29 Jan 2014 - Scott & Brenda visit Naples

Getting to the beach early for the best view...yes, it was a tad foggy.

Scott and I. We couldn't have stayed out in the sun without the shelter. Love it!

It was a frustrating and long process, but Scott and Brenda arrived on Monday. They missed their Saturday flight because of weather and missed connecting flights so spent a lot of time in airports but we've had a day at the beach and a day shopping so their vacation is getting better. They pulled up in a beautiful new BMW, which fits in quite well with all the other high-end cars in the neighbourhood.
When we got up on Tuesday there was a thick fog but the weather report said it was going to be hot so we packed a lunch and headed for Lover's Key. Brenda had seen some of the shells we'd picked up previously and was looking forward to bringing some home to Stella and Holden. It was a great day, and turned out to be really, really hot. By 1 pm we decided we'd head for home and the beach was starting to get very crowded. I'm guessing it's a common issue in Florida...if you want to get a good spot at the beach, go early and map out your territory. Also, it was high tide which made for a narrow beach area and pedestrian traffic was irritating me just a tad.
We stopped at Bealls on the way home...after all, it was Senior's Day, and did a quick cruise to pick up a few things. Brenda is a shopper like me but her arthritis makes walking long distances or walking for a long time quite difficult so we have to pace ourselves.
Wayne was doing his post-dinner internet browsing and found a real deal on one of the last minute vacation sites. Within a half hour, we were booked for a cruise to the Bahamas and have a beautiful room with balcony. God knows, we don't have to buy any clothes but it sure makes a difference when you don't have to pay for a flight to get here. It leaves from Miami, which is about 2 hours from here so we'll just leave in the morning to get there by noon. We have always talked about going on these last minute cruises and it's nice that's we are getting to do it finally.
Scott & Brenda had made arrangements to stay at the Hilton resort on Marco Island so left to see how the other half lives. We came back this morning and we headed off to the outlet mall. We all did a little damage but I did notice that I had a bag from every store we were in. I expect that when I check...and then pay...my visa bill tonight, this shopping extravaganza I've been on will come to a dramatic halt!
Tomorrow is the second day with the writing group at the Botanical Gardens and I'm really looking forward to seeing them. The weather is cold and rainy...a bi-product of the winter storms that are right across the southern states. Every day we see the crazy number of accidents around home and can't believe now terrible this winter has been. It makes us even more grateful that we are here!
Please stay off the roads unless it's absolutely necessary until this crazy weather improves! Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx

26 Jan 2014 - Lacking in Redneck...ness

The jeeps going through the Sissy Hole...halarious!

Rocket shaped Swamp Buggy.

They come around the corner on 2 wheels.

