The girls out number the boy 2 to 1 in this family. As retirement has officially kicked in, we'll share some thoughts, memories, and life's lessons along the way. As we travel down Lifes Highway!
Dolphins anyone??
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Fun with Flipper and the gang off the coast of Sanibel Enjoy
We just got back from a 10-Day road trip. 4,757 miles. The next few upcoming chapters will highlight our stops along the way. When I was a kid, we never took vacations and very rarely went anywhere other than the corner bar. My parents did take a road trip once to Springfield, Illinois. All I really remember about that trip was the motel had a swimming pool, it was hot, and it was where I learned how to swim. Back in those days, things were different. You drank out of the garden hose, the sliding boards at the park were made out of steel, and you rode your bike wherever you wanted to go as long as you were home by the time the streetlights came on. You even went swimming by yourself in the motel swimming pool. Only problem was I didn't know how to swim! I made the mistake of jumping into the pool on the deep end. Panic set in when I realized the water was way over my head and I had gotten in on the wrong...
So the theme this year is about new experiences and first for us while here on Captiva/Sanibel. Our house this year sits on the water up the channel from Blind Pass. This is a first for us usually we are trying to get closer to the gulf but the island is narrow down by Blind Pass and it is a pretty short walk to the beach. The house is not much more than 30 foot off the water and has a dock which has led to many new discoveries for the Beach Angels. I put together a Scavenger Hunt for the Angels this year. They are getting older and I wanted to open their eyes to the wonderful world of nature that surrounds this island. The Scavenger hunt has about forty items. They either need to collect or spot the items while here this week. Lexi and I spent quality time this evening sitting on the dock and watching nature in all its splendor. From Rainbows, Osprey eating a fish and a alligator we got a little of everything tonight. Best part was just s...
We arrived in St. George Island FL this afternoon. Compared to Sanibel/Captiva this place is like a different planet. The island does not have nearly as much vegetation on it as Sanibel. There are also a lot of dunes. We had dinner on the beach at the Blue Parrot. After dinner we explored the state park on St. George. Kind of a scouting trip because our plans are to go back there in the morning and spend part of the day before moving on to Gulf Shores AL. The shells we saw on the beach this evening were different colors so this should be interesting tomorrow. I hope to post more tomorrow. Here are a few random photos from today.
At the end of February, my life has changed. No more 9 to 5 for me, every day is a vacation as retirement has officially kicked in! My blog has been mainly devoted to our experiences on some small islands in southwest Florida, Sanibel and Captiva Island. While I hope to still visit and share more experiences from this magical place, I will be sharing other trips and experiences as we continue to navigate along Life's Highway. Before, it seemed like I only wrote about the annual trip to that special place. My intentions were to share a bit of humor and to memorialize some of our precious memories and life's lessons we learned along the way. Most recently, I have become a Soccer PaPa. No, I don't drive a minivan, I'm not overly vocal when sitting in the stands, and I'm not jumping up to dispute the referees calls (although I have questioned the lack of a call from time to time). My gosh, since when has soccer become wrestling at the Chase? ...
Happy 7/11/11. Hope your lucky today. I know I am after all I'm here. Have I told you lately how much I love this place? Probably not I'm not the mushy type but I do! Today the Director and The exec. producer got out for breakfast while the rest of the cast spent time at home base doing some pre-soaking in the pool before we logged in another day at the beach. My favorite breakfast on the Island has to be the Hungry Fisherman at the Lighthouse Cafe. After breakfast a quick stop By Tropical wines but they were not open yet and the Director was getting itchy to get back to the beach. I've been waiting over a year now to try their Watermelon wine and I'm gonna get some this year. Just hope I don't have to break the window out of the place or pick the lock to do it. JK! (seems like they're always closed when I stop by. The Beach angels had a major breakthrough this year they actually managed to wrangle one of those Lizards they b...
The Day started out at Amy's over easy on the patio. "The Beach Angels", "The Director" and "The executive Producer" made the curtain call. "The Handler" and "The Roadie" slept in. This is the first time we've stayed at the house we're in this year. It sits on an acre of ground and is very secluded. The owner "Margarethe" seems like a very nice lady we met her yesterday. She was stopping by to check on her cleaning crew when we showed up to unload. The house is a two bedroom that they added a third bedroom and sitting area downstairs. Today we got to play "So You Think Your Smarter Than a Third Grader" The Handler and the Roadie took the downstairs bedroom. They were a little freaked out when we got here yesterday because they said the bathroom downstairs didn't have a door. Today one of the Beach Angels had to show "The handler" how to use a pocket door. So NO "The Handler...
Today we skipped the morning breakfast and the cast walked down the beach to Blind Pass. We were hoping for a little help from the shell gods but all we really got was a few augers, olives and wet. The gods decided to give us rain and the closer to the house we got the harder it rained. Oh well it was warm and was keeping the mosquitoes at bay. Today The Roadie and the Executive Producer went to play golf. The Dunes was closed for aeration of the greens so we settled on Beachview. I couldn't find the balls I used last year Callaway "Bite" I liked those because they really fit my game.(It bites too). Well I settled on a new ball this year from Nike It Nike SFT after the first few holes I figured out what the SFT stands for. heading STRAIGHT FOR TROUBLE! Highlight after the golf excursion was to stop by Tropical wines and I FINALLY got my bottle of Watermelon Wine. I been waiting for it for over a year. Hope its worth t...
Thursday morning it was time for more seafood omelet research. We went to the Island Cow and I got a what? answer: Seafood Omelet. Just seeing if you've been paying attention. The cow's omlete did have a pretty good amount of seafood but the crab meat was only shreds and there was more shrimp than anything. There was also a watery consistency to the inside of the omelet that was most likely from not suffciently draining the seafood before adding it to the omlete. So ranking order so far IMO is: 1. Hungry fisherman @ Lighthouse Cafe 2. Crab & asparagus omelet @ Amy's Over Easy 3. Loaded Seafood Omelet @ Island Cow On Thursday the high rollers came to Captiva. I'm not referring to a group from vegas with money to burn, but mother nature rockin the waves in the gulf. You know it's rough when you look down the beach as far as the eye can see and there is not more than a hand full of people in the water. W...
If you read part 1 of American Icon, have you figured out who, or what, is the American Icon? I gave you some hints. I started off with a picture of my 66. There were other hints as well. Like the flag video when they passed by it on the highway. Maybe the comment about eight generations of Styling, Engineering, Technology and Muscle. I'm talking about the Corvette. Bowling Green is where Corvettes are born. We were fortunate enough to get to tour the Corvette Assembly plant. Stingray ZO6 The corvette is now in its eighth generation with the C8. This car is radically different from other corvettes because of the redesign placement of the engine and advancements in handling. GM closed the assembly plant to tours back in 2024, but recently have opened it back up for limited visits. I'm of course a car guy, so a trip like this is right up my alley. I wasn't too sure how much my co-pilot would enjoy it. The assembly plant wa...
Manatees behind Green Flash Well we made it back home. Reality is setting back in only a few short days till back to the daily grind. I have posted several pictures from the week. We get to have our annual contest and decide which ones get blown up and framed to hang on the wall till next years visit. It gives us something to look forward to while we are waiting.
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