Well, 1st off, I need to make a correction. We did NOT see Porpoise as I wrote last time! They were DOLPHINS! I knew that! I just spaced out while writing, I guess. Brain damage from my past. I seem to be having trouble thinking of the right words lately. Hope it is not the start of something to come.
We headed out of the casino where for 2 nightsfinished our tax info and headed for the west coast of Florida. Stayed a few days at North Ft Meyers where we dealt with refrigerator problem (drain tube was plugged, and there was too much food in the frig! Does that surprise anyone? Plus, the repair guy unplugged the extra fan that was put in in Indiana. Minor problem, $75 service call (pretty reasonable and the guy was nice), and frig is working good again. A learning lesson, and only lost a little food.
We heard about Sanibel and Captiva Islands and took a day trip and got to see some Manatee!
They are amazing creatures. The 
man at the chamber office (they have a funny sense of humor for this sign, as it never gets below 42 degrees there!) told us a couple places to look for them. None at the 1st, and we were about to leave the other when one surfaced. All we saw was a nose and eyes, then it disappeared. We watched for an hour or more, as they came up and disappeared. There were 7 or 8 in the lagoon. 
For quite awhile, a mother and baby were close to the dock. Mother was eating plankton from a boat, and baby was apparently nursing. 
Couldn't see them clearly, but what a thrill. The momma probably was 10 feet long, and they say the average weight is 1000 pounds. Baby was about 4 feet long, I would guess. They are strictly vegetarian, and will eat up to 100 #vegies a day. The lady next to me said, "doesn't say much for vegetarian diet to lose weight"! She had a point! :-)
They are amazing creatures. The 
man at the chamber office (they have a funny sense of humor for this sign, as it never gets below 42 degrees there!) told us a couple places to look for them. None at the 1st, and we were about to leave the other when one surfaced. All we saw was a nose and eyes, then it disappeared. We watched for an hour or more, as they came up and disappeared. There were 7 or 8 in the lagoon. 
For quite awhile, a mother and baby were close to the dock. Mother was eating plankton from a boat, and baby was apparently nursing. 
Couldn't see them clearly, but what a thrill. The momma probably was 10 feet long, and they say the average weight is 1000 pounds. Baby was about 4 feet long, I would guess. They are strictly vegetarian, and will eat up to 100 #vegies a day. The lady next to me said, "doesn't say much for vegetarian diet to lose weight"! She had a point! :-)
Looking for the manatee at one place, we saw this eagle's nest way up top of a pole. There was mother and baby. Tried to do close-up shot on Picasa for you, but it reverted back when I put it here. Perhaps you can do an enlargement to see it better. There are eagles everywhere!Then we went to lunch at "Mucky Duck" right on the beach at Captiva. Great salad and view. Walked a little on the beach, then drove to Sanibel Beach and walked for a while 
and waded in the Gulf o
f Mexico. Amazing how warm the water compared to Pacific Ocean!
Sanibel is known for all the shells on its beaches, and I thought I might find some unusual ones, but all I found were little clam shells and some of these big ones. 
I left them on the beach
and waded in the Gulf o
f Mexico. Amazing how warm the water compared to Pacific Ocean!
Sanibel is known for all the shells on its beaches, and I thought I might find some unusual ones, but all I found were little clam shells and some of these big ones. 
I left them on the beach
for others. The be
ach vegetation is different from ours as well. Driving back, we found this bank. Wonder where the name came from???The Marina where we saw the manatee said there is also a "wounded warrior program" in their community. The businesses get together and offer free boat rides, fishing trips, motel stays, etc., to these unfortunate folk. I hope there are more of these programs around the US that we don't know of.
Then we went to a huge flea market at Ft. Meyers. Wandered alot, and bought a couple small things, then happened upon an intriguing sales pitch and watched for a couple hours (?) and ended up buying a set of pots and pans we REALLY didn't need in the RV. He was definitely a good salesman, and a LOT of fun to watch his show. We got suckered in, but they really are nice pans, and the price on the internet is about twice what we paid, so guess we did ok!
Headed back up the west coast of Florida and made it as far as Punta Gorda where we had stayed before at Alligator Park. Passport America park (1/2 price) and they have a nice pool and fun people. Were going to stay for 3 days and decided to stay a week. Went to Fisherman's Village and walked the $$$ shops, (it was Al's birthday, but he didn't buy himself anything, but we had a nice lunch at Harpoon Harry's. Back to the park, talked to our neighbors, and they met us for dinner at Benedetta's on the river. Supposed to be a great place to watch the sunset, but we were having so much fun talking, we forgot to look! (couldn't see from our table).
Found a great nutrition store (Richard's Whole Foods) at Port Charlotte, and were able to get some of the stuff we haven't found for awhile. From Punta Gorda, we drove to Boca Grande to play on the beach of the gulf of Mexico
. On the way, we saw quite a few eagles nesting atop of poles along the road. The beach was beautiful, and covered with shells, but didn't find anything spectacular enough to haul home. We had been told to drive through one neighborhood and look at the mult-million 
dollar homes. We tried, but there was a manned guard shack and the guard said "make a u-turn and go back". The guard was a senior citizen woman about 80 with quite a sense of humor. She said she has a cat, has done this job for several years. used to have dogs, probably has had more dogs than men in her life. We visited with her until someone wanted by, then did our u-turn and went on our way. You could tell from the road these are massive expensive homes!
