afternoon he took me, Flo, Ruby, Curtis and his wife Pat for a walk and talk through it. We started in the visitor center and then we went on a walk into the Mangrove swamp, well on the boardwalk that goes through the Mangroves. There are three kinds of Mangrove trees in this part of Florida, Red, White and Black. These trees are well adapted to the brackish water they live in. The Red Mangrove has what are called prop roots which not only support the tree and supply oxygen to the roots but they also trap mud and silt and over time increase the soil they are in. The Black Mangrove tree excretes salt through it’s leaves.
 
After going out to the canoe dock were George does most of his volunteer work, he is one of the guides for the canoe trips, we headed off to George’s trail (he says it's some other George but I have my doubts). On George’s Trail there is a place called George’s Perch were you get above the tree tops and have a great view of an Osprey nest. While I was taking some pictures of the nest with my 10x zoom, the male osprey came and perched on the top of a dead tree not 30 yards from us. He sat there for at least 5 minutes, I got some great shots, talk about being in the right place at the right time. On the way back to the visitor center we got a little lost and it took us awhile to find our way out, it is not all George’s fault, all though he was the leader of the group, the maps at the intersections were not very clear. We made it back to the visitor center with the whole group intact so the trip was a success. I had a very good time, thanks George.

View Full Album

Bok Tower Gardens

On Friday Barbara and I went up to the Orlando area so she could visit with two of her cousins while I got the tires rotated, not sure who had more fun that day. At the motel we were able to get in the pool for a swim and it was wonderful. Then the next day we went over to Lake Wales, Fl. to visit Bok Tower Gardens. On the way we stopped at Davidson of Dundee (www.davidsonofdundee.com) to see the Citrus Candy Factory there. The factory was not working due to the fact we were there on Saturday but we got to get some samples and even bought some products. The next stop was at Florida's Natural Growers Grove House. A visitor center setup by Florida's Natural (www.floridasnatural.com) company instead of a factory tour they just have a gift shop and show a 15 minute movie about the company and how they make the orange juice. Next we were off to Lake Wales, Fl. and Bok Tower Gardens (www.boktowergardens.org). The first stop was to watch the 9 minute movie that tells how Edward W. Bok came to Florida and wanted to create a garden for birds and people and he certainly accomplished that. We then went and had a very nice lunch in the cafe. After lunch we went to the window by the pond were you can sit quietly and watch the wild life in the pond. We then got a ride up the hill to the tower. The 205 foot tower houses a 60 bell carillon and there are two 30 minute concerts every day at 1PM and 3PM. We walked around and then found a quiet bench in the shade to listen to the 1PM concert. After the concert we walked over to Pinewood Estate (www.boktowergardens.org/about/pinewood-estate) the house built by Charles Austin Buck a Vice President of Bethlehem Steel as a winter residence. We bought tickets for the inside tour and enjoyed it very much. Mr. Buck used the house for maybe 6 weeks a year and had 6 to 8 overnight guests every night. The house is a Mediterranean-style and has 20 rooms and is considered one of the finest examples of Mediterranean-style architecture in Florida.

View Full Album

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Today Barbara and I went to Clearwater Marine Aquarium, aka CMA,(http://www.seewinter.com/) and we had a great time. The aquarium is built into an old water treatment plant that was shutdown by the city of Clearwater and it works as a great aquarium. The star of the aquarium is the bottle nose dolphin called Winter but more about her later. Our first stop was to the turtle ICU. The turtle ICU is were they keep turtles that are infected with a virus, much like the herpes virus in humans, that causes growths around their eyes and on and under the flippers. After the growths are removed the turtles have to be quarantined for a year and if they do not develop any more growths the turtle can be released back into the wild. Sometimes the growths grow on the turtles lungs or liver and when that happens the turtle has to be destroyed. Next we went upstairs were you can look down into the different pools. First we looked down into the otter area and watched the otters playing. Then we were able to see the two male dolphins get their morning vitamins, very interesting how they do that. The two male dolphins are there because they can not be released back into the wild. Nicholas’s mother got sick when he was about 6 months old and beached herself. Nicholas being dependent on his mother for nourishment followed her. His mother died a few days later and Nicholas from being in the sun got 3rd degree sunburns on over 30% of his body. Now being completely dependent on the humans who were caring for him and not having the skills to hunt or defend himself could never be released back into the wild.

