Oh, Darling!

That's "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.  We checked the tide schedule in order to get there during low tide, which is supposed to be the best bird watching time.  Last year we went at high tide but I think we saw about the same amount of birds.  Then I read that low tide, coupled with sunrise or sunset is best.  It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there so I don't see us arriving for sunrise, ever.

There is only one road to the island and it costs $6 to cross the causeway.

It was an absolutely beautiful day with a high temp around 84* and the gulf was picture perfect.

We had a good view of some of the shacks on the beach.

The wildlife drive through the reserve is 4 miles long and there is a $5 fee per vehicle.  If you choose to walk or ride a bike, it's only $1.  We took Titan along, so we didn't do a lot of walking away from the car.  There were plenty of places along the drive to get out and sightsee while keeping the car in sight.

We were rewarded at our first stop by these cuties.

The mom had several babies but somehow they got separated, so mom had to go and retrieve the wandering one in order to reunite her family.

Let's stay together this time.

That was really cool.  

There's a very nice overlook along one of the flats where the birds congregate.

Other than the raccoons, we saw lots of birds.

Male Anhinga

White pelicans

White pelicans

We stopped for lunch at the Sanibel Grill & Coffee Factory.  We enjoyed a turkey wrap with cheese, spinach and tomato at an outside table.  After lunch we drove to one end of the island to see the lighthouse.  Honestly, I didn't think much of it, compared to the ones in Maine.  Parking was $2 an hour but we didn't plan to spend an hour so we just drove around and I took pictures out the window.

Seriously, does that look like a lighthouse?

We stopped on our way out to use the restroom and found these cool plants.

It was a nice, lazy day and everyone had a good time.

Yes, I'm having a good time.

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;o)

By Another Name

Blue berries?  Yes. 

 Blueberries?  I think not...

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;o)

Wordless Wednesday 1/16/13

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;o)

Put That Thing Away

Those are the words of a man who lives with a woman that writes two blogs.  Everyone knows that a blog post isn't worth reading if it doesn't have pictures, so I always have my camera out and ready.  That being said, here is a picture of a man who lives with a woman that writes two blogs.

Fine, take my picture but I won't look at you

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;o)

Why I Love Groupon

 We not only got to visit one of our favorite places in Punta Gorda, The Icehouse Pub

 but for $21 we got to eat one starter

deep fried artichokes

two entrees

Bill's very yummy cheesburger (with choice of cheese)

My yummy chicken cottage pie.  Like Shepherd's Pie, only different ;o)

and TWO 16 oz draft beers.  As most of you know, Bill does not drink, which meant that I got to drink 32 oz. of beer.  They no longer offered the strawberry one I liked but suggested two different cider beers

Fox Barrell Brewery Blackberry/Pear Cider on the left & Crispin Cider on the right

I decided on the Blackberry/Pear; a good choice    

I drank ALL of this one

and MOST of this one

and Bill drank two of these

Coke on the rocks

As I was working on my second glass I couldn't help but think to myself "I'll never finish all of this; I'll just drink it to the bottom of the writing."  When I told Bill I would never drink all of the second glass, he responded "Just drink it to the bottom of the writing."  You know what they say - great minds...

To our surprise, they have built an addition, which will be open during the upcoming weekend.

Our total bill for tonight was $4.38 (Bill left a sizable tip)!  That's why I love Groupon.

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;o)

Wordless Wednesday 1/9/13

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Yes, I know I Need a Pedicure.

This post was not created to provide an opportunity for anyone to critique my feet.  It was, however, provided to remind you that during the winter your feet get soft.  That little space between your momma piggy and all the baby piggies needs to be toughened up when you begin wearing flip flops again.  So today, I worked on toughening up my feet because it was 84* and too hot for real shoes ;o)

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;o)

Are We There Yet?...Day Three

We enjoyed a very good night's sleep and were up at 6:00.  Titan even slept through the night ;o)  We grabbed a quick bite at McD and were on the road before 8:00!

Enough to gross out Wendy & Vanessa

Traveling through the VA mountains is much more scenic than southern Georgia and Florida. There are a lot of small rivers

Jerico River, GA

 

Not sure what this is...

or this

Turtle River

One of the things I really like is the wide open skies.  I think it stems from being raised in Colorado where there is plenty of sky.  I sometimes feel claustrophobic in Maine only being able to see the sky right overhead.

There is no lack of road construction

and there are a lot of these retention ponds, which aren't very scenic.  I'm not sure if the fences are to keep people out or animals.

This area loves road signs, which is also not very scenic

The town of Lawtey is nice enough to warn, in advance, of their speed trap. 

Asking yourself what else we saw on the road today?

Nursery

I missed the only car that was brightly painted

Titan assumed that since we were stopped it meant it was time to get up and check things out.  He sniffed the warm Florida air

Floor-i-duh smells...different

and took the opportunity to see who was following us

Can you get any closer?

I want one of these little trucks

The area around Ocala is horse country and there are lots of huge horse farms.

 

Today's healthy alternative to M&M's

Then, there in the distance, we saw it...

1 1/4 miles

Our exit, followed by the Peach River, one of our favorite areas to walk.

Along the horizon is the bridge Wendy ran over, twice ;o)

And then, after 1616 miles, 28 hours in the car, 2 nights in a hotel (one better than the other), 3 marvelous McD's breakfasts and numerous potty stops, we arrived.

Home Sweet Home away from home

We left the highway shortly after crossing the GA/FL line so I didn't see as many great names; however, there were still a few...Cathead Creek, Jekyll Island, Horse Stamp, Hero and Gum Slough.  I have heard of ant farms and worm farms but I didn't know about Penney Farms.  There is the iconic Okefenokee and Weeki Wachee.

Exactly two months from today, Wendy will come to visit!  Woohoo!!! and only a month later, we will be back on the road heading north.  Boooo!!!   We'll start thinking about that sometime in March, until then, we'll follow Dr. Jay's prescription and "Go Play".  You should do the same.

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;o)