Absolutely astoundingly beautiful property on the water with views across the wilderness marsh between us and the Gulf of Mexico! Simply stunning, sitting in a screened porch one floor up with lovely cooling breezes rippling the palm fronds! Completely idyllic! Beth Anne & Rob have truly found a slice of heaven on earth!

We’re camping in the driveway with massive fig tree to one side and jasmine to the other! We arrived in time to visit with Beans & Susie before they had to leave to catch a flight back to England.

Our first full day was fantastic! Tho predictions were for rain all afternoon, nary a drop fell! After a leisurely morning spent catching up we decided to enjoy lunch on the deck of a wonderful Florida bar/restaurant overlooking a waterway. Our server was a sweet & very funny girl named Trouble(!)

The ambience was delightful – sitting in the shade with soft breezes & as we dined on blackened scallops & divine clam chowder a manatee floated past! Followed by an obliging trio who drifted over to just beside our table! Manatee sightings in the wild at the end of April? Amazing!

We drove over to the locks and were graced with the sight of five gators!!! Truly a perfect Florida day! Lightly overcast, nice breezes and pleasantly warm. Added into the mix were barn swallows flitting about, a green heron, & a very lovely great blue heron!

The perfect end to a perfect day? Watching sunset paint everything rosy pink, mauve, & lavender!

Especially with our great blue heron posing majestically atop a pole!

Just another lovely day in paradise!

Our second full day was much like the first! Leisurely morning chatting , then found a new waterside restaurant, eating on the deck! Great food, loads of laughter!

Mailbox decorations are an art form in Homosassa and Crystal River. Mermaids, manatees, lighthouses, birds & fish are commonly used but in todays neighborhood it was seasonally decked out BIKES! I give you one particularly spectacular example: the Easter Tandem to the Sky!

Todays weird & wonderful wildlife sightings included a pair of sandhill cranes and a black & brown spotted feral pig!

After our daily Dairy Queen “appetizer” we arrived home to severe weather alerts. Sideways lightning tore across the skies, bringing torrential rain & camper rocking winds! Quite the show really! In the morning I realized that I had left my little airplant outside the camper… I’m hopeful it was blown into a new tree-home, however, fortunately for me a triple sized “Wild Willy” was avaiable in the citrus tree!

Sunday morning we departed as Beth Anne & Rob serenaded us with “Happy Anniversary to you…” It was a happy 29th anniversary indeed!

Oh, and we have a new record – 41 state license plates spotted! And Wild Willy 2 is now triplets & they are currently enjoying life in shells on the mantle!