And Away We Go, Again!

Destination- Fort DeSoto State Park and Campground, Saint Petersburg, Florida. February 8-13 2021.

This place is incredibly beautiful. You could be an atheist and still be awed by God's handiwork here.

Fort DeSoto is a wonderful place. Camping here is a joy! We met up with our friends Marshall and Judy, Judy’s sister Nita, and her husband Lin. We were here last year, also. This is one place I could spend a few weeks. There is so much to see. Beautiful sunrises. Miles and miles of white sand beach, great bike trails, beautiful birds, dolphins, and raccoons that visit each day. The campsites are huge and we were lucky enough to get a site right on the water.

It’s always fun to meet up with Marshall and Judy. We reminisce a lot about our time on the loop, and this year we got to talk about the fun time we had delivering the boat to Mississippi. One afternoon, our friends Jody and Tom, also our friends from the Loop, drove up from their home in Palmetto to visit for a few hours. 6 people who have all completed the loop, never shut up, and have so many memories to share. I swear, I could talk about the Loop for hours!
Jody, is quite an accomplished artist. Judy and Nita had fun picking her brain about her experiences selling her artwork. Judy and Nita have their own little art store, so Jodys experience helped them. Always good to have friends with common interests.

Jim and I rode our bikes every day. Fort DeSoto is a huge State Park. We rode one day on the beach, which is so much fun.

Every evening of our trip, the 6 of us took turns cooking the main meal. We certainly ate well each and every night. I cheated a few times on my new Keto Lifestyle, but nothing to outrageous! Sometimes, you just have to enjoy things you have missed eating. I have no regrets!
The beaches here, like I have said, are beautiful. The sand is white and so, so, soft. On 3 of our mornings here, Judy, Nita and I, drove to the far end of Fort DeSoto at sunrise. We chose to do this because it was low tide. I mean, real low tide! It takes about a 10 minute walk to get to the waters edge. We did this to search for shells. We were not disappointed! I, personally, have never been able to find a Sand Dollar. On all of my shell picking adventures, not one Sand Dollar. Here, we found the motherload! A person would never want to collect and kill live Sand Dollars, which are a purple brown color with hairy undersides. There were hundreds of dead Sand Dollar shells, (white in color) on our beach combing adventures. Most were broken, but many intact. Many were discolored, and, I only picked up ones that were perfectly round. My intent was to take these home and paint on them. Paint you say? Yep!
Here’s the deal. Jim and I were riding our bikes one day and I came across a painted shell placed on one of the military cannons at Fort DeSoto. It had a written inscription that said, when found to post a picture to Facebook at Long Island Rocks. I’ve seen this before. People paint and hide rocks and shells, with artwork and positive sayings for people to find, which in turn makes a person smile. I certainly smiled when I found this beauty.

I posted a picture to the Facebook page and actually got a response from the girl who created it. She lives in New York and this shell has been found, enjoyed, and rehid several times across the East Coast. That’s the fun. You find one, it makes your day, and you “re-hide” it for someone else to find. Spreading love and joy! It’s what I want to do! So, I’m going to try my hand at painting the shells I found on the beach, and begin leaving them around at different places we travel. Fun, right!

All in all, our adventure to Fort DeSoto was great. Being with our friends, awesome! Can’t wait to see them next year, if not before.

After thought😊

I’ve taken this whole spread the love and joy to a new level! I have found a new creative outlet that I didn’t know I had in me. I’ve always liked to write and I always doodle when there’s a pen and paper in front of me. Painting on shells is not as easy at it might appear and I’m kind of obsessed with getting it right, at least right to me. Several shells made their way to the trash can just because I screwed them up! I also now have found painting on rocks is way easier. The surface is smooth and I can get more detailed. I’m really enjoying this and I know I’m going to have fun placing them around the town. Jim has already taken a few out in his Uber travels and I, too, have hidden a few.
I chose a few rock finding Facebook sites for people can post pictures. #Sarasota Rocks and #Venice Rocks. One person has already found one of my rocks and posted the picture! Not all people will do this. I write on them to “keep” or “re-hide.” I just hope it makes a persons day and makes them smile, when they come across one of my creations.