Clearwater Beach

Saturday, June 19.  Our colds have definitely slowed our pace down, but Saturday we did have an outing -- J and B won't let us sit too long.  Bridgette wanted to go over to Clearwater area to see if she could get some information on diving sites in that area because she is going to be the faculty representative for the dive club at UT in the fall.  Joe and I had planned on making this trip sometime during the week anyhow, but instead we stayed home and coughed.    Anyhow, the beach here, like the other Florida beaches, is beautiful.  This one is very popular, crowded, but there is always room for more.  We took our suits with us but did not get in the water, we just walked out on the pier.  There was a lot of sea grass at the water's edge, and the water was a little murky.  Surprisingly, the murkiness was due to the influx of water coming down the Mississippi from all the flooding in the Midwest.  I had not connected those dots!

We  walked down the beach, then crossed over to the shops/restaurants area and found a place to have lunch.  This was sort of a boardwalk-type area, across the street from the beach itself. 

It doesn't take Joe as long to shop as it does me.
Then we walked over to the harbor.  This is a busy harbor, lots of boats moving around, lots of dolphin-watching and para-sailing boats, some fishing charters, some tour boats.  One fishing boat was showing off today's catch.


There was only one dive boat at the harbor, but Bridgette talked to the dive master on board and got a phone number to call.  The waters around here are shallow so diving is not readily available, but there is a wreck that they dive about 10 miles out.  It was hot walking around the harbor, so we finally headed back to the car.



As soon as we got home, J and B loaded up the dogs and took them to the dog park.  Joe and I stayed home and cooled off.


AND THEN, as soon as they got back from there, it was off to the motocross races at Dade City again.  I opted out of this trip, but Joe braved the heat and went with them.  I was just not up for sitting out in the bleachers in the heat, although a little rain shower went through up there and they said it wasn't too bad (when they got home at midnight).

Sunday Bridgette had to go into her office for a little bit, to get some plants and mealworms ready for Monday's lab students, so she and John took off first thing to get that trip out of the way.  Since Joe wasn't even out of bed yet, we allowed them to go off by themselves.  It was Father's Day, so we met Doug and Barbara at Golden Corral for dinner.  Then we played Mexican Train dominoes for a while before we called it a day.  We survived the weekend, and we can send them back to work tomorrow so we can get back to resting and coughing.

Summer Colds

Friday, June 17 - Joe and I have just been chillin' out all week, since we came down with summer colds on Monday.  We are now at the coughing stage, so that consumes our days and nights -- just coughing.  We ventured out for breakfast yesterday, and to the grocery store, but otherwise have just stayed in, resting and reading, although that doesn't seem to be helping any.  We are hoping to feel better tomorrow because Bridgette wants to drive over to Clearwater, and I'm sure they both will have activities in mind all weekend. 

We do have our departure plans in place.  We are leaving on Sunday, June 26, heading to the Everglades and then the Keys.  Florida has not been getting much rain, so it's hot and humid here, but it did rain Wednesday night.  It's good beach weather, though, and the beaches here are great -- we just need to get over our colds so we can enjoy them.

Siesta Key Beach

Monday, June 13 - Bridgette and Tyler left at 4:30 this morning for the airport, and John left shortly thereafter for work, so Joe and I slept in a little, then decided to go for a drive down to Siesta Key Beach, which we had heard was one of the top 10 beaches in the world.  As we were going over one of the many, many bays here that are bridged, the drawbridge came up to let a sailboat through.  This was the first drawbridge we have had to wait for, so that was neat.

See the sail boat coming out from under the bridge.










We took the scenic route and drove along the coast North to the end of Anna Marie Island.  There were nice beaches here too, but the beach itself was not very big.  There was shade, picnic tables, and a beautiful banyan (I think) tree here, though, and a couple of piers.

We drove on past the beach we were at yesterday, and headed to Sarasota where Siesta Key is located.  
  Here is what the Internet says about Siesta Beach.

