Rain Clouds All Around

We've had family visiting for 12 days, and today was the day we had to say goodbye. ;( We had such a nice visit and lots of fun!

Grandson on right, his friend who joined them a few days ago, on left.



Grand Daughter, Daughter, and Son-In-Law, who is digging in his double chocolate, cookie dough, chocolate cake batter, coffee, milkshake, for chunks! :)


Lunch at Cheeburger - Cheeburger before taking them to the airport.


Leaving Sanibel on Causeway bridge. Rain clouds on the way to sanibel.


A stop at first causeway island, for a few more pictures. :) A delay tactic!


This has not been a familiar sight. We heard music when taking pictures and I laughed and said "ice cream truck", thinking it was really something else. As we were leaving; there it was!


Ft Myers was really getting dumped on!




We were driving right into rain.


Obviously the clouds were moving in a different direction than I thought.
There was blue sky over the Sanibel Lighthouse.




Or not! Clouds are so unpredictable here.


It started raining on us shortly after leaving the Sanibel Causeway and kept raining all the way to the airport. The kids' flight was delayed about 15 or 20 minutes, maybe due to weather. I hated to see them leave. Time just goes by so fast, and we had such a good time with them. But, it won't be long until the holidays roll a round, when we will see them again.

It rained on us most of the way back to the island, but when we reached the Sanibel Causeway, the sun was shining. That didn't last long. About 30 minutes after we got home, it rained again.

After the rain stopped, we decided to go to the beach. The house was just too quiet now. :( When we went outside, we saw more clouds headed our way. I went back for the umbrella and we went anyway.

We stopped at resident access 2, on West Gulf Drive, and hurried out the path. Just as we started walking, we could hear the sound of the waves. Because of that, I was hoping to see a lot of shells. But, that didn't happen. There were some at the high tide line, but nothing I even wanted to look through. In one place, I saw shells out in the water, but nothing that looked too promising there either. With a lack of footprints, it didn't look as though there had been more than one or two people on the beach, since the tide started going out. The temperature got up to 91, sometime during the day, but with some wind, it was nice walking on the beach.

We hadn't been there long, when we decided the clouds were coming our way, and we needed to take pictures and go.

There must have been a lot more wave action yesterday or last night. We could tell by the sand erosion. I just love the way the beach looks different almost every time I go.









Mostly crumbs.


There are many more sea turtle nests in this area, that has so much less traffic. For the most part, this beach is bordered by private homes with no lights shining or activity going on at night. I think there were around 7 or 8 nests all near to each other.


Rain was getting close!








We had to hurry away, but I couldn't resist looking back to take a couple more pictures. I know, I'm totally cloud crazy!




Just a few seconds after we started driving up the street, it started raining.


Then, it was pouring! It had stopped again before we got home. We didn't even get a measurable amount of rain where we live.

Sunday Surprise Visitor Day

Today started out cloudy and remained that way all day. The temperature only got down to 65 last night and reached 74 today. Rain seemed to be threatening, but we only ran into a few sprinkles when we were on our way to the Southwest Florida International Airport to pick up the youngest grand daughter, Brooke, who was coming in at 3 PM, to stay for a week on her Spring Break. My two daughters and another grand daughter, Amanda, had taken her to the airport for her departure. They sent a text to say that she had gotten on the plane and was on her way. The other grand daughter kept making comments on facebook every once in a while, talking about getting her turn to come visit the following week. That family is driving down. Just as the plane landed, Amanda sent a text asking if Brooke's plane had landed yet. We told her that it was just coming up to the terminal. She said ok and to tell Brooke to call her on the way out to the island. When I saw Brooke, I held my phone up to take a picture and just as I did, I noticed a taller blonde girl walking near her, I thought she looked a lot like Amanda and then in a couple seconds they got closer and I realized it was her. They were laughing so hard because I was just standing there with my mouth hanging open. Wow, that was a great surprise. This hadn't been planned at all. While they were waiting at the airport, Brooke started teasing her Aunt about letting Amanda come with her today. This banter went on for a while and Amanda's Mommy left for a while and came back with Amanda's ticket. She handed it to her and said, "Happy 16th birthday a week early". Amanda said she just sat there with a surprised look and said, "REALLY"? So, she got on the plane and they were off! Amanda with no bag. Her Mom is sending her things overnight tomorrow and we stopped to grab a few things she would need on the way from the airport. What an adventure! :) They had a great time on the plane with their Ipods and free WiFi today. That's how Amanda was able to keep posting on facebook, like she was still at home. They sure had us fooled. :) I think this birthday will be one that none of us will ever forget.



We stopped at Big Al's on the way back to the island. All of our food was great!

We made a beach visit at the Donax Street access. It was getting cooler and there were threatening clouds with some thunder. When we saw lightning in the distance, we had to leave.









We made a stop at Mango Bay to get a couple bathing suits for Amanda and that was the end of our night out. They have some very pretty bird of paradise plants there.

Friday Departure From Sanibel and a Sunset

Dear friends that have been here since Saturday, had to leave this evening. We had so much fun, and it was sad to see them go. I hope they will come back soon. :-)

There were lots of rain clouds around, again this evening. We could see the rain coming down heavily in several places, but made it all the way to the airport without getting underneath any of it. On the way back to Sanibel, we drove through a couple of showers.

About 8:00 PM I drove out to the causeway to look at the sunset. There were still many clouds around, so it was very pretty.

As I first started driving, I spotted a short rainbow just above the tree line. (You have to enlarge the photo by clicking on it.)

At first, this is how it looked in the west.

After a little while, the scene changed as the sun was making all the clouds a bright, glowing pink . This photo was taken as I looked toward the highest bridge.


Sanibel Lighthouse on the right.

Looking west again and then turning to the right.





After I got back, I looked up to take one more look at the sky, and I was surprised to see a silhouette of a long legged bird, maybe a Heron, on a roof top. There is a weather vane on the left of the palm tree and the bird is on the right.

Sanibel to Southwest Florida International Airport

One of the things I enjoy, is leaving Sanibel Island for a trip to the Southwest Florida International Airport. That is, now that I live here and I'm not leaving via the 'Sad Lane'. :-) Those of you who visit often, know all about the 'Sad Lane'. When you know you will be coming right back, both lanes across the Sanibel Causeway are considered 'Happy Lanes'.

The second reason I enjoy that trip, is because it means either family or good friends are coming for a visit. This time it was to pick up friends, who made a last minute decision to escape back to Sanibel. So, we have guests with us until Friday. :-)

So....once again you get to see the pretty, fluffy, Florida clouds, on my departure, yesterday afternoon. It rained most of the way there, after crossing the causeway. But, it had quit before coming back.





This afternoon the visitors went to the beach off West Gulf Drive, around resident access 2. We had a birthday party to attend for a sweet little 3 year old grand daughter of other friends.


I was happy that our kind visitors were happy to share some of their photos taken today.