More pix from my trip

I'm probably boring everyone with my vacation pix but I don't care. This isn't even the rest. I have a few more for next time so just deal with me for a couple more posts. ok . Ahem. Where was I? Oh right. Ok so here's a picture of a crab on a tree. Nothing special but I'm learning how to use my camera for close shots and he looked like a willing model.

This was where the inlet let out. There were people swimming but I wouldn't dare. The water is pretty murky and like I said before there are definitely some sharks and I wouldn't be surprised to see an alligator.

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Rare photo of Mr.Pea. He never lets me take his picture so when he's in a generous mood, I have to take advantage of the oppurtunity.

Again I was experimenting with the close up functions.

This would make for a good drawing I think.

I noticed this sign telling everyone what was not allowed on the beach and at first I was happy about it until I saw this! And I'm not quite sure what this park had against my Peanut but apparently he's not allowed nor are any other Jack Russel Terriers. How dare they discriminate against my Peanut!

I took this while on my morning walk. MrPea was still sleeping so I put on my shorts and went for some excersize.

This was taken on Sanibel Island. There was a seaweed bloom so the water wasn't as clear as it usually is but MrPea was trying to find some shark teeth for me. No luck. I did find a couple in Naples but that was it. I did find out the name of an island where I could go next time to find some for sure but I'm not telling anyone the name unless they live in Florida.

A storm was coming on as the sun was setting so of course I had to get some more practice with my camera. Not too bad huh?(This was my birthday btw)

Our view was pretty great. We ate breakfast on our balcony every morning. We're going back to the same place in September and it's all we both talk about lately.

So I finally figured out how to upload pix from my new camera

Sorry I've been away so long. It took me a while to readjust after coming home. Peanut had an eye infection so I had to take him to the doctor. I was also trying to learn how to use my camera a bit more. Anyway, here are a few pix:


This was the view from our balcony. Not bad huh? See how there was a waterway between us and the beach? The coolest thing about it was this was all protected so you have to walk through all that via a half mile long walk way. Or you could take the golf cart shuttle the hotel provided but I prefered to walk...more on that later.

This is what it looks like when you actually get there. What I like best about this beach is that there were only a few people there! If you look closely you'll see where sea turtle nests have been marked for protection and you know I was happy about that. This was the view looking north.

Just cuz I like things nicely balanced, this was the view looking to the south. And again my favorite thing about this beach was that it was empty. Some people don't mind crowds and noise on the beach but I like the quiet.

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This is the walkway I mentioned. It was aproximatly 3/5ths of a mile or .6mile through a mangrove forest and over a bridge but I'll have to show you that later. The bottom is made of recycled material. It was slippery that day because there was a storm the night we arrived.

Mr.Pea prefered the golf cart shuttle but I made him walk that time because I wanted to take it all in. Does he look sad and pitiful to have such a bossy wife? Actually in the mornings, he slept in and I would wake up early and go walking. There were more than a few people jogging and power walking. To me this is even better than jogging on the beach. I find it absolutely impossible to jog on the beach. I just can't. I can't imagine walking around on a beach without looking for shark teeth, it would be a complete waste of time. Ok honestly, it would be torture.

I spotted this White Heron fishing when we got to the bridge so it was a good oppurtunity to practice my 'skills' with my new camera. I just realised I probably should taken a picture of the bridge to give ya'll a better idea but I wasn't thinking about this blog at the time....

This was the view(north) as we crossed the bridge and you can see someone had a good idea and brought a kayak. I would be too scared since I am absolutely certain there are sharks in that waterway and very possibly alligators. This is usually where young sharks live since it's safe. Actually we called waterways like this "shark nurseries" in my Marine Biology class. And if there are baby sharks in there, it mean Momma sharks are in there birthing them or whatever they call it. You know what I mean. I don't remember what time of year they do this but still, I know they're there. Waiting for my leg. I imagine I'm missing out on a lot of good teeth but I'll stay alive a little while longer thank you very much.

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Oh! And I almost forgot. If you click on this pic and look really close at the pink thing on the right, it's a flamingo! It was the only one I saw. I have more pix but I'll post them tomorow.