   At the "Great International White Sand Beach Challenge" held in 1987, it was recognized as having the "whitest and finest sand in the world."  Unlike beaches elsewhere that are made up mostly of coral, Siesta Beach's sand is 99% quartz. Even on the hottest days, the sand is so reflective that it feels cool underfoot. It's estimated that the sand on Siesta Beach and Crescent Beach on Siesta Key is millions of years old, and started in the Appalachians and flowed down the rivers and was eventually deposited on the shores of Siesta Key.  Shallow water depth in the near shore area together with year round lifeguard protection, makes this one of the safest beaches in the County and great for small children.


Parking and beach access were not as plentiful as at Anna Marie beach, but the sand was definitely very white and soft.  We parked and walked over to the water, but I wasn't feeling very good (scratchy throat and upset stomach), so we didn't change into our swimsuits. 

But it was really crowded here, and this is Monday!  They had a sign at the lifeguard station showing the water temperature (85) and tidal times.

But it was way too crowded.  There were a couple boats pulling parasails here, which we also had seen at Anna Marie beach.

We didn't stay long -- it was hot, and way past lunch time.  It would be a nice beach to go to, if it wasn't so crowded.  We may try it again before we leave Tampa.  We stopped at the grocery on the way home, then called it a day.  After dinner, Joe's throat started feeling scratchy too, and during the night we both woke up with severe sore throats, so we are probably in for a cold.  Isn't that great! We'll have to go over to the motorhome and get our supply of cold pills.  Tyler arrived home safely, but he thinks he is getting a cold too.  How's that for a souvenir!

Goodbye to Tyler

Sunday-Monday, June 12-13.  Tyler is, unhappily, flying back to Phoenix early Monday morning -- his 3-week visit has come to an end.  He wanted to go to the beach again, with John as well as Bridgette, so that was today's agenda.  Back to the beach on Anna Marie Island beach that we went to the first weekend we were here.  So we got lotioned up, and hit the water.

The water was great, about 85 degrees, and this beach has good shade and picnic tables, as well as a snack bar with hot dogs.  We stayed for about hours.  John lost his sunglasses when Tyler dunked him, so we all spent a little time trying to find them.  Bridgette, Joe and Tyler all put their snorkels back on, but the water was a little murky and unlike Joe's successful hunt for Collins' glasses last year's, this time we did not find them.  So John is now in the market for sunglasses -- maybe Tyler's lost pair at Pizza Hut will turn up after he leaves and John can claim them.  Otherwise, he's now in the market for new sunglasses.

Bridgette got a little sun time, but she didn't last very long before she had to go back in the water to cool off.

The sand here is nice and powdery, as evidenced by this little sand mermaid who was sitting on the beach near us.

Finally, it was time to come out of the water for the final time.  I think Tyler is very sad to leave here.  He's had a great time with his cousin Bridgette, they go way back, and he's very fond of John.  And John and Bridgette are excellent hosts so they kept him (and us) busy.

  But his day was not over.  We had a little birthday party planned for him this evening.  Bridgette made pizza for dinner, her mom and dad came over, and we had chocolate cake (his favorite) and ice cream, and a little party.  We gave him a photo album of pictures taken during his visit here, so we hope he enjoys thumbing though it in the days ahead and remembering all his good times here. 

Thursday-Saturday

Things have finally settled down a bit, so we had a few days at a slower pace, with John in Key West and Bridgette going to work from 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.  Thursday, Joe, Tyler and I got the yard work done for our hosts, picking up the piles in the backyard, mowing and weed-eating both the front and back yard.  It was a hot job, and we probably won't make that grand gesture again, especially since Tyler won't be here to help.  Bridgette has Fridays off this summer, so she and Tyler went to the movies on Friday and Joe and I went shopping at the outlet mall about 15 miles south of their house, looking for some lightweight pants to wear on our trip to the Everglades, hoping that will give us some mosquito protection.  There was a Columbia outlet store there where we were successful in our search, so we got that mission over with.

