Holiday Ranch Olympics

I may not be an Olympic caliber athlete, but I sure had fun competing in today's HR Olympics!  We had some strange events - ladder ball, corn hole, horseshoe pong, balloon stuffing, putting on blacktop, chipping into a water bucket, frisbee throw, football throw, Bunco.  Those are just the ones I did...I guess I didn't do ladderball or chipping.  It was a fun day.  Tomorrow I compete in pool volleyball, water balloon toss, and moonlight shuffleboard in the daytime!!  It got rained out tonight.  We'll be going to church, then the Olympics, followed by a potluck dinner!

Needless to say, I'm tired.  Dave worked on cleaning and packing while I was playing!  He's such a good guy! 

More later...

Nice Friday

We started off our day at Walgreens where it took almost 45 minutes just to download all of my pictures onto CDs!!  I had over 1100 on one card.  I have them all on the computer, but I like to have them backed up on CDs too.  Now I can finally erase my card.  Once we got all of the pictures loaded onto their computer so they could burn the CDs, we took off for Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach.  We hadn't been that far north before...it is beautiful.  The beach itself is probably 200 feet wide...wow!  There were many, many sunbathers today because it was an absolutely gorgeous day!  We ate on the beach at a place called Frenchy's Rockaway Grill (or something like that!)  It had really good food and a million dollar view!  The only problem was trying to find a parking place anywhere near the beach.  The restaurant had about 8 parking places behind it, and I was lucky enough to get one!!!  I guess I should have bought a mega millions lottery ticket!!

This afternoon we went for a bike ride, talked with friends, and rested up for tomorrow!  Tomorrow I start my competition in the Holiday Ranch Olympics!!  I'll let you know how I do!  I think I start with putting and chipping around 10:00 and then finish at 8:00 PM with moonlight shuffleboard!  Should be a hoot!!

More later...

Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Did we ever have fun today!! We went back to The Pier to take the Dolphin Cruise again. If you remember, last time we didn't see any dolphins so we got a free ticket to do it again. I sure wish Bryan could have been with us today!! First here's a picture of a pelican. They're really photogenic!!

Then we get to the real stars of the day! We saw 1 or 2 dolphins early on our cruise, but these guys were there near the end. I have a video of them jumping and following our boat, but I can't get the video to load. Keep watching Facebook - hopefully I'll get it on there so that Bryan can see them! We ended up having 3-4 on our side of the boat riding with us and 2-3 on the other side riding along too. It was just so cool!

After enjoying our boat ride, we went to Panera Bread for lunch and then to the Sunken Garden in St Pete. That was lovely too! If they have flamingos, then they're perfect in my opinion! They had 2 of them AND some gorgeous flowering plants, too!

More later...

My day!!

Dave went to Sarasota to fish with his dad and I stayed home. I didn't do much of anything - I just played on the computer and rested!! More later...

Next to last B & B

Yes, it's true...today was our next to last Tuesday here for this season :(.  I can hardly believe it's gone so fast!!  This morning at bowling, I bowled pretty well.  I had a 134-129-145 for a  408 series.  Not bad, if I do say so myself!!  I even won a poker hand at bowling, too!  I won $5 for my poker hand and split the cribbage hand 6 ways so I got 70 cents for that!  I ALMOST won enough to pay for my bowling for the week!!

After bowling, we decided to go to a different restaurant than the group went to.  They were going to Golden Corral and we didn't want to go there.  So, we went to Maggie Mae's.  That was good, because it was one place we'd wanted to go but hadn't gotten there yet.  It was a very good place to eat and we got to eat outside!!  I love that!!

This evening, I went to bingo.  Again, I was waiting for only 1 number for almost every game.  I finally got one and won $14!!!  Woohoo!  I had a very good day!!  I even got home in time to see most of Dancing with the Stars.  I'm sorry to see Martina Navratilova leave - I think she would have improved greatly. 

More later...

