Back to the West 2014

[mom2rtk]

Monday June 1, 2015:

So I can't remember the last time we saw gators in Ding Darling. So I decided this time we weren't going to leave things up to chance. We decided to go find the gators. No, we didn't go offroad at Ding Darling. Instead we made reservations for an airboat ride. I had done one of these many years ago when I was in Miami on a training trip for work. I was really looking forward to trying it again. Unfortunately not everyone was as excited about giving this a try as Drew and I were. Timmy and Katie decided to sleep in that morning so Timmy became an only child for the morning.

Sanibel isn't really close to the Everglades so we decided to try "Airboats and Alligators" at Lake Trafford. I think it was about an hour and 15 minutes from our resort. It had gotten really good reviews online. We scheduled for 9 AM, hoping to avoid being out in the worst heat of the day.

I was up for sunrise and took a walk down to the beach before we left.

The clouds were interesting, but not as menacing as they were a couple nights earlier.

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Some flowers on the grounds of the resort:

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It was a pretty small outfit, looking almost like it was out behind someone's house. But we loved our guide and were not the least bit disappointed in the experience. It was clear our guide knew what he was doing and knew where to find the best wildlife.

Did I mention wanting to see gators? Well, we saw gators. LOTS of gators. I should have counted but there had to have been dozens of them.

I was very happy we took an early time as it was just us and the guide, so it felt like a personal tour.

I'm not a big bird person. But this outing almost turned me into one. There was just something about seeing these beautiful birds out on the water that made a bird lover out of me, even if was just for the day.


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[mom2rtk]

Monday June 1, 2015 Continued:

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And my favorite gator sighting from the trip. This guy really posed for us!

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Great Egret Taking Flight by mom2rtk, on Flickr

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Maybe we're just easily amused, but on the way back, we enjoyed seeing these signs along the road. Definitely not something we would see in Missouri.

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We stopped at Bob Evans for lunch and headed back to the island. The rest of the day was spent playing on the beach and in the pool.

I was treated to a visit by one of the Sanibel Osprey when I walked down to the beach:

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Time for a sand castle. Or sand pit. I never did figure out which.

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That evening I set out to take a family photo on the beach like I have done on any trip to Sanibel when we are all along. I won't post the results as I ended up redoing them a couple nights later. Not sure what I did, but some of my settings were off and the shots were not as sharp as I liked. I did talk Robbie into a couple shots in his graduation cap to signify the fact that the trip was about celebrating his graduation. They will be nice additions to my scrapbook from the trip.

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One of the occupied shells Timmy picked up (and threw back) that evening:

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[PrincessInOz]

What amazing bird and gator shots you got! Beautiful. I love the bird in flights. Really cool.

Aww. Fantastic pictures of T celebrating his graduation at the beach. That will be wonderful happy memories to come in the future.

 

[mom2rtk]

Tuesday June 2, 2015:

I finally decided to suck it up and set my alarm crazy early so I could be down at the lighthouse for sunrise. I love doing things like this, but yes, sometimes it hurts to set the alarm that early. Not surprisingly, I offered the night before to wake up anyone who wanted to come with me, but nobody took me up on it. Shocking, huh?

It's daunting do drive down in the dark, get out in the dark, and walk out onto the beach...... in the dark. It's even more daunting when you get there and realize it's high tide and you can't get where you want. So I walked on the road to the lighthouse and found my way out onto the stretch of beach I could still access.

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On the other side of the lighthouse pier, these birds were lined up like they were waiting for something. Maybe they were sun worshippers? Or maybe they were waiting for the fishermen to arrive and attract the some breakfast for them.


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It was a busy morning on the beach. There was one couple there with a minister of some sort being married at sunrise. There was another group there having professional photos done. It really is a very picturesque location.

Before this trip, I decided I needed to find at least one new photographic opportunity on the island. That's hard given the number of times we have visited. My mind kept going back to the Causeway Bridge. It's the iconic entry point to the island and I found myself wondering how it would look at sunrise. The sun was already up, but still low in the sky, so I drove out to give it a try.

