February 22, 2011 (Tue) Monument Lake CG to Ortona Lock CG (92/2541 miles) 60/87° - We got off at 8:30 after on-board showers and breakfast. The drive west on the Tamiami Trail and north on US 29 to Labelle was unremarkable. We stopped at a Winn-Dixie for groceries, then went in search of a laundromat. We found one but could not park our rig in the parking lot - too small - so had to hunt up a lot where we could drop Q. As we drove Lamont back to the laundromat we discussed how we couldn't do this if we weren't towing a car. Then we thought, if we weren't towing a car, we wouldn't have to do this. But it was convenient running errands in the smaller vehicle. Mark made a run to the post office and then to pick up something to eat while Joy stood guard over our laundry. We ate lunch while the clothes tumbled in the drier. There is a washer and drier here at Ortona Lock CG but they are some distance from our campsite. It seemed easier to do the job in town where several loads can be done at one time.
February 23, 2011 (Wed) Ortona Lock CG (2) 61/87° - This campsite is not as ideal as the one we had the last month. We can still see the waterway but have to look past a row of RVs in sites across the road. Also our orientation makes it harder to find relief from the burning rays of the sun. Actually there are no bad sites here just some that are better than others. We can be happy in any of them.
February 24, 2011 (Thu) Ortona Lock CG (3) 63/81° - Moving day. We moved 5 sites east today - same view of the canal past different RVs. We'd been told, via TV, that we should be able to see the final launch of Discovery (the space shuttle) from here - with clear skies. The skies weren't clear. We didn't see the launch. Mark had his camera to prove that we had but . . .
Late in the afternoon we saw a couple (fellow Chinook owners) that we'd met in Hillsborough State Park several years ago walking past with their dogs. They come here every year so have developed friendships with other people who do the same. As we talked two other couples stopped by and we all had a good time talking about travel and RVs. One couple was particularly interesting. She is a deaf mute - and does all the driving. He is a paraplegic (legs) with limited use of his hands and arms. They too come to FL every winter in their motor home leaving the care of their good sized peanut and cotton crops to others. They left their Georgia home this year in November.
Q073678 Ortona Lock CG #16 & 11 dry $12 A+ (x3)
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February 25, 2011 (Fri) Ortona Lock CG to Englewood, FL (85/2626 miles) 61/79° - Joy has had a cold shower two days in a row now. The faucet is strange and getting hot water is not easy. Mark explained how he finally did it in the men's shower yesterday but apparently the women's shower works differently. We'll be using Q's on-board shower for the next few days where we know how to control the temperature.
We got off at just before 9:00 (61° high fog) and found our way to US 29 and turned North. Other than encountering the normal traffic congestion between Port Charlotte and Englewood the drive was an easy one. We got here at about 11:00 and found that Gail had taken Bom out for a ride along the beach. We hung out and waited for their return.
When we went through our mail, which we had had sent to us here, late this afternoon, we found a summons to appear in court two weeks ago to pay a fine for not shoveling our sidewalk on Jan 31. The "ticket" said that if we fail to appear as ordered (which we did fail to do, of course) a warrant for our arrest would be issued and we might lose our driving privileges in NJ. Let's see - if we go home now we are not only facing charges of failing to keep our sidewalk clear but of failing to appear in court as directed, avoiding arrest by being out the state, driving without a license and maybe others. We'd never thought seriously about full-timing in our motor home. Maybe we should now.
February 26, 2011 (Sat) Englewood, FL (2) 59/84° - It's been a quiet day of just hanging out. Joy and Gail spent time, off and on, with their mother while Mark paid pills, read and napped in Q. For lunch the three of us took wraps over to Lemon Bay Park and sat on a bench in the shade. Panera Bread provided our evening meal.
