Casa Coston, Cape Coral, Fl

Stopped in Cape Coral, Florida late yesterday afternoon to spend a few days with my brother, Dennis, his best friend Sammy, and wife Diane. They are like social butterflies, opening their home to friends and family from all over the world. They always make sure everyone has a good visit. Their home is very inviting and the food is delicious. They are both good cooks! It's rare for them to not have guest.

Casa Coston

Hanging out in the pool is a favorite past time of mine!

Cheers!

                                                             

         

Best friends watching a little TV 

                                                          

                                                              

Key West

Southern most point of the USA

The rain began to fall just as I reached Key West. It was refreshing and short lived and cooled me off after a rather warm ride down. I parked my bike in an overnight parking lot and proceeded to walk to the pick up point. I had previously made arrangements on Airbnb to sleep on the deck of a sailboat which was moored off the coast of Key West. Ryan, my host for the evening, soon arrived in a motored dingy and took me out to the boat. There would be five of us on the boat tonight, I was the first to arrive. First order of business was to go for a swim. The water was warm, clear and welcoming. There was a hammock on the forward deck and that was my next stop. I slept for a couple hours in the hammock just soaking up the sun. By nightfall, there were five of us sharing the deck of the boat, two girls from France, two from Miami and myself. Ryan lit the oil lamps he had stationed around the deck of the boat, and a campfire on deck, and we all sat around sipping wine and getting to know each other. It was great conversation and an overall enjoyable evening. As the campfire died down we all found a place on deck to lay out the sleeping mats provided by Ryan and settled in for a great nights sleep under the stars. Early the next morning the two girls from Miami went to shore on business. There had been a nice breeze blowing across the deck of the boat all night and I slept until 8:30 a.m. After a quick morning swim, Ryan showed up and ferried Alex, Marie and myself, back to the mainland. We walked around Key West for hours taking pictures and sampling the local food. After lunch, Alex and Marie decided to go swimming while I searched for the parking lot where I had left my bike overnight. Searched, turned out to be an understatement. Much to my surprise, I was on the opposite side of the island from the parking lot. I walked in circles for two hours before stopping at a hot dog stand to ask for directions. Lucky for me, the hot dog vendor knew the location of the parking lot from my description and steered me in the right direction. The whole reason for searching for the parking lot at this time was to buy another overnight parking pass before I got a parking ticket. Too late! Not only did I have a ticket but it had been issued the night before. This was crazy! My parking pass was in plain sight. I spent another 45 minuets looking for a policeman to find out what I should do about this ticket that I should not have gotten. The policeman smiled as if this was not an uncommon situation and explained how to clear the ticket. By this time my feet were killing me so I text host Ryan and headed back to the pickup point. Ryan soon arrived and off we went back to the boat. I would be the only guest on the boat tonight so after a quick swim I crawled into the hammock and fell asleep for the night.

Life is good!

Pick Up Point

Local Views

Rooster & Chickens Everywhere

                                                                              

The Everglades / Been There / Done That / Never Again!!!

It was with clouded expectations  that I set out for the Everglades today. I had been warned of the man eating alligators, pythons the size of a small pipeline and panthers just waiting for another meal. I'll know better next time! I was about as far south as you can get into the Everglades. The campground was located in Flamingo, Florida. It was very nice and well maintained and I was surprised to find I was the only guest in the entire campground. Little did I know the no-see-ums had already eaten all the other guest, their cars and all their belongings prior to my arrival. Seriously, I have never seen so many biting insects in one place at one time in my entire life. Yes I know it was the Everglades but there should be a limit to everything, including no-see-ums. I felt like I was on the television series, Naked And Afraid. Not that I was naked or afraid, but I was being eaten alive. With great haste, I set up the tent. Afterward I found the only escape from the biting was to stand under the shower and try to drown as many no-see-ums as possible. I don't know when I actually fell asleep but I do remember waking up and thinking how much I dreaded moving, even the least little bit because that would awaken the no-see-ums which now lined the inside of my tent from top to bottom. Finally I got up the nerve and just made a dash for it. Tent was down in record time and bike was loaded. Unfortunately, not only did I awaken all the no-see-ums in and around the tent, I awoke all 642.7 billion that resided in the park. Back to the showers I ran. With delight, I eradicated at least another 40 thousand of the little blood suckers, after which, I raced to my bike mounting it with the speed of the Lone Ranger mounting Silver. Off I went, out of the Everglades with no desire to return.

Entering the Everglades - Video Link

Flamingo Park Campground

 

Racing out of the Everglades

Casa Tenpenny, Lake Mary, Fl.

Had a nice dry ride over to Lake Mary yesterday to visit brother-in-law Johnny, his wife Christin, daughter Jordan and of course the newest addition, Oliver.

What a nice time we had at dinner!

Oliver

Staying another day just because I love it here and you could not ask for better host!

Tomorrow, I will be heading deep into the Everglades and will be out of touch for a few days. However, check back around the 27th and  catch up on some exciting adventures.

Tallahassee Photos

Florida State Seminoles

FSU Religion Department Library

Dodd Hall

 

3 Generations

Family

Tallahassee's Finest!