Out of the cold

Dear family,friends and followers,
Since I last wrote, we have left the bitter cold and white, snowy scenery of Connecticut, and moved on to Florida. Despite the cold, we did manage to stay warm and cozy with my mother-in-law, Dorothy. We had wonderful evenings, watching slide shows and home movies, playing cards and board games. We celebrated Rick's birthday, and found a contra dance in Mystic,Connecticut, which was a great treat. We managed to sneak out of the Providence airport between the storms and closures to arrive in Springhill, Florida where Rick's brother, John, and Vicki live. John took us to the Homosassa Wildlife Refuge where I saw my first manatees(sea cows) and the birds of Florida. We then took our rental car and toured southern Florida for the next week.

Our first stop was St. Petersburg, which averages 360 days of sunshine each year. Our friends, Randy and Laurie Edwards, put us up for the night and gave us the grand tour of the Saturday Farmers Market, and the best beaches in the area. We also took a bike ride through the neighborhoods including an area with pink streets. A real pleasure was getting to hear Randy's latest CD album that will soon be released. It is an album with meaningful lyrics, bluesy, jazzy, upbeat and moving music. Definitely recommended listening. Here is the link to Randy's website for you to check out. http://www.edwardsanddodge.com/Site/Welcome.html
The next stop was Sanibel Island. Sanibel is home to the Ding Darling Wildlife Reserve. We rented bicycles and rode through the wetlands and around the island. This was an amazing chance to see a large variety of migratory birds and native vegetation. The island is also famous for some of the best seashells washing up on the shore. Our couchsurfing host brought us to a private beach for a several hours. We were able to send several boxes of shells to our grandchildren. It is finally t-shirt weather, and 80 degrees! After a very full day of biking, shelling and bird watching, we headed for Naples, so we could be near to the Everglades. We found some great vegan restaurants along the way(Loving Hut), and found the first health food store that is dedicated to carrying only 100% organic products on their shelves(Food for Thought). We met the store owner and found the store to have wonderful mission and vision statements,setting a wonderful example of sustainability. The next two days were spent in the Everglades. This national park is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the nation. It is a labyrinth of mangroves, waterways, sawgrass marsh dotted with hammocks(trees) and salt prairies. Any of the 1.5 million acres can become swamp land during the rainy season, with an elevation of only 1-8 ft above sea level. Trees and flowers are much the same as those found in Cuba and the West Indies. It is also an area that is home to 600 species of American crocodiles, alligators, snakes(including Pythons), sea turtles, manatees, and bottlenose dolphins. We biked 15 miles through the salt prairies and along the marshes with alligators within a few feet of our bikes. This area is called Shark Valley but should be called alligator valley. It was amazing to be so close to the alligators in their natural setting. I wouldn't want any wandering into my neighborhood but I now have a greater understanding of these amazing creatures. We hiked in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and saw our nephews, Brian and Joey, near Miami. Back north, we spent our last days with John and Vicki at Universal Studios in Orlando. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of Harry Potter's World and the Islands of Adventure and got to feel like kids for the day in this fantasy world.
After a short stop with our friends Larry and Sashi in San Diego, we are now on the island of Maui. Stay tuned......