Monday in Sarasota

We went to Sarasota this morning.  More of the Frushour family was there!  We got there about 10:00 and went straight to the pool.  Dave's sister and her family, as well as her best friend and her family, his niece and her family, and two of Roberta's grandchildren - 27 of us in all - enjoyed a full day at the pool.  Suzy's family spends everyday at the pool - all day!  She is so dark that I think she might have some exotic blood in her!!!  It was lots of fun!!

We came home about 3:00 and I went to play 7s from Hell...my partner and I lost by 435 points.  We were behind 3,000 points after the first hand, but just kept chipping away at them and almost got them on the last hand! 

More later...

Sunday, Sunday

We went to church this morning.  Hopefully we'll go there again next Sunday and then on Easter we hope to be at First Pres in O-town!!  This church is so welcoming, but it's just not home!!  I LOVE our church at home!  I feel the presence of God there!

After church we went to eat at Maggie Mae's - we've heard raves about it.  But, alas, it wasn't to be...we were 9th on the list and it's just a little, bitty place!  So, we went next door to the Columbia Restaurant, which we happen to love!  We sat out in the sun - and was it ever beating down today - and watched the water.  It took us longer to eat today because there were a bunch of dolphins going through the intercoastal!  They were really fun to watch! 

Then after lunch we went down to Indian Shores to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, which was on our list of must-do's. Well, let me tell you about this place! First of all, the smell was atrocious - who knew birds could stink so bad! We were greeted by a little lady, probably in her 70's, with only about 4 teeth and no smile. All around us was bird poop...we figured we'd be pooped on several times before we got out. There were birds everywhere...hundreds of nests up in the trees. I think they realize it's a safe haven and they just nest there to be near the injured birds. They have over 600 birds in the sanctuary at any given time. Twenty or more birds are brought there daily. It is something to see and experience, but the birds are in chicken wire enclosures so you can't really see them very well. It's very sad.

 Don't know what kind he is, but he was our "official" greeter!!

 Fledglings in a nest.

Too bad this one is blurry, but I was trying to shoot thru chicken wire.  He was a beautiful American White Pelican.

Oh, by the way, we felt it was a very successful visit to the Sanctuary...neither of us got pooped on!!  We also agreed we wouldn't be going back there.  Too bad - it was established in 1972 and is a non-profit, but it really needs some upkeep and some cleaning up!!

More later...

Saturday already???

Time is really flying by now that it's almost time to go home!  I can't believe how fast it is going.  We only have 7 more days in March and 4 in April til we leave here.  Wow - this winter has flown by!

Today we went out shopping for a part for Dad & Roberta's trailer and I went back to Beall's because everything in the store was 30 percent off today!  I bought a couple of unmentionables today and that's all.  Then we came home, had lunch, took a bike ride, and went over to some friends to look at their mobile home.  They're trying to sell it - it's a double wide and really a nice one!  If it just had our kitchen, it would be really, really nice! 

Tonight we had yet another meal at the clubhouse...this time it was a taco bar and fabulous desserts!  The tacos were very good - they just put out the makings and you made your own.  I like that!  We came home and sat in our chairs reading.  Ann called and wanted to know if we wanted to play  Wild Card, so we went up to their place and just now got home.  We no sooner walked in the door when it started raining...not much, but enough that we would have gotten wet on our bicycles!!  Oh, I forgot the most important part...I WON!!!!

More later...

Shopping Day

Today was a shopping day.  We needed to go to KMart and I wanted to go to Bealls!  I was able to find 4 tops - everything was 30 percent off today!!!  Dave went to the grocery store while I made a meatloaf for tonight's potluck dinner.  We were celebrating the fact that shuffleboard is over for the season :(.  The winners of the tournament were announced and now we're gearing up for the first ever Holiday Ranch olympics!  Should be fun! 

Nothing else to report today...boring, huh?  More later...

