Karen and Sharyn graduated from Artesia High School in California. They were friends and on the swim team together. They have not seen each other since they graduated from high school, but got reacquainted through Facebook.

Sharyn presently lives in California, although she has also lived in Alaska. Karen is an RV Gypsy that lives full-time in her Winnebago RV and lives wherever her RV takes her.

Karen and Sharyn got to spend a couple of days together in Chiefland, Florida. February 7 and 8, 2013.

Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge

"The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge (LSNWR) is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System. It is located on the western coast of Florida, along the southern edge of the Big Bend Region, approximately fifty miles southwest of the city of Gainesville. The historic Suwannee River, made famous by Stephen Foster, bisects the refuge.

The 53,000-acre wildlife refuge was established in 1979 to protect one of the largest undeveloped river delta systems in the United States. It includes twenty miles of the Suwannee River estuary and twenty miles of coastline. The constant influx of nutrients from the Suwannee River combined with numerous off-shore islands and tidal creeks create excellent wildlife habitat which supports kites, bald eagles, manatees, sturgeon, deer, and turkeys, to name but a few of the species which take refuge there.

The refuge offers bird and wildlife observation, wildlife photography, fishing, canoeing, and interpretive walks. Several boardwalks and observation towers offer views of refuge wildlife and habitat."
(quote from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The gopher tortoise shown below was alongside the road on the lower Suwannee Nature Drive and Karen Duquette photographed it from the open window of her moving truck.

While driving, Lee Duquette spotted wildlife running across the road, and Karen Duquette had only a few seconds to snap a photo with her camera. After taking the photos shown below, Karen had to zoom in on the photo a bit to try to see exactly what kind of wildlife it was, but she still could not positively identify it. This, plus the gopher tortoise shown above, some Turkey Vultures and a few white Egrets were the only wildlife that Karen, Lee, and Sharyn saw at the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge on this day.

Below: A nice view of the coastal Estuary and Gulf as seen from the boardwalk

Below: A white egret as seen from the boardwalk

Behind: Shell Mound is a 0.3 mile loop trail, with a 6,000 year old archaeological site reaching 28 feet in height.

Below: Karen, Lee, and Sharyn enjoyed a nice view of the coastal Estuary and Gulf from the Shell Mound Trail.

Below: There were five turkey vultures high in the treetops and circling the area. Although Karen Duquette had to aim her camera directly into the bright sun, she was still able to get a few fairly decent photographs of the turkey vultures.

Below: Another White Egret