We programmed the GPS (aka The Other Wife) and headed out for the annual Swamp Buggy Races. Wayne had already checked it out on Youtube....I was a  complete novice but hey, it's 'racing' therefore it must be good. It wasn't good....it was GREAT!
Wayne didn't think it would be too crowded as it was advertised as the trials vice full out racing but I knew...I knew...there would be a good crowd, and there were lots of people. We were there early enough that finding a seat wasn't at all an issue and within a couple of hours, most of the stands were full.
The 'track' is a pretzel shaped trench of water, about 3 feet deep....except for the two Sissy Holes...which are about 5 feet deep and 15 feet long. The swamp buggies are various shapes but generally rocket-shaped with four large, thin, wheels that are designed to keep the vehicle just above water level. The driver sits behind the pointed cone at the front of the 'rocket' and drives the buggy much like a car. There are V-6 and V-8 engines and the difference is all about speed. They can really get some rpm's going and the rooster tail of water they leave behind is quite impressive. We didn't see any of these guys racing, just doing time trials, but 2 of them competing side-by-side would be quite impressive.
The best entertainment of the day were the jeep swamp buggies. Except for the odd jeep, most of them were relatively pokey but the best fun was when they got to the Sissy Holes. They virtually disappeared and all that was visible was the driver's helmets! They would race with 4 or 5 jeeps at a run and there always seemed to be one of them that gave out and stopped running in the middle of the hole and had to sit there until the end of the race when a tractor would come out and pull it out of the water.
We really failed at passing for true Rednecks as we didn't have any camouflage gear at all whereas anyone with any knowledge and love of the sport, and/or career aspirations to become a Swamp Buggy Racer was dressed in 'camie'. Even the little kids wore camouflage! The other thing that set us apart of the local population was that we didn't get excited or rush out to have our photo taken when the Swamp Queen and her entourage came by. In fact when she announced via loudspeaker that the next door prize was an autographed photo of her and the girls, I laughed and I think I got a few dirty looks from the camouflaged group sitting around us. As I frequently tell Wayne, you can't be pissing these people off....they have guns!
Scott and Brenda were supposed to arrive yesterday but missed their flight Saturday morning because of the snow and the domino kicked in...they missed their Toronto connection and the next flight got cancelled and they spent most of Sat and Sun in either the Ottawa or Toronto airports. They did get here today and are with friends in Cape Coral and will be here tomorrow.
We had a very quiet day...I made spaghetti sauce which became baked ziti for supper and Wayne went to the gym. I had full intentions of going for a long walk but..... We did watch some of the carnage happening on the 401 and the 400 highways! Man, whatever the gene is that makes us head out on the road, in the worst weather conditions, because 'we just have to be there', must be pretty powerful.
I miss my baby Honey Bees but sure don't miss the cold and snow. It was cloudy here today but still over 70 degrees. Had I not been so lazy we probably would have gone to the beach anyway. Until next time, much love to everyone at home. xx

24 Jan 2014 - Christening the new beach shelter

The new (and awesome) beach shelter.

Wayne collecting shells on a sand bar at low tide.

The very rare and illusive Shell Bush.

It was a chilly morning in Florida but damn it, I want to go to the beach and see if that new beach umbrella/shelter we bought actually works! Given the wind that blowing outside, I think it was a perfect opportunity to see if it prevents us from getting hypothermia. It did.
This beach apparatus is an upgrade to the one I bought a few years ago in Giant Tiger and really loved. We had previously seen this bigger/better version on the beach in South Padre Island and vowed that the next time we came South for the winter, we would get one. We came, we found it, we bought it. The GT Boutique version is 'somewhere' in the garage at home and from previous experience in Florida, we knew that it was an absolute must as there isn't much shade on the beaches and it's either try to keep a big umbrella up or having one of these shades.
We packed a small lunch and went to Lover's Key. We didn't have a lot of stuff to carry but the fact that there is a trolley that goes from the entrance of the park right down to the beach is a major PLUS for us. The wind was cold, even though the sun was out, and the upside to this was that very few people were on the beach. Those that did decide to brave the cool wind were bundled up in scarves, hats, big coats, and gloves (those were the Floridians...Canadians put a sweater over their t-shirt but still wore shorts & sandals). We set the structure up lickity split and declared ourselves too smart by half! It allowed us to sit inside out of the elements in our chairs but still let the sun in to warm us a bit.
It was low tide so the lure of finding new, more, better, rarer, etc shells took us out of the shelter and down the beach. It was a resounding success...we found some beautiful shells and now that I've bought a book on the mollusks in Florida, I'm almost an authority on the subject. We have Florida Cerith, Dove Shells, Worm Shells, False Drills, Florida Cones, Pear Welks, Alphabet Cones, Spiny Jewel Box, Banded Tulips, and many more. Given that we are only been here 2 weeks, we may have to do some prioritizing when it comes time to take them home. Wait....who wants shells for their next birthday, Christmas, etc.?
While we were eating lunch we noticed a couple of people down the beach from us pointing into the water. When we got a good look, there were a couple of dolphins cavorting in the water about 15 feet from shore. They played for a little while and then swam down the beach in front of us. For all those people who pay $25 - $45 to go on a boat to see dolphins....just come and enjoy the beach for a while. The Ospreys were busy today..I think there must be babies in all three of the nests as one adult always seemed to be in the nest and I'm sure I saw a little head pop up once.
The clouds started to come in shortly after 1 pm so we decided to head home. We did a quick drive through the Bonita Beach area to see if there were any condo complexes but didn't see much. We are already thinking about finding a place in this area for next year and I'd like to lock into something before we leave this year.
Tomorrow is the Swamp Buggy races which should be lots of fun. The weather is supposed to heat up considerably for a week before another 'cold' front comes through and drops the temperature back down into the 60's. Tough!
Hope all is well at home and everyone isn't giving in to SAD. Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx

23 Jan 2014 - Writing in the Gardens

My beautiful and talented daughter (in-law) Kate Tremills. She inspires me.