February 27, 2011 (Sun) Englewood, FL (3) 59/81° - The first order of business today was to go over to the Publix and pick up a New York Times so that Joy could catch up on the real news. Then it was another day of hanging out. Gail's flight back to Seattle from Tampa was at 9:00am this morning so it was just Joy with her mother. Mark continued to hold down the (motor home) fort. In the evening we took the computer in so that we could show Bom the DVD of Shane's first six plus years.
Q073768 Jeanne's driveway.
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February 28, 2011 (Mon) Englewood, FL to Lakeland, FL (83/2709 miles) 61/82° - Off at 7:45 (62° clear). We had said good-bye to Bom last night so that we could get an early start - and so as not to disrupt the ladies' morning routine. Joy took Lamont and headed for the laundromat on the Tamiami Trail north of Venice while Mark went in search of relatively inexpensive gas with Q. He found a station selling it for $3.38/gal and got a few gallons. We planned to stop at Costco in Brandon where it was selling for $3.24/gal so we needed only enough to get us there. After the laundry was done we hooked Lamont to Q and jumped on I-75 North toward Brandon and the Costco store.
As we were putting things away after shopping, a car pulled in too close in front of us. We always park in the outskirts of parking lots when we can because Q takes up so much room - especially with a car in tow. There are usually all kinds of empty parking spaces out there and that was the case this morning at Costco. But this woman had to park where we could not pull out - we can't back up. She was quite put out when Mark asked her to move her car down a couple of spaces. While stopped there, Mark called the Red Bank Municipal Court offices and made arrangements to pay our fine for not keeping our sidewalk clear. So we guess we won't be going to jail!!!
We got to Lakeland and Ed and Kathy's house at about 1:30.
Q073851 Ed & Kathy's yard
QC11-11 Ortona Lock revisited
QC11-10 Monument Lake revisited
February 17, 2011 (Thu) Monument Lake CG (2) 55/80° - Those of you who have been here at Monument Lake will remember the road - a two track crushed coral pathway really - that extends into the Big Cypress swamp at the north end of the campground. In past years it has been closed to unauthorized vehicular traffic but OK for foot traffic. This year there is new signage stating "Service Trail" "Authorized use only" "The area beyond this sign closed to public use" which seems to imply that we can no longer go there even on foot. There have been several truckloads of crushed coral going through the campground and out the road every day that we have been here. Another change from the past is the curtailment of overflow camping. There have been times when every available piece of real estate has been utilized for RVs after all designated sites are occupied. They are turning away people this year. A couple of questions for the host sometime.
February 18, 2011 (Fri) Monument Lake CG (3) 55/81° - Shark Valley is essentially a 15 mile paved loop trail into the Everglades. The first 7 miles is straight south along a small, somewhat stagnant, waterway to an observation tower. There is plenty of wildlife to see and photograph, and plenty of impressive photo equipment to record it with - for the first mile or so. There was no wind, barely a breeze, when we got up and as we ate breakfast - and no forecast of rain - so we decided that today is the day. We took off at 9:00 only to discover six miles down the road that Mark had forgotten his wallet with our Golden Age Pass in it.
The parking lot is relatively small and fills up fast after its 8:30 opening but there were still plenty of spaces when we got there at 10:00. The wildlife was not as plentiful as we remembered it from previous visits but there was plenty and we got lots of pictures. About five miles into the loop Joy wandered off the trail and fell off her bike. Luckily there weren't any alligators sunning themselves right there! Other than scraping some skin from her ankle and bruising her legs in a few places she was good to continue. We counted about 60 alligators (80 last year), saw all kinds of ducks (including gallinules), herons, egrets, anhingas, ibis, cranes, fish (including gar) and turtles (one very interesting looking one - the Florida soft-shell Turtle). At one point we heard what sounded like a very loud fart in an echo chamber. It turned out to be an alligator advertising for a mate. Mark tried to get a picture of him with his mouth open but he stopped bellowing by the time Mark got his camera out. The last 8 miles was grueling, as it always is. The wind had increased, a head wind, of course, and there was less wildlife in the more open environment to keep us distracted .
