Month: November 2024

11/02-04/2024 – Squish the Fish!

The 2^nd of November saw us head towards Fort Meyers, but first a detour. We headed off to Canaveral National Seashore to see the sand and beaches and the beautiful coastline.  Oh, yeah, and the rain.While we did not see much of the coastline, we did see some of the impacts of the hurricane that recently came through the area. Heading back from the seashore we stopped at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge  Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service  where a very helpful interpretive ranger helped us find a place where we could see some floating rocks, aka manatees! We saw a lot of manatees.  While the water was murky and it was hard to view them through the water, we managed to see them when they breached the surface or floated along the top. Kathy’s bucket list now has one more item checked off.  Seeing the floating gentle giants was a nice beginning to the day. Soon we were on our way to find the next stop, the hotel in Fort Meyers.

As we approached Fort Meyers we made a tactical decision: church first, then dinner, and then find the hotel. It worked out perfectly! A nice mass at St Leo’s with a beautiful homily by the priest was a nice respite from the chaos of the cities. While contemplating his words of wisdom, Kathy was grateful for his message of compassion and love of neighbors during this chaotic time. Deciding that hopping into the car did not sound fun, we instead opted to walk along to find dinner. A nice diner, Mel’s Diner, was a perfect choice. A good home style meal that did not break the budget was a nice treat.

The hotel was soon found and we settled in for the night.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be just as great.

The 3^rd started out quiet; breakfast and a walk before we went to meet with Mike (Dave’s brother) and his significant other, Tracy, at a local sports bar to watch the Bill’s versus the Dolphins. It has almost been 40 years since they have watched a game together.  Soon we were all seated around a table, drinks in hand and began chatting before the game began.  It was great catching up with the both of them.  The great repartee was often interrupted, though, as the Bills played a nail-biter of a game, which ended with the longest field goal in Bills history to claim a win over the hated Miami Dolphins.  Both Mike and Dave have a very long history of rivalry with the Dolphins.  The Bills went 0 for the 1970’s against the Dolphins, and with the ‘70’s being formative years for both of them, the rivalry is intense and ingrained deeply.

Night soon descended and we snuggled into bed, content in the knowledge that we squished the fish!

Last full day in Florida seemed to arrive quickly and we headed out the door to enjoy our time left. Heading out to find Manatee Park and see the manatees was our next goal. Paying for a full day of parking, we had high expectations…….we have renamed “Manatee Park” just “Park”. No manatees to be found there; nothing much of anything except a squirrel and a rabbit.  Oh, yeah, we did see the tiniest frog we have ever seen! After less than an hour we headed out, but not before having a few chuckles about a strategically placed fire extinguisher near a sign about how important fire management is to maintaining the natural ecosystem.  Dave wonders how, in 30 years of fighting forest fires for the National Park Service, he was never once issued a fire extinguisher to put out the forest fires!

Deciding surely there is something to do in Fort Lauderdale we headed in that direction.  As usual, Dave headed off the beaten track, and, while the going was rough, we were rewarded with seeing multiple alligators (including a tiny baby!) and some interesting birds. When the going gets rough, the rough get going and we enjoyed the experience.  Deciding at that point we had had enough fun, we headed towards the hotel in Fort Lauderdale to check in and go for a walk. Tomorrow sees us head home.

October 30, 2024 Time with friends

Today saw us drive along the Florida Keys to our next destination, Dave and Louise King’s home in Homestead. Dave King was Dave’s boss when he was a seasonal ranger at Shenandoah back in the 1980’s. What fun we had! We chatted, watched the birds (we saw our first Painted buntig!), and toured their garden that has an abundance of various types of orchids. It was fun for Kathy to listen to the old “war” stories of Dave and Dave’s time together in the Park Service. Almost as much fun as Dave had wandering down memory lane. After a full day at their house we headed off for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and then reluctantly parted ways. I would say we got far, but soon Dave was pulled over by the local police. He was given a warning ticket for stopping at the wrong spot at a light and no lights on in the vehicle. We are sure the sheriff left shaking his head thinking: stupid tourists. He did tell us to roll up our windows, lock the doors, and don’t open windows or doors to anyone. Apparently we were in a high crime area. Oh well, we are now safely ensconced in our hotel room overlooking a busy highway. While Key West had some amazing views, here? not as much in the heart of the city. We will hope to find some areas tomorrow to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and the sandy beaches! We are also looking forward to meeting up with another old friend of Dave’s from his Park Service days and then joining our daughter Jill and her husband Shea as they, too, are here enjoying the sun and sand of Florida at this time!