Oh, what a marvelous day it was!
I have taken a yearly membership at the Naples Botanical Gardens and envision many visits to take photos during the next 10 weeks. While I have not been inside to see what's glooming and growing yet, I'm sure that the various gardens described in the brochure and website will give me ample opportunities to make some great photographs.
One of the added advantages to joining the NBG is the opportunity to join a number of special interest groups or be part of a learning experience, ie, gardening, photography, wildlife lectures, etc. Today I went to the first 'Lifestyle Learning' event I've signed up for and it may well turn out to be something very special. Four women showed up plus the 'teacher' and it did not take long before we realized that we were quite a cohesive group. Although we only had a brief time to describe ourselves, I think we found each other quite interesting and from the laughter, very entertaining as well. Everyone except me, was a teacher in a previous life but I think that was more coincidence that a reason to love writing. The first exercise showed we are quite diverse in our approach to writing and the thought process involved...which is the way it should be...and at the end of the session we were quite determined to form our own little writer's group. If the NGB won't/can't accommodate us, we will find an alternative way to meet after next week.
I thought about my darling Kate and how she has been describing the frustrations and joys of finding and cultivating one's creativity in her blog. I tried to tell the others how special Kate is, both as a writer and a daughter (in-law) but I know I didn't come close to conveying her commitment to her craft or her huge talent. She and I have had some recent e-mail discussion on the subject and I just find it an amazing coincidence that my passion for writing has been renewed at the same time.
I know that having a group of people who 'speak writer-speak' has something to do with it as well as being away from home and having the time to absorb the beauty that is all around me in Naples. This year was not my most active year and I could probably come up with a myriad of reasons why I think I took a creative holiday. In the end, it...whatever 'it' is...just wasn't there and although I reached for it sometimes, it was always just beyond my grasp. I hope our little writer's group is able to continue.
Wayne had gone to the gym while I was away and when I got home we decided we'd have a quick lunch and take a drive to Marco Island. I know we'd visited there before but couldn't remember much about it. A few minutes after getting on the island brought it all back....beautiful, expensive, virtually no beach accessibility at all, and has nothing to entice me back. Scott and Brenda will be spending a few days at one of the resorts there when they come next week. They will be one of the lucky ones who have access to a private beach with all the trimmings. There are some beautiful condos along the shoreline (which you cannot see from the road) and some very grand mansions and houses along the canals with equally grand boats moored in front.
It's still cool here, by Floridian standards, but if the sun is out tomorrow, we are heading for the beach. We bought a very sophisticated beach shelter/umbrella structure, something like the ones we had on South Padre Island but much larger and better constructed. We'll pack up early tomorrow and may have to wear our jackets for the first hour or so until the sun warms up. The temperatures are supposed to go into the 70's for the weekend but back down to the 60's the following week. Sunshine plus 65 degrees equals paradise for me!
We Skyped with Bob and Carol last night. Wayne and I both laughed so hard as when they appeared on the screen, they were both wearing lumberjack lined hats and scarves to emphasize the polar vortex happening at home. One of the hardest parts of being away from family for so long is that you want to share the joy of not wearing coats and boots and having the sun shine every day...but can't.
Until next time, stay warm and healthy and know that we are wishing you could all be here with us. xx

21 Jan 2014 - New Favourite Shelling Place

Some day it will be a tea towel.

There are mounds of shells along the beach at Lover's Key State Park

Antique car show at Miromar Outlet

It's been a busy week and we've seen lots of new things. I know the time is going to fly quickly here so we've committed ourselves to enjoying and getting the most out of every day.

