A Full-time Life

Category: Florida exploring

  • YELLOW — MAYBE NOT SO MELLOW

    074 Definitely a yellow picture, but not so mellow for the guys on the other end of the tow rope. 

    We passed this boat out on the river.  Tow boats are a common sight around here.  There are a lot of shallow places — sand bars — around here and it is said that all Florida boaters have either gone aground or are going to.

    And then of course there are the breakdowns which boats are prone to, as we know from experience.  The towing company that we have insurance with is Boats USA and their emergency boats are red.  Whatever color, we of course hope we never have to use their services again.  But (like all insurance) that's why we keep up the premiums.

    046 We hoped the boat under tow in these pictures had good insurance  – it was so large that it needed a tow boat in front AND in back.   We were too close to get a picture of the whole "parade" but you can glimpse the one in back of the disabled boat here.   

     

     Go to Drowsy Monkey's Monday meme and click on the links to see yellow of all shades and mellowness!   People from all over the world love this bright color.

     

     

  • BREAKFAST AL FRESCO

    Bkfst on the boat Another Tween Waters picture, this one taken by our friend Don. Don's and Patty's boat is almost an exact twin of ours and they were docked next to us at Tween Waters.  We didn't buy a matching boat on purpose but we've had a lot of fun being their "sister ship." 

    We slept on the boat and ate our breakfasts on board. There was a potluck dinner on the dock the first night.  We took advantage of the resort's restaurant and pool-bar facilities for our other meals (and liquid libations).

     

     

  • GONE TO THE BEACH

    040 This post is linked to SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

     We've been away for a few days –on a water-trip (as opposed to a road-trip).  We docked the boat at Tween Waters, a Marina Resort at the end of Captiva Island.  It was a three-hour boat trip from our dock.

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    This fellow-guest at the resort enjoyed his perch on the front of our boat.

    004 We didn't get out on an overnight at all last season and this was the first for this year.  It was a relatively uneventful cruise.   (A couple of years ago, right after we bought our used boat, we had some watery adventures we hadn't counted on.  Uneventful is a beautiful word!)  Click on the blue to read about one of our more adventurous trips.

    The picture above shows the other boats on our small "flotilla."  The trip was arranged by the Fort Myers Power Squadron.   A few other couples joined the group by driving to the resort. 

    023 It was a little too windy to swim, but skies were blue, the beach was full of beautiful shells and the company was the greatest. 

     Life is good!

     

    Mapg

  • HAPPINESS IS A BUTTERFLY….

    FOR LESLEY'S SIGNS SIGNS MEME, this one painted on the wall of the Flutterby Cafe at the Butterfly Estates:

     

    Sign 

    Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

                Nathaniel Hawthorne

     

    052 and, in a Flashback to a walk we took at Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia last summer, this butterfly which alighted upon Bill's hat when he was standing quietly.

    I hope that counts!

     

  • BUTTERFLY ESTATES

    FOR RUBY TUESDAY

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      120                                                      

    There were shades of ruby all over when the Red Hat ladies from our RV resort visited Fort Myers Butterfly Estates. 

    The guide reminded us that red is a favorite color of butterflies.  There  were lots of red plantings — and so the red hat ladies seemed to fit right in.

    Butterly This privately funded eco-educational facility houses only butterflies native to this area. 

    All of the plants are local as well, so people can learn how to attract the butterflies to their own yards.

    Some of the ladies thought the feathery looking flowers below would look well on their hats. 

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  • FLORIDA ICONS

    THIS POST IS LINKED AT WEEKEND REFLECTIONS and MELLOW YELLOW MONDAY.

     

    Florida trailers2 

    We went to lunch at Fort Myers Beach the other day and I snapped these iconic Florida trailer houses as we walked into the restaurant.   After we ate, one of our friends pointed out that the gift shop there had paintings of this exact scene for sale.  I was happy I'd snapped my own.

  • ORANGE COUNTRY

    LINKED TO MELLOW YELLOW MONDAY (Orange is a sort of yellow, don't you think?)

    Car trip to lake placid 1 16 111 

    It's orange-growing season around here.  Most Florida oranges are grown for juice, although it is possible to get some good eating ones.  The groves are fun to see as you drive out in the country.

    Trucks of oranges going from farm to juice plants are common sights along our roads. 

    Orange trucks (The truck is a Google Image.  We took the other orange pictures while  on a Sunday drive out into the surrounding countryside.)

  • WOOD STORK

    THIS POST IS LINKED TO WORLD BIRD WEDNESDAY and WATERY WEDNESDAY.   Go click on the links!!!

    These are two of the birds we spotted on the Darling Refuge Wildlife Drive Sunday. 

    Wood Stork:  A separate family from any of our other birds, he is definitely not the benign-looking baby bringer of myth.  (This one would give babies terrible nightmares I fear!)

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    Great Egret:  Looks as if he's admiring his reflection, but really waiting for lunch to appear.

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    We saw a ton of other birds on the Kayak Trail, but my pictures didn't turn out well.  It was hard to concentrate on kayaking, keeping the camera dry and not going aground — the water was very shallow.  We'll try again another time.

  • SHOWING OFF FOR COMPANY

    THIS POST IS LINKED TO THAT'S MY WORLD.   Go click on the links to visit the world of other participants  — or to join the fun.

    Our son and daughter-in-law from Colorado popped in for a visit last weekend.  We packed a lot into a short time, showing off our area for company. 

    We visited Manatee Park, across the river from where we live in North Ft. Myers:

    Geoff and lisas visit jan 2011 

    The picture on the bottom right is from a different manatee sighting — it's very hard to get a picture of their faces, and so, since I didn't get a better one this time, I used this old one.  (Nothing like stealing pictures from yourself!)    Here is a link to the post where I used that picture before — it tells a little more about these fascinating creatures.

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        We toured the grounds at the Edison and Ford Estates in downtown Ft. Myers:

    Geoff and lisas visit jan 20111 

    ***

    We watched birds at the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island — from Wildlife Drive and while kayaking on Commodore Creek Trail:

     Geoff and lisas birds jan 20112 

    All this doesn't even count the good conversations and meals shared, we had a great visit.  But Bill and I are glad we didn't have to go to work Monday morning like the kids did (especially after they had to fly back to snowy Denver)! 


     

  • LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE

    For RUBY TUESDAY  —  Post Cards from the RoadTrip that we forgot to send you.  

     From Martha's Vineyard (Gay Head and Chappaquidick):

    AAA LIGHTHOUSES1 

    From St Augustine and Booth Bay Harbor:

    AAA LIGHTHOUSES2

    From Ocrakoke Island (Outer Banks), Cape Hatteras, and BoothBay Harbor: 

     AAA LIGHTHOUSES