February 2016 - Orchids, Orchids, and More Orchids / Las Vegas!

Allan has been flirting with the idea that he would really like a boat.  A boat he could use to go out into the gulf and fish from and a boat he could share with friends and family.  After all he does now live by the Gulf of Mexico for just more than half of the year. We see boats every day.  Big boats, small boats, boats in the intracoastal waterway, boats in marinas, boats at boat ramps, boats in the gulf.  

He came across information about a Coast Guard Auxiliary Safe Boating Course.  He checked it out and one on the topics to be covered was "What's the right boat for you."  He signed us up.

Twice a week for 5 weeks we went to class.  We read the book, we practiced the knots.  We took the tests at the end of each chapter and both took the test at the end of the course.  I'm happy to say that we both passed.  I'm also happy to report that they didn't tell us our actual score so I'll never know how much better Allan did on the test than I did. 

The first class was about figuring out what the right boat was for us. By the end of that class we had pretty much figured out that no boat requiring a motor was the right boat for us.  However, we stayed in the class and learned a great deal about boating and seamanship.

We continue to enjoy walking in the many parks, preserves and reserves that are nearby.

         

Terry and Ernie rented a beautiful home for the month of February that had a delightful jacuzzi and pool.

We enjoyed or time here with them.  They cranked up the jacuzzi to 100 degrees and all was right with the world.

           

Terry and Ernie know how to have a good time and put on quite the Super Bowl party!  As you can see, Allan was game for just about anything.  They are also good sports because between Allan and I we won the 5-6 small $ pools of the day.  Sure hope we can party with them again next year and maybe even care a lot more about the outcome of the game.  Let's go Pats!

Yes folks, we went to Vegas.  It was a place that I wanted to go and our friends the Mildhogs planned the trip.  Special thanks to Jeff and Lynn Fish for arranging for us to stay in their timeshare.  

This city is quite the place...  Everything you can imagine and probably more...

            

                           

Ernie and some others gave me money to bet for them.  I put sticky notes on the money that I was given so that I would know just who's money I was betting.  We went to New York, New York first and since Ernie had given me specific instructions for the machine he wanted me to use I looked around trying to find just the right $5 slot.  I found one that looked close enough and put in his $20. 

Three pushes/pulls later and having spent $15 of his money bells started sounding.  Allan was looking over my shoulder and he got excited.  "You've got to stop, you've got to stop right now.  Look
what you've won!"  I stopped and after showing my ticket to our friends, wanted to know where I could go to get a check for his winnings.  Well that didn't happen, I got cash, and so I had to worry about his money being stolen from our room for the rest of our visit.

Allan didn't have any luck... much like 99.9% of gamblers'.
I played everyone else's money and some of my own but as it turns out I didn't have the Midas touch all I had was a little beginner's luck.

The neon, glitz, glam, and hustle of Vegas isn't for me.  It is surreal and not a part of our culture that I need to experience again.  I had a great time with friends but if it wasn't for our two days of adventures out of the city I'm not sure how I would have made it through the week.  Maybe I'm just mother nature's child after all.

Vegas is a desert floor and is surrounded by amazing mountains.

Time to go back to the notion that especially since we are retired we welcome free and nearly free experiences.  For all you aged and aging (approaching 62) I need to share a great deal with you.

Entrance fees to National Parks, Recreation Areas, ... and the such can get pricy.  Make sure once you reach 62 you pay your $10 and get your lifetime entry pass.  You can get detailed information here:
https://store.usgs.gov/pass/senior.html

We traveled for quite some time to get to Zion National Park.  It was well worth the ride.  Elevations within the park range from 3,600 to 8,700 feet.   We traveled up the North Fork of the Virgin River into Zion Canyon.

The Mildhogs in all their glory.  Back row:  Jeff Fish, Susan and Brian Smith, Allan;  Front row:  Lynn Fish, Chris and Bill Fowler and yours truly.  I treasure this group of friends and have loved each and every adventure that we have had.  And I'm hoping and planning for many more to come.

        

  

We saw mule deer and cascading waterfalls.

  

Allan gets credit for this amazing picture.

Another day we ventured to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

This is the Colorado River downstream from the dam.  Nevada is on the right and Arizona on the left.



I took this from the other side of the dam facing Boulder Basin which leads into Lake Mead.  It is amazing how low the water is. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in North America.

Mid bridge marker.  The Hover Dam was completed in 1936. Facing in this direction Nevada is on the left and Arizona is on the right. 

A blurry picture of my fellow photographer as we took pictures of Lake Mead.

It turned out that February was a great time to visit the desert.  The temps were in the 70's during the day and as was expected it was cooler at night.  The dryness of the air defied any concept that I had of dry air.  All I can say is it was drier than dry.  

We flew back to Florida with the Fowlers.  There were engine issues and we left Vegas much later than expected after boarding, waiting, unboarding, waiting and boarding yet again the same aircraft.  Upon landing in Houston there were issues with the unboarding gizmo that connects to the airplane door so we waited a quite a while at the gate and then rolled along to another gate to deplane.  

We decided we should be compensated since we missed our connection and would now get to Tampa at midnight instead of 7 p.m.  Allan and Bill waited in line for 50 minutes at the airport in Houston to get vouchers for a free dinner there.  We had to wait anyway for our connection so I suppose it didn't matter where we waited.

We safely arrived in Tampa and the Fowler's put us up in their lovely condo in Largo for the night.  Thanks Fowler's.

Ernie was delighted with his winnings.  He is a very generous man. He treated us to several tasty dinners here in Venice and Englewood.  He even took us to the classy Crow's Nest. Additionally, we went to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, and he bought us an annual membership.  Thanks Ernie you are most thoughtful and kind.

