Phoenix, Vegas, California and Sanibel Causeway 3/13/2009

Well, its been a while since I've posted. We went on a two week driving trip from Cape Coral to Phoenix to Las Vegas to Lodi, CA.

We had a nice visit with my sister, Helene (left side of pic) and cousin, Edie (right side of pic) in Phoenix. Only regret was not being able to stay a little longer in Phoenix.

After Phoenix we headed to Las Vegas where we met our good friends Jim and Gail. We always have a blast with them. This picture is from their recent visit to our house in Cape Coral.

I found out that the weekly NASCAR race was in Vegas on the Sunday of our stay. I was able to score some half price tickets along with a couple of garage passes. I'm not a rabid fan, but I've always enjoyed NASCAR. I guess it's the speed and competition. (Loved fast cars in my younger days) And I've always wanted to go to a NASCAR race, and it was amazing. 200,000 fans or so and a completely crazy atmosphere. We had seats about 7 rows above the wall and watching those cars go by at nearly 200 mph takes your breath away. Its impressive on TV, but you just can't appreciate that speed until you see it in person. Those drivers have to be just a bit crazy.A fitting photo. Car number 1 - the Bass Pro Shops car.

Charlie Daniels - Pre-race entertainment in the garage area.

We always look so good in pictures we take of ourselves!

Ready to take the green flag!

Kyle Busch, the winner, exiting his car after an exciting burn-out celebration.

After Vegas we headed to Lodi, CA to visit Susie's brother, John. He and Anna, his lovely wife, are the best. They housed us, fed us, and showed us a great time. It was great spending the little time we had with them and the rest of the family. John is one of the funniest and nicest guys I know and Anna is one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet. Sure hope they are able to come visit us in Florida real soon.

We drove home from Lodi to Cape Coral in three tiring days. It's just over three thousand miles one way!

When we got home, Betty, Susie's sister greeted us. She had been here for the past 4 weeks and took care of Popeye, our cat, while we travelled. Betty has left now, but we sure enjoyed having her with us for a while and I'm sure she enjoyed being out of the cold Chicago weather for a time. And I know she enjoyed seeing the Yard Dogs (twice!) while she was here.

After all the travelling was done, and company all gone, I decided to take Susie fishing for the first time! We went over to the Sanibel Causeway where I had gone with Brian a few weeks back. It was a beautiful day and we planned to get an early start. Well we ended up getting out by about 8:30 or so and stopped at McDonald's for a couple of breakfast burritos and coffee. Also a good place for a last potty break before getting to the potty-less fishing spot! We walked out the causeway until we were under the first support. Surprisingly there was only one other couple fishing there when we arrived and they left shortly thereafter. A few other folks arrived so we didn't have the spot to ourselves for very long.

We both began casting some Gotchas (7/8 oz) and after about my fifth cast I hooked into a nice little spotted trout. This one looked just like the 13 or 14 that Brian had pulled out the last time we were here, so I figured I'd probably be getting a few more.

But a few casts later I hooked into a much bigger fish. I couldn't tell what it was but it was definitely putting up a bigger fight than that trout did. I thought maybe I had hooked some kind of giant snook or grouper or great white! Well, it turned out to be the big brother to the first trout. But this one measured about 17 inches - picture to prove it! That's above the minimum to keep, but since I didn't have a cooler and there was no one around to give it to, I set it free and watched it swim off. Susie was relieved - more on that later.

While I was catching these trout, Susie was casting nearby. She wasn't casting very far at first so she wasn't having much luck. Now before I go much further I have to explain what type of fisherman Susie is. Her idea of fishing is probably a little different than most of ours. She sees fishing as a way to get out in the sun, spend time with me, and give the cute fishies some exercise!

At one point she hooked into something small (for her first time!). I could tell because I heard this shriek. As she was bringing the fish in, I walked over with the grabber and pliers in preparation. Unfortunately, just as I arrived at her side, the fish self-released and neither of us ever saw what it was. She was very relieved! Then she had a fish following her lure as she reeled it in and she was shrieking "Oh no! Don't bite it! Don't bite it!" and she reeled faster to keep the fish from taking it. Again, with definite relief. But with all that being said, she is anxious to go again. She said she had a great time.

To close out the day I caught this small spotted fish that looks like some kind of sea bass, but I haven't been able to positively identify it through web searches. It was about 9-10" and had a very distinctive dark line through it's eyes. I'm sure someone, like Brian, will be able to tell me what it was.

All in all, it was a great day! Of note, the three fish were caught on a slow incoming tide. After a while the tide was coming in very fast and no one was catching anything. Have to remember that for future planning. We donated two Gotcha lures to the water gods, which is a small price to play for all the fun we had. I also found that using two reversed nail knots, tied with my handy knot tying tool, works great to attach the leader to the line. I had no knot failures at all.

Life is really, really good!

Bill