March 2008 JouJuly 13, 2011sp;

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March 25 th 2008 Our days at Gulf Waters RV Resort were really nice. We were in such a nice central location, just over the bridge to Sanibel Island and only a few miles in the other direction to Ft. Myers beach. The beach was crazy, the area was in full swing Spring Break party mode! There’s a huge pier where people fish, the water was clear and during high tide Dan saw a bunch of Dolphins playing with the people swimming in the ocean. The Dolphins would surface just a few feet in front of the swimmers and the swimmers would move towards them. Then, the Dolphins would swim around behind the swimmers out of sight. They were playing a kind of hide and seek game. Only the people on the pier could see how close the Dolphins actually were to the bathers. One day we took our kayaks out to the bay and tried to get close to some frolicking dolphins ourselves. They moved too fast for us to get near so we moved on and paddled close to shore checking out the gorgeous homes. A few of them actually had Osprey nests on top of their chimneys. We heard a splash behind us and turned just in time to see a huge Manatee surfacing for a breath. It was really large, at least ten feet long and as fat as a cow! As it turned out there were two huge Manatee and we followed them for a little bit. They would paddle underwater and then stick their noses up for a breath of air and dive back down showing us their huge hump backs and wide paddle like tails. They didn’t seem to mind us following along until we got too close and one of them surfaced under the kayak. He flipped his tail quickly and moved out rocking our boat. (At least we think that’s what happened, there’s a sight change he got mad at us for following and head butted us but we think it’s the first scenario I mentioned). It was quite an experience and we backed off pretty quickly. They didn’t surface again anywhere near us. Another day Dan had ridden his bike into Ft. Myers beach and was fishing at an historic house called “The Mound House”. It was built on an ancient Indian shell mound (there seems to be a lot of them around here). Pretty soon after he started fishing, a Great Blue Heron flew in and decided he liked Dan’s bicycle that was parked by a nearby tree. He hung out next to the bike most of the afternoon just waiting for Dan to catch a fish. When Dan actually did catch a fish, the Heron moved in really close to Dan, so close Dan could reach out and touch him. The Heron was a little aggressive and very possessive of the fish Dan had on the hook. The second Dan took the fish off the hook and put it on the ground the Heron grabbed it and gulped it down. He stayed with Dan all day and was even there when I showed up in the early evening to take some pictures. Many of the larger birds here in Florida are big beggars. Especially the Pelicans! They are the worst beggars, and unfortunately they get caught up in the fishing line and get hooked quite often. When you are fishing, they fly in so close and just hang out staring at you. Sometimes they try to eat your bait behind your back! If you catch a fish they get all excited and think you are going to give it to them. They are huge and really cool to watch plus they are great fishermen themselves. They are often seen flying up really high over the ocean scanning for fish. When they see a fish they tuck their wings and dive bomb head first into the water. They always seem to come up with a fish in their huge bills. Other times they swim along and catch fish while swimming. They’re fun to watch. I’m really loving the birds here in Florida!!! We moved on to the Sarasota area a week ago where we stayed at a nice RV park called Encore Royal Coachman. It’s actually in Nokomis Florida, just a little south of Sarasota. The park was gorgeous and felt like old Florida with huge Pine and Oak trees. They had a nice pool, bocce, mini golf, shuffleboard (we’ve been playing a lot of that lately) plus they had canoes you could take out in the bay and lagoon area. We took a canoe out one day and had a nice time. It was really windy so we stayed in the lagoons and mangrove areas and didn’t go out into the big waves of the bay. That night, we even got to go to a movie. We saw “The Bank Job”, it was pretty good and entertaining. We haven’t been out to a movie since Christmas! We also visited four beaches during our stay! The first was Caspersen Beach which is known for the large amount of shark teeth that wash up on the shore. It’s a really narrow beach with black sand. We spent a little time there digging in the sand for teeth and found quite a few, one tooth was quite large and seemed much less common than the others (I think from a Great White). There’s also an ancient Indian burial ground in the park which I thought was quite interesting. I just wish there was a sign with more information about it. The two other beaches we visited were Venice beach where we had a nice walk out to the pier, gorgeous Siesta Key Beach where the sand is so super fine, pure white and great for making