Siesta Key March 2015: Journal #4 (3/18)

A few steps from bed and we're on the balcony overlooking the other gulf view condos, the pool, the deck and the beach. This is the view looking to the left.

We have this view looking straight ahead from the balcony.

Turning our heads slightly to the right affords us this panoramic view.

The pool, hot tub and surrounding chairs, tables and umbrellas are tended to every morning before the pool opens at 9:00.

Beyond the pool is a sidewalk to the deck. It's hard to see the brown deck with the abundance of palm trees all around it. Every morning, the deck is hosed off and the many lounge chairs are arranged meticulously.

The view of the gulf is fantastic. We're blessed with not just a sliver but with a panoramic view that takes our breath away every time we step out on the balcony. This is the left side of our view.

Here is the middle of our beach view.

Our right end view of the beach reveals a cabana like the one I rented. Mine is farther to the right.

Sorry about this photo. Is it making you dizzy? I had to zoom in on these beautiful crotons.

Looking across the grounds, those are the same crotons that I zoomed in on in the previous photo.

Palm trees are a far cry from the trees we see in Wisconsin.

I slid down from the balcony on a rope so Lon could take this shot of me amid the palm tree fronds. I wiped my bloody palms on the grass so I wouldn't gross you out. (Why do I fabricate tales such as this? Of course, I got down to the sidewalk the old-fashioned way, that is, I took the stairs).   

Parasailers were constantly parading either from right to left or left to ride across our vision.

We parasailed here many years ago, sailing exactly like this, above Crescent Beach. You don't even get wet. You lift off from the back deck of the boat. 

I was rather freaked out when we did this. We were way up there and my anxiety was more pronounced than my sense of exhilaration. I'm glad I did it but I won't do it again. Perhaps a lower ride would be acceptable.

You're just up there sailing through the atmosphere and the water is far, far below.

The lines are there and the umbrella is there but...

Not to worry. They didn't hit the condos.

The boat driver slows the boat which lowers the parasailers to a point where their feet touch the water. Then he speeds up and they rise again. When your ride is over, the umbrella is reeled in and you land on your feet back on the boat deck.

I zoomed in on the pool for a few refreshing pix after my anxious memories of parasailing.

-a close up of a palm tree trunk-

The colors aren't the only thing that constantly changes. The waves are mesmerizing as they rush in and out and sideways.

There's something for everyone, the young, the old and everyone in between.