Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

Beach Days Vary

Sunday December 28 and Monday December 29, 2014
Oscar Scherer State Park
Osprey Florida

 

 

SUNDAY

Wouldn’t you know it, the day AFTER Carrie leaves is the most glorious beach day so far.  Well weather wise anyway.  The sun is bright, the water is sparkling and the troops have arrived.   Good grief!   Where did all these people come from?  I guess they all have the week between Christmas and New Year’s off so here they are.

 

 

IMG_3164

IMG_3140

 

 

As I’m scoping out ALL the people on the beach I catch sight of the draw bridge going up on the road we take onto the island.  I’ll bet the guy in orange thought it was about him.  LOL

IMG_3151

 

It’s 80 degrees outside.  So wonderfully warm.  We plop down in our chairs and enjoy it until we are hot enough that it’s time for a swim.  Now the water is not 80 degrees but it is swimable.

In I go

IMG_3153

 

Come on in, the water’s fine I say with a wave.

IMG_3158

 

Of course since I’m in the water first  David can take pictures of me.  I get this one of him as he gets out to prove that he too braved the gulf at the end of December in 2014.

 

 

 

 

SO many people encourages us to take a long walk down the beach toward the Casey Key residential area.  The crowds eventually thin out.  Ahhhhhhh

IMG_3161

 

IMG_3172

 

 

The folks who live down here  have some lovely gulf front houses that’s for sure.  David takes some pictures of his favorite.  Nice but no thanks.  The first thing I think of is having to clean it.  I know, if you have THAT much money you hire a maid but somehow I just can’t imagine having someone else clean up my dirt.

 

IMG_3173

 

IMG_3174

 

IMG_3178

 

 

We come upon what look like the bottoms of wooden posts all along the edge of the water.  They don’t seem to have been connected to anything and clearly each cement, or whatever it is, square has the bottoms of a wooden post on either side.   Anyone know what these are?   A flock of willets is busy all around them.  

 

 

 

Actually they aren’t ALL busy.

IMG_3191

 

 

 

The public beach doesn’t allow dogs but this pair lives down here somewhere I think.  They come bounding toward me followed by their owner who says how happy they are to be “back”.  We don’t chat since the boys are on a tear.  They are clearly having a glorious time.  Aren’t we all?

 

 

We can see them in the distance all huddled near the parking lot entrances.  They get closer and closer and then we have arrived back at the masses after over 11K steps. I forget to see how many miles this is we’ve walked down and back.

 

IMG_3199

 

We saw three young women creating a sand pile as we walked down the beach.  Coming back we find it is a great looking snow/sand woman.  Very creative and perfect for those who have escaped, if only for a week,  what looks like it may be a snowy winter.

 

IMG_3204

 

 

MONDAY

Monday is another bright sunny day as you can see from our pancakes outside picture.   Where was all this sun while Carrie was here?   NOT fair.

 

 

 

We spend the day mostly cleaning and straightening up so we don’t head over to the beach until late.  We  go for sunset.  We haven’t seen a sunset over the gulf yet.  Usually we go to the beach early in the day and leave in time for dinner.  Sunset these days is right around dinner time for us.

We are unaware of how different the weather is outside of the campground.  We don’t see the soup thick fog until we are leaving the campground.   What a surprise.

 

IMG_3212

 

 

David, ever the optimist, says “well it might be different at the beach”.   That makes me double over with laughter at the idea that the fog could be coming from anywhere other than the water.  But he wants to go see.    This is what we find.  what a difference a day makes.

 

IMG_3214

 

People are still in the water, still hunting shells.  But they fade quickly into the fog if they are more than 50 yards away.

 

IMG_3226

 

IMG_3231

 

 

We are in place to see the sun set and looking right at it when it goes down at 5:44 EST.   There it goes.

 

IMG_3228

 

We are in the front row for sunset.  Not much color – Winking smile

IMG_3233

 

We’ll try again.   For now it’s back home for dinner and some more Mexican Train. 

