1st Day on Pine Island

Today was a mixture of relaxation, exercise, and work.  It was time to do some laundry and Ken wanted to use his new ladder, so he washed all of Willie's windows.  He also took the truck to the local car wash.  I played tennis with Ed, who comes to Pine Island every winter for years with his wife Pat.  They are so active and physically fit - bike riding, tennis, walking, etc. and are 80 years old.  This is the 1st time I played tennis since I played with Ed here last year.  I hate to admit it, but he beat me.  I willl try to change that the next time we play.  I decided to spend several hours this afternoon reading by the pool while Ken took a 20 mile bike ride.  He thoroughly enjoyed it.  Then we took a walk to the area near the CG where bald eagles build their nest every year.  We got to see the eagle up close and personal.

Painted electric poles all over Pine Island.  This
one has sandals!

Palm tree plantations are big business on Pine Island.

This bike and walking path goes from one end of Pine
Island to the other - 17 miles.

The palm trees grown here are shipped all over the world!

Shells we gathered near Marco Island!

Spent the evening relaxing.  A great 1st day in Pine Island.  Tomorrow we are taking the CG bus to Ft. Myers Beach.  Looking forward to being on the beach for the 1st time since coming to Florida.

On to Pine Island

Could hardly believe it was time to leave the Naples area!  1 week went so quickly!

We were on our way to Pine Island by 10 this morning to head to a familiar campground - the KOA at Pine Island (also owned by Encore).  We have been there the last 2 winters, so it felt good to see both familiar faces and scenery!  We were on our site by 12:30 after a very easy drive and no problem getting into our site!  That is a blessing!!

Talked with 2 couples that we met here 2 years ago - so good to see them again.  I am actually going to play tennis with Ed tomorrow morning.

Looking forward to riding the camp bus to Ft. Myers Beach on Thursday and then the big Super Bowl Party here on Sunday.  There is also a craft show on Saturday.  So much to do here!  We are so happy to be back on Pine Island.

Where Does the Time Go!!!

Well, I hoped to keep up daily with my blog, but busy life just got in the way!  We have been having so much fun and got in late the last two nights, so I was too tired to blog.  We spent the last 2 days with Barry and Deb and as Barry says, "Deb crams 20 days of activity into 5 days, so we just have to try to keep up".  We got to see a lot of great places and do many things, so we are just grateful for all of Deb's hard work in planning our activities while here in Naples.

On Saturday we spent about 3 hours paddling our kayak on the Henderson Creek.  It was really our 1st trip using our new inflatable Sea Eagle Kayak.  We looked like quite a "caravan" out on the water.  Deb has a Hobie Kayak that you peddle instead of paddle, Barry's is one you put together on site, and then ours is inflatable.  Quin, their dog enjoyed the ride in Barry's kayak.  We were amazed how well our kayak handled.  It really is very stable, you can actually stand up in it and it will not tip!  It manuevered well with little effort.  I know we will have many hours of fun using it.  In Florida we will have plenty of opportunities to use it.



Deb pedals instead of paddle!




Pelicans




We enjoyed happy hour at Barry and Deb's CG and then they made us a delicious supper.  We ended the evening playing 5 Crowns.  We  certainly celebrated life that day, but are amazed at how quickly time is flying while here at Naples.

In the morning on Sunday, Ken and I drove into Naples to have a cup of tea and enjoy just relaxing and walking around the downtown area.  When we  arrived we notice many police and heard a Dixieland Band playing.  We quickly realized that it was a Rally for Romney, who was to arrive around noon.  What excitement!  We left before Romney arrived, but it was interesting.  Ken was probably out of place in his "Green Earth" T-shirt! 

 After lunch we joined Barry and Deb for a 2.2 mile walk along the Marsh Trail.  We saw a few alligators, gorgeous butterflies, but Ken was in all his glory when we viewed dozens and dozens of Roseate Spoonbills.  They are definitely 1 of his favorite birds.  Their bright pink coloring (almost look like flamingos) and their flat large beaks are so unique!  Then Barry and Deb came back to "Willie" to have dinner with us.  Ken made some of the Sheephead fish he had gotten from Dave Horst and made those on the griddle part of our grill along with some salmon.  Then we introduced them to the game, Sequence, and ended the evening with another game of 5 Crowns.

Hard to imagine that tomorrow is our last full day in the Naples area.  There is so much to see and do here for the beach person and the nature lover.  The last 3 days they predicted rain, but it never amounted to much nor did it interfer with any of our planned activities.  Most days have been around 80 degrees.  Not hard to take!

