Robinson Preserve up close

Robinson Preserve is an 487 acre marsh and mangrove habitat practically around the corner from us.   People can bike, hike and paddle through the area on shell or paved trails, over and under  long sinuous raised board walks and through mangrove tunnels.    It is a popular place for people to get away from the hustle of the "in season" traffic and crowds.

We so much enjoyed the beautiful and restful scenery, spring flowering bushes, quietly lapping water, birds singing and calling, silvery schools of fish fighting the busy currents  and tiny skittering crabs diving for their holes in the sandy shores as we approached.  We even watched a majestic Bald Eagle soar over our heads.   A perfect day.

Valentine House - Robinson's visitor center

shy Roseate Spoonbill

white Ibis

45 foot high observation tower

shhhh, don't wake him

tiny fiddler crab making his getaway

me from the observation tower - not a good angle I think.....

better post tomorrow, I promise

We spent the afternoon at Robinson Preserve and had a wonderful time.   But.....I'm too tired to tell you about it or load all the pictures I took and Dave is waiting with the movie on pause, so I'll make it  brief.

Last night was Friday Fish Fry with Pam and John.   Once again, we walked across the street to O'Shuck's Raw Bar and Grill for a delicious fish fry (actually, they had fish fries, I had a shrimp fry, but who's counting....)

Someone over there has a great sense of humor...


This morning Dave spent a few hours reading instructions and then installing a locking mechanism for our big awning.   He ordered it last week and it came yesterday.   You may remember that on our Big Adventure, the awning began unrolling as we were rocketing along the highway, a pretty scary event.   In the west its not all that uncommon for a really strong wind gust to hit just right and get up under the awning sometimes causing a catastrophe.

I tried to get Mr. David's Mobile Awning Specialists to come over and save Dave some time this morning, but they were completely booked for the month.    Sigh....        Oh well, Dave did a stellar job and we had plenty of time to take a nice long walk at the Preserve after lunch.

More tomorrow, right now Dallas Buyer's Club awaits....

Catch up

Tuesday we hosted cocktail hour here at Beluga.   Fat Tuesday ya know!  Pam and John and Pam and Vic came over for margaritas and munchies.  It was a lovely warm evening and we enjoyed our food and conversation outside under Beluga's awning.

Wednesday morning John and Dave played golf while the Pam's and I drove over to the town of Anna Maria to visit and shop at the Olive Oil Store.   We each bought a few goodies, blackberry balsamic vinegar, various cheeses,  raw honey. local Settler's bread, coffee bbq rub, olive wood and bone salad tongs, etc.    It was a pleasant morning for us all.

After Dave returned home from his golf game and lunch we went to JoAnn's so he could help her "nail down" a few problems she's been having with her Road Trek (RT).   She'll be leaving Florida soon for her long drive back north and they wanted to make sure things were in good working order.

The dogs and I took care of business inside - our laundry.  In between loads I checked on the workers in the driveway and hung around the beautiful pool and dock.    Not bad duty!

This pair of ducks enjoyed themselves in the pool for a long time.  Swimming, drinking and just waddling around the landscaping.   The dogs paid them no mind.....good doggies.






Today we'd planned on running a bunch of errands but heavy rain, wind, thunder (poor Sasha) and tornado watches made us rethink those plans.   Instead we stayed in, payed bills and Dave tried to work his way through our upcoming health insurance changes.   Fun.

Alls well that ends well, however.   The rain stopped and the sky almost cleared by late afternoon.
JoAnn treated us to a lovely dinner at Pattigeorges on Longboat Key.   Not such a bad day after all.  Thanks again JoAnn.

hate - love

I hate it when little lizards fly out of the poop bag dispenser......they make me scream like a little girl.

I love drifting off to sleep listening to the private conversation between two owls right outside my window.

Wet dog

Yesterday (Monday) JoAnn invited us to spend the afternoon at her pool and then dinner.   We could bring the dogs - YEA!

We stopped at Fresh Market for some yummy desert to contribute to her dinner and arrived around 2.    On the way, we discovered we had a hitchhiker on the jeep's hood.

I wanted Dave to pull over and stop so the little guy wouldn't fly off and get squashed by following cars, but before he could, the "geico gecko" scrambled into the windshield wiper channel where he stayed for the entire trip.

 Sasha loves to go IN new places.   As soon as she went into JoAnn's house, she disappeared.  We could hear her nails clicking on the tile floors, but didn't really know where she was.    She checks out every room, every corner of every room slowly and methodically.  Up the stairs, looking in bathtubs and behind doors.   She just loves to explore new places.  

Lewis just bounced and smiled at JoAnn, happy to see a friend.  Outside, Sasha continued her investigation of the grounds, through the landscaping, down to the dock, around the sides of the house.

looking for Sasha

  I went right into the pool and after a few minutes she decided to try it out.  She's a "panic" swimmer - keeps her head high and splashes mightily all the while.  After a bit of help, she found the side and clambered out.   Thats enough swimming for her!

Lewis' fish floats just out of reach, but he's bravely trying the stairs

Lewis isn't much of a swimmer - he enjoys the water and certainly can swim just fine.   He would rather just play in the shallows of a lake or the ocean.    However, if the toy du jour gets into the pool, he tries every trick at his disposal to get it out.

he can't quite reach it

once again, his fish hits the water

so near, yet so far (bubble bubble bubble)

When he finally submerged completely, with a tiny bit of help from me, I didn't have the camera.

this is where I want to have cocktail hour!

Dave was chilly, so we opted for this sunny spot instead

shadows lengthened and it was time to head home

Thanks for the nice afternoon JoAnn

Sandbar stroll

where ya going?

Today was once again warm and sunny, a perfect day to explore the beautiful waters around Palma Sola Bay.    As we were launching the Zodiac we met another couple with the same idea.   Beat the ever present traffic and enjoy a day out on the water.    They asked where we were going and we replied that we had no plan.   They told us about a long sandbar in Palma Sola Bay filled with sand dollars and whelks that they discovered last week, so we decided to see if we could find it.

We did!     Once we were in shallow enough water we both hopped over the side, (rather gracefully I might add) tied the zodiac to Dave's wrist and walked along the sandbar looking for interesting things in the clear warm water.

found one!

$2

We called it a day after finding more than 16 large, living sand dollars

Getting back in the boat gracefully was another matter.   We won't speak of it.

On our way back home we crossed the Bay looking for JoAnn's new rental house.   She had to move from the beautiful place on the Gulf yesterday and is now in an equally lovely home on a canal that leads to the Bay.   We found the dock for her house, tied little Zodiac up and went in for a quick visit.   We wanted to see her afternoon guest.   One of her Saluki's (Wink) was a rescue from Georgia and JoAnn was able to locate one of his siblings here in Florida.   The two brothers (almost identical) were being formally introduced and we wanted to see the two of them.


Back in the boat it took no time at all to get to the other side and into our home canal.   The day just flew by.   Time really does fly when you're having fun.

Before our pizza dinner we had a good long Facetime with Jesse and ironed out a few more details on the evolving cottage plans.   After all that fresh air out on the water, I hope we'll be able to keep our eyes open long enough to watch the Oscars.