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Our plan for this day was to drive out to Captiva and ride jet skis. We didn't really understand how involved that would be for the boys. At age 20 and 22, they would have to study a manual and pass a boating exam to be licensed to drive one. Timmy did just that, but Robbie decided to pass on operating one since he didn't feel like studying for an exam right after finishing finals at school. So Drew and Timmy would drive, and Robbie and Katie would be the passengers. I wanted to photograph them from the beach.

After all that time studying, taking the test and getting geared up for the experience, out they went.


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Then just as soon as the cleared the buoy and could pick up speed, the staff from the rental place saw lightning on the horizon and called them back into shore. What a tease! They were out less than 5 minutes. They said to check back later in the day to see if they were able to get back out there or come back the next day. We headed back to Sanibel and had lunch at Island Pizza. Timmy loves playing the Galaga arcade game there, and not surprisingly, it was still there. I love that so little changes on the island over time, right down to the arcade game in the pizza joint.

We called after lunch and were told the weather was too threatening and they had closed for the day.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Beautiful pictures as always. I love the ones of Robbie in his graduation cap on the beach. Really neat. And the one with him and his dad down by the water is precious.

 

[missangelalexis]

Beautiful sunrise photos!! And I love all the photos of the gators. Sorry that the jet-skiing didn't work out that day, hopefully you all were able to go the following day!

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

The pictures are really great. I really wish I had that artistic eye that you obviously have. I really don't think my iPhone photography would have done any of those shots justice!

 

[mom2rtk]

Wednesday June 3, 2015 Continued:

OK, it was a new day so time for a new try at the jet skis. So back out to Captiva we went. It's not a short drive, but it's a beautiful drive at least. The skies were clear so they had no issue getting back out onto the water.

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It didn't take long for them to clear the markers and finally be able to throttle up.

One issue I had with my switch to a full frame camera is the loss of reach with some of my lenses. Full frame cameras have larger sensors (resulting in better image quality) but the same lens give less reach.

These shots are pretty severe crops:

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They had waterproof timers on the jet skis to let them know when the time was up and it was time to come in. I wish Robbie had taken the test and gotten to drive for himself, but he said he had fun. Drew says he nosed out Timmy getting the jet ski up to 49 mph, while Timmy reported hitting 47. They were all winners though as they had a ball. It's definitely something they would like to try again.

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After sitting to dry for a bit, we stopped to pick up some fried chicken and ate at our next stop, Tarpon Bay Explorers. Timmy had really enjoyed the kayaking (spill and all!) and wanted to go out again. Nobody else wanted to join him, so we all enjoyed our lunch at the picnic table there and left him behind for some solo exploring.

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If he spilled the kayak over again this trip, he wasn't talking.

On our way out, we heard, then saw, this amazing woodpecker on the power poles:

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We love the shops on Sanibel and love going back to our favorites each time we visit. Robbie is usually not a shopper. At all. So it surprised me that he really wanted to buy some shells at our favorite shop on the island "She Sells Seashells". He spent a lot of time just scouring all the interesting shells there, and finally came up with a small basket full of what he wanted.

Back and the resort later, Timmy and Drew played some tennis:

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Timmy played for the school tennis team his junior and senior years so he knows his way around the tennis court. Still, Drew loves to beat his kids at stuff, so he keeps trying. I think he did beat him this time, although Timmy did mutter something about some questionable calls........

After dinner that night, I dragged everyone back out to the lighthouse beach to try my family photos again. Thankfully I got the settings right this time and was very happy with the results. As a bonus, some dramatic clouds came along for the ride this time:

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The shelling didn't seem that interesting at the lighthouse pier that night, so everyone wanted to go back and try the beach by our resort. I wanted to shoot the sunset at the pier, so I took them back and headed back to the pier. (It's not very far).

As I walked up to the pier, I heard, then saw, one of the Sanibel Osprey putting on quite show on the power lines above. This guy was perched there, holding a fish in one claw. He kept flapping his wings, but stayed there for an extended period of time. He stayed so long, and I enjoyed watching him so much, that I almost missed the spectacular sunset completely.

