Fort Myers Beach 2011 - Fourth Week - Montana

One of the highlights of our trip was a horse drawn sleigh ride up to a cabin in the mountains at Loan Mountain Ranch where we enjoyed a delicious prime rib dinner and entertainment by Rick the singing cowboy.

Snow this year was not a problem for the Yellowstone area. They received more snow in the last two weeks than they received the whole last year.

The second day, we rode outside the park and saw some beautiful scenic areas.

She got so shook up, it appears she got too close to the edge.

Our snowmobile friends know that Kathy said she would never ride on a Arctic Cat. Here we have proof that she will ride anything if it is given to her for free.

On the way back from Old Faithful we stopped by to view the scenic Firehole Canyon as the water streams out of the mountain.

All the girls felt so sorry for them as they passed in close proximity to our snowmobiles because they looked cold, tired and wet.

Everyone really enjoyed seeing the line of 10-15 bison as they passed by us.

You are probably wondering why you are looking at a picture of a group of people standing in the snow at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. Kathy and I left on Monday to join members of Roto Rooter's management team from Cincinnati and guide them on a snowmobile tour of Yellowstone Park and surrounding area. When we left Fort Myers on Monday, the temps were in the 80's. When we arrived in West Yellowstone the temperature hovered in the single digits.

Fort Myers Beach 2011 - Third Week - Sults Join the Group

Two of the hottest dancers on the floor were Denny and Paula Sult. Denny will be giving dancing lessons at Resource Services the second Tuesday of each month.

In Frank's routine he plays a lot of different entertainers. Deb couldn't resist accepting a ring from Elvis.

Even Randy couldn't resist Carol's insistence that he cut the rug.

Frank's music really got the blood pumping for Deb and Jim and the desire to dance surfaced.

The show that Frank Torino puts on a Parrott Key has always been a favorite to entertain new comers (Deb's sisters - Carol and Cheryl)

Here we have Jim drinking from an improvised glass made from an empty water bottle so he could have one of his favorite rum drinks.

A visit to south Florida isn't complete without spending numerous days on the beach. Here Paula is soaking up the sun while Gary reads an excerpt from Redbook to her.

After having spent most of the day at the Strictly Sail exhibits, we boarded the shuttle to the Convention Center to view the displays of the big power boats. Bill and I asked "Sis" to take our picture with two lovely boat maidens.

In addition to all the boats on display, there was a large number of vendors showing their wares. Bill and I couldn't resist trying to make a deal on everything that caught our eye. But in the end, we came home with little more than new found dreams.

Kathy decided to put on our captain's hat and let me know that if we bought the 73 footer, she wanted to take the helm.

One of our favorites was a 73 foot $2.2 million cruiser that had three staterooms in the aft for the owner and his party as well as crew berth and kitchen in the forward compartment.

One of the highlights of our trip to south Florida was the Miami Boat Show by both the Burgers and the Spyksmas.

The group couldn't help posing next to the saloon mascot.

Upon our arrival, we ran into four gals celebrating their friend's birthday. As we all like to sing and perform, our wives offered the services of the "Chunk'n dales."

Denny enjoyed watching the girls basking in the sun.

One of the fun things about being in Fort Myers is all the restaurants we can travel to by boat. Today, Greg Gostel took us, Sults, Spyksmas, & Jim Hudson to the Ragged Ass Saloon to the north on Pine Island.

Kathy couldn't resist buying plants for our RV site. Annuals and houseplants are quite cheap since they are grown in Florida.

February 15th marks the 6th anniversary of losing our good friend, Larry Cattoor. Each year, no matter where we are, we like to make a toast in his honor.

There is a little bit of Key West at Fort Myers Beach, Times Square, as shown here with the street entertainers.

Our good friends Denny and Paula Sult joined Kathy and I and Randy at Tiki Hut at the first day of vacation at Tiki Hut. Thankfully the weather turned nice giving us low 80 degree temperatures for the entire week. It was questionable whether they would return this year after the cold temps they experienced last year.

Fort Myers Beach 2011 - Second Week

Deb & the Dynamics has quite a following and plays at Doc Ford's every Sunday afternoon.

Not long after returning from the bike trip, we were lured to Doc Ford's by the great enticing sound of the blues being played by Deb and the Dynamics.