February 19, 2011 (Sat) Monument Lake CG (4) 54/79° - President's day weekend and the campground has filled up, not just the RV sites but the tent sites as well. There are kids running around and the sounds of a horse shoe game off in the distance. A father and his two young sons are paddling around the lake in their canoe and kayak. As we were sitting out on our "patio" by the lake this afternoon a young family came to our shore to fish. They were a mother, father, a girl about 12, a boy 8 or so and a little 4 year old girl with a pink fishing pole. The boy wore a bright yellow T-shirt and was holding his fishing pole with the line in the water, the girl, in a baseball cap on backwards with her blond hair coming out from under the bill was baiting her line. Mark took what might have been a prize winning photo of them if he had had the camera set properly. The shot was not only unsalvageable but unrecognizable as a picture!
February 20, 2011 (Sun) Monument Lake CG (5) 53/78° - Another quiet day sitting by the lake.
February 21, 2011 (Mon) Monument Lake CG (6) 55/82° - Are we finks? Early this afternoon a rented RV stopped at the recently vacated site on our port side and clipped the orange reservation ticket stub to the picnic table indicating that the site belonged to them. Then they took off, sightseeing or something. About 3:00 a small VW Passat sedan pulled into the site without first checking with the host as required and 3 young men (in full camouflage outfits and acting as if under the influence) got out and started setting up a tent. They could have been friends of the folks in the rental RV but again they might not have been. Either way we felt very uncomfortable about them so Mark decided to check with the campground host. He said no they should not be there and went right over to talk to them. They packed up their tent and left the campground! In talking with the host later we learned that he had only told them that the site was already occupied and that there was a specific tenting area they could use. They were shocked to learn that they would have to pay $16 for "a couple hours of sleep". The host said that he thought they were the same fellows who have done the same thing before - come in, set up camp without paying and joined later by 2 or 3 other car loads of kids for a (loud drinking) party. They would then leave in the wee hours before the host made his morning rounds to register late arrivals. Finks? yes but we are glad. It could have been a long sleepless night. If they'd gotten fully set up and agreed to pay, the legitimate occupiers might have been asked to select another site.
Tomorrow we are going back to Ortona Lock on the Okeechobee Waterway. (Electricity!! Hooray!! )
Q073586 Monument Lake CG, Big Cypress NP #2 dry $8 B (x6)
QC11-09 The Everglades and back.
February 14, 2011 (Mon) Monument Lake to Flamingo (139/2336 miles) 50/81° - Off at 9:00am (63° clear) and turned East on the Tamiami Trail (US 41) toward Miami. We needed propane and thought we should get gas before going into the wilds of Florida. The service station near the Miccosukee Indian casino seemed like a good place to stop. The propane supply is easy to get to and the gas would be relatively inexpensive. We got in line at the pump behind a car whose driver had apparently decided it was a good place to park while he when off to do something else. We were stuck - can't back up with a car in tow - until the lane beside us cleared. We decided to go on and get propane which meant going back up on the highway in order to get around back where the propane supply point was. There was plenty of room back there to move around but it meant mixing it up with 18 wheelers maneuvering to get their diesel, to get washed, to pick up stored trailers and maybe some just driving around for fun. The fellow helping with the propane had trouble with the pump so that took a while. A half tank full is better that running on empty.
We went back and got our gas then made our way to the laundromat in the Kendall area of Miami where we usually go. Then after a grocery stop we headed for Homestead. We unhooked Lamont in the Walmart parking lot. Homestead is a tight little town with few places for a motor homes to park much less one with a car in tow. A nice policeman (WM security) came over and told us that we were no longer allowed to park there overnight. That was OK with us. We weren't planning to any way. After picking up our mail we tried a new (to us) Mexican restaurant (La Quebradita), found it satisfactory and filling. Then we picked up Q at Walmart and headed for Robert is Here (a farm market) for a long anticipated key lime milkshake. A tour bus had just gotten there and the whole load of tourists was lined up at the milkshake counter. We decided to pass up dessert this time.
