My mom visited Sanibel Island when I was a girl, and ever since, I've wanted to go there. It is supposed to be the best beach in Florida for collecting shells, an activity that I don't just love to do, I get mesmerized by it. As a kid, I'd walk the beaches outside Jacksonville for hours, collecting tiny black sharks' teeth. So I was excited to get here and see the beaches for myself. I'd heard that the shelling was even better after the hurricanes here. Well, the day we came, it was not only cold and overcast, the wind was blowing too. But Katie ignored the cold, Mark walked the beach (perhaps for warmth), and I sat joyfully, shivering and collecting shells. We didn't get to the beach until noon, too late to get the best stuff, but there were plenty of pretty, tiny shells left. Here are some pictures:

Here's our spot. Not as pretty as a state park, but available!

The day after shelling, Mark had to work, so I got my hair cut and colored, and played with Katie and our new shells. I guess I bugged Mark again about getting onto the computer, because that night he started secretly researching laptops in this area, and presto! the next day we bought me my own laptop!! It is tiny and wonderful! See...

Here's our neighbor Bud, whom Katie took to right away (she can spot a sweetie from a mile away). He's from Michigan, down for the winter, like so many folks round here.

Well, I'm disappointed that we only got one day of shelling in, but it was a fun day. After collecting shells, we had ice cream cones and I bought a great book, called Stikky Night Skies. It's part of a series of Stikky books that are really really cool--they use lots of pictures and great explanations and in just an hour you learn a lot about a subject. Folks can even test out their beta books at www.stikky.com. I'm gonna check that out myself.

Today we're off to our next stop, which is south of here, at the edge of the Everglades...