A great and sunny drive south. A melting coolant hose slowed us down in West Virginia. The Benz shop fixed us all up quickly with little cost and treated us (as is the Benzy way) like rock stars and sent us on our way. Arrived in Naples on February 1st. Love, love, love the little RV resort. Immaculate, great staff and lots and lots of trees.
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Rachel feeding squirrels in snow she hasn't experienced
for years. They left +10C to come to the -40 wind chill weather. |
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Peter chopped huge rounds of wood...a valiant
effort to keep warm, then came in to enjoy
the fireplace |
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| Campground in Savannah, Georgia...no snow!!! |
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| And lots of Spanish moss |
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| Lunch at a roadhouse in Jacksonville, Florida...t-shirt weather |
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Whenever I was driving, I would keep Bob apprised of the increase
in outside temps....by increments of .5C as indicated on our dash. |
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A drone? Actually, we did see a real drone last Friday while
at the Miami Boat Show! |
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| We ate lunch by the bridge to Marco Island and gazed ... |
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at the tiny yachts docked right outside the front doors of the mansions
on Marco |
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| Exploring Collier-Seminole Park |
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Ahhhh bare toes feel wonderful! Thanks for the pedi Rachel....
still looking good after 2 weeks! |
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Our lovely campground...immaculate, friendly and there
are what we love best....lots and lots of trees! |
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And beautiful natural sculptures like this one. By
5 pm, we have the pool all to ourselves. Perfect! |
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| Naples beach with the famous pier in the background |
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| Toes are lovin' it!!! |
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| White sand NOT snow!!! |
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| Beautiful! |
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| So many dolphins by the pier |
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| Waterboarding |
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The woman who owns this colourful rig is
well known on the pier |
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| My friend |
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| Didn't take long for us to find Tin City and the Riverwalk Cafe |
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| Delicious Margarita's to celebrate our arrival |
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| Right by the water and the fun boat traffic |
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| Pelican Cafe |
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Sign in our campground and Bob pondering how in
the world you tell an alligator they can't swim here. |
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| Yes, lots and lots of panther in these parts |
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We attended a Bluegrass Festival in a nearby park our first weekend.
Looked into the lake and saw this big boy. |
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A bit unnerving to see this fellow. We figure he must have a skin
condition to be covered this way. |
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| Great group names in the Bluegrass music world! |
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| Walking my Bassy back home! |
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| It is a beautiful park |
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| It's a long way home |
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| Tigertail Park, Marco Island on the Gulf |
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| Shell bush |
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Snow-white sand, so soft it's almost like squeaky beach in
Australia and it actually does squeak when we walked on it. |
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| Looks like black coral washed up on the beach |
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| Causeways on Marco |
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| Someone's little cottage |
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| Gorgeous hotel |
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| Yup, our beaks always sniff out a place that offers Margarita's |
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| Entering Miami, seeing colourful buildings |
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| And across the way, huge cruise ships |
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| And through the trees, more yachts at the front doors |
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| Here's our new baby...a gorgeous and sleek yacht |
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Dark grey and sinister looking...these boats are used by police and
the military because they can carry 5 of the largest motors and catch anything...pretty much
anything.... |
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| Checking out new props for TULAW |
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| I'd love this little baby for scooting about town |
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| And what about these slow boats? |
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We were inside the gates of the Miami Boat Show about 5 minutes, when
right in front of us we see two old friends. When Linda and Warren sold
us our first boat, we followed their lead and spent 7 years at Crates Marina
in Lake Simcoe. We never thought it possible we'd see Steve (blue shirt)
and Greg (orange shirt) at the show, but there they were, in their office in the great
outdoors, with friends (they keep their boat at Crates) Nancy and Ian. |
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We had a wonderful couple of hours in the sun swilling beer,
and hearing fun marina stories, then wobbled off to buy
some serious gizmo's. We were amazed the next day, to see
what we bought while "under the influence". Steve tried
to sell Bob on a 44 foot diesel boat they have in stock. Thankfully,
one of the items we did not buy while under the influence, was a 44
foot diesel boat. Great show!
Wonderful to catch up with people we know!!! |
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| Two rare looking ducks at our campground near Fort Lauderdale |
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The next morning, we meet our Aussie friends, Marlene and Phil.
They were sailing that afternoon on a 47 day cruise around South America. |
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Driving back to Naples, we take a tram tour of the Shark Valley National
Everglades Park. Our guide was fantastic and we learned so much
about the Everglades and the wildlife that lives there. This buddy was
right beside us on our walk into the park. They were everywhere! |
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| Drying her wings |
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| Gorgeous patterns on the female Anhinga's wings |
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Wood stork - once considered endangered, they are now
building in numbers. |
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Diana, our guide, leaves the tram to bring us some pariphyton,
the Everglades cleaner. |
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The water squeezed out of this slimy looking plant (it's actually
not slimy) is pure water that can be drunk. The Seminole
Indians have lived here for centuries and still live off
the fish, plant life and the water. |
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| Many people biked through the park |
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This little sweety preferred the tram, and I can't
blame her.....gator bait! |
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| A batch of gators guarding.... |
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...bikes. We were hoping the riders weren't
inside the gators |
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The Sheriff had to meet us along the way. An elderly man
on the tram tipped over in his wheelchair and hurt his leg quite badly.
That would curb his vacation fun. |
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We loved the tour and are really looking forward to our guided swamp
walk next Saturday. It will be a very up close look at life
in the Everglades. |
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| Back at the campground: the view from our yoga mats every morning |
An email from Rachel and Peter this morning brought us the very sad news that their wonderful dog, protector and friend Tula, a wonder dog for sure, left them last evening after the vet discovered a tumour on her spleen. A very sad day for all of us who knew her. RIP Tula. Love to Rachel, Peter and Cortes.
