And the sun still shines....

Yes folks, despite the momentary panic of locals down here when the temperature was to be a "hard freeze" and the notification of warm shelters (for 0 C???) the sun is still shining and the thermometer by the pool now reads 62 F (about 16 C I think) and the thermometer IN the pool reads a lovely 82F. (I'll let you do the converting).

So, while those 2,500 km to the north have been freezing their patooties off we've been chilly but not chilly enough not to go to the beach!
 In my continued quest to be near water we ventured off to find Venice Beach. This is a part of land just north of Port Charlotte that is known for it's shell gathering and the old shark teeth that get washed ashore. It was our goal to get there but the getting wasn't direct. "Let's see where this road will take us" was more to the point of the day.
Map in hand we did finally find the beach and Wow! What fun was that! Gazillions of shells. Of course a few found their way into my pocket.

This little dude, actually the size of an orange, was wandering along the tide wash on the beach. Okay, when I say wandering I don't know that a sea urchin wanders but it was moving. The picture doesn't do him (her?) justice as the spines were a deep mahogany colour and all shiny in the sun. Very neat!

My stash of shells will grow as I visit different beaches here but it's always exciting to get the first few nice ones.

They have been properly bleached and cleaned and sun dried and ready for display, where ever. Oh yes, it's important to check if "anyone is home" when shelling. Two beautiful shells I picked up had residents in situ!
Though cold and windy that day it didn't stop us from looking around. There was a restaurant there (Sharky's, appropriately named) and we had an awesome lunch. My first feed of Gulf peel and eat shrimp. Oh boy were they good! Fortified we walked out to the end of the pier to take some pictures (and freeze out tails off). Only people on the pier were tourists. Of course!

 Huge, pounding waves of the Gulf of Mexico on Venice Beach from Fisherman's Pier.

Fisherman's Pier at Venice Beach (note lack of people anywhere in this shot!)

We know we'll be back to this spot a few times in the coming months. Very neat! Oh yeah, and the beach goes on for MILES!

Yesterday, (the 4th) was a quiet day here. Just sitting out, reading and relaxing by the pool. As the weather warmed the sweater was replaced by t-shirt and pants by shorts. By 3 pm we were in the pool doing laps. (We do have goals you know!) The temperature heats up fairly quickly here if there isn't a breeze, if there is just stay out of it and you're toasty. I guess it's all what you're used to. I think it's lovely. Locals think otherwise.

One of the things that's a real pain down here is getting gas for the car. Since we're non residents we have to go into the store, pay ahead, hope they remember to "open" the pump, fill with fuel, hope you've pre-authorized enough, then go back in to get the refund slip if you've over guessed. Yes, it's a lot of running around.
Frustrated at the local RaceTrac station (a brand of fuel down here) the young lady asked if I was going to be in the area for a while. When I said yes, she provided me with a fuel up ID card. This card I put in the pump first, fuel up then go in and pay. The card is attached to my drivers licence and makes life so much easier. Saves a bunch of steps. I still have to go inside to pay but I don't have to guess, or make multiple trips. Now I'm wondering if other stations have the same thing. There are Marathon and BP stations all over. I'm thinking I might get something from them, if they have it. In some places they keep your credit card while you're filling up. This doesn't make me happy, let me tell you. This fuel ID card will help I'm sure!

So, on my continued reporting on Snowbirds....
At Walmart you must walk slowly, very slowly, and saying "Excuse me" quietly doesn't work. Many Snowbirds don't hear well, so you have to be a little louder than usual (like this is a problem for me). I've also noticed that in the aisles a couple will be consulting their shopping list side by side, with no room to manoever around. There was one aisle completely gridlocked because one couple (Snowbirds are quite an obvious species here) blocked the whole thing up and were speaking quite loudly to each other. They weren't mad at each other, they were just deaf and trying to get each other's point across.

At the movie theatre last night, (we saw Mission Impossible) we noted that the age demographic was WAY older than what we're used to. Oh yes, and there are lots of bathrooms in easy access to the theatres! 

So folks, the sun still shines.
Our quest today? Find grapefruit spoons. If you don't know what they are, they make eating a very nice, fresh grapefruit very easy. We need some here at the house. I've looked everywhere here and can't find them, so we'll add them to the stash of equipment!

Cheers all!