Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Island Time


It's hard to believe 2 weeks have come to a close with our time on Pine Island.  We thoroughly enjoyed the hiking, nature preserves, wildlife and solitude of the island as well as time catching up with family and friends.

We enjoyed hikes every morning surrounded by the beauty of nature.

an island surrounded by Mangroves




Osprey


Bald Eagle
Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owls
Tom has recently revived his hobby of geocaching and so we discovered places on the island we would not have found otherwise.  A few of our hikes came out of finding remote places where a geocache was hidden.

Yes, he's up in a tree to log this geocache register!
We met Neil and Nancy in PA and then saw them again on the island. We had a great time catching up, telling stories about "home" and getting to know their friends (coincidentally from Lititz, PA) Bonnie & Ken.
Neil & Nancy's little girl, Tatum
Enjoying snacks around the fire - Neil, Tom, Ken, Bonnie, Nancy
Bonnie, Tom, Ken, Neil, Nancy
My Aunt Edie and Uncle Randy along with a friend, Mary, drove down for a visit from their winter home in Port Charlotte.  We were able to be the tour guides on this visit.
Aunt Edie, Mary and Uncle Randy
Rita Morgan, who we met out west several years ago, took a side trip on her way from the Keys to Crystal River to stay on the island for a week.  She's an outdoor lover like we are so we had a fun time being adventurous together.  We mountain biked (yes, that's right, in FL), visited Manatee Park, took a ferry to Cabbage Key and Cayo Costa.






the manatees nosed the kayaks and pushed them along











Moxie had a wonderful time on our daily hikes as well as a visit to Great Licks Ice Cream on Matlacha.

If you're reading this in your e-mail, be sure to check out our schedule on the blog on the right-hand side of the page.  If you want to get out of the cold come on down!

Til next time...Happy Trails!

Friday, February 6, 2015

Ahhh - sunshine and warmth!

It's official - we are definitely snowbirds.  As much as we love being "home" and other places the rest of the year, we enjoy staying warm in the winter.  As I've said in the past, I really miss the mountains while in FL but there are plenty of things to keep us busy.

a great paddle down the Peace River with Rita Morgan



I've said this how many times before?  It's a SMALL world!  While in Punta Gorda we made a quick stop on the Harbor for our first view of the water this year.  As we're standing there I recognize two people riding by on their bikes and yell out their names - Brooke and Pete!  They are down from Lititz, PA for several months in the winter.  We couldn't remember the last time we've seen each other (in PA) but it's been at least 10 years or more.  What are the chances we run into each other in FL?!  They play pickleball so we hope to get together for a game or two and to catch up.

friends from Lititz, PA - Pete and Brooke - chance meeting in FL

a day on Gasparilla Island


Moxie loves cruising around FL in her bike basket
a little hiking in a local State Park


Moxie loves chasing the birds on the dog beach




"Times Square" in Fort Myers Beach
I was a little worried about Moxie getting enough exercise since there are no woods in our area for her to chase squirrels and deer.  We found a great dog park and met some wonderful ladies I connected with.  As always, it's hard to say goodbye but we're planning on meeting again soon.
Moxie and Jackson

Great girls days out
Kathy (lives in FL) and Cathy (winters in FL from Truro, New Brunswick)

Cathy and her kids, Esme and Alezan

Kathy and Jackson

Lunch in Matlacha

Pine Island


We are on Pine Island until 2/18 then we move to Venice for 2 weeks.  

Til next time...Happy Trails!