Fort Myers - Shady Acres RV Park

Shady Acres is probably a typical Florida RV Park where people go to spend the entire winter. There are some modular homes here but most people are in either mobile homes like ours (class A) or large fifth wheel or travel trailers. Many are here for two or more months. We are only spending 6 days here. Our parking space is prt of a long row of spaces about 25 feet wide. It was a tight fit to get the RV between the concrete pad and the electrical box. Geoff had to go back and forth two or three times before getting lined up right. It was also complicated by the RVs stored in the spaces across the narrow road.

The first night here, the park was having an ice cream social. Bring your own dishes and $2, and they supplied the ice cream. Wow, the thing was packed, and they said it was more people than usually show up for these things. But they had enough ice cream and cake for every one and it was fun to meet some of the other campers.

We had several places picked out to visit while here, but the first day we headed for Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, a swamp area with one of the last virgin cyprus forests left in the US. It is home for aligators, lizards, wild cats, and lotsof birds. They have over 2 miles of boardwalk over the swamp andthe weather that day was beautiful. We found out about it from the couple in the next RV over at our park. The first half was a little disappointing, but we did see aligators, wood storks, and other birds we had not seen before. It was a nice walk.

On our second day we went to the Edison and Ford Winter Homes, which is a display in downtown Fort Myers. Thomas Edison wintered here for many years and even built a laboratory in which he did experiments to try to find a domestic source of rubber between World Wars One and Two, in case the US was cut off from its supplies from foreign countries. He was successful, but the advent of syntheic rubber made it unnecessary. The site has been highly restored and the location of the largest banyan tree in the continental US.

Day three, we went to nearby Sanibel Island, an upscale resort area, but with very nice beaches open to the public, nice bike paths all oer the island, and good shelling. We biked and spent time on the beaches, but also kayaked Commodore Creek off of Tarpon Bay. It winds among mangrove trees and was a nice trip, but some areas were quite shallow and difficult to get through.

On day four, we went to Manatee Park, where manatees winter in the effluent stream from a nearby power plant. there were a few there but, when it is colder, there can be as many as 60 there at a time. We saw a few, two with babies, but it was not very dramatic, since you only see their backs or tails for a moment and then they go under again. Also the water is very dark and not easy to see very far below the surface.

Day five was cool and rainy, the first since we arrived. The other days were all 80+ days but this day started at about 65 and stayed there all day. This was a day for taking care of some business, and doing laundry. The RV park had a pig roast in the evening. We made our barbequed beans in the crockpot. Having our bikes here has been nice, since we are a fair distance from the park office and getting on the bikes to go over there or to go to the pool has been nice.

Tomorrow we head out to Fort Desoto State Park near Tampa. We will be there during the Super Bowljust a few miles away but will likely not even watch it.

Oscar Scherer State Park

This little state park on the South Creek is quite nice. We had a wonderful time there riding on the nature trails and attending some events. The first day there was a folk music event in the Nature Center and the last night there was a Camp Fire talk by one of the rangers. We found out some information about the Shrub Jay and where we could see them. The last morning, before breakfast, we went out to see if we could find them and we were not disappointed. They are quite active in the mornings and they are also quite friendly and curious.

At first, we did not see them except at a distance, but when Geoff went off the path to look closely at a Shrub Oak, one came and landed right above his head. After that, there were several around very close to us and we were able to snap many good pictures.

We had heard that they would even land on a person's head quite frequently, but  we did not think that would be very likely, and were going to head back for breakfast and to pack up to leave. As we walked back to the bikes, one flew right over and landed on Geoff's shoulder. Ellyn had the camera and was able to get a couple good shots before it flew off again.

The second day we took our kayaks out onto the South Creek and paddled about 1 1/4 miles down to the bay. We saw many birds along the way and even some other kayakers coming up the creek. There were also lots of fishermen around. It was one of the first really warm and nice days we had had in Florida and we think that a lot of other people wanted to enjoy it as well.

Winding Down at Disney

The friends we have been spending our time with here at WDW have departed and Ellyn and I are here for two more days. Today is the Obama Inaugural and we will be watching that this morning. It is also a chance to run a few loads of laundry and do some work on the car. The shifter has gotten stiff, although the transmission seems to be working ok otherwise. I am trying to find where the linkage runs to so I can see what has it "gummed up".

Yesterday we took an early morning Segway tour in Epcot. If you are not familiar with the Segway, it is a two-wheeled, gyro-stabilized, microprocessor controlled transportation device. Kind of an up-right scooter. We were able to try them out and get used to them indoors, and then take a tour around the countries of Epcot. It was a lot of fun.

We had our friends over to the RV one night this week for some dessert. Now we know how many people we can comfortably fit in here. We also went over to the campfire and made s'mores.

Having a Great Time!

We've been in Walt Disney World for 4 days now and have been having a great time with friends Marie and Dave and 7 of their friends and family. The whole group are wonderful and we're enjoying so many laughs and good times with them. However, we've been so busy that we really haven't had time to update this blog properly. However, Geoff has posted some photos on flickr. The link is to the left.

By the way, it's about 15 degrees below average here - but that means the highs are in the 60's which is pretty comfortable during the afternoons AND it's lot's warmer than back in CT so we do appreciate the temps here.

Buyers are on the prowl....

