Day 103-Saturday, 11 Apr 09-Daytona Beach

Photos: (1) waiting for tide to go out to set up beach chairs. (2) dolphins fishing off the beach. (3) full moon at sunset

A very quiet day for us...a busy day on the beach. I decided that I'd better give my skin a break today and even had a nap in preparation for the road trip home next week.

It was overcast and cloudy but it didn't stop the families determined to spend the day on the beach. We never listen to the weather report...we just check to see if the beach rental people are setting up umbrellas, chaise, ATVs, etc on the beach...if they are setting up, the sun will come out. They were busy getting their goods out by 8 am this morning and sure enough, the sun peaked out off and on all morning and was in full shine by lunch time.

I sat on the baloney and watched the comings and goings. The dolphins go by every morning, sometimes 2 or 3 times depending on the amount of fish. They were so close to shore this morning...even the lifeguard stood up when he saw them coming and I'd like to believe he was just curious vice checking to see if they were dolphins or sharks!! There has been a pair of Ospreys soaring the beach and one made quite a spectacular catch yesterday. There are lots of fish and often when we are swimming we will see a group of them dodging the legs of people in the water.

Sitting watching people all day has it's joys and tragedies. I love to watch the babies and small children enjoying the water. There are pools of water left behind in depressions on the sand when the tide goes out so it can be really warm. These are the places parents take the little guys to swim and play and they love it just like they love a bathtub. I'm appalled at the garbage that people leave behind. There is no lack of garbage cans which are emptied a couple of times a day but the cans, plastic bags, towels, take-out containers, chairs, etc that are left at the end of the day is awful and often goes out on the tide before it can be picked up. Dog shit is my biggest beef though and after watching people travelling with huge dogs, and often more than one, the ones who pick up after their pets are far fewer than those that don't. In the States, you aren't allowed to have animals near a pool but it doesn't stop people from walking them so close to the pool that you can smell the stuff they leave behind.

The old folks (us) took our boogie boards out yesterday and surfed the waves. Lots of fun but now I know how the real surfers feel when they have to sit and wait for that 'perfect' wave. I think I took a fair amount of skin off my knees when I'd jump on the board and only get dragged along the bottom instead of surfing the wave. It's lots of fun though.

Tonight we'll start to get stuff together and put the excess in the van in the morning. The afternoon will be given entirely to the beach, swimming, and boarding. We're down to the dregs in the fridge and will just buy what we need for the day instead of getting more than we need. We may get in one or two nights in the van before having to stay in hotels for the last few days and winterizing the van. However, I see that the weather is really starting to warm up at home and will get to 50 degrees next week. Note to Colin: if there's more than 6" of snow on the front lawn, I'm heading back South!

Happy Easter everyone...don't have a suger overload and for God's sake, don't let Carol & Sandra have any of those old fashioned hard covered eggs...they'll just get sick...everywhere...often. ha ha Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx