It was really foggy in Jacksonville this morning so I was waiting a bit for it to burn off before taking photos.  In the meantime, I looked around for an oil change place – couldn’t find any open on a Sunday morning.  I did find a Tire Kingdom that was open. They discovered that Sparkle had a worn idler arm connects the steering to axle.  I think.  They showed me the wheel wobble.  Not good for the tires or the gas mileage.  And dangerous I suppose as well.  Replacing the arms meant that I therefore needed a wheel alignment.  And I needed my power steering fluid flushed/replaced (this I knew was coming due from my Jiffy Lube guys).  Anyhow, it took a little over two hours and ran me $605.  Ouch!  I don’t think I was scammed.  More than the money, I was depressed about losing great shooting time.  The weather and sun were just perfect.

Despite getting a late start and lots of traffic, I managed to get a lot of good stuff for the website/Flickr but I came up a little short on blog-type photos today.  In addition to the regular weekend tourists, the “Breakers” (kids on spring break) have started to descend on FL.  So I have a feeling the traffic may get worse.

While Sparkle was having the work done, I remembered this sign and the dogs and I took a big hike in the heat to get this one.  From Jacksonville:

The Magic Beach Motel in Vilano Beach (St. Augustine) had this nice old office.  They also had a flamingo statue which I posted a photo of over at Flickr tonight.  Their sign looks suspiciously reworked and features jumping rabbits. There are also flamingo cut-outs on the pool fence.  I’m wondering if this place wasn’t originally the “Flamingo Motel” or had another name.

If the Brunner Building Supply sign doesn’t make you smile, then you’re taking life way too seriously.  In East Palatka.

Real lighthouses are usually not my thing.  I prefer fake ones used for commercial purposes.  But this one in Ponce Inlet looked pretty nice.  Aren’t they usually white?  And it has occurred to me that I have put very few nature shots here at the blog on this trip.

The dogs got a LOT of exercise today.  We went to one of our favorite places:  Dog Wood Park in Jacksonville. It’s huge with numerous areas for big dogs, small dogs, quiet dogs, and even hiking trails. Trees and a big lake which was great to cool everybody off. The kids got a couple beach romps in – including this one at the end of the day in Ponce Inlet. Like in Daytona which is just to the north, you can drive on the beach. I don’t know why that turns me on so much. Anyway, I tried to take some photos of the dogs running about but I mostly got blur. I’m sure my camera can do better but I’ve never really figured it out. I have my eyes on a new camera for the Midwest trip and will definitely make sure I get it together for better action shots for the summer blogging.

I will probably be taking tomorrow night off from Flickr & the blog to meet up with a Flickr friend.  I promise a double-issue catch-up on Tuesday night.