Happy New Year

We had a nice dinner at the restaurant here at the resort tonight. Afterwards we went to the pool area, but they were still setting up the music so went back and sat outdoors for about an hour, visited with aquaintances we met last year. Finding that the same people return each year over the Christmas holiday. What a nice way to spend it. Temps nice and comfortable. . . .

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

My decorations

I must say it didn't take me long to decorate our tree this year! And isn't it nice that the presents we received fit right under the tree and coordinate too! Today, Christmas Eve, I went shopping and there was no worrying about the weather or not wanting to go in and out of the car again because it's freezing out. In fact the stores weren't really even crowded. It felt like just another day. Seriously, I think we could get used to this. While I was shopping Doug spent the day fishing. Said he caught a nice ocean trout but you can't keep them till Jan 1 so back it went. stinker!

On the road again

Well, it is time to finally head home. We haven't done too much the past 2 weeks, just soaking up the sun. Doug snapped this one while I was sunbathing in my reclining power chair.

This was taken on the first day of spring and has been pretty consistent but with a nice breeze it's not so bad. However the humidity is really increasing the last couple of days. In the last 44 days it has gone below 80 degrees only 6 times!! We are certainly going to hate going back to the cooler temps but very anxious to get home just the same. We'll be leaving tomorrow, April 6 and will play it by ear depending on the weather as to how far we'll go each day.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my alligator, (it was named Bobby) I know I didn't write back to everyone, mostly because I'm usually on the computer while laying down with my feet up and it's not easy to type that way. but can't wait to catch up with everyone soon.

Have you hugged an alligator today?

Yesterday we went for a ride to explore some state parks in the Everglades. Along the way we came across a big sign attached to a van in a gas station parking lot that said "Hug an alligator" Doug decided we really needed a picture of me hugging an alligator. Notice he did not volunteer to hold it!

 This was a young one, never thought to ask the age, having too much fun posing with it.

I was asked how it feels and it was dry and smooth, just like leather. The spines on top weren't sharp either. 

I kept laughing so most of the pictures had my mouth open

Olive loves Florida

You know it's been in the 80's here and that sun is quite bright so Olive has need of a sun visor. I think she appreciated our efforts.

You fishermen will appreciate this!

March 7 was an interesting day. I had some problems and never got up till about 11am. Starving I headed for the fridge for some juice and something to eat. Briefly wondered why there was dirt on my yogurt and quickly realized that a nightcrawler must have escaped Dougs worm container last night. Oh did I say one worm? There were THIRTY worms and they all decided to have a party in our fridge last night.

There were trails of dirt everywhere. I never would have believed they could crawl up the shiny surfaces. And of course they like to hide. He had to dismantle everything. When done he counted them and was short one but it showed up the next day. Always something. At least the fridge is very clean now.

A day at the races

Naples, FL

We have been here a week now. We miss Sarasota but I like it here too. I've reconnected with so many people I met last year. We go for a short walk and can be gone an hour with all the visiting we do.

I've been scrapbooking at least a couple hours a week. The gals here actually go from 8:30 to 4 every Weds. I might make it there by 11!


Here is what our lot looks like this year. This is the back yard looking towards the lake

This is looking in from the road.

We have a beautiful landscaped lot. I like to prune the palm trees and flowering shrubs. Everything has just burst into bloom this past week. 
This is looking from our door out to the street and below is the patio behind the motorhome. the sliding door is part of a coach house (storage shed) that belongs to the owners of the lot. So the privacy is really nice.

Doug is having fishing withdrawals, the water is so low here that he has to walk over to the dock to fish (3 minutes tops!) but he can't just drop the line in and leave it like last year. 

It's been in the 80's for about 3 weeks now, perfect weather for sunbathing and growing tomatoes. It hasn't even rained in 2 weeks, a lot like home - not! 

Ok, I'm caught up for a day or 2 for now.

End of January

Thought I posted this days ago !

We found another nice beach and fishing area south of Sarasota in Venice called Nokomis Beach. It is an inlet and the pier is paved all the way out so I could get to the end too. It was pretty foggy this day.You can see the inlet here. This is way before you would start walking out, the parking lot goes to the end of sight here. There is a handy little sandwich/bait shop and I find it more entertaining then sitting at the Skyline Pier and Doug finds the fishing better here too. Got a big enough one to actually break his rod one day and we were off to Walmart to get another rod. Unfortunately he didn't get another bite.

The beach on the other side is pretty but just before the pier in the right corner of this picture it is piled with shells. I saw people taking bags full of shells and others just being selective.

Survivor

Well, even though I am a dedicated Survivor watcher, I couldn't remember Bob Crowley, million dollar winner of 2008 Survivor Gabon until I saw his picture. He was up against Susie and Sugar (who you may remember better!) What a cool guy, Very entertaining and at ease with an audience. His wife was helping set up chairs and she called him over to take a picture with me. He spoke to us here at the RV park this afternoon and told some interesting background stories. They actually didn't pick him because he said he couldn't lie and be deceitful. Then Jimmy Johnson who was supposed to be on got sick and they called Bob back.

I wondered about all the wild animals, they really are wild and there is no additional protection from them. Bob said that is why he was always walking with a staff, to have a little protection from snakes at least. Didn't think it would help against a gorilla though.  He said when his wife made it on for the "loved ones" show, he sent home with her all the tree mail he had collected.

There are about 400 people there working on the show and he said even Jeff sleeps in a tent. They really didn't have any food besides the rice and food they won later on (most people don't believe that for some reason)

Another story he told is when someone is voted off, they are immediately met by a psychologist to make sure they can adapt back into real life. Bob is from Maine and he has a cabin on an island. When asked if he can re adapt from gathering wood, tending fire etc he said he doubted it because as soon as he got home he was going to gather wood and cook some pancakes over an outdoor fire and then take a crap in the woods.

He and his wife have been staying here this week and he said don't hesitate to stop and ask him a question or take a picture.

 

January 15, 2011

We were driving down the pier and I laughed at this Great Blue Heron just waiting to steal some bait or a sandwich from this gentleman.

Then just when Doug decided to quit fishing this fella showed up. Doug couldn't resist sharing his last bait fish with him. They are certainly well fed. Too bad he didn't have any luck fishing. I enjoyed just sitting in the car in the sun with the seat back, I even had a little nap.

I looked it up and believe this is a Great Egret.

Arriving Florida Jan 8 2011

Ok, you know you are in Florida, when you see truck loads of oranges. And I must say the ones we've eaten so far have been delicious this year.

We brought my new power chair this year. It does everything including standing which is great for my bones to have weight bearing plus I can breath so much better when my diaphram is not always scrunched from sitting all day. The only thing holding me up is the knee pads, the bar in front is just a safety bar and makes a nice arm rest or book holder. The best part is I can drive it while standing so I can reach the upper cupboards now! whoo hoo!


Notice how much room we have for this, (although there is a lot of chair sticking out behind me that you can't see) but when I'm not in it, it is stored in front of the sofa so it cuts down on space a little. You can see the brown curtains behind me that I made to keep us warm up front while driving.

It was quite frosty when we took off at 7:45 this morning (Jan 5). The sun was just coming up over the frozen Connecticut river. But once we hit 91 we knew we were on our way. I made curtains to hang behind the seats of the motorhome this year which helped immensely in keeping the driver compartment warm. We knew it was chilly in the back of the coach because Olive slept on my lap all day long. we don't have to worry about her escaping because as soon as we stopped she woke right up and headed for the back, and as soon as we started rolling again she was right back in front.