Thursday's Ramblings

We went to Sarasota today.  Dave's sister, Suzy, and her family are down at Sun-n-Fun on Spring Break, so we went over to see them.  Roberta hosted a Thirty One party  for Katie today and since I wanted a couple of things, we chose to go today.  It was a very nice party with a bunch of nice ladies!  I was able to get the bags I wanted - hopefully they will coordinate with the bag I already have!  If you've never heard of 31 - look it up online.  They're a Christian based company which sells bags of all kinds.  They're really nice bags!

We came home about 3:30 so that we'd miss all the heavy traffic.  About 10 miles from Dad's we got in a traffic jam that lasted over an hour!  We were backed up from before the toll booth to the Skyway bridge!  We just stopped and sat and when we got to move, it was just a few feet at a time!  We never did find out what the problem was...the guy at the toll booth said it was backed up clear to the bridge, so we figured there was an accident there.  When we got to the top of the bridge, the snarl cleared up and we were able to get back up to speed.  No signs of an accident at all!  Hmmm?

Tonight we didn't do much - just went for a bike ride and ate supper really late.  We're dragging our feet not wanting to think about coming home!  More later...

Wacky Wednesday

Dave isn't feeling well - I think he caught the grandkids' colds!  We went up for coffee this morning, but he was pretty grumpy!  He came home after coffee and I stayed to keep score in the singles shuffleboard tournament.  I came home after two games.  We just didn't do much - both of us are still pooped.  Dave took about 3 naps today while I tried to get 1 nap!  It was a good day for reading since we were both so tired!

About 2:30 we realized we hadn't eaten lunch, so we went to Cheddars.  Since we ate lunch so late, we didn't eat supper either.  So about 9:00 we had a bowl of ice cream and called it a night!

More later...

Another bust tonight!

Today was Tuesday so it was B&B day!  At bowling, I had a 125, a 99, and a 147.  I couldn't even begin to pick anything up in my second game.  All morning I threw a good first ball, just had trouble with my second ball.  I finally got everything somewhat together in the 3rd game.  Dave bowling 2 good games and 1 bad game too.  I'm afraid that the men ruled today - one of the guys had a 202 and none of the women came close to that!  As for bingo - let's just say I had a nice evening of entertainment without doing any winning!  So, bingo was a bust again!

Dave and I both took naps this afternoon.  We were pooped!  Dave's also coming down with a cold or something - he's losing his voice and feels to me like he's got fever.  Poor guy!  It's no wonder though - Kelly, Danny, and Bryan were all blowing their noses and sniffling.  So far, I haven't got it, and hopefully I won't! 

Bryan got home safely.  He called to tell his dad that he was home.  The Warriors got beat today at the National Tournament.  Dave is starting to pack things up to go home...I'm dragging my feet!  More later...

Last day for Bryan too!

Tomorrow bright and early, Bryan flies back to Iowa.  We've sure had some fun while he and the kids were here!  Today we took off early and drive down Gulf Blvd toward The Pier in St Pete.  We really had no idea what all was there, but we went anyway!  We went specifically to get on the dolphin cruise to see dolphins in the harbor.  My friend, Bev, did this with friends and they saw dolphins up close and personal...not us!  In fact, since we only saw 1 or 2 at a distance, the captain gave us all free tickets for another tour.  The tour lasted 90 minutes and we saw some beautiful homes and some gorgeous sights - just no dolphins.  Unfortunately since Bryan is going back home tomorrow, he won't get to use his ticket.  We got off the boat at 1:00 and went up to the 5th floor of The Pier to eat outside at Cha Cha Coconuts.  Gorgeous day to sit outside to eat and what a view!  While we were there, we watched 3 dolphins playing...too bad we weren't on the boat then!  Oh well, it was a great day for a boat ride anyway!

Love that the pelicans were waiting patiently by the fish for sale to feed them!!  Didn't know pelicans could be trained like Pavlov's dogs!!

 My NEW favorite home!!  Do you think Santa could arrange to get me this for Christmas??

 St Pete skyline from the dolphin cruise boat. 

