For THAT'S MY WORLD and WATERY WEDNESDAY here's our watery weekend.
We were lucky to have a visit from our son Geoff this weekend. The three of us spent practically the whole three days on the water — that's what you do in Florida in the Summer. (And it seems like Summer here now, never mind what the calendar has to say!)
We took the boat up the river, through Franklin Lock and back. These pictures are at a little county park in the town of Alva.
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Geoff and his Dad look like they're trying to figure out where we are — or maybe where we're going! I guess it worked, because we got home safe and sound to rest up for another day of water-filled adventure.
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We spent a short time on the beach at Sanibel Island. None of us are lounge-around-in-the-sun types, but it was fun to dip our feet in the Gulf. (And as the horrible oil spill comes closer, it may have been our last chance to see the beach in this pristine condition.)
We also visited the Ding Darling Wildlife preserve on Sanibel.
Geoff and I kayaked through a marked channel (that's the picture on top of this post). (Bill chose to stay behind.)
It was a great experience – I had never kayaked before, but it was fun learning — and really good exercise for Geoff, who (literally) shouldered most of the burden. The path was beautiful — we saw lots of birds and an alligator. I have a few bird pictures for another post.
Back at the Visitor Center, we watched a pair of Manatees — it's mating season, so they were in an out of the water more than usual.
So it was another great Florida day on the water!
The next day,we toured the Babcock Wilderness. It's a huge privately-owned ranch here in North Ft. Myers which encompasses several of the watery ecosystems of this area of Florida.
The picture below is part of the Cypress Swamp area of the ranch.
A large part of the property was purchased by the State last year and will remain as a preserve while still allowing farming to take place.
We had a great weekend. Happy of course that Geoff came and happy because the watery weekend didn't include RAIN. His visit broke the record we've had recently — no matter whetherin Oregon or Florida, it has rained whenever we have out-of-town company. But not this time!
In fact, Geoff went home to Colorado with a slight sunburn as a Florida souvenir.
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