Flipper to the rescue!

What an incredible day it was weather wise today! Sunny...hot...no clouds...75+ degrees!

We were looking for something to do today...Judy came up with the great idea of going out kayaking! Why not!

We came up with a place called Grande Tours, on Placida Beach, just 5 miles from here! Perfect! They allowed Judy and I to launch our Sea Eagle Kayaks from their location for a $6.00 launch fee, as Tom and Cheryl rented 2 kayaks to go out touring on... we picked the perfect day!

There go Tom and Cheryl, trying out their new rides...

 

They trusted me with the map... (MISTAKE!!!)...now, which way is north again???

These guys were helping me out with directions, as we moved through the inland waterways!

My hair was blowing behind me, as we roared past Pelican Island! It was crowded on the island today!

Before you know it, I lost our way on the map and we found ourselves somehow inside this mangrove tree swamp! How the heck did we do this???

Judy was starting to panic as we were lost, and likely never to be found again! Snakes were in the water!!!!

Tom simply gave up with the paddle, waiting for the python to come and get him to end it all!

But WAIT!!!! Our fearless leader Cheryl spots something out there...

YES....YES.... it is Flipper and his friend coming to our rescue! Surely they will lead us back to civilization!

I got so excited that Flipper came to our rescue... I wanted to take his picture with Tom... but my hands were shaking on the old Kodak!

Flipper and his buddy got so excited that they saved us, they started swimming away is these crazy circles... check out the water in this video! I have NEVER seen a dolphin swim this fast!

So in the end... we sailed off into the sunset with Flipper! What an adventure! We had a blast! Thanks for saving us Flipper! We may come back and get lost again!

We got back to our Florida Home, and of course after a hard day at work getting lost, we knew it was time to go for a swim!

 

Wow... took a big bite out of life today! Will there be any left for tomorrow???

Till tomorrow...

 

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Come on!!! We went to the Everglades???...

We had our alarm clocks set this morning for 7:00 a.m.! That is a first since we retired!

 

The reason... we were off for the Florida Everglades! In all the years that we have come to Florida, which are many, we have never made it to the Everglades.

The Everglades include 1.5 Million Acres of Land, (Swamp?) in the very southern section of Florida. It is very wet, and is full of different animal life! What a great way to spend the day!

It was a 2 1/2 hour drive for us to get there, and we ended up at Shark Valley, in time to get on the 12:00 tram ride! This is a great 2 hour drive out into the Everglades aboard a tram with a guide to tell you all about it!

 

Above is our tram driver and guide as we head out! It was a perfect blue sky warm Florida Day! Can't get enough of it!

This is typical of what you see along the ride... and a bit of wildlife!

How many purses could be made out of these guys??????

There is lots of green, as you make your way around the 15 mile loop road with the tram...

My favourite bird pic of the night!

When you reach the 1/2 way mark on this tour, they stop so you can climb up the Ranger Tower! Years ago this site was manned by Rangers looking out for fires... they do it electronically now of course, and actually like when fire burns off the grasses.

Here comes Tom and Cheryl and Judy, climbing the ramp up to the tower...

I thought Judy looked pretty calm in this photo, about 5 feet away from that alligator!

After we finished up with the tram, we drove about 5 miles up the highway, and took a 24 mile loop Jeep Road, back into the Everglades... very cool...Jeep was very happy getting all dirty again! We found these Cypres Trees with a lot of reflections going on there...

Every time we turned around there was another picture today...

 

Judy got this shot, and said the alligator was smilling at us! Maybe... We must have seen at least 100 gators today!

Check out this sign above on the highway leading into the Everglades... there are Panthers living in this part of Florida! I just about choked when I saw this sign!

 

 

No... we didn't see this Panter with her baby, but this is what they look like!

What a fantastic day we had, and the only way to finish it off was to stop in Naples on the way home and pick up a Papa Murphy's Take N Bake Pizza for dinner...awesome!

Till tomorrow...

 

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LIFE IS A BEACH!

Hope everyone survived the big party from last night... wow... we actually all stayed up here and watched the big ball drop in NY.

But it was not long after Judy and I hit the bed, as Tom and Cheryl took in a midnight swim in our nice warm pool!

To bring in the New Year just right, we decided to head off to the beach today, as it was a beautiful day! Judy and I had taken a motorcycle ride this morning to check this beach out, but turned back as they wanted $6.00 each to pass on the bridge! We came back in the afternoon, with the Jeep and only had to pay one $6.00 fee.

 

This beach is called Gasparilla Island State Park... and it is a good one... above you paid at the toll bridge...

 

Check out the trees as we made our way down to the beach...

Above the remains of an old dock now hold all the local sea birds...

Yes, that is Tom and Cheryl heading for the beach! Not too busy on the beach today...

We stopped along the way, and Judy caught me day dreaming looking out over the Gulf of Mexico!

Cheryl found a great big clam... and that is not all she found...

They are a bit blurry, but they are Shark's teeth!

What a pair of Canadian Tourist's we make...

As we walked the beach, we found a fisherman who landed this Bonnet Head Shark. He was thrilled, as he said it was real nice eating, and he would filet it as soon as he got home... The Bonnet Head is the smallest Shark of the Hammer Head Shark Family.

It was quite the catch...

Next we came across a fisherman who landed this Stingray! Wow...

The fisherman had a heck of a fight to land this Stingray, and quickly John Hannan of the Florida State Park Service came along, and helped the fisherman take the hook out, and released the Stingray back into the Gulf Waters! The Stingrays are caught by mistake and released. This one was fine.

 

John is a real great guy from the Florida Park Services, and stayed and talked to us, and educated us on the Park and water for 1/2 an hour! Told us all about the local Dolphins and Manatee's!

 

There goes that Stingray!

The only other thing caught today was this Mermaid... but she ended up staying on the beach!

What a great way to start the new year!

After all the walking we relaxed for a while in our chairs... and in looking at the pic I took above with my smart phone, I now know that "Life is a Beach!"

 

Till tomorrow....

 

 

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