We went to the Miromar Outlet Mall last weekend. Besides having some great stores, it's the most beautiful mall I've ever seen. There are lots of big water fountains and one fountain has huge coy fish. The local antique car club was strutting their stuff and it was interesting to see of the older cars that I recognized from my father owning and even a couple that Wayne had ('56 Ford) when we dated. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed sitting outside and having lunch while a local busker played and just generally people watched. Of course, I also shopped 'till I dropped and expect the glow will soon wear off the shopping bloom...although I'm not there yet!

I decided that I must have something (other than shopping) to keep me occupied...especially in the evening. I cannot remember when I first start doing embroidery but whenever I did learn it, I know that I really loved it. Because my Mother did not knit or crochet, I never learned that but I have done needle work most of my life. I think I started doing simple cross stitch and then did crewel embroidery a well as regular embroidery. While we were out shopping one day, I went in to Joanne's Fabrics--which is like Michael's on crack--and as I walked down the embroidery isle, I was hooked once again. I'm enjoying the process of choosing colours and watching as one portion is completed before starting another. The last major project I did was a baby quilt for Colin and another for my nephew Christian. Colin's is pristine...it became a wall hanging. Christian's was his favourite 'blankie' and it is pretty threadbare.

Today was a bit overcast so rather than packing up and going to the beach, we went for a short drive to Lover's Key which is a strip of land that connects Bonita Beach with Ft Myers Beach.  There has been 2 pods of Pilot Whales which have beached themselves in this area over the past couple of days so it has been a hive of activity with news people, environmentalists, etc. hovering along the Key and we thought perhaps we might see something from the road. We didn't....but ended up going into the State Park, which we have passed so many times before but never investigated. I'm so glad we did as it turned out to be an amazing place which will now be our favourite beach on which to spend the day. As well, it is LOADED with sea shells, and I mean loaded. We spoke to a number of 'regulars', some of whom are there early every single morning to walk the beach and find some of the more illusive or more rare shells that wash up every night. We got some advice on how to look for specific shells and advised to find out when the low tides are as that is the very best time for shelling.

There were two extremely large Osprey nests, each with a resident pair close by and at least one of each pair had caught a fish almost as big as themselves. One of the nests included everything from sticks to rags and seaweed, and a whole lot of other stuff I couldn't recognize. I took my new point-and-shoot camera and I was impressed with the results. However, I am anxious to go back with my big camera and see if the magic is still there!! The bird above was about 100 feet away so the 20x zoom on the little camera seems to work! It may be quite useful in Africa...which is why I bought it.

That's what we have been up to. We will be going to the Swamp Buggy races on Saturday and then Scott & Brenda will be here for a few days and there are lots of places we want to take them. And that's the end of January!

Today is our darling Gillian's 4th birthday. I can close my eyes and see Sue and I restlessly sitting in the hospital waiting room for news. It was the first opportunity either of us had had to be so close to a grandchild's birth and it was wonderful. Gillian was a large, healthy, beautiful baby and she captured our hearts right from the beginning. We are always away for her birthday but we Skyped and got to sing to her.

Until next time, love and hugs to all. Everyone stay warm and healthy...I wish we could send you a bit of sunshine. xx

16 Jan 2014 - Breakfast at the 5th Cafe

I thought this was a stuffed animal until it turned it's head and looked at me with those big beautiful eyes.

Part of downtown Naples...extremely clean and beautiful.

I think we have officially shed any stress caused by anything! On our way home from the day's outing Wayne and I tried to figure out what day/date it was. He was much closer to reality than I was as he'd taken the car for a brake check-up yesterday and had to make another appointment which gave him an edge. I had no...none...nada...nein...nothing...couldn't even make a good guess...at the day, let alone the date. If I given it some serious thought I could have counted forwards from Senior's Day shopping but I was too full from lunch and too relaxed. It's been a great day.


