6-11-11

BYE - June/11/2011

It has been a truly wonderful trip but it is finally the time to that we must return home. Tammy took us to the airport and sadly told us bye. She really messed up her makeup. Our flight back was smooth and timely. There was a lot of haze which I thought seemed odd. When we crossed the New Mexico - Arizona border, off in the distance, we saw really huge smoke plumes fanning out and drifting east, where we came from. We were outside of the haze now and approaching California smog. So the smoke haze spanned the distance to Florida and beyond. That was almost incredible. Jim picked us up and brought us home as we filled his ears with things from the trip. He coped pretty well - ha! After a couple of hours of chat, he covered his ears, headed out the door and went home (heheheh). We decided to put off unpacking because we suffered jet lag. We were soon counting dolphins and fell asleep, almost 2:00AM L.A. time.

Great memories!

6/4/11

Bryan's HS Graduation - June 4, 2011

Finally the big day arrived. Bryan went through the rehearsals and was ready. Bryan's graduation ceremony began about 7:00PM and went smoothly. There were probably around three thousand relatives, friends, teachers, staff and administrators. We got there about 45 minutes early, which turned out to be about 30 minutes late for good seats. We ended up in the back mezzanine and long range photos were difficult with all of the vibrations in the stands. Afterwards, we hung out with Bryan in a huge crowd. Eventually he picked up his diploma and we headed out to our cars. We went to an Out Back restaurant and we were soon enjoying a nice celebration dinner. We were all very proud of Bryan's accomplishment. It was an excellent day!

6/10/11

Bonita Beach - June 10, 2011

Today was all about Diane, Tammy and Don beach combing and swimming in the Caribbean, aka Gulf of Mexico. Bryan had caught a cold or flu and opted out. We got there early and there were no crowds. We even got a parking spot near the restrooms and showers, which was important, as the girls pointed out. We carried a few things to a good open spot and deposited ourselves. Then Tammy and I went up the beach a ways to a place that rented everything from jet skis, sailboats, cabanas, etc. We rented a beach umbrella for a haven in case us whiteys started getting a little too broiled. As soon as we got that planted, the three of us eased out way into the frigid 80-something degree water. After a little exploratory beach combing, we were actually in the water up to our shoulders. There were gazillions of shells in the shallow water lapping onto the beach. But neck-deep Diane felt something hard like a big shell under her foot and called me over to retrieve it. I pointed out that there were plenty in shallow water but I was just wasting my breath. The water wasn't deep enough to kick my feet so as to keep me down at the bottom, despite all my thrashing. Coupled with this, Diane was afraid of losing her 'treasure' and would not take her foot off it. A video would have won money on America's Funniest Videos. After a little discussion about how to cooperate in the recovery of "Diane's Treasure" I tried another grab ... moving on ... it was fun ... for the girls as evidenced by their hyena laughing. At least that is how my ears wear perceiving it at that moment. We waded and swam and splashed around like kids playing hooky from school. Soon we were all back at the umbrella, digging out sun block SPF10,000 or something like that. It turns out that it washed rather quickly in the sea water. That should have been a warning. A "Red" flag warning. We all got a little eensy teensy tiny bit of red. At least we didn't glow like a red light bulbs. Our previous outings had prepared us. After a few hours of saturating ourselves in the tropical Caribbean we packed up and headed home. Almost every night we have gone out for some really nice dinners and tonight decided to keep it simple with just some Wendy's burgers and fries. This was our last evening and this way we could better relax together. This day was a grand finale indeed.

6/9/11

Mom & Daughter Day - June 9, 2011

Diane and Tammy excitedly headed out the door telling me not to worry with conspiratorial giggles. They were going to "...just do a little shopping". As the day wore on I got more and more worried. Not that the plastic cards would wear through, or anything like that, ... of course. Finally my phone rang. It was Tammy yabbering a hundred miles an hour and brimming with excitement. I suddenly had a feeling of dread. She exclaimed several times about how she loves her dad very much. I had very strong mixed feelings in conflict. I wondered for a split second if I had "issues". The end result was my smile at her joy, since I had not seen the damage yet ... I mean treasures. The call turned out to be for me to prepare myself because they arrived back home within minutes. Somehow they managed all the bags in one trip. It looked like a scene from a situation comedy ... except ... it wasn't funny. I had to remind myself to start breathing again. They dropped their bags on the counter and very quickly Tammy fished something from the depths of one of the bags. She excitedly told me that she got a gift just for me. It was a bottle of black cherry soda. Gourmet even. It was weird. I was delighted. Mother and daughter looked really really happy. I wondered how long the shopping drug lasts. But not everything went well. While they were gone, Brian went to the beach and then shopping. His Jeep developed a problem with a idler pulley for the belt, which left him stranded. His dad took off work, which was not far, and went to the rescue.

6/8/11

FORT LAUDERDALE - JUNE 7-8, 2011

This turned out to be a surprise. Tammy knew from her mom that I had always wanted to see the Atlantic ocean and even a sunrise over the Atlantic. This was Tammy's early and extra special Father's Day gift for me. They finally told me what the agenda was, which they had been keeping as a mystery the past few days. Needless to say, I was more than just a little pleased, excited, ecstatic, ... you get the idea.

I was ready to go early in the morning. Women fiddle around much too long getting ready - heheheh. They reasoned that since check-in was 3:00PM there was no need to rush. I pointed out that the ocean might change, due to global warming etc. We finally headed out, making our way east on the "Alligator Alley" ... highway. After getting checked in we headed out for a leisurely meal ... while the ocean waited.

