Beaches

Today was one of the few days that the weather has been good enough for us to take a trip to the beach here in FL. Driving down to Longboat Key Beach I realized why we try to avoid the tourist traps around the country. The traffic was horrible, and it took us over an hour to go less than 10 miles. We will go to beaches a lot earlier the next time.

One of the beaches we went to today we found a lot of these little fellows.



We were also warned about them, a couple we met there was telling us that last year their son came to visit them and they all went to the beach. They had snacks on the beach and then took what wasn't eaten back to his truck. He left the windows down a little because of the heat here in FL, but when they returned to the truck after spending the afternoon on the beach they found three squirrels inside the truck. They really chewed up the seats and rubber gaskets around the windows. So if you visit a place with a lot of squakers make sure you roll up the windows.



One of the best sights you can see on a beach is small kids having the time of their life. We had the privilege of watching these little ones for a short time. Kids just don't let the cold water bother them like some of us older people do.


We have seen our share of sea gulls, but I can't remember ever seeing one that looks quite like this little guy does. I think it is a real spiffy hair-do.


Marcia is really getting into collecting sea shells, (as if we had plenty of room to haul things around) today we were looking for any shells we could find, and we did find a few. Someone told me the hurricanes has washed most of the shells away, and they have replaced most of the sand on these beaches over the past few years.

In a few weeks my brother and his wife will take us to a special place to find great shells.

Here is Longboat Key Beach, a good place to find "kitten paws" ( a type of sea shell)



We have plenty of wild animals here at EG Simmons, although they aren't quite as wild as they should be.


Here is a picture of the sunset at E G Simmons County Park the other night.


I'll end this with a picture of the Kountry Star and the Tracker. This is our home for the next few days, we are thinking about moving over to MacDill AFB next week. We can rent boats through the recreation department on base, and maybe we will find a new place to find the curio worthy shells that Marcia is always on the lookout for.

See I did buy some batteries.......