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Sunset at the Pier by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[mom2rtk]

What amazing bird and gator shots you got! Beautiful. I love the bird in flights. Really cool.

Aww. Fantastic pictures of T celebrating his graduation at the beach. That will be wonderful happy memories to come in the future.

Thanks PiO! The flying bird shots were some of my favorites from the entire trip.

I did some similar shots of Timmy when he graduated high school a couple years ago. Now I just need some of Katie. I imagine she'll be a more eager subject.

Beautiful pictures as always. I love the ones of Robbie in his graduation cap on the beach. Really neat. And the one with him and his dad down by the water is precious.

Thanks ArwenMarie. I love sneaking in those shots from behind when they aren't looking.

Beautiful sunrise photos!! And I love all the photos of the gators. Sorry that the jet-skiing didn't work out that day, hopefully you all were able to go the following day!

Thanks Alexis! The gators at Lake Trafford were awesome. I definitely got my gator fix on this trip.

We did learn our lesson that any outdoor activity is best done early in your stay in case the weather requires you to return another day.

The pictures are really great. I really wish I had that artistic eye that you obviously have. I really don't think my iPhone photography would have done any of those shots justice!

Thanks so much. There are some real artists out there with a cell phone camera. I'm just not one of them. I require at least 5 pounds of camera gear to get the shots I want.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Beautiful!

 

[missangelalexis]

Glad they were able to get on the jet skis the next day! And that Timmy got to go kayaking again!

Wow what a great picture of the woodpecker.

Love the family photos and the color theme

Gorgeous sunset shots!

 

[PHXscuba]

Great photos! I would love to visit south Florida again sometime. We've done the Everglades airboats before a cruise, and spent time in Key Largo, but never the Gulf side.

PHXscuba

 

[socrateze]

Love all of your pictures. Just fabulous. Here's a bit of trivia: Horseshoe crab blood is used to make chemotherapy drugs. It's clear dark blue. The crabs donate blood at set intervals and then are set free again. Interesting and heavily regulated.

 

[mom2rtk]

Beautiful!

Thanks Tina!

Glad they were able to get on the jet skis the next day! And that Timmy got to go kayaking again!

Wow what a great picture of the woodpecker.

Love the family photos and the color theme

Gorgeous sunset shots!

Thanks Alexis! The woodpecker was really cool. I found a couple more of them on a tree out in front of a gift shop later that day, but they escaped before I could get a shot off. I was hoping for a shot without all the electrical lines, but I'm happy I at least got that.

Great photos! I would love to visit south Florida again sometime. We've done the Everglades airboats before a cruise, and spent time in Key Largo, but never the Gulf side.

PHXscuba

The Gulf side is amazing. Definitely try to get there one day. And I really hope to get back to the Everglades again...... although that Lake is going to be hard to beat.

Love all of your pictures. Just fabulous. Here's a bit of trivia: Horseshoe crab blood is used to make chemotherapy drugs. It's clear dark blue. The crabs donate blood at set intervals and then are set free again. Interesting and heavily regulated.

LOVE the Horseshoe Crab trivia! Who knew? I'll amaze the kids with this interesting tidbit sometime. But here's the part I want to know......... how did they discover that it was effective for chemotherapy?

 

[socrateze]

But here's the part I want to know......... how did they discover that it was effective for chemotherapy?

Heck if I know. There are marine and plant biologists who are always harvesting material for medicines. It's always amazing.

 

[mom2rtk]

Thursday June 5, 2015:

This was our last full day in Sanibel. I didn't plan on watching sunrise again, but when I woke up about a half hour before sunrise, I knew I might not get back to sleep and decided to go out one more time. I gathered up my gear and tried to quietly head out the door. Like the other days I have gone out alone, there were just a couple other people out on the beach.

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There wasn't a cloud in the sky this time. Not that it matters. It's beautiful there, clouds or no.

For the third morning in a row we were headed back out to Captiva. Drew and Timmy had parasailed on our last trip, and Katie wanted to give it a try this time. I thought about going, but I love photographing interesting things and didn't want to miss my shots so opted to just ride along and shoot it.

