031:365 Jeff Parasailing

This is Jeff parasailing. His smile is as big as the smile on the parachute. It makes him happy.

Jeff Parasailing

Jeff went parasailing this afternoon. He debated whether he wanted to go today or wait until next week, then he found out that if he goes today, he can go next week again for half price. It was a perfect day today. Mid 70's for temperature and no wind.

030:365 Under the Boardwalk

This is the underside of the pier at Fort Myers Beach. Jeff spends a lot of time out the talking to the people that are fishing. I haven't quite figured out yet why he doesn't actually fish himself, but he can do what he wants I guess. I can walk under here when the tide is down, but when the tide is up I would have to walk through water to get past and I usually where my shoes when I am walking. When we walk off the pier, we walk right onto Times Square.

Today I Choose: APPRECIATE

Yeah...I really do appreciate this winter and all the opportunites that I have been given. Every day I go for my walks on the beach and say my thanks and know how fortunate I am.

029:365 Beach

This is it for today. This was taken down the beach from us when I was out for my walk this afternoon. It's the only photo that I took all day. Good thing that I am listening to a book right now and had my iPod with me. We spent the morning checking out Bonita Beach and Lovers Key State Park. It's kind of cool right now, and not quite warm enough to actually sit on the beach and relax. I think that tomorrow will be a little warmer and I can get my chair, kick back and finish the book on my kindle. I'd really like to finish that before the end of the month.

028:365 Pelican

Brandy asked me why I didn't get any pictures of the sunrise. Well, the sun rises on the other side of the island, so it's hard for me to get those photos. I went for a walk early today though and was taking some photos of birds and the nice pink sky when this pelican land very close to me as if he was posing. This was taken with my Canon point & shoot camera. It's easy to carry with me on my walks.

Golfing

This is how we've been spending the afternoons this week. We've been at the driving range trying to learn to hit that little white ball in a straight line, up in the air and far. It can be frustrating, but it has been fun. I think that we are going to a golfing clinic on Monday to try and get some help.

Fort Myers Beach

I took a walk across the bridge this afternoon to get some pictures of the marina. Here are a few pictures of the marina and the island.

Morning Walk

I went for a five mile walk along the beach this morning. The tide was low and there were a lot of interesting things along the beach, among them this little shark. I only had my iPod with me, so the photos aren't the greatest, but they work. The shark was about 15" long.

Walking down a little further I ran across this bird sunning himself.

027:365 Palm Tree at Sunset

Wow. It was a GORGEOUS sunset this evening. The weather was a little cool on my walk, but this more than made up for it. We are waiting for the weather to warm up a bit, so that we can go out on the sailboat for the sunset cruise. This photo was taken from the park at Times Square.

026:365 Driftwood

This is on the north end of Fort Myers Beach. When the tide is down, I can walk around here to the other side of the island, but the tide was up today, so this was as far as I could go. The buildings that you can see way out in the distance are on Sanibel Island.

025:365 Shell on Beach

It was very windy today and there were supposed to be thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we decided to head over to Sanibel Island today and spend some time on the beaches over there. Sanibel Island is supposed to be a great shelling beach and they sure lived up to their reputation. If you are looking for nice shells, this is definitely a place to go. We left this morning, so I did not get a chance to walk before we left. I told Jeff that I would get my walk in while we were at Sanibel, so I had him drop me off at one beach and met him at the next beach. It was about two and a half miles between beaches and I didn't run into anyone for over a mile. Boy were there shells there. Of course I didn't have my camera with me then, nor did I have a bag to carry the shells, but I managed to snag a few bigger shells and carry them with me.

Oceans

Brandy posted her "ocean" here. This is what I saw when I went for my walk tonight. I was surprised at the similarities. =D

024:365 Beach Grass

I decided to turn the other way this evening while I was out for my evening stroll and get photos inland rather than just over the water. I did get a lot of nice sunset shots also, but chose this shot for the day. I have no idea who the four people are in the background. They were just out enjoying the sunset like the rest of us.

023:365 Puff

Meet Puff. Puff is a wild pigeon that hangs out at Mary's house. He was here last year also. He's a beautiful bird. I had a tough time getting a picture of him because every time that I leaned down to get the photo, he walked toward me looking for food. He will jump up on Mary's lap and she'll pet him. It's really quite fascinating.

022:365 Kayaks

021:365 Fountain

This is the fountain at Gulfstream Racetrack near Miami. It's a beautiful facility. I would love to see it during the day and really be able to snap some pictures.

020:365 Through his eyes

Jeff and I were standing out on the balcony tonight watching the sunset, when I turned around and saw this reflection in Jeff's binoculars. I thought it was cool. Next time I think that I'll try to get a reflection of a sailboat.

019:365 Beach Chairs

This photo was taken with my iPod while I was out for one of my walks. I have been trying to walk at least twice a day on the beach. This area is just a little bit south of where we are staying. You can see the pier in the background. Fort Myers Beach is a nice little island. It's about 9 or 10 miles long and probably not even a quarter of a mile wide. One of these morning I want to try to walk from one end to the other (then have Jeff come and pick me up.)

018:365 Entertainer at Fort Myers Beach

This guy was the entertainer at the end of the pier today. We stopped and listened to him for a while when we were out for a walk this afternoon. It is quite the contraption that he has on. There is big drum in the back that is attached to ropes from his feet so when he dances he also plays the drums. The washboard is operated from the elbow and who knows how everything else works. He has to be in pretty good shape to balance all of that stuff. He was fun to listen to for a while. Jeff says this is how he is going to make his living from now on. I think we'll probably be a little hungry if we have to rely on this. =D

017:365 Palm Tree

I finally feel like I am starting to settle in. We arrived back at Fort Myer Beach this afternoon and will be here for the next month, minus a couple of side trips that we have planned. I was able to unpack my suitcase and put everything in drawers. It will be nice not to have to lug the suitcase in and out for a few days anyway. We are really enjoying our trip and we just spent a really nice weekend with Ted and Mary. I am a little behind where I want to be for my yearly goal as far as exercising, and I don't like to start out behind, but I will try to catch up before the end of the month. It's not always easy to fit in the exercise when you are traveling. Imagine that.

