Another Fun Day with Special Friends!

Ken and I got up and did our exercises and then Ken made us a great breakfast while I got ready for the day.  How can guys get ready so quickly in the morning????  I wish I could just run my fingesr through my hair and be done!!!!

We left the CG at 9:00 to drive about 1 hour to the Port Charlotte area to spend the day with Ernie and Noela, the Canadian folks we met on the Panhandle last fall.  We were anxious to see them and check out the Encore Park, Harbor Lakes, and the areas nearby.  What a joy to see them again and spend time riding bike and just sharing life!  After visiting and "catching up", we all rode in their truck (this is the truck that they bought since they are in Florida to replace the one that was stolen in a motel parking lot on their way to this CG) with all 4 bikes loaded and headed to Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island.  What a beautiful area!  They have a bike/golf cart path separate from the car traffic that offers a wonderful place to ride.  You can tell it is a very affluent area.

Needed the wind breakers for this bike ride!

What a beautiful area!

The old lighthouse that is really not maintained!

Bike and golf cart path is well maintained!

This is the newer lighthouse with a very interesting
museum!

Quite a rough, tumbling surf!

We rode through the state park out to the beach area.  It was such a windy day (25 to 30 mph) and only in the mid 60's, so bike riding was a bit of a challenge at times.  We all mentioned that we have never seen the gulf with so many waves and rough surf.  Usually there are no waves and it is so serene.  We rode our bikes to South Beach, a nice eatery on the water and braved the weather and enjoyed our lunch on the outdoor patio.  There were very few people on the patio, but we were determined to eat outdoors.  After lunch we did more riding around the area and then stopped at the beach to look for treasures!  We figured the rough surf would bring some special things to the beach and we were right.  We found a couple of the largest shark's teeth we have ever found, not huge, but significant!

South Beach eatery!

As you can see, we were just about the only people who
braved the weather to eat outside!  It was chilly!

Note the strong winds!

In a beautiful garden area on the island!

A statue made totally out of shells!

This rough surf was calling us to look for sharks teeth!

We  tried to get out of the surf but we all got soaked shoes
and socks.  We just couldn't out run the waves.  Noela got \
smart and took off her shoes.  

Got back to their RV around 5:30 and spent the next 2 hours chatting, drinking wine, and eating pistachios (I think they are a favorite of Ernie!!!!!)  We had such a delightful and special time.  They are planning to come to see us the beginning of next week.  Ernie would like to go to Texas in the fall and then finish that adventure in Florida, leaving their rig there until they would return in January.  He thinks we should do the same!  I guess time will tell, but he is rather convincing!  But, he will definitely return to Florida in the winter months - He says, "I just can't get enough of Florida and this RVing lifestyle".  We get it!!!!

Sitting in their RV enjoying the wine and just being together!

These were the treasure we found in about 1/2 hour!

We were back to Waldo by 9:30, tired but happy.  It was a great day!  Harbor Lakes CG is definitely a park where we would enjoy staying and there is lots to do in the area!  Maybe next year!!!