Bruce's Travels

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving It's Sunday here, the last day of a long weekend. Lots of people will be driving and flying the unfriendly skies today in their journeys home. We are glad to be staying put here in our "home base" of Fort Myers. Looking back on the past week, here's a summary of our goings-on.  Monday Nov. 23 -- Sanibel Island This was probably our most eventful day. We got to Sanibel at 9 a.m. and started with a leisurely breakfast at the Lighthouse Cafe on the more laid-back eastern end of the Island. I had pancakes and sausage, and Dawn had the "Lighthouse Special" omelet, which has turkey, broccoli, fresh mushroom, and cream cheese in it. From there, we drove to the Matthew-Bailey Shell Museum on Sanibel-Captiva Road, where we had a fun time learning about shells and the two types of mollusks -- gastropods and bivalves -- that inhabit these parts. From there, we took a drive through the Ding Darling Nature Preserve....

Greetings all. We see Wisconsin has had its first snowstorm of the season. We continue to deal with unseasonably hot temps down here, but it looks as though things here will cool off a bit and next week and be normal (mid to upper 70s). We are kind of tired of running the AC all day and night and having to keep the windows and lanai door closed all the time. Well, another busy and eventful week, so let's get started: Saturday Nov. 14 -- A Walk in the Park We did indeed get out to Lakes Park and walked a lap around the "inner track" ... about half mile. Fairly nice day. From there, we did a big grocery run to Publix for deli meat and cheese; and then the Walmart Neighborhood Market for the balance of the list to get the better prices. For dinner, I cooked in and made lemon-garlic shrimp over linguine, and an apple walnut salad from one of those Dole "salad kits" in the produce section. The salad was good, but the other salad kit we bought from them -- pear ...

Hi Friends and Family: Today is Saturday the 14th, and it's an absolutely gorgeous day out here. The heat and humidity have broken, and the high today is supposed to reach 80 degrees, which is normal for this time of year. But it will be short-lived. We are supposed to be back in the oven again on Monday, with high 80s to low 90s. Everyone around here is baffled as to why it has been so warm. There are worse things. It's been a busy week .., but fun busy. I'll pick up where I left off. Saturday 11/7 -- Goodbye Big M Floating Casino :-( I bought the Yamaha Clavinova piano. The folks who had it for sale live in the Reflection Lakes community, a short hop from my place. It was purchased by the original owner as a "mood piece" for a home, and hardly ever (if ever) played. Perfect cosmetic and playing condition. I didn't haggle, and paid their asking price of $600. I called a delivery service, and it will be delivered Wednesday for a fee of $75 We learned...

Hi all: Another adventure begins. Dawn and I arrived Fort Myers Wednesday, Nov. 4. The "great ice maker flood" of September has left its aftermath in terms of mold/mildew smell in the kitchen, and a layer of plaster dust pretty much everywhere else from the drywall being replaced. The wooden legs on the recliner are stained from where the water stood on the floor. The first batch of ice from the ice maker was coated in a layer of gunk. Pretty much everything needs a scrubbing. There is a new cabinet the kitchen, and a new vanity in the bathroom. Both of the old ones were ruined from the water and humidity. We unpacked our essentials, then made a list of stuff we needed, both groceries and cleaning supplies, and set out on errands. We also fetched our mail from the private mailbox place up the street, and I had several packages waiting for me, including a repaired watch, an AC adapter for my Microsoft Surface RT tablet, and my new Amazon $50 tablet computer, which I'm ...