sand castles and finally the local Nokomis beach which has an inlet that dolphins play in. Dan did some good fishing in the inlet. We saw beautiful sunsets from all the beaches and even took a picnic dinner to Nokomis beach on Easter. Easter was a quiet day! We slept in after having stayed out late playing Uno with our neighbors Kim and Red. They were a fun couple and we really enjoyed their company. Once we managed to get out of bed I drove to the store and got candy to make an Easter basket for us plus a kit to dye eggs. I had a good time dying eggs. Dan did one obligatory egg and left to go fishing at the campground pier while I finished the rest. It was a lot of fun and felt good to be doing something creative after all this time on the go. As I mentioned above, we drove to the beach that evening and had a picnic dinner. We brought our camp stove and cooked up a yummy meal. The sunset was gorgeous and I got great pictures of the Pelicans flying in the sunset. The last thing to mention about the Sarasota area wasn’t too much fun! I ended up in the emergency room yesterday getting diagnosed with Shingles of all things! It was a tricky diagnosis since I don’t actually have a rash with it (at least not yet) but just the shooting nerve pain, which is good because it means I am not contagious. The Dr. said I might not get the rash at all since it seems as if I might have had this for two months already (my sunburn last week might have made it flare up). Since mid January I have been getting intermittent shooting pain in my right knee/thigh and it got really bad this week, hence the ER visit. I spent most of yesterday in the hospital, actually in two ER visits, getting a barrage of tests done. I finally found an angel of a Dr. who took the time and brains to actually figure out my puzzle of an illness. He gave me Lidocaine patches which are like huge bandages with nerve numbing medication. You put them on in the location of your pain. They can stay on for 12 hours and really helped a lot. I finally was pain free and got the first solid nights sleep in over a week! So far I haven’t felt the pain all day and look forward to another good nights sleep tonight! Speaking about sleep, we’re sleeping in a new place tonight! We moved to Tampa this afternoon. We only plan to stay for two nights as of now but as you know with us that could easily turn into a week or more. Tomorrow we’ll explore and see what’s in the area. I’m off to bed for now and will update you again soon! PS:  Congratulations Bruce and Anna Yeager on the birth of your new baby boy, Jeremy Casimer Yeager, born March 11th. We send our blessings to you and your family!!!   March 15 th 2008 Our week on Chokolooskee Island ended with a really fun day! We rented a small fishing boat and took off to explore the rivers and 10,000 Islands area. The day started out cloudy with showers threatening but it turned out to be OK (I even got sunburned)! The tides were low so we headed out to a small island called Pavillion Island. It was a small crescent shaped island that was literally covered with sea shells and I’m not talking about tiny little shells but all kinds of beautiful shells including huge Conchs. Dan dropped me off on the island and I collected shells while he went out to fish. He ended up catching a Bonnet Head Shark but since I wasn’t there we didn’t get any pictures of it! The fishing was really great. Every time Dan put his hook in the water he caught a fish within a couple of minutes. At one point I heard a loud splash and it was a huge stingray that launched itself out of the water and then did a belly flop right in front of our boat. I missed it but Dan got to see it! There were dolphins everywhere! We even saw a mother with a baby by her side. It’s so amazing to be so close to these huge animals. We also saw lots of Osprey sitting in their huge stick nests overlooking the water. This place is truly a wildlife experience! Our new friends Nina and Gerry had invited us to dinner at their coach so we headed over there for some great food and company. We even got to play a little poker! It’s so nice to meet friendly people and make new friends wherever we go. Hopefully we will see them again someday! (Thanks guys for a lovely dinner! It was awesome and we enjoyed ourselves so much)!!! We finally moved on and are now making our way up the west coast of Florida. We came to Big Pine Island just outside of Sanibel Island and expected it to be a pretty island with sandy beaches but it turned out to be covered with mangroves so there’s not much beach or water access anywhere. It’s fine for me since I am still sunburned and can’t go out in the sun too much for a few days. Dan went fishing yesterday while I stayed home and caught up on some phone calls and chores.  