We were awake early so decided to go downtown to 5th street, visit a nice café, and perhaps stroll through some boutiques and get the lay of the land. I knew it wouldn't be too busy as it was 'Florida cold' today...about 60 degrees...and windy so no beach traffic downtown. I was right and we had no problem finding a parking spot on 5th Street. We went into the 5th Street Café, which looked like a popular spot and decided to have breakfast. I hadn't eaten so had....get this....a scrambled egg stuffed tomato with avocado and feta cheese and a cappuccino. To say it was good would be like saying Wayne occasionally forces himself to eat chocolate. It was amazing and will be served to attendees at my next brunch! Wayne had already eaten but had a wonderful fresh blueberry  muffin.


We walked down the beautiful main street and I went into a few stores to look around. OMG....I am so hooked! The first store was called 'Best of Everything' and was entirely jewellery and accessories. I expect to have a watch in every colour and style as the most expensive was the 'Swatch' style for $10. They had beautiful scarves and hair accessories as well as purses, travel bags...everything was so beautiful and reasonable.
The next store was my favourite....The Wind and the Willow. It was a combination of ladies and little girl's clothing, beautiful stuffed animals, books, jewellery, and countless other things that you would only find in this shop on the entire planet. I looked for an hour, only saw a fraction of what they had and will definitely have to go back there a dozen times to feel as though I was anything close to familiar with this magical store. It wasn't discount but certainly didn't have out-of-sight prices...quite reasonable considering the quality of everything. I went outside to look for Wayne and was looking in the store's window when I saw the dearest stuffed cat that had been made to look (kind of) like a lion....body hair was short with pom poms on the end of each foot and at the end of it's tail. It had the biggest and most beautiful eyes and I couldn't help staring at it....until it turned it's head and stared back at me! It was a real cat and I managed to get a few photos of it before it left the window and went into the store area.
The next discovery was a shoe store that had about a thousand pairs of shoes with my name on them! I especially love shoes that I will never see in Ottawa, hence my love of Mexican shoes and this store runs a very close second. They are much more expensive than those in Mexico but guaranteed to be 'one of a kind' in Ottawa. I'm not sure if my budget can handle more than a pair or two but certainly one pair will be in my suitcase going home!
The entire street has the most wonderful architecture and everything building is white, yellow, or white and yellow. Of course there are beautiful trees, and planters filled with flowers everywhere. There is also a large community playhouse which apparently has an ongoing calendar of very exciting and semi-professional theatre productions, concerts, and opera so we'll be checking that out over the next few months. I think it's safe to say I am smitten with this little downtown area and we'll be back on the weekend for the chalk art festival.
From there we headed towards Tin City and the harbour area but were quickly waylaid by the Olive Garden restaurant! It was always a favourite at home and we missed it when they all closed. We had a great 'supper at lunch' meal and brought enough home to enjoy it all again tomorrow.
The car goes in to the Lexus dealer for new brakes tomorrow and they are giving us a loaner so we've decided to drive up towards Fort Meyers and revisit a few of the beach areas we had enjoyed when we were here a couple of years ago. We picked up the weekly paper which outlines all the activities in the area and our calendar is already starting to fill...including dune buggy races next weekend.
Wayne has found a gym very close that also has yoga classes so I think I'll try a couple and perhaps start doing something to tighten up the 'soft tissue' areas around my middle. I know it's middle age spread but I think it's time to start this yoga routine....yah, yah, I've said that before and all I can do is keep trying, right?
Blogger is once again, giving me grief on posting photos. I keep trying and one of these times, it will take.
 Until next time, keep your toque on tight and hugs and kisses to all. xx

14 Jan 2014 - Why I love shopping!

Today's shopping trip was all about every reason I love shopping...and especially in the US. For all those people who will say..."I can never find anything worth buying" or "It's really not any cheaper because (insert any reason here)"....here's what we did today.


Wayne and I both love Bealls (pronounced Bells) Department Store which is only located in Florida. They will often have a nice outlet store close to a regular store and always have great sales on brand name merchandise. Tuesday is always Senior's Day which is an additional 15% for those who are "50 and Fab". Neither Wayne nor I have bought much summer stuff for quite a while and he especially, was really ready for some shorts and shirts. I know Bealls has a good selection of Columbia brand clothing and I was particularly interested in stuff for Africa.