A group of us decided with all the eating and drinking that we have been doing over the last several days we needed some exercise. Sunday morning we headed east on Estero Island for a 13 mile bike trip to a great little restaurant near Lover's Key. Kathy thought a salad would be the best choice, but she didn't know it would be so large. Yes that is a crab cake in the center of the salad, and yes it was delicious.

We all found out that the low ceilings in a mobile home and a ceiling fan don't mix. In the process of moving around some furniture, the leg of a chair hit the blade of a ceiling fan severing it and it sailed across the kitchen. Fortunately nobody was hurt, but Kathy Spyksma who was moving the chair, will never live it down. It made for a lot of laughs and of course a trip to Home Depot for a replacement fan bracket.

On Friday, we had a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" party at Bill & Kathy's where we celebrated the arrival of Deb's sister, Carol. Carol is from Cincinnati and was invited to spend a couple of weeks with Randy and Deb.

Angel Louise is a 12 meter catamaran with four berths. Next month, Ed and Sue will be working their way down to the Florida Keyes where they will cross over to the Atlantic, work their way north and head to England and surrounding areas over the next 18 months.

Following a visit to the Farmers Market in downtown Fort Myers, we headed over for a tour of Ed and Sue's boat. It is a very large and roamy 41 foot catamaran, USSV Angel Louise.

The finished carrier will allow Mary Ann to transport the kayak with ease to the launch area.

Later that afternoon, I built a kayak carrier for our friend and neighbor, Mary Ann Wesley. The RV park we are in is on the backside of Hurricane Bay, where we like to kayak. Unfortunately, it is a couple hundred yards from our site to the water, so the kayak carrier will come in handy for both of us.

We introduced two more Iowans (Terri and Randy Walker) to Cincinnati Chili on Wednesday.

Two of the folks we met up with were Ed and Sue Kelly. Following their retirement several years ago, they began sailing along the east coast of the US and eventually worked their way down to South America before returning last summer. On Thursday, we are heading over to see their boat anchored at Fort Myers municipal docks.

Tuesday evening, the whole group from Iowa met at Nervous Nellie's.

A trip to Sanibel wouldn't be complete without taking time to look for sea shells. Both Terri and Kathy S. brought home more than their fair share during the week. While the shelling was OK on Sanibel, they found a wider selection at Lover's Key on the east end of the island (Fort Myers Beach).

There is a great little RV resort on the island that has it's own bird sanctuary. Here is Terri talking to her namesake "Terri" (bird).

The girls headed out on a bike trip around Sanibel Island while the guys headed out to sea in a brisk 15 mph wind. Kathy couldn't help but stop by the original Chico's store during their ride.

Fort Myers Beach 2011 - Walkers & Deb C Arrive

Finally we had the whole group together from Des Moines for the Super Bowl party at Randy and Deb's.


It was really great of the NFL to have the Super Bowl on Kathy Spyksma's birthday. It gave us a chance to all get together to celebrate her birthday.

We know Sunday is normally a day of rest, but when the toilet is not working, something has to be done. Kathy called upon her favorite Roto Rooter man to save the day.

Our good friend Jim, couldn't stay off the dance floor.

Last year we struck up a friendship with our Oyster Bay neighbor Mary Ann Wesley. Mary Ann and Gary decided to try their hand at a gitter bug.

Saturday evening we returned to Parrot Key to hear one of our favorite entertainers, Frank Torino. Here he is serenading Terri with his impersonation of Tom Jones' Delilah.

During our trek, we came upon a floating concrete dock that we believe was washed into the Mangroves during one of the recent hurricanes. We decided to risk exiting our kayaks so that we could have lunch on the dock and stretch out our limbs. The dock was very tipsy so we had to strategically position everyone so that the dock would not flip over.

Kathy and Terri were still getting the hang of operating a two person kayak with foot peddle steering. After much laughter, that brought tears to every one's eyes, they managed to clear the maze of Mangroves that surrounded the narrow paths of water.

Not wanting to waste any time, we headed out in Kayaks to experience the vast network of waterways through the Mangroves that border our home on San Carlos Island.

Following dinner, we headed over the Bonito Bill's for their weekly Friday night Karaoke. After arm twisting by Betty Gordon, Gary and his backup singers, (Kathy, Kathy, Terri) fired up the audience with a rousing version of Wolly Bully.

On Friday evening, we were joined by Randy and Terri Walker, two more Iowans wanting to warm their bodies from the frozen Iowa winter.