Photoshop Friday

Photoshop Friday is back! 

However, the internet was not cooperating yesterday, so the results will be posted today.

This is the image we used as our starting point, a lovely little girl with her hair full of static from playing hard.



I did a combination of liquefy distortion, poster edges and plastic wrap to come up with this.

Andrea couldn't bare to mess her up too much and created a good sorceress.

Edna came up with this charming rendition.

Next weeks photo will be:

Long Live the Queen of Photoshop

Eating my way through the USA

One of my favorite things about RV living is eating my way through the USA.  You never get bored with the same old-same old as the view is always fresh.  But some places beg to be revisited, such as Ford’s Garage.

We stumbled upon this in Cape Coral FL and were enchanted by the gas station humor, as both Left Brain and I have worked in service stations in our youth.

The outside dining featured a truck with the flatbed converted into a table for a larger group.  

Maybe this is where the group that orders the $125 Big Mama Burger sit.  This is a burger that feeds 10 people and is served on a bun the size of seat cushion.

You enter the establishment by pulling on the gas pump handles affixed to the doorway.  

I like this place already.  Then you get inside and are blown away.

There are Model T’s hangings over the bar with headlamps burning and you often hear the distinctive beep of the horn. 

I asked the waitress, who was decked out in a blue service station shirt, if there was a particular reason for blowing the horn.  

Her answer was “no, we just do it because it’s fun”. 

I love this place. 

The walls are actual garage doors that open in warmer weather to allow for open air dining.  This building had actually been a garage in its day and since those days were during the Prohibition, doubled as a speakeasy at night.

The menus are leather bound and appear to be the automotive manual – nice touch.  The napkins are grease rags, but totally clean…not like the ones I remember hanging from my father’s back pocket, and a hose clamp acts as the napkin holder.

While waiting for our food order, I wandered about the place snapping away photo after photo. 

The bar is beautiful with its hand hammered copper.

They are known for their prime burgers and craft beer.  Left Brain went with the burger and fell in love.  He even skipped the onions as the flavor of the meat was incredible.  Given the option to avoid French fries he ordered the baked beans and I got to take a sample.  Memories of my Grandmother’s baked beans swept through my brain…perfect.

I opted for the slider trio to sample a medley of food.  This featured a pulled pork, burger and Nathan’s mini chili dog.  The pulled pork was so-so, the burger was yummy but I swooned at the chili dog.

Since I knew this was a place we wanted to revisit, I made note of the address for their restaurant in Estero Fl.  I knew just who I wanted to share this with!

One of my other favorites in this lifestyle are the people you meet and then “bump into” on the road.  Sometimes that bumping into takes a little planning, but then again we are all flexible so it’s not that difficult.

We met Jim and Kathy while camping at Ham Lake Campground in Blaine MN last year.  Both of us have families in the area and there’s not a lot of choices for long stay camping in the area and we happened to be parked next door to each other.

  

Even though we didn't have a lot of time to visit and get to know each other while in Minnesota, we all felt a spark of friendship take place.  There’s just those people you meet and know instantly you want to get to know them more.

We were all lost trying to find the Ford’s Garage in Estero as it was in a huge shopping mall and used the cell phones to figure out where the other one was.  As things worked out, they pulled in and parked right next to us.  I guess they are just met to always be “next door”.

Cathy loved the décor as much as I did and we all chuckled over the cleverness of their design. 

After the waitress revisited us for the fourth time we promised to stop talking and look at the menu.  We finally had the time to just sit and visit and get to know each other during this four hour lunch.

Well, Cathy and I talked to each other and Left Brain and Jim talked among themselves, but there was a little cross-conversation at times.  This was total bliss for me as I have not had the company of a female in my life for a long stretch now.  I enjoy Left Brain’s company, but there’s nothing like sharing stories with your own gender.  Sorry guys…that’s just the way it is.

Finally it was time to say goodbye so we all visited the restrooms – or the Fluid Disposal Area as they call it here.  

