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
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 doubt that the future landscape of Fort
So today reality sets in and its back to the daily grind. I still haven't told you about our last day at Gulf Shores, Alabama so here goes. We left St. George Island around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday. Next stop, Orange Beach and Gulf Shores Alabama. We drove along the coast most of the way. Lots of swamp logging going on in this area and somewhat unfortunate to see so many closed businesses and abandoned buildings scattered along the coast line. It was a different story when we got into Orange Beach/Gulf Shores. I compare it to a place we have in the southern part of Missouri called Branson. Lots of people, lots of cars, and a bunch of tourist type attractions. So to me Gulf Shores was Branson by the Ocean. It has a higher density of people and high rise accommodations than my heart desires but we have never been here and now we know. The slogan for Gulf shores is "Small Town, Big Beach" The beach was wide and where we stopped there was probably 3-
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 theory of its formation is that an Ice Age glacial ice dam
Our time with paradise is almost over, but the journey continues. We will be leaving on Tuesday morning. We got a call from the condo owner on Sunday morning. We had rented the condo for 9 days. She was going to come down and spend some time after we left on Tuesday but her schedule would not allow it. She called to let us know we were welcome to stay till Friday if we wanted. How nice is that? I would have jumped on the opportunity but we have made plans to travel about 4 hours north to Fruitland Park FL to visit some old friend we have not seen in ages. We are then going to take a slower route home and stop along the way to bathe in the ocean breeze a few more times before heading back to Missouri. We have a stop planned at St. George Island FL and Gulf shores AL. We have not traveled through the pan handle of Florida before so we our planning routes along the coast. New highways down our road of life. This has truly been a great week! The weather was great. The ocean
So Sunday started off with overcast skies, a quick thank-you to the man upstairs for giving us such a beautiful place to be, and breakfast at the Lighthouse Cafe. Best seafood omelette on Sanibel hands down. When we got back we were in "Beach Mode". Not Marshawn Lynch "Beast Mode" but Carol lets getting moving, time to go to the Beach Mode. Since the skies were still overcast we weren't in full Beach Mode which means we didn't take all the usual stuff. For those of you that have been with us you know how much of the usual stuff we take! I would have to rate this as one of the best Beach Days for the Beach Angels that I can remember. Our spot on the beach has a nice sandbar running just out from the shore line and it made for Boogie Board heaven for the girls today. The Beach Angels 2011 The beach angels 2017 It doesn't seem like that long ago we would have to take them up after a couple hours for an afternoon nap. Ok, that was
The Bonsai represents the three virtues or Shin-Zen-Bi, which translate into truth, goodness and beauty. Saturday was our last day on the island. We ventured out on another field trip. This time to North Fort Myers area to check out Wigert's Bonsai Nursery. Not sure if I should call it a Hobby, Obsession, or Passion but I am a koi keeper. My current pond has been up for around 4years now. I have kept Koi for around 17 years. Our Koi Pond The gang I have also always been fascinated with Bonsai. I feel like the link between the Japanese art of Bonsai and keeping koi are so closely related that many Koi keepers also have a natural tendency to be drawn to the art. Since we were down in the Fort Myers area for the week I decided to check out Wigert's Bonsai nursery and maybe scratch this itch I have for Bonsai. This place didn't disappoint This was a very eye opening experience and to be fully appreciated taking a camera along is a must. As many of us Koi Keepers have lea
One of our Beach Angels "Taylor" had a rare find while on Captiva this year. She found an Imperial Venus shell! Thanks to "Shellady" for confirming the find. "Taylor" A.K.A Beach Angel Imperial Venus 2015 You might remember the story I told you all awhile back about Taylor's fascination at a younge age with collecting rocks. To most of us just plain old rocks. She would collect them from around my Koi pond, NaNa's garden or sometimes maybe in the middle of a gravel parking lot. PaPa's Koi pond She of course turned her attention to shells as soon as we began taking her to Captiva. Even now though she won't pass up a good rock if she sees one. Taylor's first shells on Captiva were usually broken or had holes in them, far from perfect specimens. While most of u
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 sitting there sharing the time together.
So it's been two years since I've been to my "Happy Place". Now don't get me wrong it's not that I'm an unhappy guy. I have a good life and a great family. There are many things that make me happy. Anything from a giggle to a hug from any of my five granddaughters makes me happy. A cruise in my 66 with the top down and the deep rumble coming from the side-pipes makes me happy. Sitting on the porch and hearing nothing but the call of a mourning dove in the morning or a bull frog breaking the evening quiet these all make me happy. However; when it comes to going to my "Happy Place" there really only one place that does it for me and that place is Captiva/Sanibel. It's been two years since we've been here so this trip will be like catching up with an old friend. For those of you that know what it's like to find your "Happy Place" congratulations. For those of you who don't the best way I can describe it is like
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