Adventure Logan

Nova Scotia Picnic

The annual Nova Scotia picnic was moved from February 13 to March 24 last year – so we headed off today to enjoy the event in its new time slot. Of course, the main advantage of the date change is the better chance of warm weather . The numbers were down somewhat although the 400+ people enjoyed the day. It is really only a picnic lunch with some music and lots of ticket draws and 50/50 draws.

Carol and Dave

Marilyn and DannyEarl and Liz

Earl, Liz, Dave, Carol, Danny and Marilyn

Waiting for names to be called.

Snowbird Association tent

Then there is the intense looking at the tickets while they do the many draws. This took about 45 minutes.

Dave, Bert and Kenny

Danny, Earl, Dennis and Marilyn

Larry and Dave

Janet and Peter Randall , Earl and Liz

Dave and Carol

Mary and Bob

The park is on Lake Seminole and the birds were plentiful.

Dennis, Bob, Earl, Danny and Dave

Mary, Gerrie, Liz, Carol and Marilyn

Mary and Bob Visit

Bob and Mary arrived for a week-long visit and we have been very busy. They weren’t here last year so I was thrilled that they got here in time to celebrate my birthday. (Mary is always more excited about the birthday than I am) After a few cooler days this week, I was pleased that the weather warmed up nicely for my big day. We made it to the beach which was windy but beautiful.

The four of us enjoyed a steak BBQ, with rice and salad. Dave bought me my favourite cake Raspberry Elegance which we shared with the gang of 14 who came over for dessert.  A super way to turn 67!

Today (Wednesday) we headed to Sarasota for lunch with Steve and Carol Hiltz. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory then headed out for some shopping (Carol, Mary and I) to Bealls and the guys in their car to Dick’s Sporting Goods.

At the Hiltz trailer. The birds were next door eating lawn bugs.

This evening we headed to the Rookery to show Bob and Mary that interesting sight. The island is the location for hundreds of birds who arrive at sunset and settle in for the night.

The mother arrived several times and the babies – who are actually quite large – grabbed at her beak and yanked it down. They were obviously very hungry and were beyond noisy.

Then we walked down from the viewing area for the birds to see the bat houses and to wait for sunset. As darkness began they began to leave. Hard to imagine that so many bats live in such a small space.

The pic below captured the first ones which flew out.

March Madness

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Venice Theatre by a golfing buddy of Dave’s who had 2 tickets that weren’t being used. I didn’t pay much attention as the events there are always good and we made the assumption that it was for a tribute show (of which there are many). When we arrived at the the show, we discovered that it was a 2 night special performance of  Herman’s Hermits. Peter Noone was the original lead for the group and he now tours – what a treat. They played mostly their own hits and I knew all of them – a journey into our past for sure. (I’m Into Something Good, Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A lovely Daughter, Henry the VIII, I am, Silhouettes, Can’t You Hear my Heartbeat, Just A little Bit Better, There’s A Kind of a Hush just to name a few.)

This month has been another record breaking one – most days temperatures were above the normal and a few broke all time records. We have been busy with our regular events and have managed the beach quite a few days. As always there are sights to be seen.

Today when we arrived at the beach access we spotted this guy having a field day in the garbage can. I took the pics from about 4 meters – could have gone closer as he was quite unfazed by us.

Then once we settled into our spot on the beach this cormorant decided to dry off right next to us. He was there for about 20 minutes before he finally waddled to the shoreline and took off.

Of course, there were lots of dogs on the adjacent beach area – and this guy caught my eye as he spent lots of time just wading out and swimming in with the waves.

Marilyn and Danny arrived last week so our gang is growing. We met up with Carol and Stephen Hiltz for golf and shopping – you can guess who did what.

The clubhouse dinner this month was on a Mardi Gras theme and the entertainment featured a woman who lives in the park and who is in a band and a who also sings with just a guitarist. She can actually sing very well and is quite versatile – did Bruno Mars – Up Town Funk, Adele and some country as part of her set.

Liz and Earl won one of the door prizes.