Late yesterday afternoon we took a drive to Sanibel Island. It’s really gorgeous and I am sorry I can’t fully enjoy it due to my sunburn. There’s a beautiful bike path that runs the length of the island. There’s a gorgeous state park with kayaking and biking/hiking trails. We drove to the end of the island and went to Bowman’s Beach. The beach was beautiful and pristine with lots of pretty little shells all over. The water was clear and blue and looked very inviting. We stopped for dinner at “The Sunset Diner” and had a great meal. It was one of the best restaurant meals we’ve had in a long time. Today we moved again, but not too far. We had first thought we would move further up the coast but then last minute changed our mind and moved closer to Sanibel Island so we can explore for a few more days before moving on. We’re staying at a gorgeous resort community called Gulf Waters RV Resort. It’s my kind of place, very upscale clean and neat. Our site is large with a nice shady cover. This afternoon we decided to take our bikes onto Sanibel Island and explore a little. We toured the J. N. “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge. They have a scenic road tour that you can take around the refuge. It passes by the bay and mangrove swamps. It’s very scenic, there are tons of birds! We even saw white pelicans, and much more. We saw a small alligator as we were leaving the park. Afterwards, we drove to Bowman’s Beach and had our dinner, Dan did some fishing and I took a nice walk down the beach. I spent a lot of time on my walk rescuing Sea Urchins that had washed up on the tide. I felt bad for them struggling on the beach and just had to throw them back to the sea. I also saw some cool egg casings for Whelk Shells. They look like the skeletons from snakes but actually hold the eggs for these creatures that live in shells. Amazing nature! We saw a couple get married on the beach and also saw a gorgeous sunset. Great day today! PS: Amy, It was so good to hear your voice today! We miss you guys, come down to Florida and show us your property!!!   March 11 th 2008 Our son Nick went home a few days ago and Dan and I have moved back down into the Everglades for a few more days in the sun. We had a great week with Nick! We spent the first few days in the Keys. It was pretty windy so we didn’t get to go kayaking but Dan and Nick did some fishing (we even got to eat another yellow Tail tuna), plus they went snorkeling and searched for, and found, a lure Dan had lost while fishing that morning. One day we drove back to Key West and the guys did a wave runner tour while I hung around town. I eventually got bored walking around and decided to take a boat tour myself on a race boat. It was really fun and so fast! We even got to go past a small private island and saw a few celebrity houses, one owned by the Hilton family and another owned by Madonna. On our drive home we stopped by The Bat Tower. It’s a tower that was built to house bats in order to be a natural bug killer. On an island down the road from our campsite we discovered a very cute little bar called “No Name Bar”. It’s a tiny little thing on a small side road outside of town on Big Pine Key. Every bit of the inside of the bar was wallpapered by dollar bills. They have a box of magic markers and a stapler and you can color on your bills and staple them wherever you want. It’s believed that there is over $12,000 hanging on the wall! The waitress told us that every year they take some of the money down and donate it to local charities. The bills are just stacked one on top of the other without even a square inch of wall showing, even the ceiling is covered! This little bar is also known for its yummy pizza and of course we got to try some of that! We left the Keys and drove to the Miami Everglades RV Park in Homestead Florida. It’s just outside of Miami. We were so happy to be there because they had a nice hot Jacuzzi. That same day we drove into Everglades National Park. We toured an alligator farm and took an air boat ride. They had lots of alligators at this farm plus all kinds of snakes. We got to see the alligator feeding, they feed them rats during the show, plus we saw a snake show. We all got to hold this huge yellow python after the show. Her name was “Banana” and she was gorgeous and so gentle. The Everglades are amazing. There’s tons of wildlife. We took a walk on a boardwalk and saw so many alligators plus many different kinds of birds. They have large water birds called Anahingas here. We even walked right past one that was sitting on a nest only about three feet from us. The trees have gorgeous bromeliads growing on them too! The area was quite scenic. On the way home we stopped at a little shop and got some sugar cane for Nick (he loves it) and some great Key Lime chocolates for me! The second day in Homestead the guys drove into Miami and toured South Beach. I stayed home and caught up on some phone calls and computer time. On Wednesday we moved to Naples where we stayed at a condo owned community called “Crystal Lake”. It was very nice; we had a lovely patio facing a pretty lake. There was an otter playing on the lake edge when we got there. When I went to take his picture, he dove into the water then just swam around “yelling” at me to move away. He was really cute but I could see he was agitated with me and I took a few pictures and left him alone! We spent that afternoon at a