Venice, Florida

Venice Campground
February 21-28, 2006

Alligator Heaven ! That’s where we are! In Alligator Heaven!

It started out with a drive on a dirt road through a tunnel of trees. That was the entrance to the RV park.

We arrived in Venice, Florida – about 1 hour north of Fort Myers – and camped in a very nice, small campground on the Myakka River, about 8 miles from the beaches. The park is heavily wooded and our spot is right on the river which makes it easy to use our kayak.

Pictured is our spot with a canal behind us – where the alligators travel.

They like to sit in the sun during the day and sometimes they do that right across the canal behind our motorhome - as pictured.

The first thing Joni wanted to do when we arrived was take a ride on the river in her kayak. It’s a dark, merky looking river which winds it’s way to the Gulf. We met the campers next to us right away, and Joni offered to let our neighbor Amanda use her blow up kayak so they could paddle down the river together. They were gone about 2 hours and went about 3 or 4 miles round trip.

Little did we realize that the river is FULL of alligators. We did NOT see one on that ride, so we felt pretty comfortable floating down the river. Using a blow up kayak in that river is probably not a wise thing to do. We didn’t use it again.

The next day the campground was holding a canoe/kayak trip for anyone interested. Joni signed up right away and was ready and waiting to go the next morning. It was a 4 hours round trip ride with a stop for lunch. That’s where Joni realized how many alligators were living in that river as they spotted 4 gators before lunch. They are large, wild and not to be reckoned with! Being in a small kayak in the middle of the river and coming across an alligator is a freightening experience. The trip leader assured us that no one has every been hurt by an alligator on his watch.

A few days later, Joni launched her kayak from our campsite and paddled about 3 campsites away before she saw THE BIG ONE. She back paddled and went right to the bank and got out. That big guy is CLOSE to our motorhome.

All those gators didn’t stop Joni from paddling around though. She just kept a close watch and stayed as far away from gators as she could – even though many were spotted.

We met a couple who were parked a few campsites away from us, Anne and Fred Yole. They were kayakers so they joined Joni one afternoon and saw lots of alligators that day. They also joined us for diner at the restaurant on the river called “Snooks”.

There is a very nice bike path that runs from Old Venice right to the beach. Delton and Joni took that bike path one afternoon and rode along the intercoastal ending up at the beach and then went for a walk along the boardwalk and shore line.
We spotted a BIG Jellyfish while walking. We didn't want to mess with him. We also played tennis. Delton is getting pretty good. Joni is very happy that Delton has taken such a big interest in playing. He also enjoyed a round of golf at the local course.

We enjoyed a baby back rib diner – sponsored by the campground one evening and met quite a few people. Many of the campers are here for the entire winter and have homes up north.

After 1 week it was time to leave this campground and Venice. We headed to Lakeland (between Tampa and Orlando) for another visit with Dean and Gayle McGibbon.

Fort Myers Beach, Florida

February 8-21, 2006


Beaches!


Beaches!
And More Beautiful Beaches!
Fort Myers has beautiful beaches!



Ft. Myers Beach also has colorful shops along the beach.



Most of our time here was enjoying the beautiful beaches. Pictured is the bridge we crossed on the way to the beach.

We left the Keys and headed for Fort Myers. We had reservations to stay in North Fort Myers, but when we arrived at the RV park we were told they had overbooked and they had no place for us, even through we had booked the park before Thanksgiving and we paid in full for 2 weeks. They offered us a dry camp site (no water, electric or sewer) for free or they would try to get us a spot somewhere else. Since we don’t like to dry camp we asked them to find us a place in another RV park.

Luckily they were able to book us in Fort Myers Beach, near Mary Jane and Dave. We preferred Fort Myers Beach anyway because we were closer to the beach and closer to our friends. This is the first place during our wintering in Florida that we were not able to be in the same RV park with them. As luck would have it, we were able to get a spot in a park which was only 3 miles from Mary Jane and Dave and only 3 ½ miles from the beach..


Mary Jane and Dave were in the San Carlos RV park which was surrounded by water so we decided to leave Joni’s kayak at their campsite. We didn't have water for kayaking in our park.

One day they took a kayak ride and got a little lost. There are a lot of Mangroves that all look the same. When they saw the bridge to the beach, they knew they had gone far, but they also knew which direction to go to get back to the RV park. After about 6-8 miles and three hours later they were back “home”.

They kayaked alot in the Gulf of Mexico also. One trip took them across the water from the mainland to Ft. Myers Beach island. That trip was mostly in shallow water, but they had to cross the channel where the water is deep for the big boats to get through. Time passed quickly as they found themselves back after about 6-8 miles and 2 1/2 hours.


A cold front arrived in Fort Myers just a few days after we did. Chilly days and cold nights lasted a few days and then it was back in the 70s and 80s again. The cold temps didn't stop Joni and Mary Jane from taking a bike ride along the beach that day. The low tide made the ride easy because the sand was hard.


We passed an RV park, The Red Coconut RV Park, which allows you to park right along the sand.


