Monday, January 26, 2015

Fort Myers part 2


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!

Then it all begins again – until this Thursday - - Moving Day!