Florida Trip - Monday, 28 Feb 11

We are on the road again!! We left the condo in Cape Coral about 9:30 am after Chris (rental agent) came over and read the meter for the hydro. My new friend Thelma (85 hrs old) came over to say goodbye…she’s so sweet. I bought her a bouquet of flowers yesterday as thanks for all the brochures she’s delivered in the past month….church breakfast, church games day, festivals, etc…..she was our personal activity director but such a sweet lady.

We decided we would go South and cross Hwy 41, otherwise known as Alligator Alley. We’ve done this road a couple of times but were determined to take our time and see as many ‘wild’ alligators as we could along the road as opposed to the ones in captivity at air boat ride places along the highway. I guess we stopped about 5 or 6 times and saw so many…most as big, if not bigger than any we’ve seen that are hand fed 15 times a day.

At one point I saw a small body of water that had lots of white pelicans, white egrets and herons and screeched at Wayne to stop the car. I was standing in a grassy area 4 or 5 feet that dropped off about 5 feet to the water and thought this big ‘thing’ I saw was a dead tree. NOT. I put on my glasses and realized it was the biggest alligator I’ve ever seen…anywhere…at any time (although a cheezie SciFi movie from the ‘60s comes to mind) (photo 2)! It was pretty battered and beaten and obviously had been in a mega-fight with another bad boy at some point as there were scars and hide hanging off in various places. At first I thought it was dead but a slight movement of one leg and one eye left no doubt it was very much alive. I swear it had to be at least 18-20 ft long and a conversation with a Wildlife Ranger later on confirmed it was definitely within the realm of possibility…the gator was probably an oldie who just sat there and waited for the birds to come within striking distance…which accounted for the clump of feathers…about a foot from where I was standing!

We decided to stay the night at Deerfield Beach as there is a condo here for rent we are going to enquire about tomorrow. We walked down to the beach after supper and although it was dark, it seems to be beautiful. We’ll head down for another look in the morning. Wayne was a bit disturbed as he thought he had a coupon for a cheap rate at this Comfort Inn but found out at check-in that the rate for the CI off Interstate 95….. We’ll be eating a very BIG breakfast!

Boynton Beach, which is just up the highway, is our destination tomorrow. There are a number of condos for rent there as well and we’ll look around the area to see if it’s a possibility for next year. The first of the March Breakers have arrived and it’s strange to see the numbers of people under 25 yrs as opposed to those over 55 yrs in Cape Coral.

There’s a bit of a heat wave happening in this area but rain supposed to be moving in tomorrow night. However, it doesn’t have to be shoveled so will be manageable. I’m not looking forward to going back to the nasty weather. Until next time, love & hugs to all. xx

Florida Trip - Friday, 25 February 2011

We are down to our last few days in the condo before starting the trek home. The weather has been awesome and we both have tanned enough that we’ll stand out in crowd at home and I’ll miss the summer-like atmosphere. All we need now is decent weather from Pennsylvania to Ottawa!

Our plan is to head across Alligator Alley and then North through Ft Lauderdale and Daytona with a few stops along the way. St Augustine will be a definite stop…we really loved that area which has so much history and perhaps we’ll spend a day seeing some of the sights we missed last time. Boynton Beach is also a stop as we’ve seen a few rentals on the internet that look interesting, perhaps for next year.

Cape Coral has been a wonderful place for a holiday and we’ve finally managed to become familiar enough with the area that we can travel around without the GPS. It’s a nice community that would be easy to bet involved with and although it’s got lots of people, it still has a small town feel. The down side of this area is that we find the beaches are just far enough away and so crowded that preparing to spend the day almost feels like work. The hotels, condos, and private homes (mansions) have really taken the majority of the shore properties which has resulted in virtually no access to the ocean for miles and miles. If you are fortunate enough to find a parking spot, you’ve still got to find a beach access point. I’m still amazed by the sheer numbers of people who go to the beach….mapping out their territory for the day.

