Back to the West 2014

[ArwenMarie]

Yay a trip report inside a trip report! Love the pictures so far. Just gorgeous. Wish I was there right now.

Will you be covering your MK day as well?

 

[rdkeim]

I've followed your TR's for quite a while and always enjoy them! I've been to WDW many times and to DLR 2 times but I have to say I'm now partial to DLR. My sister and I are planning a Disney trip early next year and I'm trying to talk her into heading West. Your daughter is a real beauty - waiting to see if you get her in costume this trip although I'm sure that has changed as she's gotten older. Looking forward to more installments!

 

[mom2rtk]

I think it may have been past WDW July trips... My DD's name is Midori... maybe this will help.

Sorry, but I still can't recall. And we have done a couple one day stops in the MK in June, but not July.

Great pictures! Looks like fun family memories.

Thanks PiO! It was.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yay a trip report inside a trip report! Love the pictures so far. Just gorgeous. Wish I was there right now.

Will you be covering your MK day as well?

Thanks ArwenMarie! Yes, I'll be including our stop at Disney.

I've followed your TR's for quite a while and always enjoy them! I've been to WDW many times and to DLR 2 times but I have to say I'm now partial to DLR. My sister and I are planning a Disney trip early next year and I'm trying to talk her into heading West. Your daughter is a real beauty - waiting to see if you get her in costume this trip although I'm sure that has changed as she's gotten older. Looking forward to more installments!

rekeim!

Thank you for the kind words. We really have become partial to DLR as well. But it was still nice to get back and see our Magic Kingdom again.

 

[missangelalexis]

Great photos! I laughed at the progression of Timmy going from smug to in the bushes!

So awesome that you were able to track down Robbie's photo in one of the boxes!

Such a sweet photo of Katie and Robbie spending time together!

 

[mvf-m11c]

The 1.4 extender didn't make a huge difference, but I welcomed every bit of extra length I could get. That loss of the crop factor was one of my hesitations when going full frame. I'm used to having a little more reach. I think next time I would rent the 70-300 lens if it's in stock (it wasn't). I'm always just a little too slow to pull the trigger on stuff and I missed out. I thought I'd miss the one stop of light, but it was sunny enough it really wasn't a problem. I'm not sure what I'd think of losing 2 stops if I got the 2x extender though.

I understand what you mean. With the 1.4x extender that you used that you only lose one stop where the 2x extender you lose 2 stops. You did say before that if you have the 2.8 you won't lose much stop even with the extender attached to the camera.

 

[mom2rtk]

Great photos! I laughed at the progression of Timmy going from smug to in the bushes!

So awesome that you were able to track down Robbie's photo in one of the boxes!

Such a sweet photo of Katie and Robbie spending time together!

Yeah, I enjoyed seeing Timmy transformed from smug to ...... less than smug. The Bay is only 3-4 feet deep so not dangerous, although he did cut his foot on something trying to climb back in, probably one of the mangrove roots.

And it made me smile to find Katie and Robbie enjoying some quiet time together inspecting shells. It was a nice moment.

I understand what you mean. With the 1.4x extender that you used that you only lose one stop where the 2x extender you lose 2 stops. You did say before that if you have the 2.8 you won't lose much stop even with the extender attached to the camera.

That's right. So losing 1 stop off of an f/4 is one thing. Losing 2 stops makes me stop and wonder. I would worry about it less if I was strong enough to cart around a 2.8 zoom all day. I'm still too sold on the size and weight of that f/4 zoom in comparison.

 

[mom2rtk]

Saturday May 30, 2015: Continued

Although we had a solid week on the island, our experience being there during a tropical storm in 2013 taught us to make the most of nice weather since you never know what's around the corner. So we scheduled a fishing excursion out onto Tarpon Bay for our second day on the island. We have done these several times before and everyone loves them. OK, I like them, and everyone else loves them. I sometimes throw a line in, but really I'm there to see wildlife and interesting things to photograph. I usually let our captain know, and they try to find areas to spy interesting wildlife. We did see a one manatee this time, but not a while lot else. The interesting part of this trip would be what we actually caught.

IMG_3029 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Timmy scores the first catch of the day! It wasn't very big, but he was happy to get the first catch. We just catch and release, so no cleaning or cooking to worry about later.

IMG_3030 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Katie got the next one, a much bigger catch. Our guide identified them all for us, but I honestly can't remember.