After lunch we took off for Pass-a-Grille, however we took a little detour so Bryan could see the Sunshine Skyway bridge on I275.  It's a beautiful sight.  When you're driving over it, you are 285 feet in the air.  A boat that is 200 feet high can pass under it! 

 Yes, those are cars going over the bridge!!

Then it was on to Pass-a-Grille to the beautiful beaches there.  That's a beautiful area!

 This is the Don Cesar Hotel which is a famous landmark there. 

Tonight I played 7s from hell - I lost again!  At least I wasn't last!!  I ended up second! 

More later...

Last day for the kiddos

Jami, Bryan and the little ones came back from Pat's mom's house this afternoon about 2:00.  I had put a casserole in the oven at 1:00 and it came out at 2:00 - perfect timing.  We ate lunch and then to wear down the kids, we all went to the pool for a swim!  Jami was on the road by 5:00...she hasn't called yet to tell us she got home.  We sent yogurt and chips and raw hotdogs with her and before she got to Naples, they had eaten everything in the car except Kelly had them rationing out the chips.  She had to promise them she would stop in Naples and get supper for them.  Dave is talking to Tom now - they got home and little Danny is sound asleep. 

This evening, we took Bob & Ann and went to Clearwater Beach to the Post Corner for pizza.  Spring break is in full force at the beach!!  We had lots of fun sitting on the strip while kids were cruising by in cars and on motorcycles or on foot.  Just as we got there, we were treated to the most beautiful of sights - a sunset on the Gulf! 

You couldn't begin to paint something this beautiful!  The sight was amazing as the sun dipped into the water!  Thank you, God, for your beauty!

More later...

Day of rest!

Jami, Bryan and the kids left about 10:15 or so this morning.  I am still just exhausted from our trip yesterday - and so are the kids!  In fact, Kelly got her pillow and said she was closing her eyes as soon as the car was on the road.  I'm pretty sure all 3 of the little ones slept on their way to their great-grandma's this morning.  They'll be back tomorrow for a little while.  Then Jami and the kids will leave for Ft Lauderdale, which will leave only Bryan and us.  I don't quite know what we're going to do yet, but I'm pretty sure we'll go on a dolphin excursion on Monday and maybe end up at the St Pete Pier.  What we do tomorrow will depend on when they get back from Ocala.

I was watching the Cyclone men play Kentucky, but it's 38-27 at the half and I'm a little depressed so I turned it off.  Our women got beat 71-57 today, so the "luck of the Irish" wasn't with them either.  I hope the men come out in the second half and just light it up!  Since their playing a #1 seed, it's not likely, but I can hope!!

Here are a few more pictures from Busch Gardens.  This is a waterfall that was beautiful.

 A vine growing up a post fence.

This was really cool.  They have a glass window structure in the tiger enclosure - you go up some steps and you're surrounded by glass.  If you're lucky one of the tigers is near the window.  We were lucky!!! 

 Love those flamingos!!

 Zoom lenses are wonderful!!

This lion greeted us - he's right inside the front gate.  There were others - a giraffe, a tiger, etc...beautiful living sculptures!





  More later...

Busch Gardens

Oh my gosh -- Busch Gardens was really fun!!  We were gone for 12 hours today, yet we probably didn't even see 1/3 of the place!  It was so much fun!!  The girls said it was more fun than Disney World!  It's a combination zoo and amusement park!

Here are some pictures:  These are 2 of the largest alligators around!  They were absolutely huge!!

This picture just cracks me up!  How in the heck can this little guy get down???  

 I love this picture!!

 We're waiting for the train - a must do if you ever go there! 

This was a roller coaster with a 200 foot drop and this is a 90 degree drop!!  Bryan and Jami rode this thing! 

More later...

Bryan's here!!

Bryan's here too! Yay! The kids were really excited to see Uncle Bryan, and so were we!! Jami, Dave and the kids went to see the big alligator at the nature preserve this morning...I got my hair cut.  Then this afternoon, we waited for Bryan to get here - his plane was delayed.  When he got here we just went on bike rides and went to the pool!  Tomorrow, however, we're going to Busch Gardens in Tampa...so, it will be a BIG day.