I think we’ve been spoiled by the vastness of the beach at Daytona and South Padre Island. The shoreline in both place are 50x that of Ft Myers and area so the same numbers of people can make it look more packed. I can’t imagine what it’s going to look like at Ft Myers in another week or so when Spring Break starts! Ft Myers is one of the top 10 places to spend school break and I guess it’s like Daytona in its hay-day.

We also plan a stop around Virginia Beach although I suspect it will be much colder than here but the stop is for wine, not beaching. We’d brought back some Williamsburg wine that we really like last fall and want to get a bit more. We had originally thought we’d get a case each of the red and white wines until we calculated the ‘import’ tax in Ontario! Needless to say, our entitled two bottles each will have to suffice.

I have been a wretch at taking photos and have lots of theories why I haven’t but I guess it simply boils down to laziness for the most part. It always seemed to be too much effort to find and drive to any wildlife areas and frankly, this area is so populated that anything else didn’t motivate me. I’m hoping to get a new camera this year and hopefully, that will spur me to get back at it.

I miss Gillian dreadfully and anxious to get down to Halifax to see Ty and Tori. These wonderful Grandchildren draw us home and we are both a bit surprised at how much we miss them.

Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx

Florida Trip - Wed - 16 Feb 11

There’s actually a tan line starting to show. I’m beginning to feel like a fish in a frying pan….greased up and turned regularly in order not to burn! Of course, Wayne is turning a golden brown with no signs of burn or peeling...it's not fair.

We did the beach thing at Ft Myers on Monday and again today and I’m still trying to get my mind, and senses, around the numbers of people on the beach. We were there by 11 am on Monday, and frankly we were lucky to find a 4 square feet to set up our little cabana, towel, and chair. I’ve seen pictures of the beaches in Rio and the French Riviera but they have nothing on Ft Myers Beach! I put a couple of photos of Facebook but they really didn’t show the wall-to-wall people that were there by lunch. Today was even busier. We were on the beach by 10 am and lucky to find a spot again.

The best part of getting there earlier is watching the late arrivals trying to find a spot where their umbrella won’t shade people around them or a spot that doesn’t ‘in your face’ intrude on their neighbours space. The result is that along the packed beach there end up being little rabbit paths that wind their way along the beach to and from the various entrances. The best part of the day of course, is people watching. Be sure that for every woman who has spent endless, agonizing hours trying to find the ‘right’ bathing suit, the beach is filled with examples of those women, who not only found the ‘wrong’ one, but insist on wearing it somewhere other than in their own backyard.

I’m starting a campaign to encourage bylaws that will prohibit the following: women over the age of 60 wearing a bikini...those over 80 in a bikini get special dispensation for entertaining the rest of us; women over 100 lbs wearing a thong…those over 180 lbs in a thong as per above; females over the age of 2 yrs changing from street clothes to bathing suit on a public beach….those over 50 yrs struggling to get the shorts/undies off under the towel and drag the too-small bathing suit over an over-sized behind, as per above. It was a very entertaining day on the beach!

Oh….Tuesday was pool day and although the cover was on and the water was still a bit cool from out cold spell, I took the cover off…..just to let the oldies know I still rule the pool! Mind you, after asserting myself, I had to go in for a swim and act like it was warmer than it really was.

All in all, a great few days. Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx

Florida Trip - Sunday, 13 Feb 11

Saturday was a day for jeans and a jacket at there was a frosty wind from the North again. We lazed around and then decided we’d check out the flea market in Ft Myers….that entertained us for a few hours.

It’s a huge, permanent market and sold everything from soup to nuts. There were no major purchases—I think I got a hat for Ty and a rub/scrub/rough/brush for feet ($1). It was so cold inside from the wind but if you stepped outside to a protected area, it was nice as the sun had come out. By the time we got home I was chilled and we actually turned the heat on in the condo for a while to get the dampness out. I’m not sure if it was because the condo was toasty warm or what, but I had the best sleep since we’ve left home.

We promised our neighbour Thelma that we would go to the annual Valentine’s breakfast at the Methodist Church so after a Skype call to see Gillian…who was so excited to see us…we went for breakfast. Thelma is 85 and so sweet and when we walked in she hugged us and set us down at a table she had reserved for ‘her friends’. She introduced us to everyone who came over to the table as “my new friends, Lynne & Wayne, from Canada”. We were really glad we had made the effort to go…it was a wonderful breakfast and we met so many nice people.