While we're here, our home is still for sale back in Danbury. Yesterday, we had calls indicating that TWO buyers were going to be looking at it and, today, B. our Realtor, is hosting an Open House. One of the buyers looking at the house, yesterday, was viewing it for the THIRD time. Perhaps some of this action will result in an offer, we hope!

Steven Foster State Park - Day 1

Jan 10, 2009

Today was pretty relaxing. We started out just hanging around the RV, making some posts online, doing a little clean up and organizing, and listening to the radio. About noon, when the temperature outside was up to about 67, we decided to take a bike ride around the park.

We went to the carillon tower and listened to  the bells and toured the museum in the lobby. Then we went down by the river and checked out the kayaking possibilities. Unfortunately, the river level is very low and a long walk down from the parking lot, so we decided to wait until WDW to get the kayaks off the car.

We did some more biking around and Ellyn looked in some of the craft shops and the gift shop. Then we went to the museum and looked around in there for a while. Finally we came back to the RV and did some more relaxing.

We went out to a convenience store and picked up a couple of items we needed plus some sausages to grill. We also got some firewood at the ranger station to make a little campfire. Dinner, sitting around the fire on a very warm evening, a large full moon shining down, and a quick load of laundry in the convenient washers right near our campsite and another successful day of RVing came to an end.

Florida Adventure: Leg 4 - GA to FL

Jan 9, 2009

Ah, sunny Florida at last. And it was a sunny day too. We are finally out of the bad weather of the North and into the sunny South. We did get to tour Savannah a bit and walked around the harbor front area for a half hour. It was very nice. We have to get the pictures off the camera.

We also had our first breakfast out at a great restaurant in the downtown area. We had some trouble finding it but I asked a couple gentlemen at an outdoor area and they were able to direct us.

We stopped at the welcome center just inside Florida and ate lunch at a picnic table. Then we went inside for some free orange juice before getting on the road again. We pulled into the Steven Foster State Park campround just before the 5:00 pm closing time and got into our camping spot before dark. Oops. backed the RV again an overhanging tree limb and put a little dent in a portion of the roof. We got to take a short walk before bedtime under a brilliant full moon. Without the moon, we would have had a great view of the stars, as this is away from most urban areas of Florida. We will be here for 3 days so this is our first relaxing time of the trip so far.

Florida Adventure: Leg 3 - NC to GA

Jan 8, 2009

This was our first day with (mostly) no rain. It was warmer too, so we were able to forgo the winter coats when we stopped places. We blew through the rest of North Carolina and South Carolina and into Georgia, headed for Savannah. This is one of the places Ellyn really wanted to see but, sadly, due to our reduced schedule, we are unable to stop places for long. But since the next leg is shorter, maybe we can take a ride into the city before having to hit the road again.

We had an incident with the "toad" (our CR-V) when we stopped for gas and to run the engine (needs to be done every 8 hours while towing). The battery had gone dead and it would not shift into park or start. It looks like towing for three days and not running the engine more than a few minutes a day, lets the Brake Buddy drain the battery. We had to disconnect, turn the RV around, jump start the car, and then rehook the tow, after letting the car run a while to recharge.

We got to the RV park late and had some trouble getting someone to let us in because we had little or no cell coverage.

Florida Adventure: Leg 2 - NJ to NC

Jan 7, 2009

It started at 4:30 am. I awoke to drumming rainfall on the roof of the RV but then also heard a trickle of water inside. I got up to see what it was and quickly found that the toilet was overflowing...again. S*&T! This happened one other time and it was due to a sticking valve in the toilet. The water trickled in until the black water tank was full and then ran out onto the floor.

This time was worse because the sewer line was not hooked up. I had to run out in the rain and hook up the sewer line, and the dump point was far from the coach but I just reached it, and then dump the tank. Then I came back in and cleaned up all the water. Good thing we had lots of extra towels. We also had not used the toilet much and so there was no bad smell.

We got out of the RV park at about 10:00, stopped at 2:00 for lunch at Dixie Bones, stopped for gas south of Richmond and arrived at the RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads.

After the gas stop, there was a thunderstorm and there were some pretty strong winds buffeting the RV around pretty badly. A couple of times I had to wrestle it back into my lane, fortunately not when there was another vehicle there. When we got to the RV park, Ellyn put on the weather on TV and found that there had been some winds up to 70 mph in the area. We had some more winds until about 9:30 and then they died down.

Florida Adventure: Leg 1 - Danbury to NJ

Jan 6, 2009

Ugh. Today was a tough one. We pretty much procrastinated yesterday on getting the RV loaded up so this morning we got up at 7:00 planning to leave at 10:00 and finally got out at 11:40. We stopped around 1:00 on the Garden State for lunch and a rest break and then continued to the NJ Turnpike. We pulled into the Timberlane Campground around 4:00 pm and got an overnight camping spot.

We saw mostly rain on the way, although it did seem to have some sleet in it at the beginning. We could see it swirling across the roadway in front of us. We also saw highway trucks loaded up with sand and lined up waiting to go out where 684 meets 287 in White Plains.

Now we are hunkered down waiting for the weather to pass over tonight. Hopefully, it will only be rain tomorrow. We plan on driving into North Carolina and stopping at a campground south of Rocky Mount.