The gate keeper at Flamingo asked how long we wanted to stay. We said a week but that would depend on the mosquitoes. He said the mosquitoes are very bad and suggested that we might want to try one night and see if we wanted to stay longer. We decided to go with a two night trial. The mosquitoes saw us coming and descended on us as we unhooked and backed into our chosen site at about 5:30 then followed us inside in a cloud. We spent the evening exterminating them one by one.
February 15, 2011 (Tue) Flamingo CG, Everglade NP (2) 53/72° - The Flamingo area of the Everglades National Park is due for some major changes in the next several years. Some good and, in our opinion, some bad. The whole area will be getting a face lift. The campgrounds will be modernized - they have recently put hot showers in two loops, there are now electrical hookups in many of the sites in the "RV" loop - there will be a modern hotel/motel, cabins, permanent "eco" tents to rent, and an improved "walk-in" tent area, a shuttle service and what looks to be bicycle/walking trails will meander throughout. These are improvements that they hope will attract more visitors (read income) to the park.
What we find objectionable in the "master plan" is that the vehicle accessible campsites not restricted to big RV rigs (those bigger than we are even with a car in tow apparently) are being reduced to less than a third of what are available now - from 116 sites to 45. Loops B and C will be turned back to nature. This might make sense if loop A could accommodate those using these sites now but it can't. Whenever we have been here loop A as either completely full or very close to it while loop B is often very well occupied. Last year they even opened up normally closed loop C on the weekend to take the extra influx. What is going to happen when loops B and C are no more? And what happens to those who drive the 40 plus miles down here and find the campground full as it very likely often will be?
The prevalence of wildlife has been a bit disappointing this time. Other than some Crow like black birds and a few Vultures there haven't been many other birds in the campground. But on our bike ride over to the marina we did see a couple of Osprey watching for unsuspecting prey and a hawk circling above. And on the way back along the bay there was the expected mix of herons and other water birds. At one point a large flock of White Pelicans flew over, beautiful, and a Red Shouldered Hawk posed for pictures near the current walk-in tenting area. And, of course, the two resident crocodiles lounged by the canal - in the same position as last year. Maybe they're stuffed!
We spent the another evening chasing mosquitoes, gnats and no-see-ums.
Q073473 Flamingo CG, Everglades National Park. #B6 dry $8.00 B (x2)
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February 16, 2011 (Wed) Flamingo to Monument Lake (113/2449 miles) 55/79° - One of the advantages of living like we do down here is that if we don't like our neighbors, we can move. There have been times when we've moved from one site to another, but when the annoying neighbors are mosquitoes, gnats and no-see-ums, it's time to move out of town. Actually they weren't too bad during the day as long as we stayed away from thick foliage and kept moving but at night they were nearly impossible to eradicate. So back to Monument Lake.
We watched the elevation read-out on Hildene as we drove the 38 miles out of the park. We got all the way up to an ear popping 13 feet before we started back down again. At Robert is Here at a few minutes before 10:00, we were only their second customer to order milkshakes - no tour bus this time. We stopped at the new Shell gas station on the road out of Homestead and found that they still don't know how to build stations for big rigs. We're comparatively small for a motor home with a car in tow but we almost needed to unhook to get away from the gas pump island. Lamont came within 1/2 inch of hitting the trash container! He doesn't follow Q exactly but tends to cut corners in turns. The turns into, then out of the pump islands were almost too tight for even us!
The Everglades is really a very wide "river of grass" that was effectively dammed up when the Tamiami Trail was built across Florida in the early 1900s. Stopping the natural flow of water from Lake Okeechobee has done considerable damage to the Everglades ecosystem over the years. Efforts are being made to reverse this trend. So a section of US 41 a few miles Wast of Miami is being raised up onto pylons to allow the water to flow through the area more naturally. It was interesting to see how far them had come in the two days we'd been in Flamingo.
