-UA742, upgraded, departed an hour or so late. Crack engine, switched plans
-Only half our luggage made it to RSW. We waited at the airport for the next flight
-Watched Purdue / Mich St game, comp’d lunch
-Checked into Lands End 1626 at about 3pm. Sharing condo with Ian and Leslie
-Luggage getting really heavy.
-Room has view of Red Fish Pass and 6th tee
-It was windy and warm, partly cloudy with late afternoon light reflecting nicely off the birds
-Big, big waves. Surprisingly big.
-Cocktail hour, as normal
-Lazy Flamingo at 7pm. Not too crowded
-To bed by 9pm

Sunday 10/28/18

-Slept in late, about 9:30
-Cool, windy. Not good for kayaking
-Ian taking pictures with his new camera
-I took a bunch of really nice osprey pictures at the condo
-Cathie went to the hot tub
-Lunch in the Condo
-Golf at 2-4pm
–Lots of birds
–Very windy, coolish
-Ding Darling
–Went there and it was nearly high tide, we had low expectations
–Lots of birds! Roseate Spoonbills, White Pelicans, Little Blue Heron
–Mangrove Cookcoo!
–Stopped 3 full times, lots of other people
–500mm lens, and Ian’s new camera
-Sunset Grill restaurant — not busy
-Back to the condo by 9pm

Monday 10/29/18

-Ian and I worked on photos from Ding Darling
-AM at the pool. Hot tub. Family from Germany
-Lunch at Condo
-Golf at 2pm.
-Captiva Cruises sunset. Elliot was our host. Catches sharks for research job
-Dinner at Keylime Bistro. Liked the piano player

Tuesday 10/30/18

-Very calm weather, no clouds, no wind, 70 degrees
-8:45am Kayaking
-Paddle around Buck Key
–Brian was happy that we were back. Red Tide hurt their business.
–Down Roosevelt channel, with the tidal current
–Back up Pine Island Sound on the far side, against the tidal current
–Half way up, Ian and Leslie joined us
–Cathie and I finished after 2.5 hours
–Ian and Leslie finished probably an hour later following the crab pot lines further North
–Brian’s Granddaughter and friend took care of us.
–Lots of Yellow-Crown Night herons
–Dolphin, Bald Eagle, no Manetee
–Rays, crabs
-Light lunch at condo
-I had an important work call at 2pm
-Golf at 4:30pm
–calm, clear sky, some wind, not crowded
–Had fun, again
-Cocktail hour on patio
-Dinner at Mucky Duck

Wednesday 10/31/18

-Kayaked with Sunny Island Adventures
–I called Brian and his staff was taking out a tour group
–This is the service affiliated with the T-Dock at South Seas
–Lots of tree trimming, kinda annoying
–Good, hard, paddle to Chadwick’s Bayou and Marina Villas docking area
–Boats were sit on tops with too short paddles. Had to “canoe” them. Slow
–Usual wildlife: visited sand bar with lots of birds
–Out for 2 hours
-Then golf at 2:30, then dinner
-Dinner at Mad Hatter
–Fantastic!

Thursday 11/1/18

-Captiva Cruise ride to Cayo Casta State Park
–We stayed at the beach for 4 hours, beautiful
–Ian brought a sunshield/tent for us
–I bought a beach chair.
–We found nice shells, the water was nice, and the sky was clear
–Wilson’s Plover/Ruddy Turnstone and Snowy plovers visited us
–Nice boat ride: going up using the Gulf route because it was calm, going back Intercoastal waterway.
-Dinner at Doc Fords — Just Ian and Me. Cathie needed to stay at the condo to relax
-7pm call
-Stayed up Late, sore legs

Friday 11/2/18

-Breezy, warm day
-Kayaked with Brian.
–Tide coming in, wind from South, choppy waters
–Went around North side of Buck Key
–Waves too big, back tracked and went through mangrove tunnel
–Headed South along Roosevelt Channel
–Turned around halfway down, too windy
–Landed back at Tween Waters after 1:45.
–Saw manatee, fewer birds
-Pack and Ship, arranged for golf clubs return home
-Golf at 2:30
-Cocktail Hour
-Power outage
-Drove to Sanibel for dinner: Island Cow, good but too much food
-Power back on, back at condo to pack
-Leg still hurts, very itchy

The post Captiva 10/27/18 – 11/2/18 appeared first on Kozik Family Photo Blog.

