day 5 Marco Island
6:30 am and no one on the beach....but me. there was a beautiful stream of pink in the early morning sky
on the way back from the walk, this Italian guy caught a small shark. a little
German girl wanted her picture taken with it
(his shirt says "born to fish")
most of today we spent just lying on the beach...getting lots of sun, reading, and enjoying the great views
Becky's kids packing to go home ....Heather on the left and Brock and Jen on the right
Becky's sister and family arrived and we're all ending the evening at a Tiki bar
day 6 Marco Island
6 am.....the beautiful start to another day
the photo on the left is of a protected bird nesting ground...more birds on the right
a group of pelicans gathering to eat breakfast
the end of the island...WOW! what a surprise. as i was hiking down the beach, it just stopped and the water began.
it was amazing! so i continued to walk...then wade..up to my above my knees and across to another small island. after exploring
the little island, i turned around to go back and took this photo. what a gift to see this sight
I love watching pelicans. this one was right on the path at the beach and seemed to be
posing for me
so we all decided to go on a guided wave runner tour through the 10,000 islands and look
for manatees and dolphins. we only saw the backs of manatees but we did see dolphins...
however, this was the only photo I shot (it's underwater swimming under our wave runner)
the ride was really bumpy sometimes, the scenery great, but I knew I was in for adventure when Danny started
lagging behind everyone else and mentioned to me there was no one behind us...
then when he turned to me and said "are you ready?"
it was suddenly like i was on a bucking bronco; holding on to the back of his life vest with one arm
and the handhold on the wave runner with the other...as he pushed the speed to 48 mph, I held on tight.
we were both covered in salt water, and when my head finally quit bobbing
I looked up at him, he had a great big smile on his face
after showering the salt away, we went out to dinner in a neighboring town - Isles of Capri
the food was the best we'd had while here...Danny and I shared, lobster fingers, and coconut shrimp.
we also had black bean soup and seafood chowder...and wonderful homemade sangrias
we put the top down and cruised back to Marco Island....with a brief stop at Starbucks
cool sand sculpture!
the day ended with a really long walk....Danny and I hiked back to the end of island (where I'd hiked this morning)
it's about a 7 mile round trip, and it was getting dark by the time we got there.
the sky was cloudy tonight (the first time since we've been here), so everything got dark quickly
while it would have been better to see it earlier when there was more day light, we had a great time getting there
(Danny was cracking one hilarious joke after another so I just belly laughed most of the way) and it
was still very cool seeing the end of the island; a wonderful way to end our stay on Marco Island
day 7 back to Orlando
our time at Marco Island came to an end, but we left with such good memories, hugs all around and big smiles on our faces;
we were heading back to visit with Sara in Orlando...and that's wonderful
you never know what you'll see at a Florida rest stop
the rain followed us back to Orlando, so the three of us went to see the new "Pirates" movie,
then out for coffee
the forecast is for rain (we'll see), so we decided to do a "Lord of the Rings"
marathon and started tonight (the three of us are really good a marathons)
day 8 Orlando
we lunched in Thornton Park, a really cool neighborhood, and enjoyed really great
food at a place called "Dexters"
the sun came out, so we took off to Universal Studios to see "City Walk"....a bunch of stores, restaurants and clubs...
Sara and her friends party and have fun on the rides here often
we couldn't resist having a margarita here
Sara had plans with her fellow interns, so Danny and I went to the only
microbrewery in the city....it's clever name is.....Orlando Brewing Company.
we tried the sampler....they were all good.
the brewery didn't serve food, so Danny and I downtown to a Mexican restaurant Sara had told us about.
we placed our order and headed to eat outside and I heard someone say "hey, there's my Mom"...it was Sara.
they joined us for dinner, then we went our separate ways...Danny and I back to the apartment to watch another episode
of "Lord of the Rings" and Sara continued on with her friends
day 9 Orlando...our last day
Sara and Danny watched more "LOTR " and I took advantage of the sun to hang out by Sara's
pool and read. we went to lunch, and then for one last visit at the Starbucks nearest to the apartment...it's in the mall.
Danny and I are now getting ready to board our flight back to Kansas. it's been a great trip; so much
fun time spent with Mike and Becky and their family and the best to see Sara and spend time with her.
we're relaxed, tan, wind-blown (we had the top down a lot!) and very happy
we're not the only ones traveling this summer, Lucas is coming to Kansas on the 6th and will be here
for a week...and we can't wait to see him!
Danny's brother and his wife will be in town for a visit on the 20th.
My next adventure will start the last week of June and over into July….