The Florida Keys

Woo Hoo !!!!  We just booked into the Florida Keys for the month of Dec !!  Bob and Laverne and Bill and Linda will be traveling with us for this trip too !!!  Woo Hoo !!!!  Can't wait to go back to the "Keys" !!!!

Punta Gorda, Florida

This was a day trip that we took down to Punta Gorda, looking for a fishing peer that we could fish from.  We ended up at Fisherman's Village here in Punta Gorda and did a bit of shopping there.  They have a great restaurant there called The Captains Table. 

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Linda 1 and Linda 2

Linda and I spent hours at the beach looking for sharks teeth.  The only thing exciting I found was a hermit crab living in a shell.  We had a great time even if I looked like a lobster that night... and yes, I did have sunscreen on... 15.  Guess it wasn't good enough. 

Tickle, tickle, tickle.....

We were at the Tampa, Florida RV Show when we ran into Rainbow (on the left).  Our friend Laverne seems to be smiling from a joke he told.

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Wednesdays and Saturdays were Pickle Ball mornings at the sports complex in North Port not very far from where we were camped in Venice.  It's unreal to think that we could possibly miss the ball with the size of these paddles, but it happens all the time !  Love to play with our very close friends, Bob and Laverne. 

Butch's Birthday Dec 12, 2011

We gave Butch a surprise birthday party... most of everything he got was to make him into a "character clown".  He complained that he didn't have a comfortable seat when he played bingo, so Linda made him a cushion.  His character is a golfer.. hense the "Tee Shirt".  He also got some crazy socks, a golf cap, suspenders to hold up his nickers.  He seems pretty happy with everything !  We do have to change his name now.. from "Nothing" to Something...lol

Friends that shared his birthday are Bob,  aka Silly Willie, Laverne, aka Fluffy, Bill and Linda, soon to be a part of the clown family.

The sunset at Nikomis Beach.  Breathtaking.  I will be back.  I really miss this place.

This was a different kind of "entertainment".  These are the drums of Nikomis.  We talked to the woman in the last photo and she explained that it is a celebration of life.  I didn't get a picture of the center of the ring, but they had a pile of sand with a couple of feathers stuck in the middle.  Supposedly all the energy within the circle goes up into thanksgiving for life.  It also has something to do with the last rays of day as everyone watches the setting sun.

Isn't this beautiful !  This is what it looked like a couple of days before we left for Florida.  It melted pretty fast thank goodness. 

 Let's try this again... These are the grandchildren getting ready for Halloween.  This is the reason that we stayed a little longer in PA before heading to Florida.  They wanted gramma to paint their faces.  Lauren (6) is a Fairy Butterfly and Brandon (2) is a Bumble Bee. 

Sammy the cat and Sassy

Do you think the "kids" look relaxed????

This is just a test to see if it posts.  I've been having a little trouble getting pictures posted.  This is just a little different from what it was like when I had the other blog.  Anyway, When we first got to Florida, we stopped at a Flea Mkt and this guy had a huge box of clown dolls.  He wanted $5.00 each.  I asked what he would take for the whole box and his reply was $5.00 each... even for the real tiny ones !!!  Well, I think I got the nicest two.

First snow of the season

Before we left home for Florida. So we did get a good taste of that beautiful white stuff. Sassy seemed to enjoy it too.

Halloween 2011

These are my grandchildren.. Lauren is a Fairy Princess and Brandon is a Bee. We couldn't leave for Florida until after Halloween because they wanted gramma to paint their faces. Can you guess how old they are?

New Years Day 2012

We left Rambler's Rest in Venice on Sunday, New Years Day,  and arrived at Peace River around 11 am.  Our mail never caught up to us before we left Rambler's Rest from Davenport, Florida.  It really should have since it was sent to us on Wed.  We found out today that it was delivered.... to Rambler's Rest.  What should have taken one day took 6 !

Sammy the cat gave us heart failure Sunday.  He scooted out as we were getting set up which didn't bother us because he just hangs around.  By late afternoon we started to say to each other that we hadn't seen him in awhile.  By dark, we started to panic a bit and by 8 we were out looking for him and calling to see if he'd come to us.  He never did.  I spent an agonizing night, waking up on and off and calling him.  In the morning I took Sassy and started to ask anyone I met if they had seen a grey tabby.  My biggest fear was that he had gotten into someone's bay compartment and was either no longer here or trapped.  Bob and Laverne drove around asking folks and got a lead.  A gentleman said he was up before light and saw a grey tabby in the tall grass next to his house.  Butch was asking everyone if they would look in their bays... just in case.  Everyone was so helpful.  I told Butch about the lead and he went up there and called him out of the tall grass.  What a relief !!!!   He is now grounded !!! 

Pictures to be posted  soon.