Adventure Logan

Merry Christmas

We are decorated and very festive although the temperatures are mid 80’s and it looks nothing like Christmas outdoors. I love decorating and since Dave bought me that shed for storing my bins I have to put out my treasures as usual.

Living Room

Dining Room

Lanai

Bathroom

Patio

For us it is all about the decorations, music and food – we love turkey dinner.  On Christmas Eve we went to Service Beach to catch the sunset – beautiful – in the parking lot there was a rainbow and then within minutes a large black cloud sprinkled us with rain.

Christmas Day was shared with Daniel and Karen but the rest of you were in our thoughts and prayers. Since there were only the four of us we went with all the food on the table in bowls and platters and it worked out well – can’t do that when there are 12 people in a small trailer.

Love the Beach in December

We have been here for a month already! Where did that month go???  Dave has golfed his weekly 4 games – with the boot until this week when he removed it (after the required 5 weeks). He is using a cart still but he says that the foot feels fine. We have enjoyed the above average temperatures and actually made it to the beach a couple of times per week. I have attended 2 Red Hat functions and we have been out for supper on Friday nights. Molly and her sister Marly were here for 2 weeks and we even managed a night of dominoes.  The weekly cheap night at the movies has started and we are looking forward to seeing some great (and also not so great) movies this winter. After the movie, we go next door to the frozen yogurt place  – oddly it is what gets us through some of the movies.

Today we headed to Nokomis Beach for the first time this year.

There were lots of birds on the water and soaring above the sunbathers.

One plus of going to Nokomis Beach is that we often make a trip to Nokomis Groves for the “best orange ice cream” ever.

Venice Jetty

Today was another gorgeous day and we headed to the jetty. Since it isn’t a usual spot for us, I took the camera and managed some shots that really appealed to me. The weather was wonderful after a few days of cool temperatures – sunny and 80 degrees.

Looking at Venice Beach and the condos/apartments that are at that end of Venice Avenue.

Looking from the North Jetty ( Venice Island) toward the South Jetty (Nokomis) – Nokomis Beach.

This Snowy Egret was almost tame – he didn’t move a feather as I approached him.

There were lots of boats coming back in from the Gulf as it was 4 PM.

This guy is an Anhinga (nicknamed a snakebird). His feathers are not water repellant so he needs to dry off in the sun and breeze. He was just spreading his wings and standing there for the longest time before he headed into the water again.

Perks, Pet Peeves and Politics

I know that I often repeat myself here on this blog but I chalk it up to age when I do. To say that there are perks here is an understatement – otherwise the hundreds of thousands of visitors to this state would not be here. One of my favourite ones is the U-turn at intersections – yipee . It would not work at most intersections in Nova Scotia but it sure is great to be able to use it here. The other perk is the price of gas. Ordinarily it would cost us $75 Canadian to fill the Camry – here this year it cost $43 Canadian. So even though the exchange rate is terrible gas prices help with the pain.

A giant peeve is the grocery cart. There are corrals for empty carts just as there are in Nova Scotia – except they are mostly unused. Patrons here abandon their carts in every conceivable spot – grassy medians, in the parking spot next to their car and wedged up against trees. Many times it  is impossible to pull into an empty parking spot because it has a cart in it. Given that the weather is terrific it is hard to imagine why no one wants to walk the extra few paces to use the corral.

We both spend time with Americans – in the park, at the golf course and for me, at Red Hat. Before we came we discussed the election and all the opinions surrounding it. We decided we needed to have a “stock” comment that would not offend anyone. So when we are asked what our thoughts are on the outcome or the new president we simply say “that we hope he is the best president that they have ever had – as that will mean both the Americans and Canadians will be happy with the outcome”. Perhaps this strategy will keep us out of any disagreements that might happen otherwise. We are in a Republican state after all.

Venice Boat Parade

Over the last 9 years we have managed to see the Venice Boat Parade every year and it never disappoints. We have seen it from several locations – 2 years from the path behind Publix, 1 year on the north jetty, 2 years on the south jetty,  and 3 years across from Nokomis Beach. This year we missed the usual friends who have attended with us on other years. They were the “good old days” when we set out many lawn chairs days in advance – and when we had a picnic to mark the occasion. So when we were faced with a decision about going to the parade last night, we decided that we would try yet another new location. The 27th Annual Boat Parade was a success and we are happy that we made the effort to see it. After supper we headed downtown and parked on Venice Avenue – then walked to the 41 and up onto the North Bridge. The vantage point from there was great as we not only saw the boats individually but also because of the height we could see the other boats winding their way down the Intercoastal. For those who have enjoyed this event in the past, you were missed – we hope that we have a crowd with us next year to enjoy the fun.

Gearing Up For Christmas

Although the sun, sand and palm trees do not match the typical “wintery Christmas” of Canada, I can say that there is no limit to the decorations here. I have begun the task of doing my annual “decking of the halls”. Unfortunately, we will not have our usual large group here for Christmas but those items in the bins so carefully labelled and stored in my shed just have to be used.

Tonight we joined hundreds of folk for the annual Venice Walk – which is held every year. We got into seasonal mode and headed for Venice Avenue to mill around and see the sights. It is a very festive occasion and it is fun to see the store front windows and the entertainment groups who were set up along the street.

There were some interesting vehicles as part of the event.

The free wine and treats (chocolates, cookies, peppermints, and kettle corn) were much appreciated.

Our favourite part of the night were the dogs as Venice is very “dog friendly” and there were tons of them to see.

Here are three that I managed to photograph. This gorgeous Cavalier is named Annie.

Then there was Amber

Shelby with her flashing collar

There were lots of fun items to see but this one really caught my eye.