It’s Saturday morning.
I’ve been up early because a “cold” front, complete with wind and rain,
has come thru during the night. The
flag has been whipping around, the tarp covered bikes have blown over, the vent
over the kitchen stove has been rattling, and the palmetto bushes right outside
the window have been thrashing against each other, trying to get out of the way
of the strong winds. But at least there
was not as much banging of rain pellets on the roof as loud as in our last 2
trailers. This “condo” has a well-insulated, rounded roof and the rain does not
sound like so many miniature explosions when they crash!
They have been letting more and more water out of Lake
Okeechobee because the depths are getting too deep and the spring rains are not
here yet. We’ve noticed in the last day or so that when the tide comes in from
the west, the water in our little cove is higher and higher on the grassy
banks. Last evening and more so this
morning – the water is even higher over the green edges on the other side of
our little area. The roots and lower branches of the nearby bushes are now
standing knee deep in the water! I’ll
admit - In the gray before dawn - it looked a bit eerie!
Before this morning, our weather has been wonderful – cool
during the night and warming up to a very sunny low to mid 80’s during the
day! And we took full advantage of each
day! Last weekend was a 4-day holiday
for the folks that still have to work or go to school and they also were taking
advantage of the beautiful weather. H
found the trolley stop from our last stay in Ft Myers and we rode the bright
blue trolley out to Ft Myers Beach. The
.35 ride bounced along, up and over all the bridges on the boat lined causeway
and out along the condo lined Estero Beach Blvd to the north end of the island
at Bowditch Park and the beginning of the snow-white sand beaches that the
island is famous for! The shoreline was
speckled with tiny white shells that had washed up. Covering the wide, soft sand between the gulf and the
palmetto-lined condos were side-by-side batches of bodies and wildly colorful
beach umbrellas! From the long fishing
pier, all you could see was a vibrant rainbow of every hue imaginable! 
On our 2nd
trip out to the beach we rode the trolley out to Bowditch Park again and walked
the much quieter but still very populated beach. While waiting for the sunset, we played tourist and shopped all
the shops with all their “Made in China” items. We strolled from the busy
“Times Square” park to the mainland side of that long skinny stretch of
land. With the sun starting to slip
low, the last of the bright glow hit the side of the shops and lit them up
brightly. The 3 bubbling fountains in
that restaurant’s little park area sparkled.
Back out on the pier, H discovered how to take “selfies” with his camera
and now everyone can see our new hats!
Once the sun had set, we climbed aboard the returning trolley and headed
back over the long string of bridges to the patiently waiting blue truck.
We’ve been to Ft Myer’s Fleamaster Flea Market and came home
with a bag of the most deliciously sweet Indian River Oranges. Strawberries
came along, too! One day trip ended up
in the sister campground at Ortona Lock and Dam on the other side of LaBelle. On another day we headed towards Cape Coral
with several “stop to shop” pauses! On
the opposite side of the Caloosahatchee River, right across from the tall condo
skyline of busy Ft Myers, was Redfish Point Marina and the municipal beach and
fishing pier. The wind was strong
already and the river and canals had quite a hefty chop. In the adjoining canal
that branched and divided neighborhoods were boats bouncing and straining
against their strong securing ropes. One pontoon boat had TWO brand new 200 horsepower Evinrude outboard motors bolted down
on it’s stern! We’ve had the kayaks in
the water and since H brought the right controller – his little sailboat also
got to slide across the waves more than once!
We’ve settled into our routine – drain the coffee pot and
watch the morning news. Take out the
trash and walk the campground loop before heading off to do some shopping or
exploring with maybe some lunch out – which messes up our supper in – but - Oh
Well! If we’re home in time - H reads
a bit and takes his nap. After the
evening news is BIG BANG THEORY and then H gets another nap. Later, it’s off to bed, hopefully to stay
awake long enough to catch the 11 o’clock news! Old People have to watch the news!
