Fort Myers Beach, Florida

We've spent about 5 days here in south Florida. Our friends have a place on Estero Island - just south of the city of Fort Myers.
We've done lots of walking on the beach - it's a couple of miles long here and great for walking! We met this little Florida version of a snowman yesterday. We've driven down to Naples - a very upscale area - and through the city of Fort Myers. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford both worked out of Fort Myers, we'll probably stop there on our way out of town Wednesday. We've met wonderful folks from all over the country - Washington, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, and of course other Minnesotans. We haven't seen any dolphins yet, but Carol tells me they cruise by the beach here. We'll keep looking! They've had a bit of a cool spell here - just our luck! But we're not complaining.

Day Two

It was 30 degrees when we got up this morning, we were feeling pretty smug! But, listening to the radio as we left Illinois, all of the weather heads were talking about the extreme cold that would be “gripping’ the area this afternoon and tonight. Windchills approaching -10!!!! They were announcing that the Illinois Dept of Human Services offices would serve as Warming Stations during business hours for anyone who cannot afford to turn their heat up or who does not have appropriate heat in their home. Those folks were also invited to log on to “Keep Illinois Warm.org” for additional information. (Somehow, if you can’t afford to turn the heat up, I can’t imagine you’d have internet access!) Anyway, they’re in a tizz with the cold weather too! It’s all in your perspective I guess eh?

We got into Nashville about 9:30 - and got our first 32 degree reading in the car. The Nashville skyline is in the picture here. We also drove through Chattanooga and Atlanta. The Chattanooga area is very pretty, we stopped at Nick-A-Jack Lake on the Tennessee River.

Atlanta is HUGE, but the traffic moved quickly at 3:30 PM so we breezed through.

Tomorrow we have about 300 miles from here Valdosta, GA to Fort Myers, FL. It'll be a quick day compared to the last two.

My blogging will slow down once we get to Ft Myers - too much to do there! Take care all - stay warm!

The Road Trip - Day One

We've finally begun our winter trip. We left at 6:30 this morning, it was -14 at our house.

We traveled 675 miles in about 11 hours. One stop at McDonald's for breakfast and one stop for gas & "facilities". We arrived here in the hoppin' town of Marion, Illinois just after 5:30. I took a few pictures out the car window. We saw the sunrise in Menomonie, WI and it was beautiful. That Wisconsin corridor along I 94 is really very pretty, lots of rolling wooded hills. When we turn south at Madison, we lost the hills and most of the trees -- big ol' farms from Madison down to Effingham. Then we got back into more trees and some lakes and rivers, and saw a nice sunset just before we got into Marion.
Critter watch: Just after sunrise we saw a flock of wild turkeys half in the field and half roosting in the trees. There was a buffalo farm just outside of Baldwin/Woodville. We also saw several grouse in a tree beside the highway and many, many hawks cruising the roadsides and sitting in the trees looking for lunch. Just after we got into Illinois we saw what we both thought was a coyote in the field!
Apparently there isn't much pedestrian traffic here in Marion. We went for a walk after we got here (had to stretch these old retired legs!). There are no crosswalks or sidewalks and the lights were short! We may not be in the prime neighborhood :-)

Tomorrow our drive time will be about the same - from here to Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta and then stop in Valdosta, Georgia.

Why Minnesotans leave/stay for the winter!

Talk about ambivalent! We've had snow and rain and cold in the past week, and it's getting colder tonight (-8), can't wait to leave, but we just spent 5 days enjoying Minnesota's beautiful winter!
We spent the past several days visiting our friends on Mille Lacs Lake. The guys spent a few hours each afternoon ice fishing and caught enough walleyes for a great dinner - and a few funny stories. This sunrise was this morning. Mille Lacs is an amazing lake but in the winter it looks pretty desolate.
We've added a couple of used snowmobiles to our toybox -- as long as we live in Minnesota, we need to do whatever we can to enjoy all of it's seasons. We rode mostly on the lake this weekend - there are no trees to run into out there. (Thanks John for the instructions - it's been many, many years since we rode Mom and Dad's SkiDoos!)
Lowell and John fished fairly close to home. They used a portable fish house, they pulled it out with the snowmobiles each afternoon and in at the end of the day.
One of the interesting features on Mille Lacs in the winter are the ice heaves. All around the shore there are berms of ice chunks that forms as the ice is freezing and the wind blows. Crossing these areas is a little tricky, but the cracks scare me more! We didn't see any big cracks where we were riding, but there were some slushy areas. Using snowmobiles or 4 wheelers seems to be the best way to get around, although some people and resorts plow roads out to the ice house villages.
So we've enjoyed winter and are now planning our escape! The "retired road" heads south next week.....

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Minnesota enjoyed a White Christmas this year. We've had a couple of fairly big snowfalls. Now that we are retired and don't have to drive in it every day at 6 AM, it really is beautiful! Since Christmas day, we've had some very warm temperatures and have lost about 5 or 6 inches of snow already. Not to worry - it's Minnesota and we know we'll get plenty more.
Our holiday festivities included several family gatherings. Of course, having the grandkids around brings lots excitement and this year we had some big announcements as well --
Sarah and Pete will be adding a new little one to our crew of grandkids in July!! Yipee -
Jill (my niece) and Jake will be getting married! Yahoo -
As we look into the new year, these two events will be highlights & we will continue to use our new found time to explore the countryside!
This week we are heading to Mille Lacs Lake to visit our good friends John and Grace. Lowell and John will do some ice fishing for sure, although the reports from the lake have been slow. In mid-January, which is right around the corner, we will hit the road and travel south to visit friends and family in Florida, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Right now our schedule is pretty loose - we plan to be home for the High School Hockey Tournament in early March.