Here are some pictures of various things.  The first one iss of a bunch of alligators at the miniature golf course.  Can you believe it?  You see the pole coming into the picture from the left with the orange line attached to it?  Kelly was feeding the alligators meat from this pole.  Her gator wouldn't let go of the line - he fought to keep it!  Megan's just snapped the food off and then swam away.  Dave counted the alligators - there were 22 of them right smack dab in the middle of the course!!  Enclosed, of course!



 Here are the girls - posing by the poles.

One night we went to Hooters for dinner.  These are some of the birds we saw that night.  A blue heron..and pelicans galore!

This morning we were visited by George.  This is a picture that one of the girls took.    Notice his green patch around his eye.  Our neighbor says this patch is green when it's mating time!  Boy is it green right now!

That's it for tonight.  I'm watching the Cyclones play in the NCAA tournament.  They're up by 10 at the half, but UConn is gaining - come on, 'Clones!!  Make us proud!!  More later...

Blogless!

Sorry - I'm too tired to blog.  More later...

B&B-less Tuesday

No bowling or bingo to report on today.  With the girls here, we want to do things with them instead of the regular stuff we do.  They would have been bored to death!!




Today was, however, another busy, busy day.  We went to another nature preserve today - this one was called Moccasin Lake.  I figured it was going to have a million snakes, but we didn't see any.  We did, however, see a roseate spoonbill, an osprey, a bunch of turtles, peacocks, and an alligator's head.  Here are a few pictures that the girls took.  Since their camera battery is dead, they used both Dave's and my cameras and took some really good pictures.

I love this peacock...I believe Megan took this shot.  I enhanced it a bit by changing the exposure and cropping it, but that's a good picture! 



This is a roseate spoonbill from clear across a 5 acre lake.  Just to the right of this picture and not in the shot, is an alligator. 

This is an albino peacock.  The girls were fascinated with him.



Here is just some of the beauty we saw today! 

This afternoon, Dave took the girls to the pool while I took a short nap...I couldn't sleep last night...it was 2:30 before I was able to wind down.  Then after supper we all took a bike ride.

The girls are already asleep and Dave's in bed.  Tomorrow we're playing miniature golf - we didn't have time for it today!!  More later...



Monday with the Girls

Dave took the girls to the nature preserve this morning.  They didn't see a single snake!  Instead, they saw:

 Can you believe this guy?? 

 Baby blue herons

and an Anhinga!

I guess I should have gone with them!!  When they got home, they were really hungry, so we had lunch.  Then after an appropriate time, we went to the pool.  Dave didn't go with us because WE SOLD THE GTX and he needed to talk to the guy in St Louis to find out what he needed!!  Yippee!!    We were at the pool for over an hour.  Megan's face is sunburned and her eyes are really red...Maybe we stayed too long.

When we got home from the pool we borrowed some bikes and all 4 of us rode around the 'hood!  I got supper around 5:30 and then I went up to play 7s from Hell.  Ann & I were partners...we got beat in the last hand!  Bummer! 

More later...

Another adventure...

I'm catching up on pictures again!  Here is the way strawberries grow down here!  In most cases, they plant them like this and then every year when they are done bearing berries, they pull the plants up and plant a different crop in their place.  Then in the fall they plant berry plants again.  That's how they get such big beautiful berries, I guess!  They're also clean when they come out of the field, so you can eat them right off the vine! 

I thought this display was wonderful.  This is only half of the booth...there are that many berries on the other side too. 

Today for our adventure we went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to let the kids see Winter, the dolphin that got caught in a crab trap and lost her tail.  Dolphins move by an up-and-down movement of their tail, whereas whales move by a sideways motion of their tail.  Since Winter lost her tail, she would have to move like whales and that would cause her to have problems with her backbone, so they have been working to fit her with a prosthetic tail.  While we were there she didn't have her prosthetic tail on - she can only wear it 5-6 times a day.  Besides getting to see Winter and some of the props from the movie, we saw other marine animals and the kids got to pet stingrays!!!  Yuck!  Below are some shots I got today.  This first one is a starfish moving along the side of the tank. 

