Florida at it's best

The Coles have been out and about a bit this week doing some tourism. Monday we went to the Brevard Zoo again and enjoyed it as we have several times before. It is by far the best zoo we have found.

The colorful birds are one of the highlights of the zoo.

Yesterday we ventured down the Treasure Coast to Vero Beach. This is by far the loveliest part of Florida that we have seen. We traveled down Route A1A, following the ocean. As you leave Melbourne Beach the scenery changes. Gone are the endless lines on condos and in their place are beautiful private homes, landscaped perfectly, and large areas of preserve with no development on it. It is a beautiful place. We spotted several places we didn't have time to visit, so we will return to that area. We spent all of the afternoon in the McKee Botanical Garden. Here are just a few photos of what we found there.

Lunch at the garden cafe

Taking a rest

 

 

Another painting?

 

The stump of a giant cypress tree

 

 

We have had a great week enjoying the beautiful weather and visiting some favorite places. This is by far the best part of Florida that we have seen. Oh, yes, there was a yarn store in Vero Beach!

Art Show!

Gary has decided today to share photos of the paintings he has done here in the past two months.

This photo of the Bugbee farm was his first this winter.

This one of the Portland Head Light at dawn is based on a photo taken by Jon Cole, as was the Bugbee Farm photo.

This is the first of several Florida scenes.

Shore Birds

This Carolina Mill was an art class project.

This duck was found in the Brevard Zoo last year.

This abandoned house was an art class project to which Gary added an abandoned piece of farm machinery.

This hibiscus blossomed by our door, and is the most recent creation. Gary has been invited to join a group of professional painters at the art gallery where he has been taking classes.

The relentless summer heat continues here as the temperatures reach the mid and upper 80s. We are learning this year what tropical means!

Louise has completed sweater #3 of her 12 sweaters for the year. This one will be an addition to Bridget's spring wardrobe.

Life is good at the beach.

89 Degrees at Cocoa Beach

That's right - 89 in February. It was 90 a few miles south of us in Melbourne. There was only one thing to do today - go to the beach. The sea breeze made it seem cooler. Here we are:

And the rocket did launch this afternoon, but we missed it as we went out to an early dinner. We felt it and heard it at the restaurant. Tomorrow the temperature drops to the 60s again. Did you say it was snowing in northern Maine??

Life on the Beach - Watching the Sky

We have spent two evenings at dusk watching the skies for a launch of an Atlas rocket. Both of the launches were scrubbed, and the next try will be tomorrow night. Here you see Gary out on the Merritt Island causeway looking towards Cape Canaveral.

Here is a photo of the sunset on the causeway overlooking the Banana River.

Louise received some lovely flowers for Valentine's Day, as you can see in this photo.

We have had beautiful weather and want to share a few photos of life on Cocoa Beach.

Our place is behind the shrubbery. Beside it is the new house that was being built last year when we were here. Gary has come down with a bad cold, but otherwise life is good in Florida.

February is here!

Yesterday the Coles traveled to Mount Dora to visit the Mount Dora Arts Festival. The number of people there defies the imagination! The streets were shut down, and artist's tents lined them. Artists from all over the country were part of the exhibit, which is considered the largest art festival in the state of Florida. Here we have a picture of the crowd, and one of the most interesting houses, home to the Masons. They served lunch and we ate there.

It was 80 degrees and the heat finally got to Louise, so our visit did not cover all of the exhibits. The drive was a good one, except for the tolls every few minutes. We discovered why Florida has such nice roads - tolls every few miles!
In other news we saw an interesting plane this week at Patrick AFB. It says United States of America on it's side, so it appears to be Air Force One. Perhaps there are several in the fleet or it was here for repairs.

And finally Louise completed her sweater #2 for the year last week. Here you see a photo of it.

Life is good here in Florida, and the temperatures are very warm. It is hard to imagine 80 degrees in February!

Splendid Saturday

This post is meant for all of our friends and family in northern Maine who are having very cold weather and snow. Just to cheer you up, here is a glimpse of our world today.

Cocoa Beach 1/21/12

It is supposed to reach 80 today and the sun is brilliant. It would be hard to imagine a nicer day.

We found a hibiscus bush by the front steps and want to share the beautiful blossom we have found.

Louise has been sick all week with a stomach upset, so this is where she plans to sit and knit today.

Sweater #2 is nearly done!

Sweater #1

Louise has signed up for a challenge online to knit 12 sweaters in 2012. Finishing sweaters that are already started and children or baby sweaters are OK in the plan, so she has at least 4 with her in Florida to work on. The first one was finished yesterday. This cardigan came along just in time for the cooler weather.

Gary is painting a winter scene in Washburn from a photo taken by Jon. Here he is on his birthday, which we celebrated with dinner out at the Olive Garden.