When we pulled into Monument Lake CG at about 12:30, the sites were about 2/3 occupied. That's about normal for a weekday. Surprisingly the site we had been in was empty so we reclaimed it. What was surprising was how fast the campground filled up after we got here. By 3:00 all the sites had residents and road weary travelers were being turned away. We were very lucky!
Q073586 Monument Lake CG, Big Cypress NP #2 dry $8 B
QC11-08 Monument Lake
February 7, 2011 (Mon) Ortona Lock CG to Monument Lake CG (89/2197 miles) 63/88° - After we sent the news letter out last night Joy happened to look out the window and saw a man doing a very strange thing. He was aiming his flashlight on an object in the grass and walking (side stepping) around and around it about 8 feet away. Every once in a while he would step closer and lean down then jump back and begin to circle again. It was almost like watching a ritual dance of some kind. We concluded that he must be looking at some kind of small animal so Mark went out to investigate. It was a snake. Poised to strike!! Mark went back to Q to get his camera but the snake was gone when he got back.
We left Ortona Lock at about 9:20 this morning and after doing some shopping in Labelle, made our way south into the Big Cypress National Preserve. For the last several years we have been hoping for a campsite at the south end of Monument Lake where Q's orientation would provide shelter from the prevailing wind - it seems to always be blowing here - and shade from the afternoon sun. The 4 sites have always been occupied. When we pulled in today about noon, all four were empty, as was the very nice site at the north end where we were last year. And they remained empty most of the rest of the afternoon - except for the one we took, of course.
February 8, 2011 (Tue) Monument Lake CG (2) 60/75° - The wind was blowing at a good clip when we went to bed last night but not hard enough to be of any big concern. That changed. Around midnight we woke to the sound of the bathroom vent and TV antenna rattling and the awning, though only out a little way, flapping. We got up and battened down - even to the extent of lashing the bicycles together and bringing in the "welcome" mat. Then, snug in our little motor home, we went back to bed.
Loop Road: a challenge and a half, but good photo ops. When we took Q on Loop Road, a 23 mile road into the Everglades, seven years ago or so the challenges were mainly negotiating low hanging trees and finding wide spots to pass oncoming cars. The road itself was what you'd expect of a single lane gravel road, some washboard and an occasional pot hole but that's it. No place for a motor home, maybe, but not too bad. When we went out to Sweetwater Strand (a wildlife viewing spot) with Bob and Pat in their toad a couple of years ago there didn't seem to be any particular issue with the condition of the road. Today it was nearly impassable for the whole 18 mile gravel portion. It was not unlike driving on an Olympic skiing mogul course and a real "off road" challenge even for our CRV. There were many places so bad that we could have gotten hung up on a high "speed bump" type mounds across the road or stuck in a mud hole if we weren't careful. 3 MPH was our average speed.
A couple passing in a Chrysler stopped us a mile or so onto the road and asked if we really wanted to continue. The fellow said "There are 15 miles of this and there is nothing to see." We told him that we had done it in a motor home a few years ago. The look on his face was priceless. We think he may not have gone the whole way because there was plenty of wildlife to see. Most of the 5 or 6 cars we passed were SUVs and one big wheeled pick-up camper, probably 4 wheel drive, but some should not have been there at all. Toward the end of the gravel section a fellow (actually 3 fellows) in a low slung car stopped us to ask if it got any better. We said it was a lot worse than where we were right then. He said that the 11 miles they'd just come were very bad but he was going turn around and go back. Actually he'd only been 3 miles.
We did stop at Sweetwater Strand, the most beautiful spot on the road and spent an hour or so enjoying the atmosphere and taking pictures. It was so quiet (no cars came by during that time) and the sounds of the various cranes, herons and egrets was wonderful. So In spite of the road we got some great pictures of birds and scenery.
When we opened the back door of the CRV to take out the camera equipment at one view point there was a tiny green frog curled up between the door and the door jam. We took him out and put him of the side of the car thinking that he would move on but when we came back later he was back inside the door jam. We got him out on a small stick and left him on the road near the water. He reminded us of the little frog that got caught in our vent last year in the Everglades.
