December 26 & 27

So,  I decided I'd like to finish out the month. I mean, why not? :-)

Last night we went with my parents to see The Hobbit movie. It was great! I still haven't finished reading the book yet (re-reading, I should say... I read it many years ago but have forgotten most of it!). I've got about 40 books on my Kindle Paperwhite; it's wonderful to have the selection without the weight in my backpack. :)

On the 26th we drove down to Papa's condo on Manasota Key. Louie and I have the place to ourselves for the next few days! Today (the 27th) we went to a nearby park called Cedar Point.

It had lots of nice walking trails. I fiddled with the coloring in the photo above... (I'm trying to see what curve adjustments result in a "yellowy" effect) This is what it really looked like:

Later we drove up the key to check out the beaches. Unfortunately there are some red tide problems at the beaches around here... the algae release toxins into the water which kills some of the fish, and also gets carried into the air by the sea spray. It's known to cause respiratory problems, so we've been coughing a bit when we go outside...it's just a tickle in your throat though, nothing too bad. Here's Louie by the ocean.

Later we ate at the Gulf View Grill, which was quite yummy and had a nice view of the water. Then we went across the street and watched the sunset: