Florida Trip

We’ve had such a long winter with a lot of snow from mid January through February. Our friends Dennis and Phyllis have invited us to their place in Florida since they purchased it last winter. Pat decided he needed a vacation and we could take four days to relax in the warmth of the sun. We packed our things and headed to Florida the first week of March. 

We arrived on a Monday morning, met our new friends Cameron and Renee, had lunch and went to the beach. As always, Pat was in the water immediately. I’ll admit it was warm. It was surprisingly salty. I’ve never been in a body of salt water before. 

We spent some time walking up and down the beach. Temperatures were in the low 80’s. We left -30 wind chills only hours earlier. This was heaven!

Renee took this photo of us prior to leaving the beach. We went immediately to a restaurant where I devoured a bowl of lobster bisque. It was delicious. I understand why people leave the cold and come to the warm climates during the winter. 

Palm trees were everywhere. That’s so foreign to me. 

The coconuts are about ready to harvest. I did find one on the ground. 

Our new friends Cam and Renee Craigo. Cam was missionary companions with Perry Bohn whom we came to know doing City of Joseph.  Small world

The Allsops are now temple ordinance workers in the Fort Lauderdale temple.We were able to spend Tuesday night in the temple.  We did a bunch of sealings with the help of the Craigos.  It was a wonderful evening!

We were able to go out on the boat into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.  We saw a pod of dolphins which was really cool.  They came right up to the boat and then would swim underneath.  They played and showed off for us.  I took some good video of them playing.

Our view just as we were leaving and entering the harbor.  

The "no wake" zones were posted and most of them had nests on top of them like this one.

The was apparently someone's home many years ago.  It is made of concrete.  A hurricane came through and swamped the place so now these are just a place for the birds to sit on.  They look like they could be something out of Star Wars.

The beach on some island just before we hit the gulf.  There were some of the beaches that are filled with shells.  Billions of shells cover these islands.  Shell hunting is quite easy.

I took a long walk on this beach of an island where Dennis went fishing.  This was a lot of sand but still a person doesn't want to walk barefooted as there are too many shells that could cut your feet.  

The pelicans were fun to watch.  Cameron threw some shrimp and they reacted to funny as he faked them out.

The boat club where we got our boat for the day.  There was a forklift that was bigger than any I'd ever seen.  The driver would go over to the boat he wanted and bring it down and take it to the water.  Crazy!

Sitting on the beach Wednesday night watching the sunset.  I couldn't believe how many people came out to watch the sun set.  There is supposedly a "green flash" as the sun dips below the horizon.  I didn't see one.

We treated everyone to breakfast on Thursday morning at some crazy little restaurant called the Waffle House.  The food was delicious and made right in front of us.  

The Waffle House isn't very big so the only place we could all sit together was at the counter.  I sure love these people!

Dennis let us drive his Corvette.  We had fun driving around and then we visited a high end car dealership.  We waled through that place and I couldn't imagine paying the price to purchase any of those cars.

This little tortoise was caught in the waves.  He is actually a land animal so he was saved and put back on the land.  He's called a gopher tortoise.  He was just a tiny little guy.

Dennis's car needed a new battery so we took the thing to the dealership.  While we were there, Renee went in and brought us donuts and water.  Everything had a Cadillac logo on it.  These weren't very big but we just giggled at the fact that when you own a Caddy, you get special things.

On Thursday, Dennis asked what we wanted to do.  I told him I just wanted to stay home and play some games and visit.  We had a good time and it was so relaxing.  Mostly, I just wanted to stay out of the sun as my feet and legs were really sunburned from being on the boat the day before.  The weather was a bit cooler and so sitting on the boat I kept my legs in the sun for warmth.  Too much sun has given me quite a good tan on my legs and feet.

We flew out in the early evening and got back to cold Milwaukee about 9:30.  It was so much fun to get away and not deal with anything back home.  We did have to field some phone calls but it was a great four days to just be together and be with friends doing anything we wanted.  I now understand why these people do the snowbird thing.  Warm weather and no cares about work.