Hello there dear readers. Pardon my absence over the past several months. Time flies when you are busy spending time with family (October), working on projects (October), traveling south for the winter (November), end of year festivities (December), and birthday celebrations (January).

After arriving in Florida in late November, I decided to take some time reflecting on the year. I also took that time to plan for the upcoming year. Each year I come up with a word or short phase to be my guide for the year ahead. For 2026 I chose “Say Yes to Less”. And I thought about closing out this blog. Then I came up with an idea that allows for reflection via photos and to keep this travel blog going. If nothing else to have a place to capture our memories and to share with those of you that are still interested in our travels.

You know how we all have tons of photos on our phones these days yet most of us never revisit them. I am guilty of this and I wanted 2026 to be different. So for this year I have decided to look back through my photos for that month and select my favorites. Those will be added to this blog to share with all of you and to create a memory bank for us.

There you have it, a simple plan to reflect on our month through photos and to share here. Enjoy January’s recap in photos!

**Please note I am still working to add an option to click on photos to make them larger. For this post I was unable to make that happen. Instead of spending more time on that I wanted to share January with all of you.

Gorgeous South Florida Sunsets

We spent all of January a couple of hours south of Tampa, near Punta Gorda, Sebring, and Lake Wales. The weather was wonderful for most of January except the last weekend or so when Florida had its share of winter with temperatures dipping below freezing overnight!

Plenty of Exploring by Boat

We spent time on Lake Webb, Peace River, Lake Istokpoga, Kissimmee River, and the Imperial River near Bonita Springs. With a total of 117 miles explored by boat for the month of January. It is a favorite pastime of ours indeed.

50th Birthday Celebrations

January was a month of celebration for me as it marked 50 trips around the sun. Instead of celebrating just one day I was treated to 5 separate days doing something I wanted. This was by my request, thank you Shane for accommodating. He remarked after “glad you only turn 50 once, this is wearing me out”.

One – a day spent on Peace River with lunch and cocktails at Nav-a-Gator Bar and Grill. There was a even a spot to dock our Sea Eagle while we enjoyed a lunch outside.

Two – a day dipping my toes in the Gulf. We took the boat down the Imperial River and out to the Gulf. There was rain mostly south of us but we did get a bit of a drizzle while out. I enjoyed the day regardless. Some playful dolphins gave us quite a show, flipping fish up in the air and one slapped it’s tail on the water right in front of us. Fun fact their tail is called a fluke. For dinner we went back to a favorite of mine right on the beach in Bonita Springs, called Docs. Love their grouper!

Three – a night out with my second mom (technically my 2nd cousin) and Shane. They surprised me by taking me to a sushi restaurant for dinner followed by a wine bar with live music.

Four – a night out in Fort Myers. The past two years we have spent an evening in the quaint downtown of Fort Myers. One of my favorite spots is this great little speakeasy where the bartenders are dressed in prohibition clothing and make the most delicious specialty cocktails. Thanks to Shane for the cute boat hat he bought me in Fort Myers.

Five – sunset on the boat on my actual birthday. We went out on Sunday, January 11 for a sunset cruise and enjoyed watching the sunset on my birthday. I figured 1 day for each decade wasn’t asking too much. This girl felt all the love during January.

Luscious Florida Forests

I love how green Florida is during the winter and the beautiful trees draped in Spanish moss.

Animals, Food, and Painting

A bobcat sighting along the shore of the Peace River was a big highlight! That is a first for us. We stopped and observed for quite some time. He/she did not seem bothered by us floating nearby. We hosted the diva canine Ms. Holi and her mom for a weekend. And I finally found some time to paint again. My bird needs a bit of work but it was fun creating him from memory. Plus I tried out water colors for the first time. This session was all about testing out the paint with varying amounts of water.

Our Campsites for the Month

Babcock Webb WMA near Punta Gorda, where we scored the largest and best spot in the entire first come first serve campground. We spent the second half of December and first half of January here.

Istokpoga Canal, this was our first stay here and we will be back. This spot was quiet with plenty of space to spread out, located about 30 minutes east of Sebring.

Town of KICCO, a favorite of ours. This one is 10 miles or so from the main highway. Very quiet and lovely, also with plenty of space to spread out. The access to the Kissimmee River is a big appeal for us at this one. Although we mostly had colder weather during our stay, we managed to get out twice on our boat with some warmer temperatures.

That’s a wrap on January. Currently we are in Inverness, Florida for a couple of weeks. Stay tuned for a recap of February through photos.