After a delicious breakfast, we finished packing things to take with us for our day trip to Pine Island. Ken and Ernie had loaded the bikes last evening and by 10:00 the 4 of us were on our way in their truck to Pine Island.
On the way we stopped to see the burrowing owls and one of them was out to greet us! They are so adorable!
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| The burrowing owls are amazing! |
The drive through Matlacha was a bit slow but always an enjoyable one. We parked in the center of Pine Island and got on our bikes to head towards Bookelia - going that direction is the most scenic.
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| Rather busy as we headed into Matlacha! |
We stopped along the way to check out the area where they grow star fruit and then at one of the palm groves to look for coconuts to make "fish"! We decided to pick them up on the way back.
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| Lots of netting protecting the star fruit! |
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| Such a beautiful bike ride with a separate path along the road! |
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| Looks like the perfect "yacht" for a trip around the world! Cheap too!!! |
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| How are we going to ride with all these coconuts?? I guess we will have to come back with the truck! |
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| So, we made a "pile" of them along the walkway for later "pick-up"! |
We rode to the end of the island (Bookelia) which was 8 miles from where we had parked. It was a gorgeous day for a bike ride with plenty of sunshine and temperatures around 80 degrees. We enjoyed checking out the fishing pier and a local gift shop and then it was time to turn around and ride the 8 miles back to the truck. On the return ride, we found a better area for coconuts and made note of the location so we could come back in the truck to pick them up.
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| What a beautiful sight at the end of our ride! |
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| Ken see this gentleman on his bike every year when we ride on Pine Island. He usually has an old transistor radio, but not today. He never says anything, just gives the peace symbol! |
After loading up the bikes, we drove to the other side of the island and enjoyed a delicious "lupper" at Low Key Tiki Hut. It offers a great place to eat outside along a canal. Their chicken skewers and scallops wrapped with bacon ones are amazing.
From there we drove to the St. Jude Trail and walked the beautiful 1/2 mile trail, finding the dried palm branches we needed for the tails for our coconut fish! Then on to the other side of the island to pick up the dried coconuts we had found earlier for our "fish project".
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| We take this picture every year - tradition! |
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| Time for the fish tails! |
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| Ah, the Happy Couple! |
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| What a location for a photo! |
We left the island around 5:45 and made one more stop to see the burrowing owls. The same one we saw this morning was posing for us!
We returned to the CG around 7:15 and decided to wait to unload the truck until tomorrow. I downloaded the pictures Ken and taken today and worked on the blog. I had a very nice talk with Jackie Hagy, a very close friend from back home. She and her husband, Dan, had gone to visit my parents this afternoon and played 4 games of Pinochle with them. Ken and I are so grateful for the time they spend with them and my parents are thrilled!
The pulled muscle in my back was hurting, so by 10 I was in bed. With the time change, I was past my "prime"! What a great day on Pine Island, which really is a special place!
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| Just wanted to show you some of the treasures we found on the beach on Friday. Ken found all of the sea glass! |
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