Retirement sucks!

[Thumper]

But ... "maybe" it's not so bad. ;)

We have a room about as close to the beach as you can get. Here's the view of this morning's sunrise and a pic from 5-mins ago from our patio.

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Headed out now to a Thai restaurant for lunch. Later dufes!

[BarryBobPosthole]

That looks real nice, Jim. Enjoy it! Do youstill get out and drive on the beach when you go to Daytona? I had a really nice ‘74 Dodge Van when I was in the Farce, and drove it often when we’d go for the day.

BKB

[Thumper]

My biggest disappointment when I moved back to Florida was to find they now charge a fee to get onto the beach. It's minimal really, but I grew up with simply driving down and cruising. But yeah, driving on the beach is still the norm here. Not a lot of traffic where we are and it's high tide right now, but the occasional car comes by. That's about to change as Bike Week kicks in in a couple of days!

[BarryBobPosthole]

My exand I camped over there a bunch at a campground that was just right off the beach. It was always windy as shit so I had a big camo cargo parachute I’d stake out around our little campsite and my van and it would inflate like a big green pumpkin. Inside it was as calm as could be.

I surewish I still had that old chute.

BKB

[Thumper]

When I was a kid, we’d not only camp right on the beach, we’d even have a campfire going at all times ... or sometimes a bonfire depending on how many there were of us. I can remember many times my buddy and I would camp on the beach and we had the bottom of an old 55-gal. drum with about a 6” lip left around the bottom and had a chain off an old swing-set attached so we could drag it in or out to keep up with the tide. We had it rigged where we’d build a fire in the bottom of the drum and had a hanger welded on to hang an old pot from. We’d sit on the beach and fish all night, many times dragging crabs in. They’d grab our bait in their claws and we’d just reel them in. They were too stubborn to let go, so we’d just raise them above the pot of boiling water, give the line a quick jerk and they’d fall right into the pot. We’d sit there fishing and eating fresh crab all night long!

We also had old inner tubes we’d rig up with a piece of plywood in the center. We’d place an old car battery on the inner tube and wire it to an old car headlight. We had a broomstick rigged to hook to the front of our belts and hooked the headlamp to the other end of the stick. It would just float along a few feet in front of us and the innertube was tied to the back of our belt and would trail along as we walked the shallows. With the battery on a tube floating behind us and a headlight on a stick floating ahead of us, we’d gig Flounder as we walked, then drop them into a net we had tied to the innertube. High tech fishing for a couple’a ingenious po’ boys. :)

[Thumper]

I never get tired of sunrises. I think one of the coolest memories was sitting on Daytona beach with a girlfriend (MANY years ago) and watching the sunrise over the Atlantic. We ran around Daytona that morning, then headed to Orlando for a nice lunch. We made our way to Clearwater and were sitting on the beach to watch the sun SET on the Gulf coast. I never get tired of either one of them.

Here are a few shots from this morning ...

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Hey Posty ... this is what you get when you get away from the beach traffic around the boardwalk. Wide open spaces!

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[Bwana]

Looks peaceful Jim and thanks for sharing the pics.

[Thumper]

Well, we had a small breakfast and have a nice lunch planned in Orlando on the way home. Gonna pack up the laptop now and get ready to blow this joint in an hour or so to make room for the bikers heading into town for Bike Week. There is some nice eye candy in town right now. (I'm talkin' about nice bikes you pervs!) We've decided to head back over here at the end of the month, three days/two nights just ain't enough unwind time. Later buttheads! ;)

[Thumper]

In Orlando now and had a change of plans. We found a little Vietnamese joint on ol’ Al Gore’s internet and decided we wanted a big ol’ bowl of pho instead.

[Hombre]

I'm a sucker for sunset / sunrise especially over an ocean! That's special.

[Thumper]

Hombre, I must have about elebenty-bazillion pics of sunrises/sunsets scattered around, dating all the way back to my Kodak Instamatic days! Like you, I'm a sucker for them and just can't resist watching them. Being a morning person, I've seen my fair share of sunrises. Some people say they all look alike ... to me, they're all different in one way or another. I don't think I've even missed a sunrise (or many sunsets) on any of the cruises we've been on. A ship at sea is the ultimate viewing platform IMHO. I think the thing I like most about sunrises over sunsets is, there are very few people around for a sunrise. It was also one of my favorite times in the deer woods. I loved being in a stand before sunup, then seeing/hearing the woods and it's critters come alive at sunrise. One of my favorites was watching a few dozen turkeys come off of roost at sun-up. When I set up at the edge of a field before dawn, I knew I was in a good area, but had no idea I was right under their roost until they started stirring around and gliding down out of the trees. That was a sight not many people get to witness. Combined with the sunrise, it is one of those permanent memories etched in my little ol' brain.

[BarryBobPosthole]

How many times have you seen the green flash? Twice for me!

BKB

[Bwana]

I never have Posty. Have looked for it a time or two but can't say as I have ever seen it.

[Thumper]

Have I been living under a rock? I had no clue what you were talking about and had to Google it. TBH, I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed it or not, as I’ve never really looked for it. Considering all I have seen over the years, I’d sure have to think I’ve seen it without realizing it. You can bet I will be paying closer attention from here forward.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I thought everyone that lived near the ocean with a view west knew about the green flash.

BKB

[Thumper]

Well, from what I read, it’s a phenomenon at sun-up as well as sun-set. (Just BEFORE sunrise or just AFTER sunset)

[BarryBobPosthole]

Yep, I’ve never really looked for it at sunrise. It’s easier to know right when the sun slips below the horizon than it is to know when it’s just about to.

Logic, my man. Logic.

Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

BKB

[Thumper]

Look at the three sunrise pics above. I knew when the sunrise was going to be, stepped out onto the patio and snapped pics as it peeked above the horizon. So there! Maybe in your old age, it’s just getting more difficult for you to climb out of the sack that early in the morning. ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

So now that you heard what the green flash is (today) you’re now an expert on it?

I see how you are!

BKB

[Thumper]

Pretty much. ;)