We went to the gardens during the first few days of the orchid show.  I just couldn't pick among the pictures that I took so have posted most all of them.  If you have a favorite let me know.

  








  














  






 

(I've reviewed these orchid pictures multiple times and if I had to pick I just might pick the orchid pictured above as my favorite.)

  







































































































After viewing all these lovely orchids and many more we toured the remainder of the grounds that extend to Sarasota Bay.



The koi were huge and happy to be fed.

We especially enjoyed the children's rainforest area.

We shopped for a new truck in the fall before heading north at Christmas and decided on a Toyota Tacoma.  We returned with the blue Subaru in order to trade both the blue and green Subaru's for said new truck.  We "purchased" the truck on Jan. 3 and expected delivery on Jan. 6.  

I'm actually going to spare you this saga and just share that we took delivery of the truck on Feb. 24.  Ask Allan for the details.  I'm sure he'd be glad to relive the ordeal. 

January 2016 - Happy New Year

I think we welcomed in the New Year somewhere in South Carolina after making a quick stop in DC to see if the motorcycle saddle bags we got Bekah for Christmas would fit her bike.  (No such luck.)

                                                         

We arrived safely in Venice on Jan. 1.  There were fresh beet greens and green beans waiting for us in our garden.  Worms ate my cukes.
Guess I need to do some research with the extension service to see what I can do to rectify that another year.

               

We were perfectly fine with trading in Maine snow for the creatures and snowy sands of the gulf.

Allan's sister, Terry, and her best bud Ernie, came down from Knoxville to spend January and February here in the Venice area.
We enjoyed having them around to do stuff with this winter.  One of the things we did together was check out the Beach Bazaar and Drum Circle at Nokomis Beach.

You never quite know who will show up to dance in the drum circle.

Dave and Sue made a one night stopover while traveling from Disney to Naples.  Always a fun time.

Sue's long time friend Dawn and her husband Rick have had a house built here in Venice just up the street from us.  We have lent a helping hand throughout this process.  We've kept an eye on the house, checking it on a weekly basis.  I've waited hours for multiple vendors and furniture deliveries.

This winter Dawn was able to find employment down here and they were due to arrive with their two macaws and dynamic dog.  The birds were traveling in pet carriers all the way from NH with their chauffeurs driving straight through.  That's about a 24 hour trip.

Among the many new items that they had purchased for their home were two huge cages for the birds, Max and Jojo.  They were sure that the birds would be pleased to have their new homes waiting for them here in sunny warm Florida. However, they were in the boxes that they arrived in until Allan spent some time assembling them.

              

We did manage to get him out of the cage and have them both ready for the birds arrival.

December 2015 - Happy Holidays

As retired folks do, we are always on the lookout for interesting places and events.  They are even more enjoyable when they are free.  We visited The Ringling (Museum of Art) with Dianne and Cathy.  The Museum is free on Mondays.  

While we don't make a habit of going to art museums we were fascinated by the exhibits here.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves and they had kindly posted descriptions that provided insights into each painting.

On our way home from Sarasota we made a late lunch stop at Walt's Fish Market.  Allan couldn't resist helping Santa by putting "a finger on the side of his nose".

As we approached the end of another great year.  We took time to plan for a part of our future that it would be easier not to make plans for.  We both had decided years ago that we want to be cremated when we die.  An opportunity presented itself for us to make arrangements for this eventuality so we have prepaid and are all set.  We are card carrying...  

Do you have a will?  Has it been updated?  Are you an organ donor?  Do you know what you want for final arrangements?  Have you made plans?  Have you shared these plans with those that should know...

We flew north for Christmas and had some wonderful times with family, especially the grand-gals.

                           

I did mention that we flew NORTH for Christmas.  We were greeted by this on the day of our departure.  This is a picture of our neighbor across the road.  Guess I didn't really want to walk through the 8+ inches of snow to take a picture of our house...

We drove the blue Subaru south dropping Bekah off along the way with friends in South Portland.  

November 2015 - Family and Beach Fun

Rebekah, Brandon, Grace and Christina visited us again this fall. This time they came the first weekend we got back.  The weather was great and they spent most of their time at the beach.  Their trips down from D.C. are short but they make the most of them.  This time they were joined by a couple of friends from the Space Coast of FL.  
As I said it was great beach weather but it was hot and sticky.  We had 8 people in our little house and the power went out at about 10 p.m. for several hours.  Not the best accommodations during that time.  However, I get it nobody froze which can happen in Maine when the power goes out in Nov.



November 15, 2015

Under threatening skies we attended the Siesta Key Crystal Classic International Sand Sculpting Festival with Dianne and Cathy. 

These were among the most amazing sand sculptures...

 

Thanksgiving

We had a very special Thanksgiving week.  Jake and family joined us for several days.  The beautiful beach weather continued with sunny skies and the air and gulf temps were in the high 70's and low 80's.  

Maggie swam by the hour but she also enjoyed the hunt for fossilized shark teeth.

Abby enjoys her tasty beach snack.

The water was not only warm it was quite calm.

There is always time for some sand castle work.

And let's not forget plenty of time for sun bathing.

A very special and thankful Thanksgiving.

Fall in the North and South - 2015

Before we headed south we got to use our winter clothes while attending one of Maggie's soccer games.

We also took some time to carve pumpkins from our garden.



Carving pumpkins is very serious work.  I think they both qualify as experts.

Abby was most interested in drinking Grampie's "peach water". She also did some coloring.

We stayed north long enough to celebrate Abby's third birthday on October 24th.