Here's one of the stringrays the kids could touch.  You'll notice that he's been de-barbed!  They de-barb them every 3 months or so. 

 Here is one of the sea otters that was sleeping on his/her blankie!!

The star of the aquarium, though, is definitely Winter!  She is playing with one of the handlers.  I couldn't get a good shot of her - too many people in front of me!!  It's kind of like at the State Fair and trying to get a good shot of the butter cow!!  You can see her "stub" of a tail.  The yellow thing down by her tail is just a toy.  She didn't have her prosthetic tail on while we were there.

We loved this sea turtle.  He/she really put on a show for us.  The reason his butt is up in the air is that he's been hit by a boat and gotten air under his shell.  Therefore, he has trouble with flotation.  The air bubble is closer to his backside and he can't even himself out. 

Isn't that a beautiful face???

After all of this, we took off for Sarasota to see the Lipizzaner show.  Unfortunately it was raining so we didn't get to go!  So, we just stopped at Maury & Roberta's and ate supper with them.  We made it back to our house without the girls getting upset and wanting to go home.  Guess what else??  Kelly lost a tooth on the way here from Dad's!  I guess/hope the tooth fairy finds her way here!! 

Tomorrow the girls are going with grandpa to see the snakes at the nature preserve.  Then we're planning to do some swimming!!  More later...

They're Heeeeeeerrrrreee....

Today was our monthly breakfast at the park - it's always so good...scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and orange juice...all for $4.00!  I actually brought home 6 extra pancakes, put wax paper between them, and froze them for the kids for breakfast this week. 

Dave and I just hung out this afternoon waiting for them to arrive.  They got here about 2:30 and by 4:30 or so, we were up at the swimming pool!  That's the first time we've been there all winter.  The water was wonderfully warm and it wasn't busy, so it was great!!  We swam/played for about 2 hours and then came home and fixed supper. 

I hate daylight savings time!  We have to turn our clocks forward so now instead of 9:47, it's 10:47 and I feel like I should go to bed...but I'm NOT sleepy yet!  Danny fell asleep a while ago but Megan & Kelly are still up.  Tomorrow's a big day, but we'll play it by ear...what we do will be governed by what time we get up and get going! 

More later...

Friday's Ponderings

Fridays at the Ranch are for shuffling...and we were able to get in 3 of the 4 games today.  We got rained out of the second one.  I played against Brad my first game.  I like playing against him because he explains to me where I should try to hit and what he's trying to do.  It's kind of a complicated game, but he makes it seem logical at least.  I got beat 66-1!  We didn't play our 2nd game and I kept score for the 3rd game.  I played against Ann for the 4th game of the day.  I scored more points this game, but Ann clobbered me!  I think it was something like 89-27.  I told her she wasn't getting a Christmas present from me because I helped her score about 21 of those points!  The first two frames she scored 18 each and I scored none.  Then the last frame she score 27 in just one frame!  Sheesh!! 

Tomorrow our kids start arriving.  Jami is coming over with the 3 little ones for the weekend.  We've also got our monthly breakfast in the park. 

More later...

Strawberry Festival

Penny, Sue, Dave and I went to Plant City today for a day at the Florida Strawberry Festival.  I must say that the St Clement Catholic booth had wonderful strawberry shortcake.  That being said, however, I wasn't impressed with the festival.  As far as we were concerned, it was kind of like a flea market with a strawberry theme.  There were tons of food booths and tons of little booths where you could buy strawberry jewelry, strawberry suncatchers, strawberry t-shirts, strawberry hats, strawberry scarves, strawberry bread, strawberry jam, and even fresh strawberries.  There was also a midway, but since none of us wanted to ride any rides, we didn't even go there.  Now we can say we've been to it, but we don't plan to go back...unless it would be to see some of the shows.  They had some good entertainment - Charlie Daniels band today, Josh Turner, Reba, etc. 