Halloween dawned early. Fortunately, there were no spooks or ghouls as we headed to our next destination. Most importantly: no flashing blue/red lights behind us! We were soon in Royal Palm Beach where we had an opportunity to visit with Blair and his dog, Sazzy, another old friend from the Blue Ridge Parkway. We enjoyed our time talking and chatting over a Cuban luncheon at a local restaurant. No vacation can be complete without Dave providing EMS as this seems to be his time to shine. A local patron took a tumble and Dave assessed her, provided basic help, and then helped her up with the assistance of her spouse. Last minute assessment and it was determined that she should be okay, as she assured us that she had just a little tumble off her seat. Heading off, we dropped Blair off at his home to release Sazzy from her kennel and we were off to then join our daughter Jill and son-in-law Shea in Orlando.
In Orlando, we stayed at the Drury Inn, which was very nice, the staff was warm, friendly, and helpful, and we immediately felt at home. After the long drive we determined it was time for a quick walk before having a light dinner. Wandering around, we figured we were just a short distance to where Jill and Shea were staying, pretty good luck on our part. Dinner was hors d’oeuvres that the hotel offered complimentary, which in this case was pulled pork sandwiches, mac and cheese, and a variety of salads. Oh, and free drinks which Kathy took advantage of and managed to have three glasses of wine in short order. Soon she was ready for bed, and the wine quickly lulled her to sleep. Halloween started up with not a single spook to be seen and the night ended just as tamely.

The next day dawned bright and early, and after an equally good breakfast we headed over to visit Jill and Shea, who were staying at Universal Park. It was nice to take the early morning walk to their hotel and just enjoy the day without having to get in a car and drive for hours. Before heading out for the day, we determined we would stay another night here and booked the room for another night – good choice! Soon we met up with the two of them. How coincidental to meet up with our kids while they were on vacation at the same time, same place as us! After a quick chat we headed off to visit City Walk. (Kathy was sad to leave her gift of ET in Jill’s room, but it will be waiting when she gets back) First stop was an Escape Room where we managed to solve 12 of the challenges. This gave us the Rating of Senior Geneticists, which was pretty darn good – actually not perfect, but not too bad. The Escape Room was modeled after Jurassic Park and we enjoyed each room as we tried to solve the puzzles. Next stop was lunch where we ate at the Chocolate Factory. We had good food and good times there. Still thoroughly enjoying our time with the kids, we were glad to extend it a little bit more and opted to do some miniature golfing. Kathy and Jill both got a hole in one! While overall, both Shea and Dave had better scores, only Kathy and Jill pulled off holes in one! Deciding it was getting late and we were all tired, we headed back to Jill and Shea’s hotel. Kathy rescued her ET and we headed back to the Drury Inn to grab a small dinner and just relax for the night. Kathy opted to stream one of her Netflix shows while Dave did some work on the computer.

Truly this is what vacations should be about. Taking your own pace, own time, and spending it with friends and family. We are truly feeling blessed. Tomorrow we head off in another direction and plan on spending time with Dave’s brother, Mike, and watch the Bills play the rival Miami Dolphins. He is excited, as it will be his first time in over forty years since he has watched a Bills game with his brother.