State Park/Beach in Naples. It was really pretty on the beach. The guys goofed around in the water for a while and then Dan buried Nick up to his chest in the sand. For Nicks last day in Naples we drove to Ft. Meyers beach and rented a small motor boat. We drove all around the bay area, through the mangrove swamps and also past beautiful homes. We saw tons of dolphins! They seemed to like our boat wake and followed it around. They came up really close to the boat. I love their smiley faces! We also saw a nesting pair of Osprey with a little chick and we even think we saw a Manatee swim past our boat a few feet underwater. We had hoped to see more Manatee but they weren’t around. A few days ago we took Nick to the airport and sent him on his way back to chilly Michigan. As for us, not wanting to leave the sunny warmth of Florida, we moved further south! Right now we are staying at an Outdoor Resorts Park on Chokoloskee Island. It’s in south West Florida, about an hour south of Naples. We’re right on the edge of Big Cypress National preserve and Everglades National park. To get here you have to drive through a small village called Everglades City, and then cross a causeway and bridge onto Chokoloskee Island. Everglades City is a small, remote getaway with a handful of restaurants, airboat tour companies and a few homes thrown in just to make it a town. Tonight we drove in and ate at the famous “Rod and Gun Club”. It’s an old fishing/hunting lodge that is still running today! There are bungalow rooms, a pool, a nice restaurant complete with huge back porch seating area facing the river and docks. Inside, it is truly a manly-mans domain! Everything is wood! There’s a huge fireplace, hunting/fishing trophies all over, large furniture, a pool table and a pub. The old front desk (currently in use, I presume) still has its old cash registers, and next to it, a giant wood stairway curves upstairs. Lots of famous people, including several presidents, have hidden away here for a peaceful retreat. We had a great dinner on the porch (the aligator was excellent), during which, we watched a man get a fly fishing lesson out on the back lawn. We felt as if we stepped back in time for a little while tonight! Chokoloskee Island, where we’re staying, is very tiny and only about ¾ of a mile long. It’s actually not a natural island at all but a one thousand year old ancient Indian shell mound! Evidently the Indians used to throw the empty oyster shells on a sand bar and they eventually created this island. Its maximum elevation is 25 feet. That’s amounts to one huge pile of shells! There’s not too much here on the island. A few houses, some mobile homes, a couple small marinas, a gallery/luncheonette, another small restaurant plus a funky old store turned museum called Smallwood’s (oh, and of course, the gorgeous resort we’re staying at which comprises about ¼ of the island). Smallwood’s is advertised for miles before you get here. We rode our bikes down yesterday and paid three dollars to get inside. It’s been here since the 1800’s and was an old trading post/post office/ store. There’s tons of memorabilia to look at. They have old ledgers on display where people (mostly Seminole Indians) have paid for their goods in “gators” or animal pelts. Underneath the counter, the area is angled back so that the ladies hoop skirts would slide under while they were standing there. That way the skirts wouldn’t flare out at the back and show their ankles! (Oh my!!!) I could go on and on about all we learned while at Samllwoods, but I will spare you the details, it was a fun experience though, and highly recommended for anyone who comes down here. Our campsite is unbelievable! We are in a resort community. The lots are all individually owned and rented out when the owners are away. There are three pools, all with spas, an exercise room, marina, tennis, shuffleboard and much more. Everyone is so friendly and they have lots of parties and activities. The lots are beautifully landscaped and ours is on a small lagoon. We have a lovely dock out back to sit on, it’s a great place to read a book or have tea in the morning! It’s also very quiet here. There’s only one small main road on the island with very few cars. It’s bordered by the everglades on one side and an area called 10,000 islands on the other. They are all small mangrove islands. We are surrounded by miles and miles of nature and you can really feel the peace around you. We had hoped to do some kayaking while here but so far it’s been a bit too windy. Tomorrow will be our last chance to get out and explore all the waterways around here. Hopefully it will work out although I think the forecast is for showers. Dan’s been doing some fishing while here, and has caught a few fish. Today while fishing we saw a family of wild pigs/boar come out of the woods on the side of the road. There were two piglets and they were running all over the place like puppies! The two adults we’re huge. Amazing wildlife here in the Everglades! There’s been so much to write about but I am afraid this entry is getting way too long so I will