Beach Day

We have a lovely beach just about 15 minutes from our home. It is called Stuart Beach and the local high school classes in the 70's raised money for their community project and purchased approx 7 miles of land along the shore for public access beach, picnic and play areas. There are two rest room buildings and a Chef Shack with a boardwalk sitting area. There are handicap access areas and 2 Life Guard houses elevated overlooking the shore. We often take our picnic lunch into the shaded area to the right of this walkway:>

The beach has a nice sand base and often lots of assorted sea shells along the high tide deposit lines. This week the waters appeared the most beautiful shades of tourquoise and ultra marine blues. The water temperature was 76 to 74 degrees and the surf varied from rolling waves and more hazardous rip currents with crashing waves.

The road to get to the beach is lovely and picturesque. There is a section of the road shaded with overhanging and entwined ficus trees. It is cool to drive under. (clearance 11.0 feet!) the camper with a/c and antenas may not fit as nicely!

Life is so good. I wish you all were here too!

Happy Hour

Life is great being retired. It almost feels like a dream vacation. Each day we awake refreshed. We have a "good breakfast" and set off for our walk. Some days it may start with a walk to the Post Office, others with a walk for the newspaper. The route may take us around a water reservoir with walking bridges, or along Manatee Pocket and the piers and businesses along the way. Three times this week the weather was perfect to do our walking on the beach. We pack a lunch and drinks and picnic at the Stuart Beach. The red flag has been flying which indicates high/rough surf. One day it was accompanied by a purple flag which indicated Dangerous Marine Life, in this case jelly fish. We did see a few clear jellies on the edges of the surf/water line. Another day the yellow flag was flying/ cautioning us against rough surf/rip tides. We did a little body surfing and were quickly tired out. We did not go far out into the surf. I try to find (just one) sea shell of the day to bring home and set in the garden. At the end of the season I will be able to count the number of shells which will equal the number of beach days we enjoyed! Everyday has a Happy Hour. There is a nice breeze usually from the east (over the ocean) and the temperature has been low 80's to 70's today. We enjoy sitting outside in the evening breeze and watch the sky begin to color (sunset). We had our appetizers and corona's in hand and seats set up when Bob noticed 6 egrets perched in a tree in the neighbors yard. I was able to slip into the house to retrieve my camera and snap a few shots. The top bird bobbed and wiggled in the breeze but hung on for at least 15 minutes while the 5 others blended in and looked much more comfortable. I now have a better appreciation of "birds eye view" as these birds checked out our happy hour.

Tonight was dinner at Lola's Stuart Fl. Twin Maine Lobster tails, sweet yummie cole slaw, bottle neck fries (large steak fry size with crispy edges and creamy centers) and fried sea scallops. Tomorrow is the Stuart Seafood Festival.

Smokey Mountains behind us

With our first month of travels under our belt we have arrived in Southern Florida and are adjusting well to the warm climate.  Everything has been unpacked and we have explored our new neighborhood on foot as well as cruising.  Today we ventured to West Palm Beaches fairgrounds for the RV show.  There was a good selection of RV's and we have some good ideas for when we may "up-size" but we are quite happy for now with our camper.  We were disappointed in the fact that there was no other merchandise available for viewing.  We are spoiled with the offerings in West Springfield's "Big E" venue of the annual camping/RV show in February.  I guess my expectations were greater. I did pick up a tip to check out a product called Shine-on that I will look into.  I am working on albums of photos taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway and in the Great Smokey Mountains.  We spent yesterday kayaking in the Savanna's Preserve State Park.  Despite a very windy day on the water we had a wonderful time with Debbie and Jay who volunteer and guide tours of the park weekly.  We will return on a less windy day and learn more about the environment.  This park is quite a gem and doesn't seem to get the large number of visitors it could.  We have been there in the past and enjoyed hiking paths and a wonderful education center with lots of exhibits.  It is near Jensen Beach (Florida) and is a fresh water area just inland of the salt water areas of the intracoastal waterway.
I'm very thankful for Pauline and Doug for letting us stay at their home in preparation for our launch on our adventure, to Jan and John for a lovely respite and kind hospitality, to John and Arlene for their hospitality as well and all the family and friends that assisted us in so very much.
More to come...