Pictures: This is the "island" we've spent time in this winter, from Lake Okeechobee and canals to the north, east and west coast Florida, and the Everglades/Keys to the south; blue scrub jay in Jonathan Dickinson State Park; non-venomous green snake at the Hobe Sound Wildlife Refuge; eagle above our trailer at an RV park in Fort Myers Beach; screech owl in the crevice of a palm in Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island; armadillo in Myakka State Forest in Englewood; alligator climbing out of the lake at Myakka River State Park; friend Madeline on our boat taking a ride on the Loxahatchee River; Heidi on the bank of the same river; mountain bike "bump" in J. Dickinson State Park (sort of like skiing!); Dick and Priscilla competing in bocce at their RV park; friends Randy, Josie, Joanna and Sandy in Naples at an outdoor concert on a cold night, listening to a Jimmy Buffet cover band; Ken at the helm; Venice dive charter captain showing us the fossilized shark teeth from that days' expedition; view from our seats at the UConn vs U of South Florida women's basketball game we attended; Ken with Dick and Barb (and dog Casey) on their boat off of Gasparilla Island, at a beach on Cayo Costa Heidi floated a coconut boat with 2 shells for passengers in the very clear water
On our move from Indiantown to Hobe Sound we got a great close-up view of a wheeling roseate spoonbill as it maneuvered above our windshield. This bird is big, with an average 50" wingspan and is completely pink. Florida is fun for several reasons and seeing wildlife up-close is one of them. Another reason is meeting people from all over, especially at the state parks. We've probably seen license plates from most states, as well as many if not all the Canadian provinces (how many provinces are there, anyway?).
For the month of February, starting on the 4th, we spent two weeks at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, and then drove across the state to Fort Myers Beach in southwest Florida and finished up the month in Englewood, an hour morth of Ft. Myers. Not far from Hobe Sound we found some friends from Cohasset (they had most recently lived in Maine, but we have kept in touch with them). Madeline and Chuck moved to Florida in late summer, and they are big supporters of the condo-in-a-warm-place lifestyle! They are in a development that is right on the Intracoastal Waterway. We all went boating on the Loxahatchee River that runs through the state park, and had dinner on another night with them.
The river was a constant source of entertainment for us while at the state park. Our campsite was near to the launching ramp and it was easy to get our boat in the water, or to walk over and watch kayaks being launched, or to go fishing, or to just go and watch wildlife--river otters on one day. We also took out our boating friends (Kevin and Chris, who we met six years ago on our first cruise to Florida) who live in the area but had not seen the Loxahatchee. After the jungle-like scenery of a 30 minute idle-speed journey, you come to a restored camp that was home to "Trapper Nelson". Visitors can get out and see the cabins and wild-animal pens that Trapper kept from the mid-thirties to the mid-sixties. He was a colorful character and the interpretive ranger tells you some of his story.
In the Ft. Myers Beach part of our month we found a space for our boat at a storage facility. Lucky for us, their deal is that the first month of storage is free. They just have a small registration fee. Our travel trailer was at an RV park for 5 days, and there was no extra space there. One treat (?) at the RV park was a morning wake-up call from a rooster that strutted around our end of the park for about an hour and a half each morning! No one seemed to know where he spent the rest of the day.
Across the street from us was another RV park, a much bigger one, and we looked-up friends who winter there, Priscilla and Dick from our church in Duxbury. They showed us around the area, including going to Sanibel Island and taking the auto-tour through the wildlife refuge there. For the following few days we returned to Sanibel twice, once by boat. We also rode our bikes to Ft. Myers Beach, and went out to dinner with Priscilla and Dick. Priscilla is an organist and I got to see her play at a church on the beach, as she was subbing that Sunday. The building was built on a boating theme, with dolphins in the stained glass windows and the pulpit shaped like the bow of a boat.
On February 23rd we moved to Myakka State Forest, near Port Charlotte. There are only 20 campsites here and there is no electricity or running water. It gives us a chance to use our solar panel which Ken has wired to our batteries in the trailer. Our time in the forest was fairly quiet. We got caught up on our emailing and bill-paying at the local library, using their wifi, and we explored the launching ramps in the area, for future reference.The weather was not as warm as it had been previously, so we did not take out the boat. There was time for a few hikes and bike rides, reading and banjo practice.
Our last move of the month was to Oscar Scherer State Park near Venice, just a half hour from the state forest. From here we are visiting friends (Barb and Dick from Falmouth Maine) who are renting a house in the area for the month of March, and we also took in several activities that are offered at this busy park. We are trying to figure out how to get our "equipment" home when we go back north so we are advertising our boat and trailer as well as the travel trailer for sale. We have had some interest in the trailer, not so much the boat, but no offers.
Barb and Dick also have a boat with them so they took us out to see Boca Grande, and other islands in the bay here, separating Charlotte Harbor from the Gulf of Mexico. The weather so far in March has been perfect! We've been swimming in the ocean and in Barb and Dick's pool. We've been fed a whole days-worth of food, and returned the favor on another day. At the state park we participated in a canoe trip, had a great volunteer-provided pancake breakfast, went to a Saturday night Ranger Talk, and one other night attended an Old-Time music performance. One busy week!
One other great feature of Oscar Scherer Park is that a 10-mile paved bike trail goes through, and connects to another 5-mile bike trail so you can get to a beach in Venice and to the shops there by bicycle. There are eaglets in a nest in the park and it is a popular place to see the Florida scrub jay.
We are finishing up our time in Florida at Myakka River State Park. There are a LOT of alligators here, many birds, wild hogs, and other great wildlife. We have been advertising our trailer for sale, so we can just bring home the boat and trailer we bought down here. It may get sold to a private party or we may need to leave it at a dealer to be sold on consignment. We expect to be back in Massachusetts my March 19. It has been a warm last two weeks, great weather. We'll definitely miss being able to run out the door to take a walk or bikeride with hardly any prep.
Thanks for reading along with us this year!
