A weekend with the Mouse

Posted on September 21, 2023 by dinajohnston

Brett and I drove over to Disney (not to a theme park though) in early June for a one night road trip for our 29th Anniversary. After checking into our hotel we headed over to Disney Springs to walk around a little bit and have an early dinner. I’ve only been here in the winter and it was so hot even at 5pm. After walking around for a half hour we decided to go ahead and eat early and then head back to the hotel.

Our hotel was nearby (not a Disney hotel) and we could see the fireworks from the theme parks in the distance. A nice little storm moved through at the same time and we got a great lightning show from our window.

A quick video of the fireworks (on the left) from the Magic Kingdom and the storm (on the right).

After a quick breakfast at the hotel we headed to the Disney golf course. Brett was going to play a round of golf and I was driving the golf cart (I’m not a golfer, maybe some day though but it’s fun being out and driving the course), This Mickey cart was out front at the clubhouse. It was so cute (the carts everyone uses looks like a regular cart).

There was a little bit of color along the course.

We saw a lot of raccoons along the course and they come right up to the carts. We had caught up with some guys playing ahead of us and they told us that people are feeding them. One guy said he came back to his cart from the hole and a raccoon was up in his cart digging through his snack bag. There are signs warning not to feed the wildlife but no one seems to listen anymore.

It was a beautiful morning out on the course and after a big lunch we headed back home. It was a perfect quick getaway.

Things that remind me of July 4th.

Posted on July 4, 2022 by dinajohnston

This is a repost from 2016.

This was way too easy. A permanently injured eagle at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. Whoever added the flag on the back fence was a genius.

Mount Rushmore several years ago with my sister who lives in nearby Sioux Falls.

Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Petersburg Florida where members of the Armed Forces are buried. My parents are here. My dad was in WW2.

My cousin and his family are all in the Tampa Bay Water Ski show. This is the opening from their free shows every Saturday afternoon.

Practicing fireworks before dark in the neighborhood.

I found this flag hanging on a wall in a tourist shop in Tarpon Springs. It’s made of shells and starfish.

A very young bald eagle learning to fly.

A bald eagle souring across the sky.

I was looking through some older folders of a flag picture to post for today and came across all of the above. I couldn’t decide which one to post so I added all of them. All reminders of the summer season. From Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day.

Getting off the couch

Posted on August 5, 2021 by dinajohnston

We didn’t get any rain this past 4th of July. It was sunny most of the day. Brett and I stayed in and relaxed on the couch watching movies since it was so hot. Right before dark I jumped up and decided to get out and try and get some firework shots. Last year I went right into the thick of chaos on the causeway where everyone shoots off their own fireworks but the traffic is so bad so I decided to head to the airport and see if I could get some shots from the top of the airport parking deck. Of course I wasn’t alone. The open top deck was packed with people. There was a lot of firework tailgating going on. I found a good spot to stand facing downtown Tampa but realized there was a lot of haze and fog right over the city. And so far away. I realized I wasn’t going to get good shots but didn’t want to run out and try somewhere else.

The cool thing was that you could see fireworks going off all over the city. You could see them across the bay and out on the causeway. They were everywhere. If only they weren’t so far away. I had brought my 200mm and these are very cropped.

The football stadium was all lit up and people were setting off their own fireworks all around the stadium. People were probably shooting them off in the parking lots there.

Heading over to the other side of the parking deck, I could see fireworks over at Rocky Point, near the causeway. Someone was shooting them off right behind that new building and it looked like the building was on fire from far away.

It was a fun night out and everyone was having fun just being out with friends and family. I think next year I’ll try and find a deck much closer to the city. From the airport, the tall buildings downtown hid the big city fireworks that were being set off by the city at Channelside so that was a bust. Hopefully next year!

‘Oh, say can you see” 🎵

Posted on September 10, 2020 by dinajohnston

Brett and I spent most of the 4th of July on the couch watching movies. It rained most of the afternoon but then after dinner the clouds started to part so I headed over to the Courtney Campbell Causeway to check out the fireworks. We get a lot of them in our neighborhood but they are very sporadic so it’s hard to get pictures of them. Most of the big city fireworks were canceled due to the virus but I knew there would people setting them off on their own on the causeway. I started off in an office building parking deck thinking I could see them all around but quickly realized they were too far away and hopped back in the car to head to the middle of it all.

The above were taken in the boat ramp parking lot. I was actually too close so I walked out on the small beach to move farther away.

Out on the beach, I could see lots of them going off and liked the reflection of color on the water. I stayed on the little beach (mostly rocks on the sand) for a while. I was away from the crowds and had bug spray on so I was in a good spot.

Above I zoomed out and you could see the fireworks over in the far left that were going off over my neighborhood. Cops were coming around right before 10pm and were closing the boat ramp and trying to get the crowds of people to go home. No one really should have been partying on the causeway but people were ready to get out with friends. I had my mask on and stayed away from everyone and headed home after taking the above.

SkyWatch Friday

Always looking up in the yard.

Posted on September 5, 2019 by dinajohnston

A few of the 4th of July fireworks from my driveway. Many of my neighbors were setting them off.

Lots of rainbows during the summer rains.

I was standing under the bismark palm tree trying to get some storm shots in the backyard and almost ran into the above. A harmless spiny orb, very common here but I really wouldn’t want to have to pull him out of my hair.

The sun was trying to peek out after a storm.

Dark clouds were swirling in the backyard right before dark.

Lightning shots taken with my phone in the backyard.

Standing on the Safety Harbor fishing pier, I could see a storm over my neighborhood across the bay.

I’m always looking up in the yard during the rainy season.If I hear thunder on one side of the house and the sun is out on the other, I always run outside with my phone hoping to see a rainbow.

SkyWatch Friday