After leaving the loop road we drove over to Shark Valley to check it out, and then stopped at the Miccosukee (Indian) Restaurant across the road for a late lunch. Along with some heavily battered and fried grouper, we also tried a piece of alligator meat - an "Alligator bite" they called it. It tasted like a combination of chicken and calamari, with the same texture as calamari. Well, we can say we ate alligator! And the stop was definitely a "been there done that" experience.
February 9, 2011 (Wed) Monument Lake CG (3) 50/80° - Everglades City and Chokoloskee were our adventure destinations today. Well that's not exactly true. Our destination was the Kirby Storter boardwalk into the swamp but we decided to go on to the junction of US 29 where we knew there was a gas station. When we got there, we saw that the price was $3.49/gal and we thought we could do better in Everglades City. It was $3.39 there - not good but better. Everglades City seems to be looking better than the last time we were there. We couldn't remember if we'd ever been to Chokoloskee at the end of the peninsula so decided to do some exploring. We found it to be the place where the bigger motor homes come to play. There were several very fancy campgrounds and marinas (and campgrounds with marinas). Both Chokoloskee and Everglades City have restaurants worth investigating sometime.
On the way back we stopped at the Big Cypress Welcome Center to look for a birthday gift for grandson Shane. The volunteer naturalist was just starting her 15 minute tour and talk. Her subject was the manatees that winter in the water behind the park building. Although we've seen manatees several times, this was the first time there was someone knowledgeable talking about them. We learned some very interesting things. For instance alligators and manatees share the same waters - peacefully.
We decided to save the Kirby Storter walk for another time.
February 10, 2011 (Thu) Monument Lake CG (4) 66/81° - This was a day to sit around and read. While we were enjoying the peace and quiet, a couple from Michigan stopped by in their Chinook. They were on their way from Naples to Fort Lauderdale and came in to see what the campground was like. We had a good talk.
February 11, 2011 (Fri) Monument Lake CG (5) 63/71° - Today was the day we were going to take our bicycles over to Shark Valley but the weather forecast was for 30% rain. We pictured ourselves being on the trail 7 miles into the Everglades when the skies opened up so we stayed home. It never rained although the wind was bad. We did take our postponed walk on the Kirby Storter boardwalk though. Saw an Eastern Bluebird, a little green heron and some deer.
February 12, 2011 (Sat) Monument Lake CG (6) 49/63° - The predicted rain came during the night, or I should say in the early morning. The skies were overcast and rain threatened most of the day with heavy winds, so sitting or doing much outside was uncomfortable. But it seemed like a good day for a quick trip over to Midway campground to refresh Q's sanitary and water systems. That done, we spent the rest of the day waiting for the wind to die down and the sun to come out.
The park's campfire program tonight was a volunteer singer/guitarist singing and talking about Big Cypress - its history, its wildlife, its beauty etc. We bundled up in several layers of cool weather clothes (all our cold weather clothes are up in the pod) and walked over. It was quite interesting and just long enough, considering the cold.
February 13, 2011 (Sun) Monument Lake CG (7) 49/72° - It was cold and windy again this morning but the forecasts promised that more normal temps for south Florida were on the way.
Turner River road goes about 20 miles north into the Big Cypress Swamp to the Bear Island (free) campground. The part we negotiated today was all rough wash-board gravel. We had thought we'd go all the way and check out the campground as a future destination but after 7 miles of brain (and suspension) rattling, we gave it up and took a left turn onto another gravel road that would eventually take us back to civilization. Rough ride aside there was plenty of wildlife to see and photograph. We probably won't be camping at Bear Island any time soon.
At one stop we saw a gator we were watching plop into the water with a large black snake in its mouth. Lunch!!!