She laughed when she saw the tires used as sinks and had to take a “selfie” to post for her family. 

I decided I needed to do a “photo bomb” to add to it.  Gosh it feels good to giggle with a girl friend.

When we left I made her shut the door before leaving and look at it.  Huh?  The lettering on the door panel clearly says WOMEN when you enter, but when you leave there is a reverse image of the word MEN, making you wonder for a split second if you were in the right room.  I had missed this the first time Left Brain and I went to Ford’s Garage and finally got to enjoy the joke.

It was a perfect day – good friends – laughter and great food.  I’m so looking forward to seeing her again this summer in Minnesota!

Long Live the Queen of the Garage

Anhingas in Florida

In yesterdays post I mentioned the anhinga.  These are incredible birds and so unique.  They are a large species of about 34- 36" tall and they love to frequent the southern swamps, just like me....except I'm taller.

It is also known as the "snake bird" because when its body is submerged while swimming with only its long neck and head showing, it appears to be a snake.  The following photo shows this bird with the wings down and you can get a glimpse of its snake like body.

But I like seeing them with the wings open

 as if ready for flight.

Mealtime consists of fish which it catches in its long dagger-like serrated bill.  It flips the fish in the air, catching it headfirst and gulps it down.  Actually, it's not that different than watching Left Brain at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

You'll often see this bird perched with its wings spread open.  This is because they lack oil glands with which to preen and so much keep their wings half open to dry them in the sun.

And now you know more about this magnificent creature.

Long Live the Queen of the Swamp

Biking...finally

While we have friends in Arizona and Texas who are shivering due to the polar vortex, it's 86 degrees here and with no rain...so we finally got to test out those bikes.

Our first outing was yesterday in Cape Coral and our goal was to bike to Perkins for lunch as we had a coupon to use.  If there is food at the end of the destination, I will bike to get to it!  This involved a lot of riding on the sidewalk as the traffic is quite heavy and wasn't the most pleasant of rides.

But today we went to the Lakes Park in Fort Myers, which has a little something for everyone as well as several bike and walking trails.  

It encompasses nearly 300 acres of trails, lakes and gardens.

On the way to the park I spotted an Applebee's and since we had a gift certificate for there, we decided to have an early lunch before biking.  I had taken all the loose coins we collect and dumped them into the Coin Star at Wal-mart.  Since they wanted an 8% fee to convert it into cash I opted for one of the several gift certificates instead.  It was almost like getting a free lunch.

Once we arrived at the park we paid for our parking and unloaded the bikes.  Our new carrier makes it very easy to load and unload them, which is a real plus as I like to take them places to ride.

There are several shelters and it seemed most of them were in use today for family celebrations of all kinds.

Along the path we spotted several anhingas, egrets and herons.

When I spotted the gopher tortoise I almost caused a collision by Left Brain.  I guess I need to get one of those little signs that say this vehicle makes sudden stops.

We stopped near the end of our trek and I took a stroll through the botanical gardens.

Even though it's winter, there were still many plants blooming their little hearts out.  Left Brain stayed with the bikes so I could take a little stroll.

A hybrid Californian chameleon?

Long Live the Queen of Parks

Soggy weather in Florida

I feel responsible for the constant drizzle and rain, I'm just sure it's because we bought bikes and are chomping at the bit to get on them and ride.

Oh well, there's always other things to do.  We visited a Citrus Plant yesterday and watched the oranges come out of the cleaner and go through the process of becoming orange juice.

After having some soft serve ice cream (Left Brain had Key Lime and Chocolate swirl and I had just Key Lime) we bought a few oranges and headed home.

To help my friends in the north take their mind off the cold I believe it's time to reinstate Photoshop Friday.  I received permission from one of our Florida friends to use the photo of her daughter.  I love this shot with her hair all full of static from jumping around playing and thought it might be fun for you all to work with.

Long Live the Queen of Winter Showers