I forgot to write about St patrick's dinner-dance at the Elks at Tavernier. Had a DJ and we enjoyed dinner and dancing. There we met "Mike", I think he was 87, and he fashioned himself quite a ladies man and loved to dance. He gave me a newspaper article about himself , and he has led quite a colorful life! At 16, he fell out of a tree 35' below, and some vines caught him and saved his life. At age 74, he parachuted from a sky-diving plane, harnessed to his instructor. He said he fell for 55 seconds then floated to earth. Said it was like dancing in the sky. At age 80, he drove a race car at 129 mph at the Homestead Speedway. Said they wouldn't let him go any faster! He said he is an award-winning competitive dancer earning 94 medals, 2 world championships for his age group in 2009 and 2010. Pretty interesting guy. I danced with him, (I took a lot of ballroom dancing 40 years ago), but I found him terribly hard to follow and off-beat. But, he was fun to talk with until he left since there weren't any single gals and he was going down the street to the Lorelie bar. We wanted to go there to dance, but never made it.
. On the way, we saw quite a few eagles nesting atop of poles along the road. The beach was beautiful, and covered with shells, but didn't find anything spectacular enough to haul home. We had been told to drive through one neighborhood and look at the mult-million 
dollar homes. We tried, but there was a manned guard shack and the guard said "make a u-turn and go back". The guard was a senior citizen woman about 80 with quite a sense of humor. She said she has a cat, has done this job for several years. used to have dogs, probably has had more dogs than men in her life. We visited with her until someone wanted by, then did our u-turn and went on our way. You could tell from the road these are massive expensive homes!I forgot to write about St patrick's dinner-dance at the Elks at Tavernier. Had a DJ and we enjoyed dinner and dancing. There we met "Mike", I think he was 87, and he fashioned himself quite a ladies man and loved to dance. He gave me a newspaper article about himself , and he has led quite a colorful life! At 16, he fell out of a tree 35' below, and some vines caught him and saved his life. At age 74, he parachuted from a sky-diving plane, harnessed to his instructor. He said he fell for 55 seconds then floated to earth. Said it was like dancing in the sky. At age 80, he drove a race car at 129 mph at the Homestead Speedway. Said they wouldn't let him go any faster! He said he is an award-winning competitive dancer earning 94 medals, 2 world championships for his age group in 2009 and 2010. Pretty interesting guy. I danced with him, (I took a lot of ballroom dancing 40 years ago), but I found him terribly hard to follow and off-beat. But, he was fun to talk with until he left since there weren't any single gals and he was going down the street to the Lorelie bar. We wanted to go there to dance, but never made it.
Then, I read an article about a guy in Miami that's got a patent pending on running his '02 Chev Outback on tap water by a system separating hydrogen to fuel the engine. Said he thought he could drive to Vegas on 2 gallons of tap water! Now, that is exciting! Wonder if we will ever hear more about it?
Did I write about the Key Deer? They are a breed of white-tail deer that rage from 24" to 32" at shoulder height and weigh 65-80 pounds. There are only about 700-800 of them on the keys, and mostly stay on one key island.
At Key West we saw the Milepost sign for "0"...the southernmost point in the continental US. Also, heard about their October Festival where people wander around nude, but tattooed to look like they have on clothes.
At Tarpon Springs was one jewelry store with nothing but jewelry made from what look
s to be Ivory, but is made of the seed of Ciclanlacea Palm, grown in the rainforest of South America. The seeds are carved, sanded and buffed to look like ivory. You can find out more at vegetableivory@yahoo.com. I didn't buy any, but if we go back on our way north I might, just because it is so uniquely beautiful.
s to be Ivory, but is made of the seed of Ciclanlacea Palm, grown in the rainforest of South America. The seeds are carved, sanded and buffed to look like ivory. You can find out more at vegetableivory@yahoo.com. I didn't buy any, but if we go back on our way north I might, just because it is so uniquely beautiful.At the RV museum in Indiana, I am not sure I wrote about Mae West's trailer. it was paid for by Paramount Studios, and the solid-sided trailer was pulled by a 1913 Model T. We also saw "piggy-back" truck rigs from 1915. they were not pick-up trucks, but runabouts with the trunk removed.
The Amish meaning of "JOY" is Jesus first, Others 2nd, and Yourself 3rd. The Amish are one of 3 lifestyles, the others being Menonite and Anabaptist, and each has its own distictive meaning. The custom of the amish to break away from the family training for a time when reaching teens is called "Rumspringa", which means "running around", and they then decide whether to live the amish way or stay "out". The kids only go to school through 8th grade. They don't have churches, but rotate weekly services among the members' homes. They don't have health insurance, but instead, the church members all pitch in when someone needs medical care.
OK; Enough ramblings on unrelated subjects! I just came across some notes and wanted to get them written so I wouldn't lose the memory.
We are now staying at South Sarasota Elks. It is in high 80's, but cools at night, and we are grateful for AC. Went to the visitors center and picked up a stack of things to see and do while here. Today, we went to the beach at #1 beach in the US, "Siesta Key". Well, it was like trying to get in a major league NFL stadium. People everywhere, and no place to park. The sand is supposed to be like cornstarch and pure white. perhaps another day we may go earlier, as we weren't there until about noonish. Drove 5 miles south to Turtle Beach, and it was peaceful. Still quite a few people, but found a great parking spot and spent a couple hours. Al went in for one last dip, and knocked off his glasses. He blindly searched for a couple minutes in the churning surf and sand, and miracuously came up with them! I waded a little, but the water was too deep and rough for this non-swimmer, so I just watched from the shore. The water is so beautiful, and we are constantly awed by the beauty in our country.
Tomorrow, we take the car in to be serviced, and will spend the time waiting by going to the Ringling Museum. Am sure there will be more to write after that venture, so will stop for now.
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