October 30, 2024     Someone did not get the memo

Well, first of all we skipped a trip.  Posting on our trip from Buffalo to Salt Lake City, UT to the California coastline, to Eugene, Oregon, was somehow neglected. We obviously did not get the memo (or maybe we were too busy), but a lot was happening. We traveled from August 28 to September 11^th and visited family and friends. Unfortunately it was complicated by the fact that Kathy’s mother was gravely ill and keeping tabs on her status in Puerto Rico kept Kathy tense during the whole trip. Unfortunately, mom, AKA grandma, AKA great-grandma and aunt, passed away the day after we arrived home. We will miss her vigilance on following the blog and commenting on our happenings.  She was our Number One commenter (well, okay, our ONE commenter!)  A few weeks later we headed back to SLC to attend the memorial service. It was a solemn occasion but was brightened by the fact we were together as a whole family.

The trip from SLC to Oregon had lots of highlights, including a trip along memory lane as we revisited Redwood National Park which was Kathy and Dave’s first trip as a couple. While at Redwood, we may or may not have seen one of the recently released California condors.  It was in the area where the condors have been released, but was too far away to positively identify.  The lack of a visible orange band on it (as all newly released condors have) leads credence to it being a large immature Bald eagle.  Dave says, “Orange band, smorange band!  It was a condor!”  We also made new memories and managed to squeeze in a few “first-visit” parks along the way including: Rosie the Riveter NHP, California Historic Trail, John Muir National Historic Site, Muir Woods National Monument, Point Reyes National Seashore, Lava Beds NM, Tule Lake NHS, and Oregon Caves NM. We are exhausted just writing this…… The best part is we saw all our kids and grandkids and spent quality time with them.   Arriving home, we spent time arranging our next upcoming trips.

Wow, the next trip is already here! Did someone forget to give us the memo about taking time off and just relaxing at home? Well, it did seem relaxing at home to mow the lawn, rake the leaves, and – oh yeah – fall cleaning. Geez we needed a vacation!

Soon we were off and landed in Key West, Florida on 10/28/2024.  Upon arriving, we determined that the city of Key West did not get the Governor Ron DeSantis memo about the LGBTQ community and some of the stark decency laws. While waiting for our luggage – a wait that took way too long for such a small airport – we got to read the signs above the luggage belt about a clothing optional rooftop bar (a “no” on Kathy’s part), and a resort for men only, which included men, gay men, bi men, transsexual men, and transgender, and was clothing optional (a “heck no” on Dave’s part.)  Finally getting our luggage, we headed to the rental car to find our Airbnb which actually turned out to be a hotel room at a resort. Again, did we miss a memo? Grumbling about resort fees, we trekked to the room and set out to discover the area. Having been in Key West before, we decided to opt out of the downtown area and instead find a nearby grocery store and just chill.  The next day would be an eventful one as we head off to visit Dry Tortugas National Park, the big reason for visiting back at this area.

The next day dawned bright and early, with Kathy putting in some hours of work.  We then headed out for a walk before our seaplane trip to the island. Arriving at the seaplane headquarters, we checked in and found out that the ferry boat to the island, of which we originally were told was not running, was indeed running. Dave obviously did not get the memo and instead of a cheaper option of a ferry boat ride to the island, we had booked the more expensive option of the seaplane.  Oh well, we made it to the island. While we had originally planned on snorkeling, we instead opted for a walk along the beach where we admired a multitude of sea conches that were intact and pristine. Kathy, wishing she could take one home was reminded that NPS rules does not allow the taking of items from the park. Wistfully putting a beautiful pink conch back on the sand, she followed Dave as we contemplated traversing a shallow portion of the ocean to get to another island full of birds. Deciding that discretion was the better option, we back tracked and headed to explore the fort. Dave enjoyed thoroughly his conversations with park staff while Kathy thoroughly enjoyed seeing a lighthouse, a win-win day all around. While Mother Nature did not get the memo that we wanted a calm day for the winds and the sea, in this case we did get the memo that it was not the best conditions for snorkeling.

Finally heading back to the “mainland”, we opted to walk to our hotel.  We probably should have read the memo that said walking 1.9 miles in sandals was not conducive to the health of your feet. Oh well, we made it back safe and sound and enjoyed chatting as we walked. Dinner that night was from a food truck that exceeded all food expectations. The Korean BBQ burrito was awesome and we enjoyed eating by the pool in our shorts! Tomorrow sees us head out to start visiting friends and family.