Friday night Bridgette decided she needed to run on the treadmill -- obviously, Tyler hadn't worn her out.  She wanted us both to try out the treadmill, which I did barefoot and very briefly.  But Joe decided he would go 5 laps on it, about 1/2 hour.

It made his "new" big toe a little sore, but otherwise he did not suffer any ill effects.  I think Bridgette is getting ready to put him in her boot camp.  They have a Wii here borrowed from her parents, and we've done different things with it during our two-week stay, but Saturday, Tyler finally got Joe talked into boxing.

The rest of us had done some boxing earlier in the week, but this was Joe's first bout.  We may have to get our own Wii when we get home, because his opponent did not stay down, so Joe's not done with him yet.  He did some ping pong and we all bowled a little, and we keep wondering if we would actually use one if we had it.  But we're pretty sure we would have to have Cody or Kaylee set up every game for us, so I don't know.

John got back from Key West just before noon on Saturday, having gotten up and on the road about 4:00 a.m.  He caught a cold down there too, so he was pretty tired.  But Saturday evening, we all went to an arena football game, after dinner at Hooters right on the bay.  Bridgette got free tickets from University of Tampa, so we thought we should see what the game was like.  They had a tailgate party going on when we went in, with a band playing outside and people milling around.

 We got there early because our tickets were general admission, so we got to see both teams warm up.

Here is the Pittsburgh Power going through their stretches. 

And here is the Tampa Bay Storm warming up.

They had a lot of pre-game stuff, including a band, which also played at halftime, and a parade of motorcycles just before they introduced the home team players, which was also quite a production.

 

We had great seats, and there was a lot of scoring.  There was a little more defense in the second half, and Tampa Bay Storm won the game 62-55.  It was a late night, but we got home around 11:00 and we all immediately went to bed.  We're hoping a night's sleep will help John recover from his cold, because we're going to the beach tomorrow!

Treasure Island

Wednesday, June 8 - Today we went to the beach -- Treasure Island beach at St. Petersburg this time.  We picked up Doug and Barbara and then drove over the big bridges to St. Pete.  We got a late start so it was noon when we got there -- we had to stop at a beach store for a snorkel for Tyler and a noodle and boogie board for me (I like flotation devices when I'm in the ocean).  Then we went over to the Publix grocery store deli to get sandwiches, so by the time we got our lawn chairs down to the beach, it was about noon.  We at lunch first, then hit the water.  This is a beautiful sandy beach, and the water was wonderful.

A recent addition to this beach is a huge inflatable slide, called a Hippo.  We didn't think we needed that adventure, but there were a few people using it (for a fee).
This beach did not have the shade like the one we went to in Sarasota, but there was no seaweed.  The water was a little murky, however, so snorkeling didn't work.  But we saw some dolphins as soon as we got there, swimming close in (where we would have been swimming had we been in the water).  We saw a total of 5 dolphins swim through here, and when we were in the water, several small needle fish swam right by us (Joe even touched one).  We lasted about 3 hours, then decided to call it a day.  We all got a little sun, but we tried to keep lotioned up, so hopefully we won't be suffering tomorrow.  Joe put his hat on the last time he went out, to keep his bald spot from burning.

 Florida has so many wonderful beaches that, even though this one was busy, there was plenty room for us.  

Tyler is down to his last few days in Florida, but he enjoyed this one at the beach.  We went back to the house, and Bridgette and her mother made delicious chicken enchiladas for dinner.  I think tomorrow is a day of rest for Joe and me, although there are a few things on our to-do list here that we haven't done yet.  We think we've been to-doing a little too-much.

Lake Okeechobee

Tuesday, June 7 - Today Tyler went to work/school with Bridgette, and Joe and I took a road trip in the Explorer, across Central Florida to Lake Okeechobee.  I'm happy to report that the Explorer is running fine now, after we spent $2248 at the Ford dealer (it had multiple issues) when we got to Tampa.  Central Florida is a landscape of flat marshy ground, lots of jungle-type growth in some areas, then fields of watermelons, sugar cane, etc., and then pastures full of cattle.  Lots of cattle raised in Florida.  We found a little restaurant out in the middle of nowhere for a great "blue plate special" type lunch, and finally arrived at Lake Okeechobee, probably around 2:00.  We went over the first access road we saw, and could see the lake in the distance, but mostly this was just a little bay with a boat ramp, with a lot of marsh between it and the big lake. 