We went to the same place we used in 2013. That year Katie and I both just rode along in the boat and watched. We had entered our boat from a dock, so since we were going back to the same place this year, I assumed it would be the same. So I dressed in shorts like I had before. Then they directed us out to the beach side of the island. It didn't even occur to me what that meant for boarding the boat. I knew they didn't have docks on that side of the island but I just didn't put 2 and 2 together. When we got out to the beach is when I looked down at my camera bag, and the boat sitting a few feet offshore and went "oops". They turned the boat and I was able to hand my camera bag up on to the boat safely. But I got the distinct privilege of wading out into the water in my clothes. Not the end of the world.

They all enjoyed their ride, even said they were able to see a shark and a sea turtle in the water below. I sent my waterproof camera up with Drew, but he didn't get much.

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When they were done, they pronounced it a great success and off we went to sit for a while in the shade and dry off. Long about then is when I decided I would peek at my phone and check my email. That's when I reached for my back pocket out of habit......and found my phone still in my pocket. I had gotten so focused on taking care of my camera equipment, and taking everything out of my front pockets (like the rental van keys) that I completely spaced on the phone in my back pocket. And it did indeed get a thorough dunking....... twice. Oy.

Someone with a nice cell phone might have been really upset about this development. But I had a pretty old phone I was not really attached to anyway. Thankfully I even had a spare phone along for Robbie (who doesn't have or want a smart phone) to use as a wireless device on the plane. So I pressed it back into service. Unfortunately it was even older and slower than my other phone, but it got me through (and I took it as a sign from the heavens to finally get a decent phone of my own when we got home). We stopped for rice on the way back to the condo, but even after a week in rice, it never recovered.

Over our various drives to and from Captiva on this trip, we noticed a lot of people shelling one particular beach along the way. We finally figured out it was the area known as "Blind Pass" I had heard the clerk at "She Sells Seashells" the day before. So we decided to stop and check things out. I've never seen so many shells in my life. It hurt to walk the beach because instead of sand it was just piles and piles of shells. Drew decided he wanted to come back later at low tide.

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Then we headed back to the condo to rest up for the afternoon.

 

[missangelalexis]

Great pics of the family parasailing, looks like they're having lots of fun!

Oh no! Sorry to hear about your phone, but glad you had backup.

Wow so many shells!

 

[mom2rtk]

Thursday June 4, 2015 Continued:

Back at the room I took photos of the shells everyone had collected on the beach. Most of these were Robbie's, as he perfected a technique of digging down into the sand for his treasures.

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Drew and I decided we needed one more drive through Ding Darling. Nobody wanted to come along, so they all missed out on our first gator sighting there in many years. About half way through the drive, we saw a couple outside their car pointing at the water near the road and there he was, just feet from the bank:

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Sanibel works hard to safeguard the gopher tortoise population on the island. We actually did see several of them crossing the roads this time.

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On our way back out later that day, I stopped to update one of my regular photo ops. I take this shot every trip, but this is my earliest digital one:

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We opted to stop for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It's funny but we thought we were trying something new, but when we got inside and saw the paper and crayons on the tables, it dawned on us that we had eaten there before. No idea when, but the kids still loved the drawing paper tablecloths.

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From there, it was back to Blind Pass since it was closer to low tide, which is better for shelling. I loved that it was close to sunset.

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[mom2rtk]

Heck if I know. There are marine and plant biologists who are always harvesting material for medicines. It's always amazing.

That's ok. But can you tell me if the crabs get a cookie and some OJ after donating?

Great pics of the family parasailing, looks like they're having lots of fun!

Oh no! Sorry to hear about your phone, but glad you had backup.

Wow so many shells!

Sanibel is said to be the 3rd best shelling location in the world. I imagine it's because of the way it sticks out into the gulf.

The phone thing was still a big pain. The replacement was a back-up for a reason. I finally just got a new (well new to me) phone last week. I was very happy to retire the backup phone.

 

[czmom]

Gorgeous pictures Janet!! Looking forward to your day at MK