Cancun Adventures

Our week in Cancun with the Theissens went so quickly! What a beautiful spot - even with windy, cloudy "winter" weather, we were able to get a little bit of color. Between a tour booked through the resort and the public transportation system we were able to get around the area and enjoy the local culture, food and shopping.
On Tuesday, we traveled south of Playa Del Carmen to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Tulum was a walled city on a bluff overlooking the Caribbean. It was an active trade center from about 1200 AD to the early 1500's. The people of this area were obsessed with astronomy and calendars. The main building, El Castillo, was built with a small window that directed the suns rays into the Temple of the Frescos on the days of the solstice and equinox. The rays then illuminate beautiful fresco art on the walls. The Mayan civilization is noted for the only known, fully developed, written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture and mathematical and astronomical systems. The city was abandoned when the European explorers brought new diseases into the indigenous people. It wasn't discovered again until the mid-1800's, when it had been overgrown by jungle. Most of the artifacts are in museums in England and France. At the end of our visit to the ruins, we walked along the wall and found lots of 2 to 2 1/2 foot iguanas sunning themselves on the rocks.
After Tulum, the bus took us a few kilometers north to Xel-Ha' - a huge water park on a lagoon. The park centers around a big salt water lagoon. There are 3 or 4 restaurants and a few more bars and snack shops. Your entrance fee includes all you can eat or drink at the restaurants, snorkeling, hiking and a large hammock area for resting! We spent most of our time snorkeling - it was Diane's first experience and she did great! We saw lots of fish - striped fish, yellow fish, blue fish, big fish, little fish! Jeanie & Joel loaned us an waterproof camera so we can share a few pictures.
We took advantage of our time in Mexico to sample lots of local food and restaurants as well. In addition to great margaritas and cervesas just about everywhere we went, three restaurants really stood out - the Captain's Cove, where an alligator named "Willy" cruises the side of the dining deck and gets fed by the waiters - rib bones, fish leftovers and more! Willy is about 7 feet long - and he eats really fast!!!
Another evening we went with Rick's brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Marlene, to Locanda Paolo, an Italian restaurant in downtown Cancun. We had everything from shrimp and conch to fresh clams and linguine, calamari and fresh Italian sausage. A great meal and great atmosphere - Paolo, the owner and chef was so nice and visited our table a couple of times to be sure we enjoyed our dinner. Perico's was the other great restaurant. It was a fun evening - one of those places with "participatory" entertainment - dancing and singing and balloon art! The appetizer was called Molecajete - beef tips in sauce and cheese served in a stone pot! It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious - esta rico! Then we shared an order of chicken fajitas - and brought home leftovers! Diane and Rick have more pictures to add to this group - I'll share them in the next few weeks. And again - a great big GRATIAS to Rick and Diane for inviting us to share the week with them.

It was a wonderful week and I know we both want to visit those warm Caribbean waters again some day! Feliz Navidad!!

Hola Amigos!

We've arrived in Cancun Saturday afternoon and were greeted by 80+ degrees. Since it

was about 15 degrees and snowing when we left MN we had a bit of adjusting to do - not to worry though! A couple of margharitas and nachos grande put us in a vacation frame of mind quickly!

On Sunday we took the ferry to Isla Mujeres, a small island just northwest of Cancun. There we rented a golf cart and toured the island! Golf carts share the road with cars and trucks and motorcycles. We spend a couple of hours in a Garrafon, a natural reef park on the very end of the island. The restaurant there was closed because they were hosting a wedding, so we saw the guests arriving and even saw the bride on the road after we left - she and her Mom and Dad were making their entrance in --- a golf cart!!! Yup. She was gorgeous and I'm guessing that it was a spectacular wedding. The park is the eastern most land of Mexico - the place where the sun first touches Mexico every morning! Wonderful views.

As we continued on our way, we stopped at a little bar that boasted "Beer so cold it'll make your teeth hurt". Well, none of us suffered, but the beer was very good. We sat at a table next to a sign telling us we were 89 miles from Cuba! Then we had nachos and margharitas at a little bar on the beach in the downtown area. Isla Mujares is a really great little spot - less busy and less fancy than Cancun.

Today we spent most of the day by the pool, everyone is now recovering from all the sun. Later we'll probably head out to a little bit of shopping and dinner on the marina. Our villa is wonderful! We have great views of the ocean from our bedroom windows and the deck. The ocean is that amazing turquoise color.
Tomorrow we are heading down to the Mayan ruins at Tulum and to a park name Xal-Ha (I think!). Just wanted to try to upload a few pictures and share some of this wonderful adventure with you. I'm not sure how many pictures I'll get uploaded right now, but it'll give you a taste and we'll share more when we get home.