Tomorrow we pack up and head down into the Everglades. We will be out of phone/internet/TV contact for the week we plan to be there. If the mosquitoes are bad like they were last year, though, we won't be "toughing it out" we'll come back here. While we are there we can be reached by calling the Flamingo campground.
Q073334 Monument Lake CG, Big Cypress NP #2 dry $8.00 B (x7)
QC11-07 The locks and south
February 1, 2011 (Tue) Ortona Lock CG (2) 62/82° - We spent the day just enjoying the weather we came to Florida for - finally. After some chores (laundry for Joy and expense tracking for Mark) we rode our bicycles out the access road, a tough go because of a brisk headwind. In the late afternoon we walked over to the small stream where we have seen otters at play in the past. They weren't there this time but the fellow in the campsite close by said they had been there earlier. Other than that we sat on our patio by the Okeechobee waterway and read. The boat traffic was light but the few going by were interesting to watch.
February 2, 2011 (Wed) Ortona Lock CG (3) 63/84° - This turned out to be a good day to go over to the lock. As we walked across the dam, a lady came up to us obviously excited. In a heavy accent she said something about two babies. It turned out she was talking about manatees. There were at least three adults, and two juveniles taking advantage of the lock to make their way up stream toward Lake Okeechobee. The lock operator held the single boat in the lock until the manatees were away. Three large motor yachts (from Annapolis, MD it turned out) were waiting to go down stream and we watched them proceed through the lock. Later a working boat went through as we walked back home. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the warm Florida weather on our patio by the canal. Only one other boat passed on its way to the lock, a small personal fishing yacht.
February 3, 2011 (Thu) Ortona Lock CG (4) 66/82° - 82 degrees for the high is an estimate. It could have been higher - the thermometer read 80° at 5:30pm when we got home and was going down. It seemed to be even higher where we were. We had gotten up early and headed for the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island over on the west coast where met Don & Libby (friends from Fair Haven) at the visitor's center. We spent 4 hours or so walking through the refuge taking pictures of osprey, roseate spoonbills, pelicans, herons, anhingas, a wood stork as well as several species of ducks. We were surprised with the lack of alligators, as were many people we met along the trail who asked if we'd seen any. There was one though, a big one, sunning himself (herself?) on the bank two miles up the trail. There was also one lazy and determined white heron hitching a ride through the refuge on top of a camper van. The ladies in the van said he had been there for some time. They had tried to shoo him away but he wouldn't leave.
Before leaving the island we had lunch at The Hungry Heron restaurant - crab cake on english muffin sandwiches. Very good. It was a long day but well worth the trip. It was good to see Don & Libby.
February 4, 2011 (Fri) Ortona Lock CG (5) 67/80° - Yesterday morning Alligator Alley (I-75) was closed all the way across Florida - from Naples to Miami - due to fog. There wasn't much fog here. This morning Alligator Alley was open but we couldn't see across the canal. We heard a small motor boat heading for the lock but we couldn't see it. By the time we had finished breakfast we could see the buildings on the other side of the canal and not long after that there was no trace of fog. It turned into a beautiful sunny day.
February 5, 2011 (Sat) Ortona Lock CG (6) 66/82° - This has been another restful day watching the boats go up and down the waterway. There have been more today because it's the weekend. Those going west, up stream, sit just off our site waiting for their turn to go through the lock. We get plenty of opportunity to "check them out".
February 6, 2011 (Sun) Ortona Lock CG (7) 66/76° - We've been told that there are lots of places to bike on the other side of the lock so today we took our bicycles over to see. Going across the dam on the narrow cat walk was an interesting experience. The space between the guard fences was only a couple of inches wider than the bicycle handlebars. It's hard to walk a bike with no place to walk beside it - to say nothing of trying to ride it. What we found over there were roads - good for biking because there was hardly any traffic. The scenery consisted mostly of orange groves with a couple of barely surviving "bar and grills" along the way.
The waterway has been surprisingly quiet for a Sunday.
Tomorrow we head further south to Monument Lake in the Big Cypress National Preserve just north of the Everglades. We are hoping for good weather and no mosquitoes.