We went our separate ways when we entered and other than a quick discussion about which shorts Wayne had chosen got the seal of approval and which shirt got a thumbs down, we met a couple of hours later at the checkout.


We got ready to stack each of our loaded baskets onto the checkout when the girl said, "If you open a Bealls account today, you will get an additional 20% off your purchase."


We never, ever, do that at home...don't own any store credit cards but given that most of our purchases were 25%-50% off, plus 15% for senior's discount, I got just plain GREEDY and signed up!


The bill came to $1100 and change. The 20% discount for a new account dropped it by $225 and the senior discount dropped it another $135. The final bill was $763 and as we were loading the bags into the cart the cashier said, "Here's $120 in Beall Bucks which you can spend tomorrow on whatever you wish."


We got 47 items of clothing, including all the special Columbia items for Africa, shoes, sunglasses, blah, blah. We just smiled a lot.


We came home and paid the account charge via internet and when the card arrives in Ottawa, we'll cut it up. We celebrated our new wardrobes by going to the Swan River Seafood restaurant L2 recommended for the most incredible crab cakes I've ever eaten. I had lobster salad, Wayne had mussels and we brought home some clam chowder and crab cakes for supper.
Tomorrow will be a home day for me as I have to be at here to sign for the camera battery and charger I ordered. It's probably going to be a good day to do the laundry and perhaps try out my new walking shoes.
Until later...xx

14 Jan 2014 - Settling in Naples

I think we are starting to understand which major roads go east-to-west and vice versa which means we are getting a little more comfortable with our surroundings. We decided that we would spend the first week finding out how to get to various locations within the city limits and yes, that includes (but is not limited to) every outlet and major shopping mall.


We are not close to the beach which is why our rent is less than $5000 per month. Naples is clearly another community of wealthy individuals who like to spend 6 months or less in a climate that allows them to golf 14x per week and drive a convertible. God bless them but it eliminates any opportunity for us poorer slobs to enjoy the evening sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. Except for small public entrances at the end of a few residential street, access to the beach is pretty scarce. Once again, private residences gobbled up the property along the beach and restricted access before the city father's woke up and realized a potential gold mine was being gated and locked.


Naples is quite lovely...very clean and some beautiful architecture. It is also a city of unabashed wealth and is comprised of golf and country clubs, golf and residential communities, golf and racket clubs, residential communities for golfers....and the services that provide for it all. The biggest and most successful businesses here are cleaning and landscaping services followed closely by medical and food services. As Lucy the Landlady (from Slovakia) so aptly puts it..."Dis is not da real verld--dis is 'la la land' peoples". Within the city limits there are numerous and huge gated communities that are like cities within a city. They generally look the same....the entrance (accessed only through a manned security area with drop-down gates) is flanked by a man-made lake with a mondo-fountain in the middle. Note to self: join any Canadian cause that is fighting to keep the Americans from getting our water. Believe me, no-one in the US is dying because of lack of water! Hidden behind lush vegetation and sculpted bushes are luxury homes....not huge but luxurious...and of course, a golf course. The only thing more awesome than the landscaping is the name of the community: Emerald Isle, Golden Windsong, Pensinada Point, etc.


There is a small 'downtown' area on 3rd and 5th streets that are beautiful. It's about a mile or so of small shops, boutiques, restaurants and coffee shops that look either like original buildings circa 1940 or new buildings created to look like that era. There are also a couple of areas created for people to play...Tin City and The Mercado. These are like huge malls that consist of restaurants, theatres, open air markets, bands that play outside in the evenings. We haven't gotten to that yet but certainly will before too long. The overriding difficulty for going anywhere near the beach is parking....it is so limited that unless you are at the local beach by 9:30 am, the chances of getting a parking spot in the vicinity is remote to nil. I suspect we will pack a cooler and head out of town as there are lots of open spots between Naples and Cape Coral. Lucy the Landlady (now known as L2) gave us a parking pass for downtown....we just need to find a spot first.


