Red Tide

Yesterday Robert and I walked along
the Gulf beach. Ida was still in
evidence. The ocean was very choppy
and something I had never seen before,
very foamy. Ranch wave came with a
bucket of foam which washes up on the
beach and blew around through the air.
Very strange. I get very congested
near the beach, coughing and sneezing.
Fred informed me that the ocean had
undergone a red tide and that many
people were allergic to the red algae
in the air. I apparently am one of
them.

We had a heavy rain storm early this
morning; this caused much rushing to
close windows. Most of the window are
louvered such that they may stay open,
but not all.

The temperatures are mild, mid to high 70s
and it is humid. Our host, Fred, is
also from Boulder and is still getting
used to the humidity. He turns on the
AC during the day just to dry the air
and that helps.

They have a lovely home, on a lake and
there are gators in the lake,but they
are shy. Don't seem to come out during
the day, but the cat is kept in, just in
case.

We'll be heading for Cocoa Beach tomorrow
morning.

Sanibel Island

We are on Sanibel Island, arrived
here last evening about 7:30 PM. We
were on the road by 6 Am and,as it
turned out, a very good thing. We
missed Ida although she hit where
we had been we didn't even get wet.
We started without breakfast thinking
we would stop a little way down the road.
Not a good idea, nothing to be found
except bars. Finally, at 9:40 we came
to a McDonald's which suddenly looked
really good. I was thinking hamburg
and french fries. No, she said only
breakfast so, with a sigh, I ordered a
McSausage and coffee. Robert ordered a
milkshake and some eggy thing. I ate my
sausage in about 3 bites and decided to
go for a milkshake. About 10 minutes
had passes since we ordered. It was now
9:50. I saw someone handed french
fries and looked more closely at the menu.
It had all changed. No more eggy things.
Now, why didn't she tell me I could have a
hamburger in 10 minutes, I was willing to
wait???

Our route took us across Tampa Bay bridge.
It is the most beautiful bridge I have ever
seen, but impossible to photograph from the
bridge.

Another 500 miles and and another 500+ to go.

Another 500 mile plus day. We are in
Panama City, Florida. It's been another
gorgeous day,sunny and in the high 70s.
We didn't stop except for lunch at a
China Buffet and McDonald's for a potty
stop. There were few rest stops on
the highway and they were all closed.
Another way for States to save money??

We'll be visiting our friend Fred Gould
tomorrow. He lives on Sanibel Island
and owns at least one condo on the beach.
He rents it out and it is currently
empty so he has offered it to us for
a couple of days. It'll be fun to see
Fred. Barbara is in Colorado. She
has been telecommuting, but is back
for a couple weeks.