January with Friends

January 2010

What a great month!!

Hi All. Let me start out by saying that it was wonderful getting all the well wishes for my BIG birthday. I have had a fantastic time enjoying all the celebrations.

Mark and I have so enjoyed Ft. Myers Beach that we decided late last week to stay for another month. We are here until February 15^th.

We are not quite sure how we will proceed from here, but the Bahamas are still in the picture.

Our time here has been fun and filled with friends.

Geff and Mary Sue have a condo not far from the Fish Tale Marina where we are staying. They came into town the day Monica & Bryan left for Oregon. Their big event was taking possession of their new boat and dock with a boat lift. Mary Sue is convinced that most business dealings and deadlines here are subject to “Florida time”. Even so, eventually, they were able to get their boat and with teamwork with Mark, they were able to have a boat lift that worked.

On January 6^th, our mutual friends, John & Vickie, came into town and stayed with Geff and Mary Sue. Mary Sue took Vickie and I out to all her favorite shopping places. I didn’t think there was anything I needed, but I sure found a few things!! We enjoyed a great meal at together.

Later that week, Dale and Cindy, came to visit on January 9th. Their plan was to stay with us for a few days and then to look at Florida real estate in Ft. Myers and Cape Coral. The weather was still chilly, but we were able to walk the beach, go for a boat ride with Geff & Mary Sue, and visit Manatee Park. This is where manatee gather to be in the warmer water dispelled by the power plant. We heard estimates that 300-600 manatee were there. The lighter spots in the picture are all manatee hovering in the water. Cindy held a skeleton of the manatee flipper and it is amazingly similar to the human hand. Cindy and Dale came back on Thursday to take me out for my big birthday. We ate at Doc Ford’s – this restaurant is owned by the book author Randy Wayne White (for any of you who have read his mysteries.) Dale & Cindy gave us the “bug” to start investigating real estate in this area – it’s a nice place.

Finally, on January 16^th, Ron & Barb came to visit for a week. They were expecting to be traveling to the Florida Keys with us. However, we had a change in plans by staying in Ft Myers Beach and the weather was not conducive to traveling out in the gulf. We had a great week here. Ron got a fishing license and he and Mark went out several times. Barb and I entertained ourselves by shopping in Naples and all the other places I had learned about just the week before (found a few more things I needed). Did I ever mention the little ice cream store a block from the marina??? They make great banana splits!! Barb and I went on an Eco tour that left from the marina. We learned interesting facts about the Estero back bay area – birds, mangroves and dolphins.

We have had great times with great friends! Now we are cheering on the Vikings as I write this. GO VIKINGS!! It is just about halftime and I wonder if I should wait until the game is over to publish. Alas, I did wait and I am so disappointed. Although Mark and I have both enjoyed watching the Vikings so much more this year because of #4.

A day with Bryan & Monica

December 26-27, 2009

One extra day with Bryan and Monica

It’s been awhile since I have been able to post so I want to tell you about the extra day we had with Bryan & Monica.

Holly, Matt and Judy all left on Saturday, December 26^th. We were thankful that M&B stayed so that we could be weaned gently from all the fun and activity of having family around.

Mark and Bryan played some golf as Monica and I walked along for part of it and then took rides for the last 9 holes. We were able to get some interesting pictures of the wildlife. We finally saw an alligator in the wild at one of the ponds on the course. We are convinced that he was real – although the birds seemed to have no fear and we didn’t even see this guy wink or twitch.

We later took an Estero Bay cruise in the dinghy. We learned that this was not a throughway for bigger boats with more than a 4 foot draft. We found several marinas that we had heard about – Snook Bight and Salty Sam’s. We also probably saw the last manatee still in the bay area. Most manatees had moved up river or to the warm water outlet from the power company because of the impending chilly weather.

Sadly, Monica and Bryan left for Miami on Monday morning so that they could spend a day and night there as they had a very early flight out on Tuesday.

This was a great first two weeks in Florida

Christmas Eve, 2009

December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve

What a great day we had. This is the day the Earles celebrate Christmas. Ours started out with a big breakfast of Mark’s specialty, chipped beef on biscuits (SOS). We filled up with enough fuel to keep us going ‘til dinner.

