Staying with Geri and John (and their dog, Abby) is always a treat. So, we decided to pull back from our road trip for a week and visit them at their vacation home rental in Longboat Key, Florida before continuing on our southwest adventure.
In Florida, John has his boat and the vacation home they rent always has a pool so we get to do a lot of water activities.
It’s only been a weeklong visit but each day has been packed with fishing, swimming or both. To mix it up we’ve also walked along the beach, kayaked, watched sunsets, played board games, caught up on some movies and just chatted. Each day is punctuated with wonderful, fresh meals that Geri organizes.
With a pool right outside the dining room, it has been a chance for the girls to get better and even more confident with their swimming. To our delight, Ruth now splashes around the pool without the need for float assistance (or fins). She has even tried swimming the width of the pool using (her version of) freestyle. Meanwhile, Rose has been practicing her diving and gliding – using a smooth, powerful launch to send her down to the pool bottom or across its width in one fluid motion.
Both girls prefer to use their goggles or masks in the water as both seem to spend an inordinate amount of time swimming underwater – exploring the bottom of the pool or diving for beads and coins that can be easily tossed in and recovered. It is oftentimes a battle to get them out to eat, drink or apply more sun block even though they’ve been frolicking in the pool for 2 hours or more. On the plus side, their tired little bodies sleep well at night.
Fishing on this trip has been very rewarding. When we were last in the area – at Fort de Soto County Park, about 10 miles north of here – we discovered just how abundant the fishing could be in Florida.
This time around we had expert guidance from John and his friends, as well as small boat to get us to the best fishing spots. Yesterday, Ruth and Rose were pulling fish up with almost every cast of their lines. Using live shrimp the girls were able to encourage Mangrove Snapper, Sheep Head, and Grouper (two different varieties) to bite down on the line. As adherents of catch-and-release every fish was returned to the sea though many were legally sized to keep. The other day, when Ruth and her fishing rod were on fire, we kept and ate 4 of the Mangrove Snapper she landed.
Most all our activities here have been centered around the home or spending time with Geri and John since we don’t get to see them often enough. For Denise it has been a chance to catch up with her sister and discuss family matters. For Doug it has been a relaxing time of swimming and fishing and reflecting on the road trip so far and contemplating what may lie in store once we return to Seattle.
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