And just like that…

It’s July!

And that means the hoards are coming to Old Homosassa for scalloping….

except it wasn’t quite as busy as last year’s opening weekend. (At least at 8 am there were a reasonable amount of trucks waiting in line at the ramp.)

Word has gotten out that the scallops are out in the deep waters. And not as many. Theories abound. Over fishing. Salinity of the water. Too much rain.

Terry and I rode our bikes down to the boat ramp yesterday to see what we could see. The American Legion Post 166 is parking trucks and trailers at the Homosassa Civic Club this year–all proceeds go to them. There are at least three private citizens that park vehicles on their property. They raised the parking fee from $10 last year to $20 this year. The civic club voted to keep theirs at $10. The parking area is further away from the ramp than the private yards so the members didn’t think a 100% rate increase was justified. The American Legion parked about 38 trucks and trailers on the holiday. They will continue through the weekend working at the parking lot so if you need to put your truck and trailer somewhere you should check out this parking lot. All of these men and women are veterans. They need the money to keep their post open.

On the other hand, perhaps the private land owners also need the money. I really can’t make a judgement call on that. One of them decided to curse Terry and I out when we rode our bikes by her house. I was really surprised. She very LOUDLY shouted some very bad words at us in front of people that were parking their vehicles. I’m assuming that she was upset about the civic club’s parking charge. But it could be something else. I wasn’t going to ask. She’s bigger than me. I could probably out run her but who knows what she could do when the adrenaline kicks in!

Anyhow, I’ve got lots of photos today.

Went to Palm Beach Gardens last weekend for one of the grandkid’s state championship game. The team won one game out of three. All of the teams were REALLY GOOD! These kids are only 8-years-old and really love to play. It was fun watching.

I had planned on going over to the coast in West Palm to get some ocean photos but it rained a good bit of the time while we were there. I did get out and about in Palm Beach Gardens.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn and there was a boardwalk around a large lake that led to “Downtown”.

It didn’t rain on Friday night so we walked over to Downtown. Fun! Music, people, food, dogs in the hood….

I took a walk in the rain on Saturday since the game was postponed. You guessed it—rain delayed. The flowering trees are always amazing in South Florida.

Walked back over to Downtown for dinner after Jack’s team lost their Saturday game. (Insert sad face) Ate at the Yard House. A very cool, very loud, and very expensive sports bar. I had a “Beyond Burger” which I have been wanting to try. I don’t eat beef and very little pork. No religious or dietary reasons. I just don’t like it. The Beyond Burger is plant-protein. It was very Good. But. Expensive.

Walking back to the hotel.

One more walk on Sunday morning…

I also saw a very large lizard that I SWEAR was running on its hind legs with it’s little arms tucked in. Just like a dinosaur. But it would not repeat that action for my camera.

So we got home Sunday evening and this was the view (Du Du Du) looking out my backdoor.

Terry and I just bought a “traveling car” so I’m hoping we find the time to go to some fun places and I can start posting again about “Traveling with the Top Down”.

And on a personal note, Terry’s mom passed away in the wee hours of July 4th. She was 94. I’ve posted about her here many times. Her heart just wore out and she decided that she didn’t want to do any extreme measures like surgery to fix it. She lived in Colorado most of her life but after her husband died decided to move to Tampa to be closer to her grandkids. A few years ago she moved to Phoenix to spend more time with her son that lives there along with the grandkids that visit. She will be cremated and her ashes will be buried in Colorado where she really considered her home.