-UA742, upgraded, departed 7:48am, nice flight

-Rented Ford Edge from Hertz. Good SUV, smaller than usual, but workable for the two of us
-Stopped at Jerry’s; I forgot to pack white t-shirts. I bought two.
-Checked in to Lands End 1633
–Nice room, great view of blind pass and the gulf
–On the 6th fairway
–Cleaning staff still working
–spartan decor, but workable
-No time for lunch, went straight to the beach.
–Stayed there until after 5pm
–no more “cliff”
–clear sky, in the 80s
–got a little windy
-Lazy Flamingo for dinner, crowded, much more so than in Nov17
-Sunset at Blind Pass (watch out for the enforcement officer)
-Desert at Scoops and Slices
-Watched Lost in Space on Netflix

Saturday 4/21/18 — Kayaked, Golf, Ding Darling, Mucky Duck

-Got up to overcast skys, they cleared and we got up to 89 degrees, great day!
-Kayaked from 9:30 to 11:30.
–Went south along Roosevelt Channel, then back around the far side of Buck Key
–lots os Snowy Egrets, a Bald Eagel, lots of osprey, delighted to find a little green Herson, at tne end we saw a huge majestic Great Blue
–I had the green Old Town Loon. It has an open cockpit and a tall back. Really comfortable
-Came back for lunch.
–The osprey right out side our condo were posing beautifully for pictures in great lighting
–I used the 500mm lens. The osprey were almost too close
-We went golfing early
–Beautiful day for golf, course not crowded, but we did have to wait a couple of holes for a slower foursome
–By the end of the round we were tired
-Back to the condo to cool down
-Left for DingDarling
–Stopped at CVS first
–bar soap
–York Mint Patty… not “Yorky”
–We saw a pair of osprey in a nest; otherwise, nothing
-Drove back to Captiva and had dinner at Mucky Duck. Served right away at 5pm
-Back to condo. I took a nap and woke-up in time to see the sunset
-Watched two episodes of Lost in Space.

Sunday 4/22/18 — Kayaked, Golfed, RC Otters

-clear windy day high in the 80s, clouds over Pine Island
-Kayaking delayed until 11:20.
–Someone called in sick. We had to wait for them to come back from a tour
–We started late, but everything went fine.
–Started heading South along Roosevelt Channel
–The water was deeper than the day before
–saw dolphin and lots of other wading birds
–rounded the bottom of Buck Key, the wind was heavier and the water choppier
–Kingfisher, pelicans, dolphin, Great Blue, Snowy, and Great Egret, lots of osprey (quieter)
–When we made the bend around the top of BUck Key, waters became claim again, we had the wind at our back
–We ran into the 11:30 guided tour. They were excited to see some dolphin
–We paddled in, the Yoga instructor helped us out
-We went back to the condo to cool off
-We had a 2:50pm tee time
–We just beat the two large foursomes
–much windier
–Moorhens were grazing on the golf course, but they are water fowls
-Headed back, changed, and went to the beach
-Stayed at the beach for an hour or so, listening to nice steel drum and flute music
-Showered and went for dinner at RC Otters
–They had a realy good vocalist who did two songs, then she left and the guy did Niel Young and other classics
–It wasn’t that crowed, but we did have to hurry back
-Westworld, Season 2 started
–Very violent, fell asleep before the ending

Monday 4/23/18 — Kayaked, Golfed, Ding Darling, Sunset Grill

-Slightly overcast day, forecast high of 85. Winds from the South, tide coming in
-Kayaked normal time, 9:30
–Again, paddled South along Roosevelt Channel. It was tough: going against the tidal current and the wind
–Around the other side of Buck Key, it was easy paddleing.
–We saw most of the birds on the far side of buck key, including our favorite Little Blue Herons.
–Much to our delight, Carl the cormorant, greeted us on the way back, hunting for fish as we paddled
-Golf at 1:30. Noone ahead or behind. Delightful round, but a little windy
-Drove to Ding Darling for low tide. Nothing to see, again. Sorry
-Had dinner at Sunset Grill for the first time. Top-notch, nice, outdoors, facing the gulf, breezy, not hot.
-Headed back to condo, watched sunset. Cathie took a nap