We need to explain what is going on if you happen to see a picture with a plush starfish on it .  That starfish is sending notes to our four young granddaughters telling them what Grandma and PaPa are doing while they are away from home.  So, the starfish travels with us daily and gets included in numerous special moments and adventures.  Thank goodness the starfish is small and can fit into PaPa's pocket!
Life is Good!!!!

Roseate Spoonbill in Flight!!

What a Day!

Ken and I left by 9:15 this morning and drove towards Marco Island to go to see Dave and Sharon Horst.  We know them from working with them at Bird-In-Hand Market and then Ken helped them with some Real Estate Transactions.  They are originally from New Holland PA and now have a gorgeous log home they built in Central PA.  We see them every year when we come to Florida and they are the most gracious host and hostess.  Like previous years, they took us out on their boat to an island to go shell hunting.  Sharon is an expert when it comes to the name of shells plus interesting info about them.  Again, we found some wonderful and unusual shells.  I thought I would only bring back a few this year, but whenever I go hunting, I just can't resist taking lots of them home with me.  We shelled from noon to 3:15 and had a blast.

Then we went back to their home and had a very nice visit.  Dave made blackened shephead fish for Ken that he had caught in recent days and Sharon made a huge tray of fresh vegetables that we cut up, sprinkled with olive oil and some spices and placed in the oven.  Since I am not a seafood lover, Dave made me a boneless pork chop.  What a delicious meal with Key Lime Pie for dessert.  Dave and Ken picked grapefruit, star fruit and lemons for us to bring back to "Willie" and then Dave gave us some ring bologna, deer bologna, jerky, and some deer sticks.  Dave is a butcher!!  He also gave some additional shephead fish for Ken to make on the grill.  As I said before, they are some of the most generous people we know.  It was a positively wonderful day!

Tomorrow we are going kayaking with Barry and Deb, launching the kayaks right from their CG.  Looking forward to a wonderful time.

Lots of Alligators!

After a good breakfast, Ken and I drove towards Marco Island to the KOA CG where Deb and Barry are staying.  Deb and I went in their car and Barry rode in "Diesel" with Ken and we headed towards the Everglades (about 1 1/4 hour drive) to Sharks Landing.  Here you can take the tram, walk, or bike ride the 15 miles round trip along a canal that helps drain the Everglades.  There are alligators all along the pathway and many varieties of birds.  It was a slow ride to the observation tower, stopping so many times to check out the alligators, especially the little baby ones.  It must be hatching season, for we saw about 4 diffferent baby families.  Also saw a flock of wood storks.  There were also numerous turtles along the path.  We ate our packed lunches at the tower and then rode back to our cars.  The ride back was so much easier, for we really had the wind in our faces a lot of the way to the tower.

Stopped back at the KOA CG with Deb and Barry and walked around their park.  Relatively small, but very nice and well managed.  A great place to stay.  Then we all went to a family type, rustic restaurant called Cracklin Jacks.  When you ordered a meal they served you all the vittles you could eat including collard greens, a corn type souffle, real mashed potatoes, fabulous cole slaw, white beans, etc.  It really was a delicious meal.  Ken had his 1st grouper, his favorite food to have when we eat out in Florida.

Got back to "Willie" around 8:45 and 3 of our neighboring camper couples were sitting outside.  They said, "You were gone all day!  What were you up to?"  So, we shared some of our adventures.  Nice when people you hardly know are interested in what you are doing.



Our 1st alligator spotting!








What a nice bike path!

Baby Alligators!

More Baby Alligators!

Taking Ride on Mama!



Flock of Wood Storks!



Our 1st Day in Naples!

Ken and I slept in today.  Still so tired from all the driving!  I was tired from being the passenger - such pressure!  After a cooked breakfast, we took our 1st walk around the campground.  Nice park that is very well maintained.  There are many seasonal sites and all units can't be more than 10 years old, so people take pride in the properties.  Nice pool area! 

Barry and Deb came here by 10:30.  So good to see them again.  We drove into Naples and rode our bikes to the downtown area.  Hade a delicious lunch at Tommy Bahamas.  I had my 1st of many to come pulled pork sandwiches.  Then we took a bike ride along a road bordered by huge homes.  For the ride back, we went along the water, stopping to walk the fishing pier.  Ended the day by walking along 5th Avenue in downtown Naples.  Quite an exclusive area.  Tired by the end of the day.  Still need to catch up on our rest, but so good to spend the day with Deb and Barry.