Check out our new Youtube videos from our Florida adventure!!

Florida Sunset: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlTPsf6XOQ0 

Florida Sanibel Island: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkS8EVHSv1Y

Manatees: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hIVblo4GXA

February  ’10-I stepped out on the gritty parking lot and with lightening reflexes groped @ my left jeans pocket. Having a rental car had left me twitchy and reaching for the assurance of our one car key. We managed to only set off the blaring horn and honking lights once in 4 days. It was us playfully reminding the other person not to slam the car door before we frisked ourselves for the coveted rental car key. How do you manage to not lock the key in a rental car??

Then it’s car camp in full force and I’m shuffling through a bursting purse. Yeah well, strewn with a littering of an old boarding pass for Delta, gum wrappers and receipts for Publix Grocery Stores, Wendy’s baked taters and the $6 toll receipt to pass across to Sanibel Is. from Fort Meyer’s, Florida.

The beaches in this region have park and pay by the hour and even will accept credit cards for the $2 fee an hour to park. We scrounge enough change together to hit the beach. The parking receipt machine spits out a flimsy white piece of paper to put on our car dashboard. A gust of wind comes and I clasp the receipt tightly and slip it inside the car so the meter monitor people can easily see I’m a law abiding beach bum.

Slopped up with sunscreen we tote a shelling bag and stand in awe of the Lighthouse on the Sanibel beach. My eyes are immediately drawn back to the miles of beach and no highrises close to the ocean. It’s 9 AM and people of all ages are slowly eyeing the sands with the hope of a cherished seashell washed ashore in their name. I’m stooped and see how this posture has been described in the travel brochures. I’m doing the Sanibel stoop and drawing circles and hearts in the fine sand. Tom is strolling with binoculars pasted to his face. He’s kindly offering to share a look see through his expensive spotting glasses. As usual I shake my head and mumble a “No Thanks.” 

Miles of seagulls all sizes and the Sue Bird-”Sanderling” as Tom calls them. They are fast movers and walk with determination. Osprey seem to follow us and have nests in tree tops and atop man made platforms. Osprey chicks can be seen when a parent moves it’s wings out of our visual path. Mourning doves are whereever we seem to be and it’s the peaceful reminder of WI. Red- shouldered Hawks delight us in our travels and we hear they are rare too.  On Sanibel Is. we were very fortunate to see the Anhinga that is dark and sits with out- spread wings to dry them after a swim. We delighted in White and Brown Pelicans greeting us and landing like torpedoes in the backwaters of the Island.  It felt like home to see Herons and Egrets. We saw the Tri-colored Heron  and the White Ibis  that wade  in the shallow waters of Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge.

What a special place to break away from the crowds and indulge in the crash of the surf.   What birds have you been seeing??

Thanks for reading!

Sue Roskos