21 comments:

  1. Guess there were two LESS people on the crowded beach since our trip didn't happen! And I couldn't help but chuckle at David's optimism that the fog might be less at the beach. Sounds like my guy's normal way of reasoning. Sure wish we were there, but life happens and things change whether we want them to or not, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! The crowds! That was way worse than even the day before! Glad you got in a swim! And, that was a mighty long walk. Nice work! Crazy fog! Too funny that Dad thought it might be different at the beach....there was a chance... ;) More Mexican Train...:) How am I not surprised!!??

    ReplyDelete
  3. We are not having a sunny start to the new year but we are going to ride the bikes down to the beach anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Weather has been strange again this year. Holidays sure bring the people south! Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hmmm... I believe that is the MOST unique sunset I have ever seen;-))

    I am so ready for some pancakes outside... 33 degrees this morning;-((

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's ten degrees where Eldy's son lives in Elkhart IN. We are glad we are here. We had good weather while they were down for a visit. Sorry Carrie missed it! Happy New Year, you two! Love the humor and always great photos in your blog. You make ordinary days very interesting with your great writing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have never found immersing myself in cold water too pleasurable but I do remember one time in the summer of 64 swimming in the Gulf of Mexico near Sarasota Florida & thought to myself, Ahhhhhhhh if only our Great Lakes in Canada were this warm I might really like this whole swimming thing a whole lot better. All the very best to you folks in the coming year & may your future together be long & lasting.............

    ReplyDelete
  8. I shouldn't be surprised at the number of folks grabbing a sunny day at the beach when they can.....but wow!!I'm pretty sure our beaches are not very warm right now. You know you made orange-shirt's whole week :-) Hysterical! No dogs on the beach is really going to limit our time in FL - and look how happy those rule-breakers are! Oh well, I know they can't be allowed everywhere :-( I don't know what those concrete/wood things are, and I also wonder how many toes they've broken and beachcombers they've toppled? Believing it could be less foggy over the water at sunset is why he's still smiling and living the dream - and another reason you are so blessed my friend :-) Enjoy this brand new calendar day!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks great on the sunny day. We need to think about FL this winter. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Do you think those could be old boat slip posts for some kind of dock? All those people on the beach would turn me off.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We are really looking forward to Jan. 5th when the kids have to go back to school and the crowds leave!! Way too many people everywhere this week. Too bad the weather got nice as soon as Carrie left. The weather up north was very nice over Christmas, also. But it was the company that made Carrie's visit sunny:)

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a difference two days make!

    The last time I swam in the ocean was years ago, on a Prince Edward Island beach.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Happy New Year! Looked like a lovely day despite al of the annoying people! Swimming ahhhhh....how nice! One time we were walking on the beach and there were pieces of wood sticking up. I commented to Beek that those were probably dangerous. On the way back, I walked into one of them and ended up with my baby toe at right angles to my foot. Ouch! Have fun! XXXOOO

    XXXOOO

    ReplyDelete
  14. I don't really like the big mansions - too pretentious. I love the tiny house movement, which anyone who lives in an RV can relate to.

    You often mention how many steps you have taken, and I've finally figured out that you aren't counting those steps yourself, but must have some device that does it. My daughter got some sort of a wrist band for Christmas and if she likes it I think I might look into one too.

    Happy new year to you and David, and also to Carrie and her fiance.

    ReplyDelete
  15. THAT was a lot of people..geez... but good, pretty weather

    ReplyDelete
  16. The happy chocolate poodles on the beach make me wonder, do people ever have as much fun as dogs do? I rarely see a person display such joy as our beagles showed every day in anticipation of their next bowl of the same old dry dog chow.

    ReplyDelete
  17. That sunny day on the beach looked gorgeous -- I'm like you, I'll walk a long way to find some peace and get away from the crowds. The beach snow woman was so cute! And I agree with Pam, you guys created your own sunshine during Carrie's visit. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dang weather, not very cooperative. But at least you got to swim. I think everyone should have a maid, including the maid. I'd happily allow someone else to clean up my dirt. Thankfully our wheelestate isn't very big.

    ReplyDelete
  19. With our crappy weather here in TX, we so missed our winter in Florida. Only a few souls brave the beach here and your pics brought lots of great beach times we had while there last year.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are the best part of this blog for me.
I LOVE hearing from you!