IMG_3036 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Pretty soon Robbie reeled in the most interesting catch we've ever had..... a young Blacktip Shark. What a shock! He just caught him on the mouth and our guide got the unenviable task of removing the hook. Unfortunately he didn't do wo without coming away with a shark bite story to share around the water cooler.

IMG_3047 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Catch of the Day by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Unfortunately after the guide got snagged, Robbie wanted no part of posing with the shark himself before we threw him back in. Still, he came home with a great story to tell about the time he caught a shark in Tarpon Bay.

IMG_3059 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Soon it was Drew's turn for a catch:

IMG_3076 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


Katie inspecting her next catch:
Sizing Up Her Catch by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Drew's next catch got runner up in the "most interesting" category that day......he got a Blowfish:

IMG_3087 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Robbie's next catch was slightly smaller than his first. He actually then tried to use it as bait for a while, but gave up and went back to shrimp:

IMG_3097 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_3106 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Next most interesting also went to Drew when he caught this Needlenose fish:

IMG_3124 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

The local Cormorans like to follow the boats around looking for throw-backs. It's exactly what I'd do if I were a Cormoran. This one decided to fight us for one before we could even reel it in though.


IMG_3140 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_3157 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Poor Timmy had the worst luck of the entire group. The fish were out there. They just kept stealing his bait. He'd cast over. And over. And over. And he kept pulling back and empty line. Finally he got one:

IMG_3171 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

It was a hot morning out on the water, but everyone had a great time as always.

IMG_3187 by mom2rtk, on Flickr



After lunch, we decided to take a drive through the Ding Darling Nature Reserve. It is adjacent to Tarpon Bay.

The kids stayed back at the resort to beachcomb and swim. I love that we are finally at an age that I'm comfortable leaving the kids at the room and feel they are safe around the water with no lifeguard.

Driving through Ding Darling has always been part of our trips. We were disappointed to find it closed on our 2013 trip though so they could repave the road. So I was all ready to spot some gators or other fascinating wildlife. First trip through..... a near total bust. Just a few birds.

IMG_3192 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_3201 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_3220 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

We swam in the pool after dinner and watched some crazy cool clouds roll in around sunset. It looked like the skies would unload at any moment, but I don't think it ever really did. It mostly stayed offshore.

Storm over the Gulf by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Storm Over the Gulf by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[ArwenMarie]

Great fishing trip!

I like those stormy pictures, very cool.

 

[PrincessInOz]

What amazing fish you caught!

Love the storm approaching.

 

[alrushton]

Over the last week I have read ALL your trip reports. If you think Katie grew up fast imagine how she shot up in a week. Lol Great TR!!!

 

[kateandy08096]

Awesome TR!! Im heading to Sanibel Island in Oct and DL in March so it was great reading your TR and getting excited to visit

 

[petals]

Great fishing trip.. I think i'd only be there for the photos as well though lol

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice fishing trip. It must have been fun to catch all those different kinds of fish and a shark.

Great pictures of the storm.

 

[missangelalexis]

Some interesting fish caught! The shark looks so cool (minus your poor guide getting bit). Love the blowfish as well.

Beautiful pictures of the stormy clouds!

 

[jenseib]

Loving all the fishing pictures. I still can't believe that shark bit the guide.
You caught so many interesting fish too.
That bird is crazy trying to take the fish as you reel it in.

 

[Sydnerella]

Thank you for the lovely trip report. It is such a relaxing treat to enjoy your amazing photos, Disney and family stories and glimpse into my future of teens and college kids! I have been too busy for the DIS lately and have just found (taken!) time recently to come back. Thank you for helping me get my Disney fix - a much needed relaxing and fun break from this busy life I have had in 2015!

Sanibel looks great and I love seeing all the wildlife you get to shoot -even if there was not as much as you wanted!

 

[mom2rtk]

Hey everyone!

Sorry life got busy and I got behind again. I spent all day yesterday editing photos from our summer trip and hope to finish that one up fairly quickly.

Great fishing trip!

I like those stormy pictures, very cool.

Thanks ArwenMarie!

The fishing was fun, even though I didn't pick up a rod! I love getting out on the bay looking for wildlife. And the family loves competing to see who can get the most fish!

What amazing fish you caught!

Love the storm approaching.

Well, in all fairness, I didn't catch any fish! LOL. But the rest of the group really reeled in a great variety this time.

