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| Corps of Engineer campground |
Between this eye situation and the pathetic behavior of our
elected officials in Washington D.C., it’s very hard to write about fun stuff
that we are doing while traveling the beautiful state of Florida. Let’s deal with this eye stuff first and
then some fun stuff and we’ll finish up with all the frustrations of being
kicked out of our paid up campsite because it happens to be a “government”
facility.
Yes, the eye is somewhat better and I have had one
appointment with a corneal specialist in Ft Myers. I have another visit this Thursday and have again refilled the
potent, pricey prescription eye drops.
Everywhere we go – so goes our little brown cooler with my precious
little vials inside – keeping cool.
Watching TV at night with my big sunglasses on is a must!
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| our island home |
Now here goes another SPFB – See Previous Florida Blogs - WP
Franklin Lock and Dam Campground is THE biggest item on our Florida Bucket List
each year! If you’ve been with us all
these years you know it is an Army Corps of Engineer Campground on an island in
the middle of the Caloosahatchee River between Lake Okeechobee and the Gulf of
Mexico. That is our “train” in the bottom right of H’s drone picture.
The next photo is what we see right outside
our door – the river, the dam and the locks on the far side. Each year folks come from all over the
United States to enjoy this little piece of paradise! We keep renewing friendships from past years and making more new
friends as we go – Ana and Mike from Miami and Sharon and Bill from Maryland!
Effects of the hurricane damage are still prevalent no
matter where in Florida we travel. Blue
tarps still protect roofs of houses and all along the roadways are huge live
oak trees pulled out of the ground by their roots and laid over to die. Palm trees are snapped off like match
sticks. And it doesn’t matter if they are standing alone or tucked away in the
middle of a thick woods- some huge dark trees are still ripped from the life
supporting earth. Here in the park is
an elderly tree, which has been stripped of most of her branches and
leaves. Giant ragged wounds have been
sawed clean to heal. And healing she
is! The stumps of her limbs are sealing
up and millions of new thin green branches adorned with new leaves are bursting
forth!!
Our Ft Myers To Do List has been modified but we’ve still
managed to get a few done. The Flea
Masters Flea Market hasn’t changed any but I did manage to find the cute rubber
shoes I promised to take home for my girls!
After the last eye appointment we HAD to have lunch at the Oasis
Restaurant downtown! A trip to Cape
Coral and a stroll on the short lakeside park and fishing pier was pleasant but
my eye sure felt the strain of the sun, even with my big ole’ sunglasses and
baseball cap on. I’m back to looking
like Maxine again!!
The trolley ride out to Bowditch Park on Ft Myers Beach was
another enjoyable but glaring afternoon!
We came upon a Hindu style wedding being preformed out on the beach with
its airy chiffon canopy and beautiful long colorful dresses and saris. Further along the beach the dead and
decaying seaweed that had been thrown on the shore from previous waves and wind
was the playground and dining hall for batches of tiny shorebirds out flitting
thru the clutter! Closer to the
fishing pier the beach got crowded with sun umbrellas and a myriad of
sunbathers who, like us, were tired of being cooped up by the lousy
weather. Out on the pier itself was the
resident brown pelican, keeping watch for a
The spoiled brats called politicians in Washington DC have
shown their inability to get along and so our “government was shut down. Even tho this campground is run by
volunteers, is occupied by paid in full campers – the message was sent out that
we had to evacuate our sites. At first
it was set for Friday at 11am, then Saturday at 11am and finally Monday at
11am. Then noon! WINK TV – Channel 11 in Ft Myers was out on
Sunday and did a segment for their evening news. As we were all packing up and preparing to evacuate on Monday, a
delightful young reporter and her extremely steady (and cute!) cameraman came
out to interview and video the mass exodus of all the angry and frustrated
senior citizens. H and I both vented
and the camera was turned on us!! A
snippet of the video collection was seen on all the evening news segments! H and I were featured on the 4pm and 7pm
news!! Yep – me in my big dark sunglasses and white baseball cap!! We were the next to the last RV unit to
leave the island! It was a strange and
sad sight to turn around and see EVERY site empty and no one around except the
TV reporter, her cameraman, the 2 camp volunteer couples and the ranger. Luckily we found an overnight spot in the overflow
area of a RV park in Labelle. We heard
that President Trump