This is the view from our balcony. (Actually I think it is the balcony right below ours.) It was raining when we got here this afternoon, but starting clearing off right before sunset, so I was able to go for a short walk. This is a beautiful beach. I know that we're going to enjoy being here.

016:365 Chairs

This is out in Ted & Mary's backyard. It's a great place to sit and relax while watching the ducks float by.

We had a nice day today. Jeff and Ted are both happy. The Packers won their game last night and the Bears won this afternoon. Now it will be another match up between the two teams next week in Chicago. It will be interesting around here next week.

Mary and I went to Home Goods this afternoon. It's a good thing that I am traveling, as I think that I could drop a lot of money in that store. What a great place to shop.

015:365 Golf Ball

We've just been hanging out and enjoying the day. It was a gorgeous day today. We went to the golf course this afternoon to hit a couple of buckets of balls. Since it has been years since I've golfed, I only hit one bucket of balls. I didn't want to end up really sore tomorrow, you know.

014:365 Fort Lauderdale

013:365 Egret @ Everglades

We left Fort Myers Beach today and headed to Miami. (Well Miramar, just north of Miami.) We took the long way around and drove through the Everglades. There were a couple of places to stop and check out the wildlife. I would love to get a photo of one of these ruffling their feathers. Maybe next time we are through there. I think that we'll go back the same way on Monday and stop for an airboat ride. It was too cold to go out on the boat today. (I know, cold being a relative term.)

012:365 Fenceline on Beach

This is where I sat today and did a little bit of reading. It was windy and cold, so I didn't stay long. I do realize that cold is a relative term, compared to where I could be right now so I won't complain about the weather. We just had a nice, relaxing day today. We are getting a lot of walking in and I was able to do a little reading today.

See Brandy's blog here: Life is Good, JR.

011:365 Brittle Star

We have landed in Fort Myers Beach, FL. This is a great little beach community that I can't wait to walk around and get photos. I debated about which photo I wanted to post today. I had a few that I really liked, but I went with this one because as many times as I have been to the beach, I have never seen one of these little critters. The body on this thing is about the size of a quarter and it was right at the edge of the water where I was walking. I can't wait to take my macro lens out and get photos of all the sea life.

See Brandy's blog here.

010:365 Juniper Beach, FL

We left St. Augustine this morning and headed for the west coast of Florida. This is the first stop that we made once we made it to the coast. We are in Naples, FL tonight and will probably look for a place to rent in or around this area or north of here in Fort Myers. Jeff loves to be by the beach. I have caught his cold, so I am not feeling really well right now. Hopefully it will only last for a couple of days, then I'll be back to 100%. I really want to get on a regular schedule for walking and running. It's not as easy as I was hoping it would be.

Wind Chill Advisory

hahahaha...this was the forecast for St. Augustine, FL this morning. I had to laugh when I heard this. Do you think that I should tell them they don't really know what a wind chill is unless they've been to North Dakota in the middle of January??

009:365 Sunrise

I'm sure that I will be taking many photos of the sunrise in the next couple of months, but I just can't help myself and will post this anyway. I literally crawled out of bed and walked out the door with the camera. It's great to wake up to this in the morning. It makes me realize how much I have to be thankful for.

You can also visit Brandy's blog - Life is Good, Jr. at

Ahhhhh, finally

I was finally able to get to the beach and do a little reading today. This is a book that our pastor's husband wrote and I've been trying to read it for a few months now, but just haven't had the time to really get in to the book. It is one of the first things on my "priority list" to finish now that I am officially "retired". (I still have a hard time saying that!)

008:365 Bridge of Lions, St. Augustine, FL

This is the Bridge of Lions at St. Augustine, FL. The drawbridge was up and had traffic backed up for quite a ways. I had a good laugh when I saw this boat come through. There was another boat that followed within a couple of minutes, but this was kind of funny to see.

You can also visit Brandy's blog Life is Good, Jr. at http://www.brandylig.blogspot.com/

Today I Choose: KINDNESS

007:365 Capitol Grounds, Columbia, SC

We spent the morning hanging out at the Capitol grounds in Columbia, SC. It was a very interesting place to hang out. I love capitol buildings and all of the ornate architecture along with all the history.

006:365 Norris Dam, Lake City TN

Jeff was sick today, so I did most of the driving and we only stopped a couple of times. Norris Dam was a few miles off the road and there was a lot of snow driving to the dam and it was cold and cloudy. We drove down and were below the snow line by the time that we got to the dam. It was really interesting to see that line. The tops of the trees were full of snow but there wasn't any on the ground. With the cloudy sky I couldn't really get a good photo that showed the snow on the tree tops though. We drove through Kentucky, Tennesee and North Carolina today and are in South Carolina right now. We had wanted to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, but it is closed right now due to snow and ice, so we are heading south.

005:365 Gateway Arch, St. Louis MO

Gateway Arch, St. Louis MO
LOVED IT!!

004:365 Bottles

Steamboat Arabia exhibit in Kansas City, MO. The items in the museum were dug up in the late 1980's after being buried in the mud for more than 100 years. It was a fascinating exhibit.

003:365 Jellyfish

We spent the afternoon at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE. I just love this photo of the jellyfish.

002:365 Mirror Mirror

This was my view most of the day as we traveled from Fargo to Omaha.