We’ve enjoyed visiting churches every Sunday. Nothing compares to our home church in Grapevine, Texas – Memorial Baptist ! Pictured is First Baptist in Ft. Myers Beach, located across the street from the beach and has a beautiful view.


We decided to visit Joni’s parents one more time before we started our trek up north, so we drove to Coral Springs to spend one more night with them. It was nice to be able to visit them often as if we lived in the neighborhood and could come and go easily.



We met some very nice people, John and Mary Tippy, who were parked next to us. They enjoyed bike riding so e took a ride with them to the beach one day. It was a three and one half mile ride one way, so we totaled 7 miles on that ride.

After 1 week we had to move to another campground, just 2 miles away, as did the Mulaskis'. But we were still in separate parks and still able to bike ride, kayak, play bridge, play tennis and go to the beach together.

Delton is getting to be a pretty good tennis player and has enjoyed playing doubles with Mary Jane and Dave. He would like to beat Joni one day at singles, but Joni won’t let that happen…….


Delton and Joni took an afternoon car ride to Sanibel Island and took a walk there. It’s a shelly beach so we picked some shells to take back with us.
Delton looked cute standing next to the "shell bush" we passed on our walk.

It was hard to leave Ft. Myers Beach. But - on to our next venture!

Calusa Campground - Key Largo, Florida

January 26 – February 8, 2006

After leaving Vero Beach, we headed to Key Largo. We spent one night with Joni’s parents and then went on to Key Largo.


The Mulaski’s (Dave and Mary Jane) arrived the night before we did.We didn’t get to park next to each other this time, but we were in the same RV park.
Pictured is our spot. Also pictured is our view of the canal seen from the corner of our spot.


The park is located on the Gulf of Mexico. The Keys are very narrow islands connected by lots of bridges and you can usually see both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico at the same time. We stayed in Key Largo, the first island of the Keys.

We have enjoyed our time with Mary Jane and Dave and were glad we could be together again in the Keys. We didn’t meet a lot of people here like we did in Vero Beach until it was almost time to leave, so we were glad to have each other to do things with. We have played a lot of tennis and bridge and biked around the island quite a bit.



We were in Key Largo during the Super Bowl and we were invited to an RV SuperBowl Party. Pictured are Mary Jane and Dave with their backs to the camera.

On one of our bike rides, the four of us were traveling along Route 1, stopping at beach shops and seeing other camp grounds. We came across a “Kayak Shop”! Of coarse, Joni wanted to go in and look around. Mary Jane and Dave love kayaking so they also wanted to look around. Well guess what????? JONI FINALLY GOT HER “REAL” KAYAK!!! Delton reluctantly agreed to get her one. His main concern was that we would be traveling around the country with a kayak on the roof of the car and it wouldn’t get used in a lot of places we would visit. After finding out how easy it was to put on the car and take off the car, he said OK. Joni was sure she wouldn’t tire of it and it would be used whenever there was water around.

We also went to the "Kayak Race and Show" the following week.

Mary Jane and Joni went right into the water when they got back. They’ve had lots of fun in the water, especially “stalking” manatee.



While walking past the canal in the park, we spotted 2 manatee.



We got a hose and gave the manatee some fresh water to drink. They love fresh water.
They let us pat their heads and rub their bellies while they drank. What an experience!



Then one day while Joni was paddling around in her new kayak, the same 2 manatee appeared again. This time they came right up to the kayak and Joni was able to reach them a lot better. She was fasinated. Also that same afternoon, she spotted some dolphin who were playfully swimming about 40 feet from her kayak. Neat!



Eating in restauants on the water makes everything taste great, especially when it's a BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION for a special friend named Mary Jane and there is a beautiful sunset to watch as you eat. That's just what we did one evening. Great food, great company and great atmosphere. What could be better!

We took a day to drive down to Key West, the last Key in the chain. It was about 100 miles and took us 2 hours and 15 minutes to get their. It was a beautiful drive on Route 1 and we could see both the Ocean and Gulf most of the way there. One bridge was 7 miles long. We brought our bikes and rode around the entire island. It is 2 miles wide and 4 miles long. Places we saw are: beautiful beaches,
Truman’s Little White House, Earnest Hemingway’s house,
Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville,
the Southernmost spot in the United States and
Zachery Taylor National Park and Fort.


While riding along the beach, we spotted a beach restaurant, so after riding a while we went back to the restaurant and had a late lunch. Joni loved eating in a place, right on the beach with a beautiful view of the ocean.



One afternoon, Delton and Dave Mulaski went out on a fishing boat with the hopes of catching dinner. Unfortunately, only 3 fish were caught from the boat that morning and they weren't caught by Delton or Dave. They will try again in Fort Myers, our next stop. Pictured is Dave on the boat.



The boat from the movie, "The African Queen" is on display at a pier in Key Largo. Kathryn Hepburn and Humphry Bogart were the stars in the movie. There was no motor on the boat when it was used in the movie.



You can see both the sun rise and the sun set in the keys. We saw some beautiful sunsets. What a great way to end each day. Pictured is the sunset from our RV park.