And that storm was so beautiful. I loved the colors.

Over the last week I have read ALL your trip reports. If you think Katie grew up fast imagine how she shot up in a week. Lol Great TR!!!

Hey alrushton!

So glad you found us. That's a lot of reading!

LOL on how fast she grew up. It's like you just saw her Disney life in fast forward!

Thanks for reading along. Lots more to come here still.

Awesome TR!! Im heading to Sanibel Island in Oct and DL in March so it was great reading your TR and getting excited to visit

Sanibel in October sounds awesome! We mostly go in June, but have been in March and December. October sounds great. I love it even more outside the extreme heat of the summer.

Lots of DLR pics to follow still. Thanks for reading along!

Congrats on the honeymoon!

 

[mom2rtk]

Great fishing trip.. I think i'd only be there for the photos as well though lol

LOL, yep. That's me. Just there for the photos. In recent trips I have thrown a line in long enough to catch one fish, but honestly holding the camera is just more fun to me.

Very nice fishing trip. It must have been fun to catch all those different kinds of fish and a shark.

Great pictures of the storm.

Thanks Bret! We've done this on several trips and this was by far the best variety of fish we have caught. It was fun each time someone caught someone to see just what they reeled in.

The storm was very cool. I'm sort of a weather junkie anyway, so seeing such colorful clouds out over the Gulf was great.

Some interesting fish caught! The shark looks so cool (minus your poor guide getting bit). Love the blowfish as well.

Beautiful pictures of the stormy clouds!

Thanks Alexis!

I did feel bad for our guide. But I suppose that's part of the job. And I imagine he'll enjoy having that story to tell for a while. I'm sure after a few years he'll be talking about the time he fought off a Great White in Tarpon Bay and saved the tourist family from Missouri.

Loving all the fishing pictures. I still can't believe that shark bit the guide.
You caught so many interesting fish too.
That bird is crazy trying to take the fish as you reel it in.

Those Cormorans were crazy. They apparently know a good gig when they see it though. And those fishing boats are pretty much it.

We were back there the next day and saw a bulletin board in the shop with brag photos showing people with their various big catches. I joked that if we had gotten a photo of Robbie WITH the shark we could put it up there. The person at the register had already heard the story and asked if we were the ones out with Captain Dan the day before. So the story telling had already started.

Thank you for the lovely trip report. It is such a relaxing treat to enjoy your amazing photos, Disney and family stories and glimpse into my future of teens and college kids! I have been too busy for the DIS lately and have just found (taken!) time recently to come back. Thank you for helping me get my Disney fix - a much needed relaxing and fun break from this busy life I have had in 2015!

Sanibel looks great and I love seeing all the wildlife you get to shoot -even if there was not as much as you wanted!

So how good is YOUR timing? You showed up just as I was ready to get going again!

I'm so glad you're back. I've always enjoyed your posts. As you might imagine, I know exactly how you feel with things being so busy this year.

And not to worry about not seeing much wildlife. We decided to take matters into our own hands and make sure we saw plenty.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sunday May 31, 2015:

No sunrise shots this morning. But Katie did walk down to the beach with me around 9. We walked the beach a bit and hunted for shells. Later in the morning we decided to make another run through the Ding Darling Nature Reserve. The kids stayed back again at the resort, but Drew and I both love the thrill of the gator hunt, so off we went.

We chatted with the person in the guard shack on our way in. We asked if there had been many gator sightings, and she proceeded to tell us about how she had seen a big one come across the parking lot a couple times in recent weeks, late in the afternoon. She talked our ears off with details when we stopped her to ask if there had been any interesting sightings that morning. She said, sure, there's a pod of manatee right up there mating. And there we had been chatting about her gator sightings several weeks ago! So off we went and were treated to one of the more unusual sights of the trip. Usually the manatee will just occasionally break the surface of the water for air then disappear right away. Apparently that's not the case when mating.

IMG_3308 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

At one stop, there was a wooden walkway out through the mangroves to the bay. Down in the mangrove roots were tons of these spidery looking crabs:

IMG_3405 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

We have always seen a good number of horseshoe crabs along the edges of the bay and found some again on this trip:

IMG_3437 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

We found a few birds, but no gators on this trip through:

IMG_3413 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_3442 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

I'm sorry to say that's all the photos I had from that day. It's so unlike me.