Florida...

 So... if you've read my blog long, you know that I've been whining about the snow and cold and snow... a lot.  Last year we planned a trip to Florida ~ the Sunshine State... and on the 2nd of April we headed to the airport to leave for Miami... via Denver... via Atlanta... ya, that was a long day.  We arrived in Miami at 6:45 pm.  We got our rental car and head south for Key West... We stopped to eat dinner and then continued our way.  We finally arrived at our destination at 11:30pm... the next morning I woke before everyone else (which is normal) and went down to walk around the grounds of the condos... wow... we were on the pier...  it was warm... there was sunshine... Here are a few pictures to show you some of the sites...

Tarpon... huge tarpon swimming along the docks... I fed them and this is a snap that DS took...

I found that there were at least 3 "local" dock cats around... this is Raggedy Anne... she is quite content.  She loves fresh caught fish.

This was a really nice boat that showed up midweek to dock for a couple of days...

So, Monday we went deep sea fishing... with these guys.  

We decided to go for Sail Fish... so we needed live bait...

We got out to where we were going to fish about 6 miles out... Almost immediately 1st DS caught a "Bonita" which you don't eat... they kind of like a tuna.  They kept it for bait... Then 2nd DS got to bring in a "Silky Shark" we turned him loose...  Next DH and I both got to bring in Dolphin (Maui Maui) fish... mine got away... :-(  We did keep the ones that got to the boat (these are very tasty fish)  Then, father in law and I got to bring in 2 more Dolphin fish! YUM!

This all occurred in about an hour (awesome fishing!) HOWEVER... during this time 1st DS and Mother-i-l were becoming very ill... and then 2nd DS began to get sick too... we had purchased a 3/4 day of fishing and ended up only being gone about 3 1/2 hours... at least we did catch fish... but alas no Sail Fish... 

me and a dolphin fish...

After watching those gianormous tarpon swimming under the dock... we decided that we needed to catch one of those... so we chartered a trip.  1st trip with Dream Catchers DH caught about a 40lb fish... tarpon are all catch and release cause they are not good to eat.

The second trip DH and I went with Capt Jared Cyr.  Well recommended.  Jared was born and raised in Key West.  His dad is a charter captain too... I caught a beautiful Red Grouper (out of season), DH caught a lovely Black Grouper and then a red... we were chatting.  Jared told us that if you have a tarpon you will feel you bait "get nervous" then you will feel a bump and a steady pull... don't do anything until your line starts to go out.  The cool and fun thing about tarpon is once the fish realizes that he is on the line he explodes out of the water!  They are an extreme fighting fish!  So anyways... we are sitting there... we've seen other boats hook tarpons, so we know we are in a good spot.  We are chatting... actually I think I was chatting... and all the sudden ZINNNNGGGGG! my pole is almost ripped out of my hands... line is whizzing off my reel... Jared is giving me instructions... suddenly a HUGE tarpon blows out of the water!  OMGOSH!!! I'm so excited!  I'm reeling for all I'm worth, then just like that ZINGGGGG... there goes all the line I reeled plus more... This went on they told me for 15 - 20 minutes... He blasted out of the water 3 different times.  Soon after the last time, I lost him... he was just gone... :-( But oh how exciting... I was shaking.  My arm muscles were burning... my hands just ached and seemed to be in a permanent death grip on the pole and reel... I want to go again... 

Sunsets were dreamy... Boats everywhere...

I found a local needle shop.  Turns out she designs Needlepoint.  I've never done needlepoint... but I got a small kit and some extra flosses just cause... lol... you should check out her stuff! 

Julie Pischke Designs OMGoodness you should see her rugs and her bags... look at her bags... she also had the most awesome leather bags that you could insert your projects into... I can't find them on her site... but I will post when I do!  Now, I took my Resurrection with me... cause I thought I would have a chance to work on it... Yeah, right... best laid plans of men and mice... So, am I going to make my crazy goal... no, probably not.  Oh, well I will revamp it somehow.

It was awesome... too short... now we are back and it has already snowed 3 times... though the snow is almost gone... there are things coming up in my yard... and the deer are here (so they will probably eat everything that comes up... grrr...

Until Later...

KimV