Naples stay is ending, Star Mt. here I come

Last post before I leave for Star Mt. It's an odd feeling to transition from tropical Florida to the mountains. I'm very excited to go back but sad Mark can't come yet. He will follow in 3 weeks for his crazy 2 week schedule that has him back and forth from Florida all summer. Oh well, better then not at all!

It's so quiet around now. Our community dwindles down to 30% occupancy in the summer and this translates to no problem getting into restaurants, low traffic, and small attendance in my yoga class. My morning walks are with nary a soul around me and pretty steamy affairs at this point. My animal sightings are down to turtles, rabbits, and ducks. I'm excited to change to elk,deer (did Flap survive the severe winter?), coyote, fox, bear, owls, maybe moose, and the list goes on and on. Yippee.

I made it to the organic farmer's market for my last time this season. There's been something unique there every time I've gone. This time it was the small local Florida Microgreens company out of Cape Coral. They are a small company with a big mission. Supply the community restaurants (40 so far) with microgreens, expand around the world, maybe even beyond. (They've had a recent visit from a rocket scientist.) They use organic hemp substrate in which the greens root and then use only water. Of course I had to buy some, there's monster nutrition in those tiny plants. Been putting them on my breakfast eggs and sandwiches and they last 2 weeks in the frig. USA Today recently did an article on them if you're interested. I'm wondering Crested Butte? Sounds like a fit to me...

I had to relocate from here as the waves came straight in

Empty osprey nest

My beach visit was pretty wild. 25 mile an hour winds, high tide, and a lot of waves for the normally calm Gulf. I love it though whatever the conditions.

Sea turtle nesting session is here. The turtles come out of the water at night, lay eggs in the sand, and then go back in the water, their job done. The baby turtles hatch and make a run to the water in the moonlight. Last year broke records with 1,144 nests in the county making the conservationists quite happy. Hopefully this will be a good year as well. Many measures have been put into law including restricted lighting close to the beach, special hooks required for commercial fishermen, and shrimping nets that allow turtles to escape. I would love to see the hatchlings make their run.

Bird of Paradise

There's much to miss in Naples but Star Mt. is calling. I will not miss the heat and humidity that's for sure. I'll be back in the fall when the temps have dropped and the mountains are done with their spectacular fall color. Time goes by soooo fast, I intend to appreciate every single day.

The quiet and steamy Florida summer approaching

Much quieter week as we slide into Florida summer. The heat and humidity are up and the streets are less chaotic.We have a smattering of British, German, and French tourists around taking advantage of less crowds and lower prices.

I'm still going to the small organic farmer's market that's a hefty distance away but I suspect their produce will become sparse soon. I experimented my last visit and bought chicken eggs, duck eggs, and was given one giant turkey egg. All good, but the duck seemed to have a slightly different taste. It's very possible it was my imagination.

Made it back to the beach and wow, it felt like I was missing a lot of stuff after the giant amount Tiffany and the girls and I brought. Missing them!

Dolphin sighting not shark. They never seem bothered by the people and boats that are out. Special creatures.

A fairly quiet beach but busy out in the water. The perspective is odd on this last one. There's a person swimming, not drowning, beside the kayak and they were not that close - any of the group.

Two week countdown to Star Mt.! Colorado just had a snowstorm that dumped a lot of inches in different places, only 4 at Star Mt. but still it's awfully late in the season. Freeze date is right around Father's Day there believe it or not. I definitely have to start doing some mind switch on being back in the mountains. Two places more opposite hardly exist.

Penny and Jules come to Florida

Yes I know, its been quite awhile since I posted. Back! Just had a most wonderful visit with Tiffany and the girls. It was all about water- beach or pool happened every day they were here.

Penny and Jules made friends, sort of, with our ugly duck - "Duckie". Sorry, that's the best name we've come up with on that particular duck. They helped feed him breakfast every morning. He stayed around most of the day hoping someone would forget he'd been fed and hand out more. Bread and peas. Peas, you ask?, yup. I've read they're better for the waterfowl than bread. He, for the record, likes both.

You just can't have too much stuff for the beach. Well, we maxed it anyway - the trunk was full. And a warning, if you pack sandwiches for the beach, no matter how hard you try to avoid it you will be eating sand.

Shadow play

Gorgeous weather for our beach adventures and not too crowded. Penny was very much the brave swimmer and shell seeker on this trip. Jules was a little scared of the waves after her first and only trek in caught her a little off balance. Sand castle play for her was just fine.

We did stop in for ice cream for an on land trip. Can't come to Florida and not do that!

Had the pool almost to ourselves both times we went out. Very nice. Oddly I'm realizing there's not one photo of Mark or myself. I can assure you we were there! No beach or pool time for Mark, as he had work calls at the house, but he still got in some great visiting time.

Beach and pool time is exhausting dontcha know. And now they're already gone and back home. Hope to see them at Star Mt. this summer. My mind is starting to wander that direction as I have only three weeks until I go back. Mark visits a bit later. A study in extremes - Naples and Star Mt.