Off to Naples

(The Florida one not the Italian one)

I woke up early to drop Peanut off at his "camp" and I might as well have just took a knife and stabbed myself in the heart. He didn't seem to care about being separated from me it which was actually what I was hoping for but still..... Oh well. It's a nice place, despite the fact that it costs a damn fortune, and they have dog cams so I'll be able to check on him while I'm gone. Still though. Next time I'm going to bring him with us.

Anyway, I'll be gone for a few days. Tuesday is my birthday btw. I'll be 33. Lots of pix when I get home.

Home Sweet Home

I had a good time. I miss my nephews and my sis. This picture pretty much sums up my trip and looking at it kind of breaks my heart. I'm not sure why fate saw fit to place these people so far away from me.

My flight was delayed last night so I got in really late. I also caught some kind of head cold which seems to always happen when I travel but oh well. MrPea and I were supposed to go on our own trip this week but we decided to go the week of my birthday instead. Until then I'll be nursing my cold and catching up on my sleep.

Just a few things before I leave on Sat

-I found a Power Ranger Tshirt size 5T. It's a size too big but I had to go on a damn oddessy to find it so that baby is going to have to just wear it anyway. I got souvenir tees for the older two but the little one said he likes Power Rangers so I had no choice. I went everywhere. Two different Targets-no Power Rangers. Walmart-nothing. Bealls-nope. Kohl's-uh uh. Kmart-nyet. Finally I broke down and went to the mall. Luckily, I found a Disney store and they had some. Crisis avoided. Go Power Rangers!

-The Disney Store. Um. Yeah. If you haven't had kids yet and were even contemplating the idea of pushing one out, don't go there. And for the record I feel sorry for/hold the utmost admiration for anyone who is so cursed as to have to bring a child there and doesn't end up in a straight jacket. The employees seem to know the inner demons that will be unleashed in kids upon stepping foot into that store and take advantage of it. I saw one following a poor mother around making all kinds of suggestions while the woman, who BTW was clearly on the verge of some kind of emotional breakdown, just said, "yes yes we'll get those honey," just so her kid would calm down. Yep. It's not going to be a destination for the Pea Family when I push one out. I said it. Write it down.

-The baby birds are gone. Should I be worried about that? I mean they were getting bigger and all but I can't believe they would be big enough to just fly away. Is it possible that the mother moved them to a different nest? Does that happen? Please don't say a cat got them. I mean I know it's a possibility but it would be hard for me to believe since no one in my building owns a cat and I doubt any stray would have found them. Plus I'll be heartbroken so I'll have to pretend they didn't like the noise and just moved. The nest is still there in perfect condition. I'm going to have to investigate. Their location was at the LadyNextDoorWhoHatesMe's front doorway so it's going to be hard for me to get some answers from her. I better not find out that she did something like complain about them living in her wreath.

-My trip(s)! My trip(s)! My nephews don't even know I'm coming. I don't know how my sister and I kept this secret for 3 weeks without slipping, but we have. I think she's planning to load them into the car by saying, it's a nice day, let's go for a drive. Oh man, they're all going to get pinched on the belly. One by one. MrPea's and my trip South was postponed until my birthday so I'll be home Wednesday instead of next Monday. I was dying to look for shark teeth down there, but I guess I can wait. I'll try to post while I'm gone but if I don't I hope everyone has a Great Independence day and a safe week.

I've seen the gates to hell

It is an Orlando theme park. I went to Sea World the other day with my best friend, her daughter and brother. We drove down to spend the day at the new Sea World water park called Aquatica. We were there a little later than planned because of a crisis involving Peanut, his mouth, and a dead mouse/rat/mole/thing in it--a story anyone who has a dog already has so I won't gross you guys out with the details. When we arrived, the water park was at full capacity so they weren't letting anyone else in. Our passes were all access so we walked around Sea World for a while. Ok, if you've ever been to Sea World with me, you would know, that confined animals make me cry. Confined animals trained to perform tricks for people and their screaming kids make me cry even more. The last time I was at Sea World was 5 years ago with same best friend and daughter. I had to push it down for her sake, after all she was only 4. Luckily for me no one was interested in seeing any shows this time. Not that the shows are bad, mind you. The night show with the fireworks was actually pretty cool. I remember they had it timed so that Shamu was jumping out of the water at precisely the same time a big firework was going off. But like I said, it's not my cup of tea.
We waited in line for about 45 minutes, short by theme park standards, to ride the Atlantis rollercoaster/water thing. Basically you go through some tunnels while Mermaid holograms turn from charming to Medusa-like ending with a steep plunge into water. Ok I'll admit, fun. And I'll admit that I was scared of it.

