Another Perfect Day!

  We took Bonnie's advice, ditched our exercise routine, and left for Captiva at 9:00 am.  The bridge onto the island gives a beautiful view!

 

 

 

 

These were all taken from the car on the bridge onto the island

  We didn't run into too much traffic, but it seemed to take forever to get to Captiva!  We realized we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere because we seemed to still be on Sanibel.  About the time we realized that, we passed a sign for Bowman's Beach Park, so decided to go there instead.  We arrived at 10:15.  It was beautiful!  Turquoise, clear blue water, gentle waves, and lots of shell beds just inside the shore line.  And the weather was gorgeous, too...80 dry degrees and a breeze.  The water wasn't too cold either.  Using my "Florida snow shovel" and just my plain old eyesight to search for shells, I never sat down until about 90 minutes after we got there.  John took a couple of long walks and between the two of us we found a lot of neat shells, especially Auger shells (the long pointy spiral ones) and some conch.  I'm not sure why, but I have a special fondness for the skinny insides of conch shells.  They do add interest to a jar full of other shells!  

By the way... these are the real new bathing trunks!



John got into using the "Florida snow shovel" too

It's so much fun looking for shells.  See the starfish in the middle
and the coral on the left

We left at 3:15 but didn't get off the island until about 4:15.  The traffic is awful!!  But the drive over the bridge at the end makes it all worth while because it's just so pretty.

This is the entrance part of the bridge that we're headed to
after leaving the island.  I took it from the car window.  I love this picture! (I got lucky)

  When we got back we ate an early supper because we hadn't eaten since breakfast (except for a couple of snacks at the beach).  Then John went for a walk while I downloaded pictures and worked on the blog post.  We decided to go next door for ice cream but on the way there he was acting a bit strange (even for him) and he detoured me to one of the permanent trailers on the CG.  I realized that he must have found the owner of that truck I talked about in a previous blog post that had a sticker on it from our hometown car dealer.  Turns out the wife is from Strasburg and she is very indirectly familiar with my dad.  She went to school with the daughters of Dad's first employer, Frank Herr, after he got home from WWII.  She knew that there was an "Althouse" that worked for him.  And she only lives about 1/4 mile from "Gobbler's Knob," the house that my Dad built for my Grandfather.  Small world, huh?  We got our ice cream and then headed for the shuffleboard courts.  John won the 1st game and I won the 2nd one.  (He was up 21-7 at one point but got 3 minus 10s!). We watched some TV when we got back and then John went to bed.  I finished up my blog post while watching about 2 Pawnography game show episodes and 6 Pawn Stars episodes.  I've really learned to like that show!  Then I went to bed about 1:30 am.  I guess I'll sleep in tomorrow (today).  Not sure if we're going to the beach or staying at the pool tomorrow.  Guess it depends on the weather.
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