February 3 & 4, 2012

It was cloudy all day yesterday with some rain here and there, now and then. However, it never rained on us. The two times that we drove out somewhere, the parking lot at our hotel was wet when we returned, but the shower had passed before we got back. It was a good day for inside activities.

We went to an early afternoon movie and saw “Red Tails”. We don’t often go to the movies since there are not many films that we even want to see. This was a very good movie and I think there might be some Academy Award nominations for it.

There was a humorous moment when we arrived at the shopping center to go to the movie. After Cordell got out of the car, he noticed that he was wearing his bedroom slippers! We did not have time to come back to our suite for him to change into his shoes.

We both had a good long laugh over that. A couple of evenings before this incident, when it came time to pay for our meal at a restaurant, Cordell unknowingly gave our server the hotel key card instead of a credit card. The waiter scooped up the bill and card and took them away to process our payment. We were a bit embarrassed and had a laugh when the server returned and told us that it was our room card. I wonder what is going to happen next?

Today was another beautiful warm Florida day—85 degrees and very few clouds. A local person suggested that we visit Delnor -Wiggins Pass State Recreational Area. So that was our adventure today. There are several parking areas spaced along the road inside the park. Each one has access to the beach, restrooms, picnic tables and grills. I like it that we did not have to drive to a special area for picnics—we just walked off the beach, got our food from the car and sat in the shade while we ate our lunch.

There was a Marine unit working out on the beach when we arrived. They were constantly drilling and exercising. I was able to understand why they are strong men. It sure looked like a nice place to work out---even though it was hot, there was a refreshing breeze blowing.

Here we are before lunch:

And here is lunch—PB&J sandwiches again:

And here we are after lunch:

I don't think either of us were snoring---at least no one punched us awake!

Did you ever have the feeling that someone was watching you? Well I did while I was stretched out on a beach mat and this is what was watching me:

I still am amazed at the audacity of these birds. Cordell tossed a sharp piece of a seashell I found over into the brush so no one would cut their foot. A few seconds later, there was the seagull pecking around it.

We saw a couple of porpoises swimming in the water today. If you enlarge this photo, you can see the one I am looking at in the right side of the picture.

And here is a close-up shot:

This park has a nice nature walk with signs posted along the boardwalk explaining the history and uses of the various plants. There also are some benches and areas developed around the outside showers as well as nicely constructed wooded trash receptacles and recycle bins which were done as an Eagle Scout project by some Boy Scouts.

We climbed an observation tower just to say we did. I suppose we were above the tops of most of the trees, but we still couldn't see as much a I had hoped.

It has been difficult for us to stay awake until it is a decent time to go to bed tonight. Is is possible that being retired is making us tired?

I was happy to receive news tonight that my cousin, Ken, has improved enough to be released from the hospital. His lung is expanding and we pray that it will fully inflate with no more problems.