Apr 25, 2013 - Sunset Kayak trip

Joan led Pam and I to Bunche Beach on Sanibel Island via waterway through Clam Bayou. This is the Osprey capital of at least this area of Florida, as they are plentiful, building nests on the tops of dead Australian Pines, killed after Hurricane Charlie. There were other birds, of course, like cormorants, ibises, pelicans, gulls, and little shore birds. We ate our sandwiches on the beach looking out on the Gulf just before sunset. Just after sunset, we prepared to paddle back and looked up just in time to see the moon rise and it was pink!...

Feb 13, 2013 - A Day at Sanibel

Sorry to have only five pictures tonight, but this internet remains a piece of junk. The last time an internet service functioned this poorly, Al Gore hadn't yet invented the internet. We journeyed to Sanibel Island today and spent the day with Linda shelling and me just doing nothing. She found a fair amount of shells and I enjoyed the view of the Gulf. The morning started very foggy but cleared to a beautiful sunshine. Tomorrow we're taking a day off for Linda's back. It's old and needs a rest. But tomorrow is Valentines Day so I must...

Feb 4, 2013 - Sanibel Island

From WP Franklin Lock Park in Alva, FL ... Monday, February 4, 2013 It's been a few days since I blogged, so let me catch up on what we've been up to. Last Thursday we spent the day on Sanibel Island. We woke up to rain that morning but thinking it would clear up, we decided to go ahead with our little day trip. The rain finally cleared out around 10:00am, not long after the time we arrived at the Ding Darling Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, our first stop of the day. This is probably our favorite Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, and we really enjoyed it...

Jan 26, 2012 - Day trip to Sanibel

From WP Franklin Lock Campground in Alva, FL … Thursday, January 26, 2011 Today the four of us drove to nearby Sanibel Island. Sanibel is about 37 miles from WP Franklin Park. With traffic that translates to a good hour drive. Sam and Sandy had never visited Sanibel before, so they were looking forward to it. Sanibel was recently named the #1 Vacation Destination by Frommers. Among the top four destinations, it beat out Bali and London. We can’t really see how, but I’m not sure what their criteria was. Today was forecast to be another...

Jan 26, 2012 - back to Clam Bayou

Since it's Thursday, it must be kayaking day! While some of the group went to the end of Pine Island to kayak along the mangroves near the shore, I went with the group that left early to go back to Sanibel and the waters off of Bowman's beach. We met a mutual friend I met in Mesa, AZ and rode through Ding Darling Preserve to look for 2 letterboxes. We found one of them and believe the other one to be missing. Today's highlight was the island showing because of low tide and all the pelicans, cormorants, gulls, and little shore birds hanging...

Jan 20, 2012 - working on Sanibel Island

I was given a tip on how to make a few dollars by taking jobs offered by Marketforce.com. I accepted a job on Sanibel that required me to view all the showings of "The Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo" at the theater on Sanibel, count the patrons at each, and then report my findings both online and via mail. The theater management was not to be aware that I was doing this. I would get paid $12 per show and reimbursed for the tickets. Sanibel's theater is small with only 2 theaters. The one I visited can seat 59 people. 15 went to the matinee...

Dec 30, 2011 - Letterboxing on Sanibel Island

I was going to be with Flo and Dana today looking for letterboxes but they had business to attend to - they are buying an RV lot in Carefree! It is getting harder to rent here, so many women come, love it, and buy into the community! I went anyway because who knows if/when we will be able to do this together. I knew I wouldn't be able to look for all the boxes that are on the island, so we may do this together yet! I looked for 14 and found 11 of them! And I was impressed that the next to last box I found was titled "Sunset on Sanibel" and...

Dec 15, 2011 - paddling and driving around Ding Darling

I've driven through Ding darling Preserve before but today was the first time I went kayaking in the waters there! We went at low tide but with it coming in, so it was harder going at the start than later on. It took us a while to find the channel but I think it was more fun seeing all the dead ends since the birds were there. The only problem was that at times we touched bottom and had to push ourselves through the high spots. We saw great sights after the kayaking was done when we drove around the rest of the loop of the park. I spotted a...

Dec 9, 2011 - Bowman's Beach on Sanibel Island

What an afternoon we had! The same seven who went kayaking on Shell Creek yesterday went to Sanibel today and kayaked in a cove from Bowman's Beach. Joan took us there, Regina went with me, and Dana, Flo, Colleen, and Jeanne rounded out the bunch. In this cove were lots of birds, including herons, egrets, cormorants, anhingas, pelicans, and many osprey. It was a leisurely paddle with a nice "beach" at the end of the cove. But just over the small ridge was Bowman's Beach with lots and lots of shells and a long beach on the Gulf with no...

Mar 1, 2011 - Sunny Sanibel

From WP Franklin Lock Campground in Alva, FL … Monday, February 28, 2011 The four of us were up early this morning and on the road by 8:30. We headed south on I-75 and made our way through the busy traffic. In about 40 minutes we were paying our $2 at the toll bridge and crossing the long causeway bridge onto Sanibel Island. The skies were blue and sunny making the gulf waters a beautiful blue and green. Our first stop was the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Charlie and I enjoyed our visit here so much last month that we wanted to...

Feb 24, 2011 - Visit to Capitiva Island Beach and the Shell Museum

Feb. 24 – Visit to Captiva Island Beach and Shell Museum We left early again this morning and were on the sand of the Captiva Island Beach for the low tide but only small shells were present. We learned at the Shell Museum that to get the ‘big ones’, shellers go at night with flashlights an hour before low tide and/or snorkel in the shallow waters to find the large shells before they hit the beach. Tomorrow, we will visit the Edison-Ford Estates in Fort Myers. Have a great weekend.

Feb 23, 2011 - Revisit to Bowman's Beach and Tour of J.N. Darling National Wildlife Refuge

Feb. 23 – Revisit to Sanibel Island’s Bowman’s Beach and J. N. Darling National Wildlife Refuge We headed west again, earlier than on Monday, and missed the bumper-to-bumper line-up and were on the sand by 9 AM for low tide. The quality shells were scarce but it was fun to scour the nearly empty beach for an hour. We then headed for J. N. Darling National Wildlife Refuge on the north side of the island. See the attached photo. We drove the Wildlife Drive and stopped several times to view and photograph several type of birds. We stopped to...