close for now. As usual, we have no idea where we’re headed after we leave here, but I can assure you it will bring another set of adventures to report on. Keep your eye out for more coming soon! We miss you all back home! March 2 nd 2008 We’ve been in the Florida Keys for over a week and have decided to extend our stay until next Tuesday. It’s beautiful down here and very relaxing. We’ve had mostly good weather with one stormy day. In fact we got drenched a few nights ago when we came home from playing bingo and a storm was just kicking up. We had part of the top off of the jeep and all kinds of gear just lying around outside our campsite. It was a mad dash to get it all put away. We got soaked to the bone in the process. Within an hour our campsite became a lake! Lucky I went outside to check things out because one of our kayak paddles was floating away! It stormed all night and was very windy the next day. Things were flying everywhere in the campground, peoples awnings were breaking and it caused quite a mess. It was a good thing we came home when we did and were able to get things put away. The last few days have been a bit windy and the sea is kind of churned up. I hope it clears soon as its so much fun to walk out on the bridge by our campground and look into the water. It’s like being at the zoo or an aquarium. There are so many fish. We’ve seen lots of rays including one very large Spotted Eagle Ray. It was gorgeous, gray with white spots all over with about a five foot wingspan and ten foot tail! Huge graceful creature! We also saw a very large Tarpon off the bridge a few nights ago. A few people even saw a nine foot shark. It’s a little scary to think we’re kayaking in that same water in inflatable kayaks. Hopefully it’s safe. The kayaking was great at the beginning of the week. We were out every day just lolling around and exploring. We found a huge starfish one day. I dove down and brought it up to the surface for a picture. It was bright orange. We also get up close to the sea birds while kayaking. There are so many birds here, it’s amazing to see. The water is so clear you can watch the Cormorants zoom around underwater hunting fish. We also get to see the Pelicans circle around and dive head first into the water like a missile and come up with a fish. Dan’s been doing lots of fishing, sometimes from his kayak while paddling around, sometimes he anchors under the bridge to fish in the shade of the bridge and lots of time he fishes off the bridge. Most of the fish he catches are small with a few Blowfish thrown in for fun. He tells me they “puff up” when he touches them. A few days ago Dan caught a Yellow Fin tuna (aka: Ahi Tuna) and we cooked it for dinner. Dan was eating it as “fisherman’s sushi” as he was cutting it up. Since it’s been a bit cooler (high 70’s) for the past two days we decided to take the bikes out. The day before yesterday we drove them by jeep to Big Pine Key about eight miles down the road from us. We road our bikes on the side streets along the lagoons. It was nice to see all the nice houses on the water. We fell in love with one that was for sale and even called the realtor to see how much they were asking (3.8 million, yow)! It was something else! Yesterday we took the bikes to Bahia Honda State Park which is just three miles down the road. It’s supposed to be the nicest park in the Keys and it lived up to its name! There are campsites, a marina and beach on the bay side plus hiking trails and a beach on the ocean side. The water is beautiful turquoise and there is lots of lush vegetation. There is an old railroad trestle bridge at the end of the park and you can hike out on part of it and look out over the park and beyond. We also spent last Sunday in Key West. It’s a quirky little town with lots of little shops. They have a waterfront/sunset show every night where various people show up and put on impromptu acts. There are also tons of chickens and roosters all over town. They are everywhere you look, on the streets, on rooftops and yards, outdoor restaurants and even parking lots. It’s quite a sight. We had a great dinner while in Key West and even got to try some Key Lime Pie. Delicious! Our son Nick flew into Key West yesterday to spend a week with us. The weather in Michigan has been very cold and I am sure he’s looking forward to some fun in the sun! We’re really happy to see him again! We ended up spending the day in Key West just hanging out, stopping at bars (we even found one with a pool), going in and out of the little shops, eating good food and just taking in the sights. We went to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum and also stayed for the crazy sunset celebration and then came home. We’ll stay here for a few more days then head back to mainland Florida, spend a day or two in the Everglades then drive him to Ft. Meyers Florida to catch a plane home. I hope he has a nice week while here with us. I’ll post an update again soon about our travels with Nick.

Past Journals July 2011 June 2011 September 2010 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007