We finally made it back in time to enjoy the ocean. The water was surprisingly warmer than I expected. The waves were not large at Ft. Lauderdale which made it more fun for Brian, in particular. He spent a lot of time where the waves crested the most. Tammy had fun jumping with her back side against incoming waves. For some unknown reason I felt like laughing. We found a few collectables on the beach and called it a day when, coincidentally, it started getting dark. A little later we were out again for a little time in the pool. It was even warmer than the ocean. They had a hot tub jacuzzi too. People were using it. Go figure. After careful scientific observation, I surmissed that Brian might have a little duck DNA ... (cough) like people from the Pacific Northwest (cough). We finally went in for showers and a little TV before bed. I planned to be up early for the sunrise. I was threatened to NOT include others in my pre-dawn morning excitement.

The next morning I stealthily got ready in dark. That means crashing around while stumbling into things with the expected grunts and exclamations about sharp pains in my shins, etc. Soon I was outside, taking in the changes of the sunrise. The hotel guests were relieved and the switchboard probably became normal again. I took a few snapshots while I watched in awe as the Atlantic came to life in the morning light. The sunrise was nice, but the experience was, quite literally, awesome. I even imagined that the eastern Atlantic continents were just over the horizon. Check-out time was drawing nearer so I relaxed as fast as I could ...errr, soaked it all in.

For those who are familiar with the Atlantic, this may all seem like a lot of dribble but, ... well, maybe it is. Nevertheless, it was something that I thought I would never get to see. A dream became reality. Oh! By the way, everyone else had a nice time too - heheheh.

P.S. Thanks Tammy!

6/5/11

GATORS N BOATS - JUNE 5, 2011

We made a little road trip through a corner of the huge Everglades. Since we lacked proper pith helmets for real explortion we decided to stay on the boardwalk nature trails (heheheh). At the first place we stopped, gators seemed to be common. What we found seemed to be a concentration of them. There has been a drought and the rainy season has not yet begun. Consequently, water levels were low and completely missing over large areas. Among the gators we saw a few turtles and a big population of fish, which included alligator gars. We observed gators slowly sinking out of sight to the murky bottom. On a couple of occasions the water exploded as a gator would rush up to snap up a fish. We found a flip-flop at the water's edge and wondered if it was from a recent victim (heheheh).

During our walks we found too many things to write about here. A few included wild native orchids, curtains of hanging tree moss, tree balls and tree turds (not shown - heheheh). There were common egrets, herons and some beautiful birds that we couldn't identify without a reference at hand. We watched for panthers but didn't see any in the middle of the day. We did however spot some white tail deer.

Our road trip brought us to a swamp air boat location from which we went out for an hour. We wound through narrow gaps in the mangroves and a veritable jungles with a myriad of plants. We investigated some gator dens and nests along the way. There were gar everywhere and many types of birds. We saw a pair of dead trees side by side that had rather large holes in them. A resident woodpecker showed up at one of the holes when we drifted by. Okay, okay. Suffice it to say that we had a great Everglades trip.

5/31/11

May 31, 2011 - Nature Preserve

Tammy's son Brian took us for a drive to an area that he likes for being in the same natural state as it was 'back in the day'. As we would go down the fire service dirt roads, on each side we would see a primitive side of Florida that doesn't attract attention. Late in the day we didn't see any large wildlife. It is dry and far from swampy areas. There were navigable canals choked with water plants. After a little teasing about seeing some water plants move, we decided not to linger anyway. Back at the house we attended to the skeeter bites. It turns out that Diane and Tammy were spared from skeeters. We thought it had something to do with the lotions, moisturizers and all that other goopy stuff women sometimes use. Jim surmised that the skeeters were repelled by the estrogen, "Tooooo many issues!" heheheh!

That evening when we were out walking Tammy's dogs, we were treated to a little rainbow over her house. One end seemed to end at her house too. I wanted to stay to 'investigate', but decided to not attract any 'Wee People', and tagged along with them. We got another treat from the heavens with a bright sunset including some carpuscular rays streaking up from the clouds. The photos don't begin to do justice. All in all, it was a very nice day.

5/29/11

May 29, 2011 - SANIBEL ISLAND

We headed north through Fort Myers to Sanibel Island. It was a nice day and the winds had not kicked up any roaring surf (measured in inches). We got a little sand between some toes.

There is only one highway the length of the narrow island from Sanibel at the south end to the town of Captiva at the north end. However there is a road that borders a nature preserve that loops off the main highway for a few miles. We explored slowly (painstakingly slow) looking for alligators and any other wildlife we might spot with our finely trained eagle eyes. We felt like those that began a ride into Juraisic park. ... we soon wondered where the wildlife was. We concluded that the experience of teamwork searching and joking was fun and worth it.

We rejoined the main highway further up the island and proceeded to Captiva. That tiny town was a row of tourist restaraunts and art shops. The ride back down the island was uneventful ... in any majorly serious sense, because we made it. Nuff said - heheheh!

5/28/11

MAY 28, 2011 - NAPLES
Our 1st Day in Florida included a brief tour of town, and a stop at the Naples Beach pier. Obviously, Diane and Tammy were excited to see each other. Apparently, brief afternoon warm rain showers are common. Is this Florida's "partly cloudy"?


There are lots of places to duck in out of the monsoons, which are usually gone before they finish their first girly fruity 'drink'.

Tammy's house is on a golf course. There is a small copse of trees to protect against errant golf ball damage. She has a nice screened back porch where you can enjoy the wind whistling through the tops of the tall pines along with the thunking sounds of golf balls hitting the tree trunks (heheheh). We spend most of our time out there ... in the heat ... for reasons that I have yet to fully understand. The first day was a good beginning to fun days in Florida ... at the beginning of tropical summer ... and hurricane season. The weather channel seems popular here ...