At about 2, the water park reopened so we hurried over to catch the shuttle bus. Ok I love water parks, I do. But can I just tell you guys about the feet smells? Yeah. And the food, good lord the food! And the 7 dollar bottled water? Oh and I forgot to tell you about the 10 year old we passed by cussing out his mother on our way to rent a locker. yeah

I'm scared to death of the dark. Ok. You guys know this, I'm not ashamed to admit it. So why did I wait 30 minutes in line to get on a slide that is pitch black all the way down? I swear it took everything I had inside not to have a full fledged panic attack. I got in, they said go, I went. I thought,"Omigawd,what-am-I-gonnado?!What-am-I-gonnado?! Ok breath, breathe, breathe. I'll be done in two seconds, Omigosh! Omigosh!" When I finally got out, I was so mad at myself for not figuring out that it would be dark in that BLACK CLOSED IN TUBE. I hate that slide and anyone who's not afraid of it.

I had so much fun but my ankles and feet have been sore ever since I got home. Lesson learned: it's probably a bad idea to wear wedge high heeled flip flops to a big theme park, no matter how cute they look--AND don't exfoliate your feet too much the night before lest you sloth off all the protective skin on your feet if you don't enjoy foot torture. And I've been having nightmares of being trapped in a dark watery tube that smells like feet.

Oh! And I also went here last week. Me and my BFF's yearly tradition. I brought a water proof cam with me but I've been too lazy to get them developed at Tar-jay. Soon guys.

My mini trip (part 1)

I had cabin fever on Monday and as I mentioned in my last post, my usual sight seeing partner was under the weather. And dammit I felt like going on a trip so I went out by myself! A couple people told me they felt weird doing stuff like this alone but I have no problem doing fun things by myself. Hell, if I wait around for people, I'll never get anywhere. So I filled up the tank and drove to St. Augustine. I've been there at least a thousand times but I haven't been to the Castillo De San Marcos since I was 10. It was the perfect day for sight seeing.


I got a perfect parking spot and half ran to get my day pass.($6.00 in case anyone wanted to know)



I took some pictures from inside that sentry look out....


There's a small tower located just in front of the drawbridge that, for some reason, I didn't take pictures of. I did take one of the Royal Coat of Arms. If it looks too new to be a few hundred years old to you, you're right. (I thought so, but the old one is in an airtight display inside.)




In case anyone wanted a closer shot of the man in tights:

I was pleased that he did not try to talk to me in a fake old world Spanish accent. I was a little disappointed that he seemed to be the only one in period costume that day though. I was hoping to see some pirate costumes and corsets but no such luck.


No alligators or monsters in this moat.

This is the view once you cross the drawbridge and walk through the entrance. I was told by an old man on a bench that originally, the courtyard would not have St. Augustine grass growing inside it because the soldiers who manned this fort would not have had time to babysit such needy grass or be concerned about making it pretty. I already knew that since I have an IQ of at least over .01 but I did not feel like a smartass so I just smiled.

I don't remember the historical importance of this particular cannon.

My friend Dee always has the Home and Garden Channel on when I come over. Those decorating show hostesses are always talking about patina, patina, what wonderful patina. They're all obsessed with patina. Well here you go. Is that enough patina for you?

How could something designed to cause harm be so beautiful?

Imagine how close to the cannon I had to get to take the above picture. I sort of got in trouble. One of the workers there told me to stop stepping over the rope....oops.

There were about 5 or 6 rooms(what is the correct word for these places? rooms? chambers? suites? I don't know) available for exploration and with the exception of the soldiers' quarters where there were about 10 screaming babies, I pretty much had the place to myself. They all pretty much looked like this one. If you look closely at the wall, there is what appears to be the faded coat of arms on it.

There were a couple rooms that were kinda scary but you'll have to check back for them....

(Oh and we haven't got to the photos I took from the upper level so, you know, come back if you want to see them k?)

Yeah

This is probably a man's worst nightmare. At the same time, there are probably a few out there who are thinking it's a dream come true. Who wants to book their ticket today?