2016 coming to an end

Where does the time go??  this year has slipped by so fast.  Seems like I say that every year. We had a fun year with family and friends.  We stayed pretty healthy this year with limited doctor appointments. Although it was a wet summer we enjoyed our time at home in Wisconsin.

Since we arrived in Florida the weather has had record warm temps until Dec 30 when the temp dropped considerably and very windy!  We get spoiled so easily.

We took the kayak out on the 28th.  We took a 2+ hour ride where we seen lots and lots of huge alligators, a few other kayakers and a few birds.  It was a beautiful day to be on the water, no wind, sun and warm.

Right after we returned home there was an accident on Hwy 41, someone was turning left into the campground when someone else decided to pass them on the left.  Luckily no one was injured.  Florida law states that the person turning has to clear their mirrors before turning so they got the ticket.

We headed to Marco Island on the 29th, spent a bit of time on the beach.  we walked across the pond to get to the Gulf.

then took the kayak out for a spin.

fun day in Marco

Fri Dec 30: cold front finally comes south.  we woke up to temps in the high 50's, todays high was about 68!  Good day for shopping and oil change on the truck.  we were able to get out walking in a local park before heading back to camp.

Dec 31, 2016  woke to temp at 45 outside, 56 inside!  Had to put the furnace on for the first time in at last 6 weeks.  We had to wear winter coats for our morning walk.

We took a short hike on the Florida Trail, only about 1/2 mile.  Our weather turned warm, about 75 and sunny.

we gathered with the volunteers for a New Years Eve celebration

Alex grilled the shrimp

Eric served the Champange at 7:00 pm..  none of us stay up late!

Happy New Year!

Bird Count: life list at 556, we gained 32 new birds this year.  this year we came in at 327 and December came in at 131.  It makes a big difference when we go to different areas of the country, spending two years in south Florida limited our count.  We still have a lot of new birds to get in 2017, even here in south Florida.

Christmas time 2016

When we returned from our cruise on the 23rd, our group had a chili dinner!

Peg made the chili, Ruth made glutton free corn bread and brought cupcakes, Gwen brought fixings and Kathy brought the ingredients to make apple pie in the pie pans and ice cream

Larry, Ruth, Alex and Gwen enjoying the meal

the picture is a bit dark but the apple pie was fabulous!

Christmas morning, the girls opening gifts, they all love that 3M stuff!

Volunteer pot luck for lunch at Headquarters

about half of what we had last year

Hermy and Judy from Bear Island are from Wisconsin too.  We worked with them at Santa Ana WLF in South Texas a few years ago.

Judy brought a wonderful salad

Larry brought the veggies

lots of wonderful desserts

way too much food but it was all Good!  even smoked turkey!

Mon Dec 26 the girls (Kathy, Peg, Ruth and Gwen) went to the Miccosukee Craft and Art festival

Its about 10 miles east of us

alligator wrestling

nice boardwalk with scary signs

Beautiful costumes and energetic dancing

before we left we took a try at the spin for a gift from the casino booth.

Peg, Ruth and Gwen all got a beach towel, Kathy got an umbrella.

fun afternoon with the "girls"

Cruise to Key West and Cozumel

Monday Dec 19, 2016 we left Midway Campground at noon for our cruise from Miami.  Last year we were on Carnival's Fantasy with the same itinerary but..  the ship was having engine issues and we went to the Bahamas instead of Key West and Cozumel.  

We made a stop at Kennedy Park in Miami

this is a "tourist" tree, really a Gumbo Limbo, but called tourist as it is red and peels..

second stop was to:

where we found the tallest sandcastle

we made it to our ship by 4:00pm, we boarded and was in our room by 4:30.  This ship, the Victory is considerably larger than the Fantasy.  more restaurants, larger fitness center just bigger everything.

Miami from our balcony on deck 10. Our room was pretty large with a big bathroom.

nice balcony

our room was on the right under the slide.

Huge screen to watch movies on

We were pretty hungry so went to dinner at 5:45.  Eric had the Cured Salmon, Veggie Lasagna, tiramasu  Kathy had shrimp cocktail, grilled swordfish and a date bread pudding.  It was all very good. We walked the ship, trying to understand where everything was located and spent a few dollars at the casino.  Our long day made us hit the hay early.

Tues: We arrived at Key West by 7:00 am, off the boat by 7:40.

we walked Key West until about 10:45 when we went back to the ship, had a lobster roll and cheeseburger for lunch before getting in the pool.  The pool water was kind of cool.  this pool was for adults only, the kids pool was much bigger and louder.

They had a Pour your own Beer!  $4 for 14 oz of Red Thirsty Frog.  We were frequent guests here.

we went to take a sauna and steam bath before dressing for dinner.  Found a fun sports bar to have a cocktail before dinner.  which just happened to be next to the casino!

dinner for Eric was Ceasar Salad, Duck and creme brûlée, Kathy had the Grilled scallops, Ceasar salad, prime rib and molten chocolate cake.

we went to the comedy club to see Tom Foss.  He was pretty funny, this was the PG show.  the 18 and over show was not on until after 10 pm..

Wed Dec 21, the first day of Winter, we began the day at the fitness center.  Great machines and a lot of them.  Breakfast buffet then a bit of relaxing before docking in Cozumel at 11:30am.  We debarked at 11:45 and found bird #550 the Tropical Mockingbird right at the terminal.

Of course there are shops and restaurants to spend money in. 

at about 1 pm we joined our excursion group.  we took taxis about 4 miles from the terminal to

it is a private park, with snorkeling, sea lion show, tequila tasting, Mayan ruins (replicates) and a Mayan village, swimming pool, dolphins and a garden.

We found this Bananaquit

a Crocodile!

grackles taking baths

beach

pool

dolphins

tasting

we did participate in the tequila tasting!

we left the park at 5:00 pm, walked the town for a bit before having dinner at Three Amigos near our ship.  We ended up with 7 new life birds and 9 year birds.

beautiful sunset while we ate dinner

We were back on board by 7:30.  great day spent on the Island.

Thurs is our day at sea.  we headed to:

pretty quite place to relax

we stayed on this deck from about 8:00 am until abut 3:00 pm.  Went for a sauna/steam bath before our final dinner.  Kathy; escargot, pumpkin soup short ribs and pop corn custard   Eric: Ceasar salad, salmon.  Our food this week had been great.  of course too much but it was all good.

We went to the Christmas Holiday show, they included the children on the ship.

one last time at the casino to win big.. did not happen!


Friday we docked in Miami at about 7:30.  while we were docking we seen this beautiful rainbow from our balcony.

waiting to debark...

We really enjoyed our time on the ship.  Although we only went into the pool once.  Never went to the night club or utilized the spa.  It was relaxing with perfect weather.