Finally....Time to unwind!!

Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold.  But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.  ~Douglas Pagels

We arrived at our new home today here in sunny Florida after a trip down on the Auto Train! If you haven't tried it, you should....you (and your car) board the train in Lorton VA between 2:30 and 3:00 to a free wine happy hour with cheese and crackers, veggies with dressing and other snacks until 4:00 when the train leaves the station.  You then kick back and relax in your room until they call you to dinner at 5:00 or 7:00 and you have a very good meal with choices such as New York strip, Chicken, Salmon, or Veggie Lasagna with more wine or your choice of other beverage.  Go to the Lounge and watch a movie at 7:15 or 9:15 or just go back to your room and watch the world pass by! Go to sleep and wake up in Sandford FL (near Orlando) between 8:30 and 9:30 the next day. Within an hour you have your car and you are on your way!!  It's roughly a 4 hour drive from the train station to Sanibel which is not bad at all!!  

We got settled in and had dinner and wandered out to the beach at about 5:30 PM after dinner! We are staying at a different place than usual as Hubby found a deal he couldn't pass up....and it is right where Hubby got his Junonia a few years ago!!! We are staying at the last building of Sundial West. We walk right out to Junonia territory, complete with tidal pools!!  Here is how the beach looked this evening....just beautiful and very peaceful....and the water was so clear!!

The Gulf was as calm as a lake!

You can see the sandbar the water is so clear

This was taken with my new camera, through the water

There were patches like this with little treasures all through the tidal pool

If you look closely, you can see a beautiful Lightning whelk....live, with the animal out walking along the bottom of the tidal pool, he is the black material under it.  This shell is probably 7 or 8 inches long!

Here he is out of the water, I took him out for a quick picture then placed him back into the pool....

Here is the underside of him, he has a 'door' to protect him, it is shut now....notice the beautiful pink surface around the 'door'! It is nearly iridescent...like a pearl!

This is the 'Wrack Line' it is the high tide line with all sorts of pen shells and egg cases for all kinds of shells!  So many places to investigate...This may take me several days to check through thoroughly

This was from the tidal pool, see the dark spots in there, it was so clear!! I LOVE this type of shelling! There was a storm approaching!!

Notice the small white arrow? That's our new home for the next few days!!

Closer view...Hubby is sitting there!!

 

 We are going to love our new home for the next few days, I hope to be able to send you great reports....Today's shells will be in tomorrow's post!! 


It really is so beautiful and peaceful here....Truly paradise!!


::Hugs::


Cheri