Vamos a la praya!

It's a beach day! For the first time since we got here, we headed to the beach. We left a bit too late (11:45) and an hour later we were the happiest people on the planet, enjoying the sunshine and the white sand.

We got caught in a bit of traffic getting into the Sanibel Island, on the Gulf of Mexico. Although it was a Tuesday, it didn't matter because every day here - for the retired people - is a holiday!

To get onto the island you have to pay $6.00, which I think is fine, since the beaches have nice and clean washrooms, outdoor showers and security cameras (???)!

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Sanibel Island is an island located on the Gulf coast of Florida, just offshore of Fort Meyers. In 2000, it had an estimated population of 6,064 people. Located within Lee County, Sanibel is a barrier island– a collection of sand on the leeward side of the Gulf Stream from the more solid coral-rock of Pine Island.

The city of Sanibel incorporates the entire island, with most of the city proper at the east end of the island. After the Sanibel causeway was built to replace the ferry in May 1963, the residents fought back against overdevelopment by establishing the Sanibel Comprehensive Land Use Plan in 1974 helping to maintain a balance between development and preservation of the island's ecology. A new, higher bridge without a bascule (drawbridge) having to open for tall boats and sailboats, was completed in late 2007.

Thanks in part to the new causeway, Sanibel is rapidly becoming a popular tourist destination known for its beaches, shelling, and wildlife refuges. More than half of the island is made up of wildlife refuges, the largest one is the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The Island also hosts the Sanibel Historical Village and a variety of other museums and theaters.In August 2004 Hurricane Charley hit the island causing mandatory evacuation for the island's residents and resulting in the most damage done to the island in 44 years.

The drive there is just fantastic! The skies were really blue, and the breeze gives you a cool welcome when you open the car window and feel the nature.

I love the vegetation!

After having a bit of a hard time finding a parking spot, here we are!

It was hot, but not hot enough for the ladies to go swimming. So we enjoyed our quiet time on the sand reading, talking, relaxing...

Another showing off my belly moment!

Beautiful couple Margie and Mark! Thanks for the vacation, you two!

We had to leave earlier than we wished, at around 4pm. For two reasons: we were not prepared and didn't bring food. There are no vendors or business along the beach areas. And also, we had plans to have people over for drinks at 5pm. But it was a great time, anyway, and we will definitely go back!

This was my last chance to photograph the pelicans flying all over us, when crossing the bridges. I know it's not the best shot, but you can see they were there. One flew over, right beside my car window! Huge animals!

At night, the most exciting moment of the whole trip: to pick up my lovely hubbie at the airport, coming from cold Toronto!

Welcome to paradise, meu amor!

Not bad!

Now we are settled here and already enjoying the Florida sunshine! Things are really quiet and relaxing here. We are staying in a golf community called Cross Creek. It has houses like this one in the photo, with a golf course, a community swimming pool and club house - with a bigger swimming pool, common area and restaurant. This has been our home since we arrived!

Our neighbour's car!

Gabi (and Julia) going for a walk in the neighbourhood.

I love the birds down here! They are just cruising around!

These are a couple of residents here. They are mostly retired seniors who have decided to enjoy the rest of their lives. You must be 55 plus to buy a house in these communities.

Another beautiful bird doing his daily morning gracious walk for us.

It looks like it has its lunch already.

You definitely need a car here. Everything is spread out and the stores and other services are all in malls around big highways. Not my favourite set up, but that's the way it is down here. If you want to go for a walk, it has to be in your community. And if you need some milk, you might have to travel in your car for about 10 minutes to find a simple grocery store.

Our backyard.

Our place is the one in the middle, beside the beautiful and good smelling orange tree.

God bless America!

Orange trees. These flowers have the nicest smell!

Apparently there is at least one alligator in every body of water in Florida. I didn't believe it at first, but every person I spoke with says it's true. So far I was only able to find this one... a fake one.

Another beautiful picture of my favourite orange tree!

A nice family dinner: auntie Cathy, Marggie, John, me and Mark behind the camera lens.

We had an amazing time at the pool, yesterday (Monday)! The weather was just perfect and the water was delicious!

Training Julia to enjoy the water!

I think she likes it!

The girls ended their day at an Outlet shopping mall called Miramar. The place is huge and the deals are even bigger. Most of the stores were 70% off. Too bad I am a student! If you are around here I totally recommend a day of shopping here. It's worth it!

Look at Marggie and auntie Cathy! They are ready to go!

Chasing the sun and warm weather in Florida!

Gabi (and Julia) are on the road again! This time - for the first time - with my lovely mother-in-law Margie and her also nice husband Mark! We have been planning this trip for a while now, and Puerto Rico was our first picked destination. But high air fares (it would cost about $800 a person to fly down there) made us change our minds. And here we are! On our way to Florida! Driving!

We left Toronto a bit later than planned: around 2:30 pm, but who's in rush? I just finished my last class for the week and will have a week off my studies for Reading Week, although I am taking down a suitcase filled with books, computers and readings.

We crossed the border at rush hour. It was a bit busy, but we had no trouble getting into the United States of America.

Here is my little spot, in the back of the car. It was comfortable for a while, but later I needed to move to the front seat to accommodate my big belly. We made a point to stop every two hours to pee and walk for a bit. Pregnant women are strong candidates for blood clots.

Our plan was to to keep driving, non stop, for about 26 hours straight. But we realized that this would be too much. We stopped at around midnight for the night in Summersville, West Virginia. That was a great idea! We all had an amazing rest, and felt 100% the next day to keep driving.

Here I am - half asleep - trying to get some orange juice (???) at breakfast!

Of course that was the joke of the day!

If you are ever driving by Summerville and need a place to stay, here is our advice: Country Inns & Suites. For $US100 we had a big room with a king size bed, a pull out couch and a hydromassage bathtub. On top of that, I had the best breakfast included meal at a cheap hotel in North America! They had the usual muffins, bacon and eggs, with toast, PLUS fresh fruits, yogurt and different kinds of healthy cereal. We were really impressed!

This is for my cute niece Carolina!

The drive was nice, with nice weather and a full moon, but the scenery wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But here is a couple of beautiful shots from a spot just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina.

We drove through 8 states to get here: New York, Pennsylvania West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Passing by Charlotte, North Carolina. This is the 18th largest city in the US based on population. More than 700 thousand people live here.

As real Canadians, we were very happy to get away from the snow and cold weather. The temperature went up as soon as we hit Virginia. I had to rush to my luggage and get my Havaianas to replace my heavy boots! (and show off my manicure, of course!)

Check this out: 26 degrees!!!!!

Eating out can be a problem here. Although we packed as much food as we could, we still had to stop to have a couple meals. Here is one of our choices: Hardee's, where we had a juicey cheeseburger! Later that day we stopped in Sparks, Florida, where we had a - at least funny- experience. After trying few different spots, we finally found an OK place (Ihop) where we had a decent meal and were exposed to the delightful southern accent. But that's a different story for a different occasion!

TRIP LOG

Total time: 36 hours

(left Toronto Thursday at 2pm and got to Fort Meyers, Florida, Saturday, at 2am).

Kilometers: 2500

States: 8 states

Countries that Julia has visited inside my womb: 4 (Canada, Brazil, Argentina and USA)!!

Lucky baby!