Sanibel Island, Florida

We got an early start yesterday on our trek to Sanibel Island. We'd read that parking can sometimes be a problem, and so we decided to beat the crowd. We were glad we did because as we were leaving, the entire population of the rest of the world was driving in...or so it appeared. We stopped off for breakfast and got our beloved Egg McMuffin, and then headed out toward the causeway connecting Sanibel Island to mainland Florida.

At the toll booth, they extracted $6 from our collective wallet.

But what a fancy causeway! And what beautiful scenery!

In the center is a little island, which has been turned into a park. We saw folks there fishing and windsurfing.

We noticed the sign for the visitor's center, and so we stopped in.

What a happy little structure!

This was the sign at the front door.

The folks in there were so nice. They gave us a map and a few pointers about parking and shelling. On the way out, I snapped this picture of a coconut tree. You can see some ripe ones hanging down toward the bottom of the image.

You can also see some green ones hanging higher up where the fronds meet the trunk. When I lived in Hawaii, we used to pick up the brown ones from the street, pry the husks off with a big screwdriver, poke holes in their little "eyes" and drink the milk, then throw the "nut" on the pavement to break it open. I'm telling you coconut has never tasted so creamy and sweet as it does from a freshly cracked nut.

Also, this pretty bougainvillea. We can't grow these in Oregon. It's one of the things I miss most about warmer climates...also, lime and lemon trees. Oh well. We can grow cherries and that's pretty good too.

My friend Gail informed me there was a quilt shop on the island, and so I looked it up. As it happens is was right on our way, and so we stopped off there first. Wow! What a find! I'll tell you about that in a separate post.

Then, we were off to Bowman's Beach. We'd been informed it had the largest parking lot for the smallest crowds. We happened to be there at high tide, and so we wondered how good the shelling would be. It was a bit of a hike from the parking lot to the beach. We crossed over this bridge.

And this lagoon.

There was a canoe and kayak launch, and we saw some folks kayaking. They were singing 100 Bottles of Beer on the wall.

Even after the bridge, there was still a bit of a walk.

Eventually, we came to the opening, and there it was: The Gulf of Mexico. Our first view of it this trip.

And oh my gosh! The shells. Any worries we had about the tide disappeared. It was fun to just scoop them up in my hands.

Mike was much more into the stooping and searching than I was. You can see behind him a long swath of shells about six feet wide, extending down the beach and out of sight. Digging down, they were several inches deep.

This was Mike's haul...small, but satisfying.

We saw evidence of our feathered friends.

And just enjoyed looking at them. We felt like cretins stepping on the shells, but it was hard not to.

The image above is going into my Sketchbook. My one word for this One Word Wonder is "Plentiful."

After a while, we just sat down in the sand and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the scenery.

On the way back to the truck, I noticed these little sunflowers blooming among the mangroves.

Here you can see the leaves of the mangroves against the backdrop of the cross-hatched trunks of palm trees.

From there, we drove to the other end of the island to see the Sanibel Lighthouse. Here, the hoards had moved in and we could find no parking. We just drove down to the lighthouse and stopped in the middle of the road. I opened the door, stepped out onto the running board, and snapped this picture.

Then we drove around the loop turn-around where we paused once again. I hopped out and snapped this sign with some information about the lighthouse. Then I climbed back into the truck, and we sped away...like bank robbers, having stolen a picture.

From there, we headed back to the RV. We've been seeing these signs since our last stop in Georgia, but we haven't seen any tortoises.

As we crossed back over the causeway, I looked back to see the lighthouse.

When we got back to the RV, Smitty got out for his walk.

We're always on the lookout for alliwoofies, here in Florida.

This morning we're moving a little slower. Our plan is to visit Lee County Manatee Park nearby. Our tour book tells us that there are observation platforms on a canal where manatees sometimes congregate. There is a boardwalk and trail system that winds through native plant habitats and a butterfly garden. There's also a recorded message that tells us it's unlikely we'll see manatees right now, but I question how current the message is. In any case, we can do some hiking and see some butterflies, and that's good enough. If we get to see manatees it will be a bonus. Fingers crossed.

There are several fresh seafood markets close to the RV park, and so we're planning to stop off and get some fresh clams for dinner tonight. We'll have a quiet New Year's Eve. Whatever you have planned, be safe, my dear friends. And Happy New Year.

Make a lot of quilts in 2018, okay?