I've just signed up for my first 'Lifestyle Living' event at the Naples Botanical Gardens. It's called 'Writing in the Garden' and while we haven't even seen the garden yet, I'm planning on taking a membership and advantage of some of the things going on. The writing thing just sounds...nice....and there are photography courses as well as gardening courses so I'm good to go. Once a month they hold an open-air concert which is a tribute to a particular person. This Friday's tribute is to Eric Clapton so we'll take our lawn chairs and enjoy an evening under the stars. I've lost the battery and charger for my big fancy camera but ordered one through Amazon so hopefully will have some nice photos soon to add to the blog.


Wayne has found a couple of gyms in the area but isn't ready to sign up anywhere until his cold gets a bit better and certainly the coughing part subsides. We are both definitely feeling better but the cough persists and I think we kept each other awake half the night coping with that niggly tickle that keeps you coughing. I don't think the others in the gym would be too keen to work out next to some guy who keeps coughing....although (IMHO) a quarter of the colds that come in to our house come from the gym. It's like a daycare for grown-ups....well, isn't it?


That's it so far. It's supposed to go up to 80 degrees today and then start to rain at some point. I might just go for a walk in the rain...because I can without risking hypothermia! Hope everyone is coping with the cold at home and planning their winter get-away! Until next time, love and hugs to all. Extra big kisses for T, T, G, and O! Love you. xx

Settled in Naples, Florida

Wow! Does life just get a bit tougher...in general...when one hits 'Senior-dom'? I prefer to think not but day-to-day can be a bit challenging and I was either too busy with kids/work/life to notice it before or I don't cope quite as well now. All is good and we are pretty much settled into our condo. Here's how we made out.......


While we were sitting in iHop having supper Wednesday night, Wayne says to me, "If we got up really, really early tomorrow morning and drove hard to Virginia, we could get on the Auto Train. Watcha think?"


The Auto Train loads cars into covered railroad cars while all passengers settle into compartments (if you book months in advance) or relatively comfortable seats (which you need to book months in advance). However, there are always a few left-over seats so the idea here was to drive like hell and hope there was a vacancy. Oh, and we wouldn't arrive at the Amtrak location in Virginia until about an hour or less before they stopped taking more cars/passengers. The big draw was that the train would travel from 4 pm until 10 am the next morning and you get off in Orlando vice driving for 2 1/2 days to get to the same location.


"Sure", says I and we go to bed early, get up at 5 am and are on the road by 6 am. Neither Wayne nor I are still feeling all that great...both coughing and hacking...but we manage to get to the Amtrak station by 2 pm after a very long day's drive. We are fortunate to get just about the last seat on the train and go in to the station to wait for the boarding call.


I swear....of the 535 people waiting to board the train....if one of them was under 65 yrs of age, I'd eat my hat! There were wheelchairs, there were walkers, there were depend bags (vice diaper bags) and they were all coughing, sneezing, blowing, etc. Germaphobe Lynne is so happy she is almost ready to give her own eulogy! Despite curling up into some pretty amazing positions to sleep, we arrived in Florida by 10 am the next morning and it was about an hour's wait for our car to come out for pick-up. Note to self: if we ever do this again you can pay $50 and be tagged a 'Priority' so your car comes off first.


We got to our condo and Lucy the Landlady met us. She informed us that she no longer took credit cards and Canadian cheques were too big a hassle at her bank. Our problem for the next morning was how to get $5k in cash or cashier's cheque for her. After lots of phone calls (I hate you TD bank) our last option was to get a cash advance on our Visa (I love you Chase bank). All those tv commercials about Visa saving your 'whatever' are absolutely true.


Even before we tackled the money issue, we had to contact our medical insurance company because, in true form, my cold and/or flu was officially turning into something really nasty and needed to be looked after. Again, lots of 'toing' and 'froing' and 'Sorry, you're not covered' to the point where they realized we've paid a King's ransom for the privilege of seeing a Doctor outside of Ottawa and give us the thumbs up to get some help. We went to the closest ER and got the most wonderful help. They staff were awesome and I saw a Nurse Practitioner, got a chest x-ray, a couple of prescriptions and was out within 2 hrs.


