Shells of Sanibel

We have just returned from four days in Fort Myers.  One of the "must do" activities for the trip was a visit to Sanibel Island known for its shells.  From where we stayed in an RV park near I-75, driving out to Sanibel Island was about a 45 minute trip or more.  The island is very much orientated toward tourists with a multitude of eating establishments, gift shops, real estate offices and the expected traffic for "high season."  There is a fee to cross over the bridge to the island and another to park at the beach.  In spite of that, we were anxious to walk with the crowds over to the beach to see the promised shells.  Busily directing traffic and pedestrians through one of the few public beach access points we could find, the local police had their hands full with the task.  Finally, we were able to cross the highway at the officer's direction to do so and walk to the beach after waiting for car after car to pass.  The bicycle rental business is thriving on the island and we could see as we drove around that those individuals choosing to travel on bikes were making much faster progress navigating the roads, sidewalks and bike trails than we were.

Except for one type of large shell abundantly strewn over the sand, every other variety was pretty much the same as we have here in Bradenton.  In fact I think we have more shell varieties here!  To me the beach was not as white nor as sandy as ours is either.  I don't know what my imagination had created for Sanibel Island above and beyond what our beach offers but I did not find it in Sanibel.  Maybe there is a South Seas island in the Pacific which would yield more of what I considered the rumored Sanibel Island to be with white sand and swaying palms.

Lunch turned out to be fabulous though.  We stopped at a hotdog stand called Schnapper's and were delighted with the Chicago Hotdogs, fries and Cokes we splurged on (diet be damned-we're on holiday!)  Indeed, this was the highlight of the trip over to the island.  If you ever find yourself on Sanibel Island, be sure to stop in and try the hotdogs here.  Another option might be to take time to stroll through some of the gift shops.  Living for the greater part of the year in an RV, I control my urges to shop.  There just isn't room in an RV for every little temptation that comes our way so we passed on shopping, but there appear to be several really cute shops on Sanibel Island.

With a real estate office on every other corner, it was hard not to be enticed back into thoughts of doing the job of selling real estate again-especially on an island as I had done on the other side of the state years ago.  Having long since let my broker's license go along with the effort it would take to create a sales territory again added to the seven-day-a-week requirement of the job, I quickly put that enticement out of my mind!

To Points South

Yesterday we started packing the RV for a test drive and camping trip to Fort Meyers and points south with the journey to commence on this upcoming Tuesday for just four nights.  We are hoping for good weather to explore beaches south of us and anticipating culinary delights from our "new" kitchen along with a few days of play and photography before work takes over our lives.  We've updated our coach this year to one that is two years newer (2004) with 60,000 fewer miles on its odometer and a bit more horsepower (for all of those mountains we anticipate with Idaho being added to our agenda for the summer.)  We've had the tuneup and the brakes were examined.  Both came back with positive feedback.  That's a "good thing" as Martha would say.

The winter has been productive but passed by too quickly.  I finished writing a book consisting of 65,000+ words and 245 pages!  I continue to write articles for a blog for Good Sam and enjoy the challenge of writing for someone other than myself.  To write and get paid is fulfilling.  

This year I have started out with a resolution to cook and eat healthier.  We've both lost weight over the last year and we want to keep that trend moving along.  I am following a program called "Clean Cuisine" and this year attempting not to buy processed foods, opting instead for "cooking from scratch."  Jim gave me a gift of a professional Cuisinart Food Processor for Christmas and I intend to take it along in the coach because I can even make bread with it!  I am also trying a portable, counter-friendly induction cooktop this year on the trip.  California is warm in the summer and this will minimize the heat while cooking in the coach.  The "new-to-us" coach has a real oven along with a convection microwave oven, so we should be in good shape.  We had to purchase a washer and dryer for the coach so I am pleased we will have separate units rather than an all-in-one unit.  That will also make life easier.  She is three feet shorter so maneuvering her will be slightly easier.  Maybe I will even learn to drive her.  I haven't come up with a name for her yet, but stay tuned...

While in Fort Meyers, we have tickets to see a comedy show with Alton Brown, a TV chef who has also written four cookbooks (which I acquired for Christmas.)  He's produced a truly marvelous series we watched and enjoyed on Netflix.  He has a unique cooking flare and we tested his brownie recipe Friday which is to die for.  They are indescribably delicious!  Ok, I know they won't help us lose weight, but I did cook them from scratch!  

Snoopy's Corner:

My toys are piled by the door to go so they won't forget me.  I have ridden in the new RV once and it was really quite nice.  I'll give you my refined opinion after this week.  It does have a vacuum system which I can tell you is better than a machine running up and down the floor of the coach, but I am reserving judgement on it until I make sure it doesn't suck me up into the hose too.  By the way, I can get down under the sleeper sofa in the coach and it makes for a wonderful hiding place from the vacuum and anything else that seems scary!  I like sleeping on top of the sofa too...