Happy Birthday, Frank!

Hope you've had a good Birthday Week!



I love you!

Leann

All about fishing in the Keys!

Our base-camp was Holiday Isle in Islamorada. It's a marina/resort that has been around forever and is well-known for the Rum Runner beverages, Tiki bar and sandbar. Where else would you find a big pink rat with a drink in its paws, but in the Keys?!? And big replicas of huge fish?? Only in the Keys!

While we didn't catch fish as big as those, we were very proud of the ones we did!

Frank had lots of helpers while he was cleaning the fish. In fact, we're convinced it was a gang of egrets! Two would stage a fight and a third one would sneak from behind and try to get to the fish. Pretty sneaky! Then the pelicans would float around right within the area where Frank pitched the stripped fish. Needless to say the annoying rats with wings (seagulls) flew around squawking waiting for any scrap they could scavenge.

Bob, Frank and Toby showing off the catch.

Bob kisses the fish for... good luck or thank you?? :o)

Frank celebrates the catch with a cold one!

Time in the Keys

We had a wonderful 4 days in the Upper Keys! The purpose of our trip was to spend time with friends and to fish. Our hosts, Toby and Bob, have a fabulous location and joined us all three days for fishing.

Where else but in the Keys would you find a man-made channel marked with PVC pipes and toilet seats! Crazy!!

One evening, we met up with some other Key's friends, Bill & Lisa, and their friends Lyle and Peggy in Marathon for dinner. (We met them on the river cruise 2 years ago.) It was so good to see them again!

It was a great trip and we played hard, ate & drank well and thoroughly enjoyed our time down south!

Fishing Mojo is back!

We had a really fun weekend with Ray & Lily! Since the seas were not conducive for fishing on Friday, we did a land tour of Stuart. Ray & Lily were successful in their quest for outdoor artwork and they learned more about the area too!

The afternoon afforded us an opportunity to take the boat out on the river/intercoastal waterway and explore more of the area. We canal-cruised through some nice neighborhoods and down to the "pocket" with the marinas and restaurants.

Everyone was looking forward to getting out and catch some fish! An early departure from the dock on Saturday and we were setting up shop. The first sign our mojo was back catching bait. (Haven't done that in a while.) We tried several tactics with rigged bait, lures, and other tricks and finally hooked a mahi mahi. We also tried drifting with a few of the baits we had left, but no luck. (There was a sailfish that appeared interested, but didn't bite.)

So many 'national geographic moments': stingray free-jumping, flying fish, turtles, sharks playing and beautiful water in the Atlantic.

It was a long day, but the weather was beautiful, the skies clear and the breeze a little cool.

Thanks Ray & Lily for spending the weekend at the Fish Camp!

Women's Only Football Clinic - What a blast!

Lynne and I signed up for the Women's Only Football Clinic. We had a fun time and learned a lot! We started off with a tour of the training facility, locker room, several presentation rooms and a cool 3-D video complete with glasses, press conference with the coaches wives and then onto outdoor activities where we got to practice some offensive and defensive moves.

Coach Amato tells us about the Defense.

Coach Fisher talks (really fast) about the Offense.

We learn some of the new NCAA rules (mostly penalties) from the refs. And got to ask the Coaches wives many questions.

And then a few players arrived to show off their uniforms. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see their underarmor. They were good sports and tolerated 250 women oohing and ahhing.

Then outside to the practice field, to stretch and run drills.




It was a great experience and now we'll be ready for football season. Put us in Coach!

Garnet & Gold Game

It's spring-time and that means the annual scrimmage football game takes place in Tallahassee! We had a fun tailgate and the weather turned out to be perfect. There must have been a big umbrella over the stadium and parking lots because the ominous skies blew past us.

Lots of food, friends and fun at our 'practice' tailgate and we celebrated Donna's b-day. (We were even complimented by some of the 'youngsters' how cool our tailgate camp was!)


And oh yes, after all that, we had a game to watch. :) In the end, the defense looked really good! Hopefully they will use the next few months and work out the kinks.

Campbell Brothers Weekend

Since the seas were too rough to fish offshore, we decided to take a cruise along the intercoastal waterway to Jupiter. Here's a picture of the inlet and the lighthouse. The weather was great, but not the fishing. :(

Since the weather wasn't cooperating, we decided to head to DelRay to meet up with Ray & Bonnie. We met at the Dune Cafe on the beach and had a yummy lunch. And of course, since the brothers were together, we had to get a picture of them.

Since last post...

The Crazy Travelers have been busy since last post, but not too many pictures to show for it.

Last weekend was fun-filled! We were going to the Barret-Jackson car auction, but due to having the electronics man spend the better part of the day working on the boat, we had to stay local. We did take the boat out that afternoon for some fishing. Several bites (and swiped lures/bait), but nothing that stuck. :(


So, to cure his blues, Frank and a few friends spent the next day at the 'big boy toy store' also known as the Palm Beach Boat Show. Needless to say, they all had a good time! Leann went to Orlando for a bridal shower and girls night out (with the "old ladies"). It was a nice treat to see the gals and spend time together.


(An early morning treat to see hot air balloons over the resort in Orlando.)

On Sunday, Bill & Tess came up from Jupiter and Frank took them on the boat. Again, several knockdowns (no fish), but a nice day on the boat.

We were back in Tampa on Monday and had a delightful dinner with Ken, Victoria, Ray & Lily! It was so nice to get together with them and get caught up on everyone's travels and the scoop in the 'hood.

We are at the Fish Camp now and really looking forward to CATCHING FISH the next few days. Rich is coming down and bringing his good luck charms with him!

So, in the words of Tigger....TTFN!

(Couldn't resist taking a picture of this 3-wheeled motorcycle. 2 wheels in the front and 1 in the back! And there is a cute little pug dog on the back seat!)