The last order of business was to get a couple of cheap cell phones so that we can call each other in these mega-malls and just generally be in contact because the condo has no phone. I went into Walmart and luckily got the sweetest kid who obviously has a Gramma he loves and asked for the cheapest phone with the best service. For $10 each, I got 2 Samsung phones and for $29.00 each, a card for 120 minutes which doubles to 240 minutes when you load it! I can call Canada, Canada can call me. It's still charging but I think it even has voice msging. As long as we keep unused minutes on it, we can use it forever. Wayne said we could have coordinated our getaway and just thrown the phones away after robbing the bank but luckily we both know we can't run fast enough any more! lol


It's been a full day and we haven't even unpacked the suitcases yet. I'll send our phone numbers to those who need to know. Until next time, love and hugs to all.

7 Jan 2014 - Holy Polar Vortex!

This is the first blog of the Winter Vacation 2014 series. I was really looking forward to doing the blog this year as we had been so proactive about renting our condo in Naples, Florida and really excited about our decision to spend 3 months in such a wonderful spot. I was sure that by this point on the calendar there would be great photos and equally great stories about our adventure getting there and getting settled.


I'm sure all that will come but it's been a bit more of a challenge than we'd ever planned.
Anyone who knows me at all well knows how I love my winter holiday and don't love snow and cold. Circumstances kept us from leaving as early as we might have but the crazy phenomenon that's being called the 'Polar Vortex', coupled with flu and colds, almost put me over the edge.
We finally got into the car and on the road and headed straight for the border at the Thousand Island crossing. It was a wicked wind that was whipping the Canadian flag around at -31 degrees Celsius but I was flying high in the knowledge that I'd soon be able to trade my long underwear for a bathing suit and my boots for flip flops as each mile took me closer to the sun and sand.
There must have been a security camera somewhere that captured the stunned look on my face when the person standing at the bridge toll gate said, "Sorry, but the border is closed...Interstate 81 has been shut down. There was 5 feet of snow (lake affect snow) yesterday and last night and the I-81 from Syracuse to the border has been closed."
Ah.....just a second. There's been a mistake! I'm Lynne Corkum and I'm heading for Florida after the craziest, busiest, coldest month of my life and THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING.
The shock quickly wore off and we ended up getting a room at the Best Western in Gananoque (don't ever stay here) with plans to try in the morning. What we didn't know at the time was the additional foot of snow that was already starting to fall and the highway would not open the next morning. According to the news, there were lots of cars off the road or abandoned and the clean-up would take most of Wednesday. Anyway, there was a 2-mile line-up of trucks waiting for the border to open plus lots of other cars with people like us who were anxious to head south so the line-up would have been endless.
When we woke up this morning we had two options: head back to Ottawa and try I-81 again on Fri or Sat or head to Cornwall and cross the border there onto I-87. We went back and forth until finally deciding to try Cornwall and at least get into the United States. All that said, we have now stopped in Albany for the night. Surprisingly, the road through the Adirondack mountains was clear the whole way and the sun was shining so although getting a late start, the day turned out not to be a bad one.
We had stopped for lunch at Willsboro, N.Y. which is a tiny hamlet off the interstate and pretty much of a summer place on Lake Champlain. It was sheer luck that took us to Rick's Pub for the very, very best soup we've ever had! Wayne had clam chowder and I had the daily special which was tomato, hamburger and macaroni soup. I wish I'd been smart enough to think about buying another container of it to heat up in our room for supper.
I'm most looking forward to the almost imperceptible stress relief that gradually happens the longer we are on the road. We have never taken I-87 south so this is a new road, and with it, a new adventure for us. We can't doddle too much along the way as our condo rental started on 1 Jan and I'm sure our landlady is anxious to get her check but I'm guessing there will be room for a quick side trip or two that will have us making plans to come this way again so that we can spend more time.
Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx