Saturday

Had another fun filled day on Saturday with friends Tom and Nancy at their home in Venice, Florida. They fixed a great lunch of pulled pork, cole slaw, baked beans and corn bread. We picked up some little desserts of Napoleans, Raspberry Cake and Ganache cakes for dessert. After lunch they drove us to Mayakka River State Park where we saw alligators and a huge assortment of birds. This park is one of Florida's oldest and largest state parks. We hiked through the woods to see what the  natural habitat probably looked like before Florida was overrun with snowbirds. It's so fascinating to see all the contorted ways the trees have grown over the years, whether blown over by a storm only to grow horizontal or with all kinds of twists and turns to get to the sunlight. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we explored the park, we drove to downtown Venice which has a lot of cute shops and restaurants. With its palm tree lined streets, it reminds me of the old pictures of Hollywood. We got to the Venice beach just in time to experience an amazing sunset.

We watched as the sun sat on the horizon for a moment and then slipped below the water. A sailboat was passing in front of us and made for a pretty silhouette against the sun. It was so pretty ! A beautiful ending to a fun day.

On a sad note, we got word that our friend Leroy Marler passed away. We met and worked with Leroy and Bonnie when we first went on the  road and worked for a couple of months at the Care Center at the Escapees park in Livingston, Texas. He had an internet newsletter that he sent out for a while and he was known as the "South Mouth", with his great Cajun sense of humor. He loved LSU and followed them faithfully. He became a resident at the Care Center due to his heart problems and poor health. We took him out to dinner last December and had a great time with him. Same ole Leroy....full of stories and always had a smile on his face. He'll be missed...

 

Today it was around 83 and fairly humid. We didn't do much...watched a little football. Getting caught up on some things. Oh, by the way, my thyroid test turned out fine. All numbers were within normal ranges. Linda's test results weren't as good. We need to get her to a doctor and see if they can get her on some meds as her LDL, cholesterol and Lipoprotein(a) is too high. I have one more test tomorrow to get taken care of and I should be finished up with tests....thank goodness.