It was really hot here today.  In fact it's still 75 with very high humidity.  I'm thinking we may have to turn on the a/c tonight just to sleep.  Dave thinks it'll be okay.  We've still got all the windows open and the ceiling fans going. 

Tomorrow is shuffling day...there's a 20 percent chance of rain.  Hopefully it won't rain us out.  More later...

My birthday!!

I just have a really hard time believing that I'm 64 years old!  I just can't be, can I?  Surely we've all miscounted somewhere!!

We had coffee this morning up in the clubhouse where everyone sang Happy Birthday to me!  Then I went to Pure Nails for a mani and a pedi!  Boy, did I need the pedi!  The manicure wasn't needed, it was just a treat to myself!  Came home and had tortilla chips with cheese for lunch.  Ice cream and strawberries for supper!  A nap in the afternoon...just a perfect birthday!!  I did NOTHING, which is exactly what I wanted to do!

Tomorrow will be a little different.  We're going to Plant City for the strawberry festival and to meet Karie there.  Sue & Penny are going with us.  I'm sure it will be a wonderfully tiring day!!!  More later...

L....again!!!!

Bowling and bingo...I'm not very good at either!  I bowled 2 decent games and then I couldn't break 100 in the 3rd game!  Why, even my brother beat me the last game!!  Dave too!  Grrrrrr!  I think I should only bowl 2 games - by the third game, I just don't have the strength in my arm or my leg to bowl it well.  Maybe I should start lifting weights!  Ha!!

Then there's bingo...I needed 1 number on 3 different games...do you think he'd call MY number...NO!  So, I'm a loser again!  I really thought I was going to win tonight, but it didn't happen!

Tomorrow's a big day!  I think I'd better get some rest tonight!  More later...


Gonzo

Sarasota

This was our day to go to Sarasota.  Dave thought it would be too cold for fishing, so he didn't even take his pole.  His dad assured him, however, that fish weren't affected by the cold in the water at Lido Beach.  Too bad.  So instead of fishing, we had to come up with something else to do.  We heard that the Lipizzaner stallions were housed near Sarasota, so we went to try to see them. 

We drove to the place where they live and there were no cars, but the barn was open and there were 4 people in there.  So, we went in and asked if we could just look at the horses.  They had no problem with us being there, so we walked around and looked at these BIG horses.  They are beautiful and powerful and a bit unpredictable...they are stallions, after all.  This first guy just laughed at me when I told him that he was beautiful!! 

I thought these two just looked angry!  I know that as a general rule stallions like to fight with other stallions.  It must really be loud in this barn sometimes.  One of the trainers took on the of stallions out to let him get some exercise.  As she was putting his halter on him, she said that he screams when he comes out of his stall...AND BOY DID HE EVER SCREAM!!  He was excited to get out and he let everyone know it!!



Aren't they just majestic looking?  I love this picture.  He's so regal looking...hmmmm, I think they're called the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions from Austria...no wonder he looks so royal!!!






The trainer took this big guy out to lunge him.  He'd been feeling a little under the weather the last couple of days.  The owner said he didn't like it when low pressure systems came through - they really bothered him. 

He's 23 years old and they said that wasn't unusual for Lipizzaners!

These two stallmates got after each other at the show this past week and the owner said she had a really hard time controlling them.  The owner is a very small lady, probably about 45-55...and the trainer, as you can see in the picture above is also not very big.  She's younger...maybe not even 40.  When she was exercising the 23 year old, he got pretty frisky and she really had to hold onto him. 

It was fun to see the horses and smell them!  It reminded me of home!  We're going to try to catch one of their shows before we go home. 

Tonight I played 7s from Hell...got beat again!  Sandy and I lead 3 hands and on the 4th hand, we got clobbered!  I hope my luck is better at bowling and bingo tomorrow!!

More later...