Q073244 Ortona Lock Campground #40 w/e $12 A+ (x7)
QC11-06 To the Locks
January 28, 2011 (Fri) Lakeland, FL to Englewood, FL (115/2108 miles) 47/65° - The four days of fun, laughter, and camaraderie came to an end today with the six of us going our separate ways two by two. Each day was a mixture of talking, joking, sharing, eating, resting and dominoes. Bob and Pat loaded up their car, having recently sold their motor home, and started north toward their home in North Carolina. Ed and Kathy carried the last few things they would need for a camping week out to their motor home. And we turned south toward Englewood, Florida. It was great fun and we look forward to our next get together.
We got off at 9:20 (54° clear) and made our way to I-4 westbound toward Seffner where we stopped to fuel up at the Flying J ($2.95/gal). Costco in Brandon was our next stop then on south to Englewood. Jeannie, the owner and proprietor of the family group home where Joy's mother now lives, has always been been very generous in her willingness to let us park and camp out in the drive behind her home. And she was there again today to greet us and guide us into our parking space, now doubled with the addition of our car. Bom was in the living room when we walked in and was very glad to see her daughter (and son-in-law). She looks very good for 99 years old and though slower is very much herself.
January 29, 2011 (Sat) Englewood, FL (2) 46/71° - Shopping was the order of the morning. We went out to get some synthetic oil (we thought the CRV was getting low - it wasn't), some nonslip shelf paper (to create some storage space on top of the fiberglass fresh water tank - it didn't work), a can of silicone lubricant (to replace the one we left at home) and some craft supplies for the ladies in the group home. Joy also needed to pick up a couple of clothing items for Bom at Beale's and she wanted to hit the quilt shop. While Mark sat in the car reading outside the quilt shop, the car alarm went off for no apparent reason. He tried to shut it off but couldn't. Joy finally had to come to the rescue. The ladies in the quilt shop must have thought her husband was getting rather impatient. We have come to the conclusion that the two remote assess fobs (one for Q and one for Lamont) on Mark's key ring were interfering with each other. It happened before to Joy when she carried them in close proximity.
Joy spent a couple of hours with the ladies, including Bom, helping/teaching with their project to make greeting cards from fabric like her mother has done for years. In the evening she went in and played a (card) game of SkipBo with Bom who did amazingly well.
January 30, 2011 (Sun) Englewood, FL (3) 47/73° - After a jaunt out for the New York Times and bagels (for lunch later) it was another day with Bom - well a few hours anyway. Joy played scrabble with her for a couple of hours in the afternoon (with kibitzing from well meaning visitors) and shared an hour or so of reminiscing with her in the early evening. Mark hung out working through an unexpected learning curve with a new gadget for his camera, playing his guitar, reading and snoozing.
There are several citrus trees on the property here. Jeanie said we were welcome to as much of the fruit as we wanted. We now have a bag full of two different kinds of oranges, grapefruit and kumquats to carry south with us.
Q073154 Jeanie's driveway (x3)
January 31, 2011 (Mon) Englewood, FL - Ortona Locks CG (90/2108 miles) 55/83° - We took our time getting ready to leave this morning. We wanted to say good-bye to Bom and waited until after her shades were up. She was just finishing up her breakfast when we went in at about 9:15. A stop to see Doris at Quail's Run was unproductive. She must have been at the office. We left her a note promising to see her when we come back at the end of the month.
The trip south to Ortona Locks Campground was uneventful. The traffic was light and moved well even through the normally more congested areas. The only real slowdown was approaching the site where a pickup truck had apparently skidded and rolled several times. The rescue people were just taking the driver to the ambulance as we passed.
We kind of vegged out after we got here, recovering from a stressful few days. We recovered enough in the evening to take a walk around the campground. It was quiet and peaceful. We have always loved this campground.
Q073244 Ortona Locks Campground #40 w/e $12 A+