Tuesday 4/24/18 — Kayaked, Prep for 5G, Ding Darling (Rosatte Spoonbills), Birthday at Green Flash

-Again, the morning started overcast. It looked like it rained last night, not alot of wind
-We kayaked around Buck Key, but went clockwise, going around the North tip. The water was smooth.
–Dolphins popped up right next to us
–We saw 3 manetees at the end
–We said good bye to the staff and said we’d be back in November
-I spent 1:30 on the phone with my work, prepping for a Sprint meeting in Reston
-We went to Ding Darling, one last time.
–Yeah, The Rosatee Spoonbills were there!
–There was a whole crowd of people and many took turns looking through our 500mm lens
–We also saw our first Yellow-crowned Night Herson
–A manetee family is living near the “Indian Mounds”
-Celebrated my birthday at Green Flash
–I got calls from both Liz and Mike
-Watched episode 5 of Lost in Space
–Happy Birthday!

Wednesday 4/25/18

-UA2404 12:40 to 2:44

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It hasn’t rained since the middle of July.  The only place left is Busse Lake.  It was in great shape.  Lots of cormorants, egrets and herons. The weather was windy and a little cool, but we were glad we came.

9/16/17 – Busse Lake

The rivers are all low, and we want to kayak.  We came back here and glad we did.  The water was lower that back in July, but there were lots of birds and other kayakers.  The weather was great and we were glad we came.

7/30/17 – North Shore Channel

The Fox River is still too high and dangerous, so we came back to one of our favorite spots, the North Shore Channel of the Chicago River.  We put in at the Skokie boat ramp at Oakton, we paddled all the way up to the locks at Wilmette Harbor and back.  Along the way we saw Great Blue Heron, Kingfisher, Ducks, Turtle, Mink, Deer and baby Black-crowned Night Heron.

The water was pretty fresh.  The big rains from two weeks ago flushed things out.  We only saw two other people on the water — we had the nature all to ourselves.

7/15/17 – Busse Lake

Liz, Cathie, myself took Vicki kayaking at Busse Woods Forest Preserve.  The water was clear and a little deeper than average.  We saw lots of egrets and great blue herons!

The post Kayaking 2017 appeared first on Kozik Family Photo Blog.

This is our first ride this year.  The water was still fast and high, but nothing like 3 weeks ago.

7/29/17 – Prairie Path

We biked the Prairie Path from St James Farm to Lincoln Marsh.  The new section in St James Farm was very nicely groomed.

7/9/17 – Herrick Lake

Our first bike ride of the year was our usual Danada to Herrick Lake loop.

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About a third of the way through the race, I hit a wall.  I was exhausted.  My arms and legs were really fatigued.  I wasn’t injured just really tired.  Just past the half way point, we stopped for a snack and I got a 2nd wind and was easily able to continue, but at a slow pace.

The weather was cool, in the mid 60s with a mostly cloudy sky.  The water level was lower than previous years, but we did have a pretty good current.  The river had been freshly cleared of tree falls, making the paddle a little bit safer than previous year.  For one tree fall, I got squeezed by a couple of really fast paddlers.  We all bottle-necked at a really tight tree fall.  I wished they would have waited their turn.

We finished at 1:40.  We clocked 4:40 race time.  That’s 20 minutes slower than last year.  That makes sense.

The picnic at the finish area was really nice.  We had pull-pork sandwiches from the food truck and listened to classic rock from the live band.  I was really tired and sore, but happy to have finished.