The guys set out to pick up the fresh seafood (ahi tuna, jumbo Florida pink shrimp, and scallops), while the ladies went to make reservations for Christmas morning buffet at the Holiday Inn. That is where we found the colorful ‘gator. We all met at Smuggler’s Cove, a miniature golf course. Mark and I thought it might have been high school when we last did this. The little course had live alligators, but they were not hungry as it was too cold. (This fact was comforting to me after kayaking in ‘gator country not too long ago). We all did well, but Bryan again showed off his skill and came in with the best score.

After golfing, we moved back to the boat – I started meal preparations while Mark took the ladies out for a tour in the dinghy. They were in luck and found dolphins. We have been told that there are two pods of dolphins that live in Estero Bay. Matt and I prepared the ahi tuna for cooking and peeled the shrimp. The menu consisted of seared sesame tuna (http://ezinearticles.com/?Seared-Sesame-Encrusted-Ahi-Tuna-Steak-Recipe&id=1161596), shrimp and bacon wrapped scallop kabobs on the grill, wasabi dressing (http://www.johndoe.org/jquan/recipes/salad/wasabi.html), pickled ginger (http://www.gardenguides.com/1436-ginger.html), cucumber coleslaw w/o green pepper and celery (http://www.idylwildefarm.com/Salad%20-%20Cucumber%20Coleslaw.htm), and grilled vegetables with cheesecake or key lime pie for dessert. The family loved the meal so I have included links to the recipes here. Maybe you all will enjoy as well.

Gift giving is always fun and this night was no exception. We had found little local items for the kids and Judy such as handmade soaps and sponges for the ladies and chamois for the guys from Tarpon Springs. As you can see it didn’t take the guys long to find alternative uses for the chamois. We received a Kindle reading machine with two downloads from the kids and a subscription for 12 books from audible.com from Judy. What perfect gifts for us as we travel on the boat – we can hardly wait to use them.

We attempted a family photo after the frivolity. It was too dark and with repeated attempts, we couldn’t get a good one. I have included two that we did take – can you spot the difference between the two? Which one do you like better?

Happy 60th Birthday!

December 23, 2009

The second half of this day was our trip to Punta Gorda to tandem hang glide. We rushed from fishing to get into swimsuits and shorts and pack warm clothes for the event. Our experience was with Paradise Hang Gliding, Inc. Holly had been doing business with Scott Trueblood, owner and hang glider instructor, for several months trying to arrange the “big surprise”. Our boat captain was Travis Elms, and our pilot was Alexander Cuddy who is in competition and a tandem hang glider instructor. More information can be found at www.paradisehanggliding.com.

You might wonder how hang gliding happens in Florida where there are no mountains to jump from. Well, we get on a boat with a hang glider tethered on a back platform. After fitting into the tandem “cocoon”, the boat speeds up into the wind and the hang glider glides up to 2500-3000 feet while still attached to the boat. With a signal, the pilot of the glider releases the hang glider and then the real ride begins. Landing, in this case, is a gentle splash in the bay as we float on pontoons near the waiting towboat.

Well, it was my party so I decided to go first. I was excited and anxious all at the same time. Holly went next and Monica was last. We were spooled out and then released. The sudden quiet as we were gliding on our own was remarkable. The view from one half mile up in the air was phenomenal. It was amazing to see the real view of Grateful’s travels through this area as opposed to the charts I had been reading just a few days ago. We did not see dolphins on this trip up, but Alex said that just recently he had spotted a dozen sting rays. Then we all had our chance to “drive” the hang glider with Alex as back-up. It seemed pretty effortless when Alex was driving, but took some strength to make the turns. I think the best part was when Alex asked if I was ready to have fun and then we took a dive. I was amazed I had air enough to scream. Our landing was surprisingly gentle and both Monica and I stayed relatively dry – Holly landed as wave slapped her in the face. The towboat stayed nearby and quickly arrived to pull the glider and us out of the water. Pretty funny watching us taking baby steps in those cocoons.

I didn’t think I could top the tandem sky diving that I did with Bryan and Monica for my 50^th birthday. Tandem hang gliding for my 60^th birthday was not only a rush, but beautiful as well. A big plus was that it lasted long enough to get over the anxiety and to actually enjoy the views and experience. I suspect having a pilot who obviously loved what he was doing also helped, and his enthusiasm helped us all to feel comfortable gliding through the air. All three of us couldn’t stop talking about our flight – What a thrill!!

We took pictures and movies, but Scott posted our trip on his website. You can see us on the video at: http://www.paradisehanggliding.com/?page_id=4. Enjoy!