 

in this picture you can see the scar tissue on his back from the sunburn. The other male Indy was found with multiple shark and dolphin bites the most serious were lacerations on his peduncle and a severed fluke. he healed well over the next several months but was not released due to the poor success rate of the release of juveniles into the wild. He also would not go after live fish in his tank even after a 24 hour fast. He lacked the life skills to survive so he also is a permanent resident at the aquarium.

You can see Indy is missing part of his fluke. Panama is the oldest dolphin at the aquarium. The fact that her teeth have been worn down and her association with “beggar” dolphins she became the surrogate mother to Winter. That brings me to Winter, the dolphin who could. When Winter was three months old she got tangled in a crab trap line. She was entangled so tightly that her tail and two vertebra had to be removed. But she survived and grew, and continues to grow. Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics Inc. heard about Winter’s problem and has worked to fit her with a new fluke tail prostheses. Today she had a special visitor to her tank, the Scholastic’s “Meet Winter the Dolphin Contest.” winner. As the winner of the contest she got a very special up close and personal visit with Winter.

View Full Album

Please go to the web site www.seewinter.com were you can see and read more about all the dolphins and other animals being cared for at CMA. Here are more pictures I took while there, enjoy.

View Full Album

St Petersburg

Today instead of going to the aquarium and being cold all day we decided to do the museum of fine art (http://www.fine-arts.org/). Of course there is no photography inside the museum put here are two pictures of the outside.

Once inside we got a free admission with our membership to Brandywine River Museum but were told if we wanted to see the Fernando Botero exhibit it we would have to pay the $18 each admission fee, that was more then we wanted to spend so we were happy with just seeing the permanent collection displays. At 11:00 O’clock there was a guided tour that we decided we would take. When the tour was about to go into the Botero exhibit we told our guide that we could not come because our reciprocal membership did not allow us to go in, she went and got us the stickers anyway and said follow me, so we got in to see Botero exhibit anyway. It was very interesting, if you want to see some of his paintings and read about him follow this link, http://www.huntfor.com/absoluteig/botero.htm.

After lunch, in the car, we decided to try an outdoor activity so we drove over to the Sunken Garden (http://www.stpete.org/sunken/). This is a garden that was formed by the draining of a small lake that was the result of a sink hole. We had a very pleasant walk around the 6 acre site. Enjoy the pictures.

View Full Album

Next stop was the motel and after a short rest we went over to Jack and Louise’s condo, they are our neighbors back up in New Jersey. They have a very lovely studio apartment with a beautiful view of the gulf.

Jack and Louise took us to a lovely restaurant were we talked all through dinner. After dinner Jack took us on a twilight tour of the area of St. Pete Beach (I was going to stretch the truth and say it was a sunset tour but the sun was long gone by the time we got out of the restaurant, sorry Louise). When we got back to the condo we went upstairs for a small bowl of Ice Cream (we got more then we bargained for, thanks Louise).

We think we might try doing the aquarium tomorrow if the weather gets a bit warmer.

Lowry Park Zoo

Today Barbara and I have started on another trip to the west coast of Florida. Today we went to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa Florida (http://www.lowryparkzoo.com/). First we went to the Primate World and saw a Lemur and Siamangs along with Colobus monkeys and Baboons. After that we went to the African display and saw an Elephant nursing and Giraffes up close and personal. The Cheetah exhibit has 2 male cheetahs and they were amazing. The Pigmy Hippos looked like rocks until one got up and started walking around. The Striped Hyena looks like it is related to the zebra but in fact it is related to the giraffe. Then it was time to make our way over to the manatee area. On the way there we passed the Red Wolf, Florida Black Bear, Caribbean Flamingo and the Florida Panther (the panther was laying down against the fence were I could not get a picture) and last but not least the American Alligator. At the Manatee Hospital we saw the manatees that they were taking care of while the manatees recover. They have a large pool were the manatees can swim and eat and also pools to separate a manatee if it needs special care by the vet or if it is contagious. We then went on to the motel in Clearwater.

View Full Album