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After two weeks of strong bike riding I built up my confidence to bike the Prairie Path loop:  started at Winfield/Butterfield Rd, biked East and then North through Wheaton, passing by the Lincoln Marsh.  I then headed West through West Chicago and Geneva, all the way to the Fox River bike trail.  I headed South, passed the Fabyan Windmill park and Funway, then turned left and followed the Prairie Path Batavia Spur East, passed Fermi Lab, following the North edge of I-88.  I took the tunnel underneath Butterfield and the bridge over Ferry Rd, back on the Aurora branch toward Warrenville, my starting point.

There were lots of nice prairie flowers in bloom, the weather was nice and not too windy.  I was proud of myself for doing this big loop.

9/17/16 Fox River Bike

It rained the night before, so I picked the Fox River bike path because it is paved.  I started at the usual Fabyan Windmill park.  I biked South to the North Aurora bridge.  From there I biked back up, but on the other side of the river.  Very nice day.

9/11/16 – Illinois Prairie Path

I biked the Illinois Prairie Path from Warrenville to the Lincoln Marsh in Wheaton.  Beautiful day!

9/5/16 – Waterfall Glen

Labor Day at Waterfall Glen was very busy.  Lots of families, running groups, and bike riders.  The 10 mile loop was challenging, as usual.  The prairie plants have started turning colors in some places, but still, not really in bloom.  I haven’t been here since 2013; it is nice to be back.

9/4/16 – Springbrook Prairie

I biked the 6 mile loop through the Springbrook Prairie.  The plants were starting to turn, but still need another week or so.  The weather was nice like yesterday, but it was a lot more windy.

9/3/16 – Danada / Herrick Lake

I biked our usual Danada Forest Preserve loop.  I biked all the way round Herrick Lake and back.  I stopped along the way to take pictures of the prairie plants– it is just days before the priairie lights up with color.

4/16/16 – Fox River

Cathie and I biked from the Fabyan Windmill Park  South to the North Aurora Dam.  We crossed the river,and biked back.  The leaves were just starting on the trees and we could feel the wind.  It our first bike ride of the season.

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The weekend after the Des Plains River race, we went to the Fox River and paddled from Yorkville to Silver Springs State Park.  We had Neice Molly with us.  It was windy, but we were with the current.  What a beautiful day.

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Liz, Cathie and I entered the Des Plaines River Canoe and Kayak Marathon.  We started in Libertyville and kayaked for 18.5 miles and took out in Mt Prospect (near Euclid).  The water was high and fast, the race had 660 other boats and the weather was beautiful!

I am so glad we came.  We hope to come back next year!

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For Sue’s birthday, we took her for a bike ride along the Fox River Trail.  The weather was good; the trail protected us from the high winds.  The Batavia Bug Fest was going on and a big stretch of the trail was full of families.

We started at the Fabyan Windmill Park in Batavia, headed South to the State Street bridge in North Aurora, then peddled back.  We bike through Batavia and the downtown area along the river was under construction.

After our bike ride, we had lunch at Pal Joey’s then headed home.

Happy Birthday Sue!

Father’s Day Biking at Danada 6/21/15

For Father’s Day, Mike, Cathie and I went for a bike ride at Danada.  We biked around Herrick Lake.  It was a beautiful day; there were lots of people on the trail and picnicking around Herrick Lake.

Fox River Bike Trail 6/13/15

With rain forecast for the late afternoon, we decided to go bike riding along the Fox River bike trail.  We started at Fabyan Park, headed South to North Aurora, crossed the Fox River and headed North back to the starting point.  This is a 10 mile loop.

Busse Woods Kayak 6/7/15

It was a rainy morning and our Fox River Kayak race was a scratch for us.  In the afternoon, we went over to Busse Woods for a nice paddle.  The sky was cloudy, but otherwise decent weather.  We saw Egret, Great Blue Heron, Cormorant, Skimmers, Redwinged Blackbirds, Cardinals, and seagulls.

Danada 5/3/15

We biked Danada Forest Preserve, looping around Herrick Lake. The trees were flowering very nicely.

Fox River Bike Trail 5/2/15

For our first bike ride of the year, we rode our favorite Fox River bike trail.  We started at Fabyan Parkway, went South to North Aurora, then back up.  At the Fabyan Japanese Tea Garden, we saw baby owls!

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