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
So today, my family and I got some terrible news, a close friend of ours passed away overnight. Our family is of course devastated by this. My blog has generally been about trips and experiences down life's highway. Mostly about the good times and trips we have spent with family. Occasionally I'll share a few life lessons I've learned along the way. I'm typically not an outspoken person, but the blog allows me to convey what comes from my heart, and my heart is compelled to share this one with you. Let's start off with a little about faith and me. My parents sent me to church. We didn't go as a family unit. I went with a neighbor. Dad was typically not feeling well on Sunday mornings after spending most of his day and night on Saturday at the local bar. I know he believed in god, but there were also demons that chased him through life. In his later years the alcohol and smoking took a toll on his body, he'd sp...
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...
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...
You know if there is a "BS" day of the week most of you would probably agree its Mondays. Except for my retired friends they don't have a "BS" day for them everyday is a Saturday! B each & S oaking in the Gulf Monday was a perfect beach day the gulf was calm so no worries about the "BBSBS" flairing up. I went out early to install the Sun Shade. I got a surprise when I reached my destination. Overnight a turtle had come ashore right near where we have been sitting on the beach this week. In all the years coming here I never saw an actual turtle crawl. I have always seen the results of their visit when the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation would stake out the nesting site and place "Do Not disturb signs". There are currently 3 active nesting sites near where we are on the beach. The best way to explain what a crawl looks like would be to describe it as tractor tire tracks. From the size and spacing of these tracks I wou...
The adventure continues as we head further south, down to the keys. Home base this week will be Marathon. On Monday, we have a trip planned to Dry Tortuga National Park. That is pretty much the only thing that has a time commitment to it. We're just going to let the week play out and see what each day brings us. We drove through Fort Myers Beach on our way to an overnight stop in Bonita Springs. I think due to the higher concentration of houses and businesses on FMB the devastation was extreme. We stayed in a house on the south end FMB back in 2019. Below is a picture of that house taken in March of this year. Bottom floor blown out, and what you don't see in this picture is the whole back of the house is gone. Beach house FMB March 2023 When we drove by, all that is left is an empty lot. Property on FMB is selling for the same dollar evaluation post hurricane Ian as it was before hurricane Ian, house or no house. There's no do...
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...
So it looks like we are in for some rough waters this week. I bet the shell seekers are loving this! Its got to be sending some treasures this way. Most of our beach time so far has been at high tide so its not the best time for shell searching. So the beach angels and I tried our hand at a little Beach art today. Meet Katy (momma turtle's name) and Lacey (Baby turtle's name) Beach Art 2013 Lexi, Taylor and PaPa We are seeing a lot of rain so far this week. After we completed the beach art the beach angels were ready to head back to the house and the pool. No doubt as long as the water stays this rough their favorite spot this week will be at the pool. Captiva Cutie has a nice Lanai (I think that's the correct spelling, back home we call it a screen porch!) it connects to the pool deck its a great place to catch the breeze and chill. Also my place to sit and work on the blog. Vie...
It's been a rough week this week. While I generally keep my blog on the lighter side. My words come from my head, but my desire to write comes from my heart. My heart this week has felt both pain and Joy some of which I'll share with you today. On Monday Nov. 20th I'm on the mends from a rough couple of days on what looks like could be a precursory strike from a future Kidney Stone. Spent a couple of days on pain meds, telling myself I'm not going to the ER. Carol's been battling the crud and been coughing a lot for the past week. We get a visit from Kristine, our daughter (technically Daughter-in law) but we adopted here years ago when she moved down here from Oregon to carve out a life with our son Ryan. In her selfless manner, she's here to deliver a spare nebulizer to her Missouri mom, who's been fighting the crud. Why? Because that's just who she is. She didn't visit for long, and we shared a few passing comments about her not wanting...
So forty one years ago on Monday we said "I DO". A few pounds, some gray hair and lots of wrinkles later we still Do. Forty one years ago we didn't even know this place existed and even if we did we probably would not have been able to afford coming here. We still DO Our good friends Herb and Sue Maddox introduced us to Sanibel about 17 years ago. Who would have thought that a small vacation with some friends would have turned into a life long family destination. We have been able to experience and share this place with other loved ones. They probably don't know just how blessed they are to be able to experience this place at a young age. A few hours at the Beach today then darkening skies to the south and distant thunder reminded us of getting caught on the beach a few years ago in a Southwest Florida thunderstorm. You might think what the heck I'm wet anyway. Believe me its not a good decision to stay. Rain driven b...
Our goal on the road trip was to-Take it Easy. I wanted to limit myself to no more than 8 hours of driving per day. We would pull over and take pictures along the way. Portland to Spokane is only about a 5-hour drive, so we had plenty of time for some sightseeing. We would explore the scablands of eastern Washington. Our path would lead us to Soap Lake and Dry Falls. We would spend the night in Spokane. The next day we would head towards Glacier National Park in Montana. We had a timed entry pass into Glacier National Park to travel the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Soap lake for us was just a drive-by. The lake is very rich in minerals and has a white ring around the banks of the lake because of the mineral content. The waterfall that no-one has ever seen! The picture above only represents about 1/3 of its size. Through geological forensics, this area was once the largest waterfall in the world. What Caused Dry Falls? The theor...
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