We drove Irene up to Toronto this afternoon to join Catherine at the Royal York. They are departing in the morning for the west coast on the Via Canadian. This train travels between Toronto and Vancouver, crossing the picturesque lakelands of northern Ontario, the western plains and the splendid Rockies, finishing its journey on the Pacific coast. Other stops include Sudbury Junction, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper and Kamloops. They will be traveling Silver and Blue class with a double bedroom sleeper compartment. I’m sure Irene will have a blast. Continue reading link for pictures.
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Here we are at the Honda Homecoming. This is a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts who gather at Marysville, OH for a weekend of motorcycle festivities. Marysville is where the Honda Goldwings are made. The trip here took 5 hours with breaks every hour for a stretch and a sip of water. It was fun as we traveled down the 401, over the Ambassador Bridge and along I75 south to Findley where we headed southeast to Columbus. We are staying is Dublin, Ohio at a Woodfin Suites Hotel. More pictures to follow

I can’t believe the conditions of the roads so far on this trip. Smooth blacktop on almost every back road I was on today. I’d love to know why NY doesn’t have any frost heaves in the roads like around home. Martha you would have puked for sure today if you were on the bike. Up down left right and then mix it up some more.

I only had about a four hour ride to todays final destination but I took the long way and rode for 7 hours solid. Some of the best roads I turned around and done again. The lakes, the rural hillsides, and the Catskills are gorgeous. Tomorrow’s route looks to be the best yet and it was laid out by one of the local guys and he guarantees a fun time. I can hardly wait, I just hope the weather holds for another couple days.

After a tardy start this morning I finally got on the road. I was surprised how strong the winds gusts were before I even got to the highway. No problem, just loosen up on the grips and let the bike do what it wants. I was wearing full safety gear and flow ventilation “air over-pants” that worked great (thank goodness). I took my time taking back roads and crossed into NY at Niagara on the Lake. There was construction on the bridge and the US side. I’m not sure if I was in the wrong (or construction only) lane or what but I never did pay a toll. Customs took all of 5 seconds. I didn’t even have time to pull out my passport. The Customs Agent said “Where are you going and for how long… sounds like fun, enjoy yourself”.
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Tonight there will a big party at Fort Myers Beach. There will be live music, open bars and partying at Time Square. They will even drop a beach ball at midnight and set fireworks off the pier. They say the action goes on till 4 am but we will be lucky to last till midnight. I bet a mid afternoon nap will be on the agenda.

Merry Christmas everyone. We hope you are all enjoying the day. We woke up to rain and cooler weather but that did not stop us from walking on the beach this afternoon. We were lucky today to see our first dolphins. There was a pod of dolphins jumping and playing in the water just off-shore at our beach.

For our Christmas supper we bought a cooked chicken and had all kinds of fixings with a baggette and a bottle of Linderman chardonnay. There was a phone call about 7pm and it was the bike rental company dropping off a new BMW for Tom to ride for the next 3 days. To end this magical day we enjoying the heated pool and hot tub.

Today we had early morning swims and enjoyed the lovely morning poolside. After lunch we ventured out on the bikes they have here at the complex. We went to Bowditch Park at the most northern point. It is the protected habitat to the gopher tortoise. Knowing me I set out to find them. I found all kinds of burrows then as I was going along a path there was this terrible hiss. I thought for sure it was a rattler but it was the tortoise I was looking for. The boardwalk, sand, water, natural gardens and palm trees at this park were really pretty.
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Today we woke up to blue skies and cooler temperatures. That just means Capri pants, long sleeves or jackets. The complex had a continental breakfast reception to welcome everyone to week 51. The toasted coconut Dunkin donuts hit the spot. I had a 3 mile walk along the beach almost making it to the farthest north point of Estero Island. It was early enough that I almost had the beach all to myself except for a few shellers and joggers.
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This morning we woke up to 78°F weather dawning tank tops and shorts and headed out for breakfast and the beach. We found a cute Greek restaurant in Time Square at the pier that served up a hearty breakfast.

By 10am the beach was getting staked out with beach chairs, umbrellas and towels. The water was fairly warm but only a few were in the water. I waded up to my knees and strolled down the beach. The sand is powder white and hard packed. It was great for walking and shell hunting.
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We arrived in Florida to warm balmy breezes and quickly took off our fleece jackets. The plane ride on Spirit Air was very enjoyable. Tom surprised us by upgrading our seats to business class. We had bigger seats, free flowing drinks and snacks. The flight was a quick three hour ride. This sure beats driving! The baggage pickup went smoothly. We grabbed our luggage and took a taxi directly from the airport to Estero Island.
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