 You really can't see the big lake in the background, beyond the green, and we never really found an access point that took us right to the lake.  We did see a flock of flamingos by one of these pools, and a couple of sandhill cranes.

 There was a second boat ramp here, but it was out of the water (there was just a little scummy pond at the base), and also a pier that we walked out on.  There were two State air boats parked here, but we never saw them launched.

We saw 3 alligators in the water here on the far side, and lots of little fish jumping.  We saw one heron eating a fish, but the camera battery was exhausted by then, so we didn't get that picture. We never heard or saw how low this lake is, but we certainly saw evidence of that all along it.  We drove down the west side of the lake but never really found another access point.   There were lots of canals feeding into or out of the lake, we never figured out which, because the levee was always there.  The northern part of this area was nothing but mobile home court/RV park, one after another, but finally we got into open fields, with cattle grazing right up to the levee.  We pulled off onto one of these canal roads, and found lots of gators here. 

Joe thought I was getting a little close to these, so he took pictures of me taking pictures, in case he had to prove where I was last seen.

There was a stairway/dock sitting at the back of this canal in the grass, further proof that the water here is very low.
There were 2 guys out on this canal, in a small boat, throwing out a net to catch bait fish (Bridgette called it a catch net, I think).  And a gator headed right toward them when they threw the net in the water the first time.  The gator went under, so we didn't see how close he got to the boat -- we figured he thought they threw something in the water that he could eat.

We watched these guys for a little while (we were on one of those little roads that probably was for authorized personnel only), then headed on down the road.  By now, we are looking in every puddle of water.  And, we were rewarded.  I saw a gator laying up on the bank, sunning himself.  Joe turned the car around and we went back to watch this big guy.

He laid there for a little while, then turned around and crawled back in the water.  We saw two other gators here in this canal (you can barely see the head, right off the tip of this point).  They are harder to see in the water than I expected.

Finally, we decided we need to make some miles, so we headed for home.  I would guess our little road trip was about 250 miles; we got home about 6:30.  It was nice to come home to a meal on the table -- Bridgette and Tyler made nice chicken salads for dinner.  It was a good day, and I hope I don't dream about gators tonight!

Days of Rest

Sunday-Monday.  Finally, we get to catch our breath.  Sunday, we all went out to breakfast at a restaurant called Granny's, then John headed off to Key West.  Bridgette did chores all morning (vacuuming, laundry, dishes), while I got the Blog caught up.  Then Bridgette and Tyler went over to her parents' house to go swimming in the afternoon, so Joe and I opted to stay home and watch the NASCAR race.  It was good to get some rest.

Monday morning Bridgette went off to work, and we took Tyler over to her parents again so he could do some yard work (and swim).  Joe and I went to grocery store and Walmart, and I got our laundry caught up, but all in all, it was a nice, restful day.  It was my turn to cook dinner, which I had on the table when they got home (Bridgette stopped by and picked up Tyler), and then she got her lecture ready for tomorrow's classes.  She's subbing for another teacher this week (her boss), so she had a little homework of her own to do.  John checked in from Key West - he had a full day of meetings, followed by his own homework and social hour.  He would probably like to have some of our restful day, but it won't be this week. 

We made some reservations for our trip down to Key West over the July 4 weekend, so we are beginning to make plans for our departure.  We are leaving here on Sunday, June 26, spending a couple days in the Everglades and then Key Largo, and then on to Key West.  John and Bridgette are planning on joining us at Key West on July 1.  When they leave the Keys on July 4 and head home, we will start working our way up the east coast of Florida, and eventually head west at some point.