No Wifi Zone

UPDATE:

Here are a couple pics I found--one of our old boats, and a pic my mom had taken in Captiva. I know there are more pics somewhere...

I got a text last night from Joe saying he was entering a "no wifi zone," and wouldn't be able to text or call for about a week. I can't wait to hear of the upcoming week's experiences!

I had a very cool dream last night. Maybe I'll make it into a book.

Other than that, not much is going on. I have an easy half day today, and the day off for the holiday tomorrow.

I have a good topic for an upcoming blog post, so stay tuned for that. Actually, I have a few good topics--I just have to write them...but the days are about to get busy once Callie arrives and we start doing summer outside-type things. I think we'll do a lot of boat-renting, kayaking, and hiking. Probably some metal-detecting on the beach, and we want to take Callie indoor skydiving if she's up for it, and do a few other things, too.

We're thinking about taking trips closer to home, since I took time off to go to CA and don't want to stress my co-workers in my first year. I have every other Friday off, so I can take long weekends to go to Sanibel and Captiva (the seashell capital of the world), and Key West.

When I was young, my parents would sometimes take us to Sanibel and Captiva for summer vacation. We'd haul the boat (with the trailer inevitably popping a tire or two along the bumpy route my dad chose to take), and stay in a cottage at the Tween Waters Inn for a couple weeks.

I loved walking along the beach picking up seashells and learning about each one with the seashell identification guide my dad bought me.

I remember one time when we were in the boat, and my dad decided to not heed the warning from one of the local fisherman to not attempt to navigate through a certain channel at a certain time of day, when the currents were very strong and could tip a small boat.

We'd had a good day fishing with the highlight of my older brother, John, catching a baby hammerhead. I have a pic of that somewhere, or maybe he does. I'll have to ask him for a scan.

Anyway, once my dad took the shark off the hook and released it back into the turquoise water. he decided to navigate the dangerous channel since we were very close to it, and it wasn't quite the time of day the fisherman had warned us about.

My mom was nervous (of course), but my dad was stubborn and if he thought he could do something, he would charge full steam ahead. Sorta like me. Lol.

As we entered the channel, the current wasn't too bad. A little rocky, but that was about it. I'm trying to remember exactly what happened, but I think my dad thought it wouldn't hurt to anchor for a little while and throw out a fishing line. That was a huge mistake, because the current soon pulled the boat against the anchor or something that made the boat start to tip or pull under water. My mom was running around franticly trying to get life vests on all us kids while simultaneously shrieking at my dad that it was his fault if we all drowned, and my dad was trying to pull up the anchor while simultaneously yelling at my mom to be quiet.

I vaguely remember squirming away from my frantic mom, telling her that I could easily swim to shore, which wasn't too far away, maybe 100 yards.

And then my dad had the anchor up and the boat righted itself and my dad booked it through the channel, having learned his lesson, I think, because he never attempted that again.

Oops, my trip down memory lane is making me run a little late. I'll try to update later with some family pics from our Sanibel vacations!