The sun was shining and although the wind was still a tad cool, we decided to head for Marco Island and Naples to look around. Marco Island is very exclusive and although we saw lots of big, beautiful condo complexes, we never did get to see the beach. These condos have bought properties between the buildings and it’s ‘members only’ to get to the beach. Like Ft Myers, parking is a major issue. By the time we hit Naples, it was getting warmer and the traffic heading down to the beach was unreal so we stopped for lunch and then headed home. Wayne immediately escaped to a recliner by the pool and I’m sure he was asleep with seconds.

My finger & toe nails need some attention so when he goes to the gym tomorrow, I’ll head up to main street, have a cappuccino with all the other old folks at the Origins Café and then go get them beautified. The balance of the week will be at the beach as the weather is supposed to get warmer and warmer as the week progress with weekend temps around 80.

Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx

Florida Trip - Friday, 11 Feb 11

It has been a quiet, cool, and rainy day in Cape Coral and I gave my feet a rest and stayed in. It was a good day to do laundry and rearrange stuff but the weekend is a riot of flea markets and the sun is going to shine so I expect we’ll be busy. If the week turns out to be as sunny and warm and the weather channels predict, I see a few beach days in our future!

I’ve been watching the scene in Egypt and amazed at the power of people. I hope the future is as bright for them as they are expecting—it will be a big transition. Eighteen days to end a 30 year dictatorship is pretty incredible…regardless of the long-term result.

It made me think of some of the amazing things I’ve seen in my lifetime and like my grandparents must have said…”Where can things possibly go from here”. I remember sitting in front of the television watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon and not really being able to fathom how that was possible. Now, I can’t imagine being anywhere in the world without being able to talk….for free….to my family and friends via the internet. I’ve stood on my deck and watched meteor showers that haven’t occurred, or will occur again, for centuries and used my digital camera to capture the event. It all makes me want to live for another 60+ years to see what is next.

Quiet day and quiet thoughts—yes, even I have those. Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx

Florida Trip - Thursday, 10 Feb 11

I went to shopper’s heaven today…and have lived to tell about it. Lord almighty, how many malls/stores/strip malls/outlet centres do these Floridians need? I think…..just think, mind you….that I’m just about shopped out!

We woke up to thick fog—definitely not a morning to cruise around various neighbourhoods looking at potential rentals, and certainly not a beach or pool day. Wayne goes to the gym in Ft Myers, which is just down the street from Edison Mall so he dropped me off there and went and did his thing. The mall has JC Pennys, Daillard’s, Macy’s and Sears as its anchor stores and about 120 other stores. The first 10 minutes in JC Pennys and I’d scored a gorgeous black dress for $30 and a pair of rhinestone shoes for $20.

After 3 hrs of walking, touching, looking, trying on and paying, we headed for home with a quick stop at the Tangier Outlet. Wayne had a sleep in the PrayerMobile while I went into the most amazing jewelry store in existence. It has walls and walls of earrings, necklaces, bracelets for incredible prices. Okay, I know that I already have a 16-drawer jewelry chest full of stuff but……but…….we’re talking $1.97 for earrings and $2.97 for bracelets. Hello!!!!!

I think Wayne is waiting for me to either get it out of my system or max out my credit card. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha…….

It poured rain and while we might gripe about it, the brown landscape sure needed it. The sun and warm weather is supposed to be back tomorrow so I think I’ll give my feet, and my credit card, a rest and just have a pool day. It’s just about time to torment the old folks around the pool by insisting the cover come off anyway.

Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx

Florida Trip - Wednesday, 9 Feb 11

I’m still getting used to not being on the road non-stop in the LuvMachine so every other day Wayne or I do the “what are we going to do today” thing. I can’t say I’m bored at all…it’s just that transition from travelling to another RV park every day that makes a difference.

The past couple of days we’ve gone to various other communities around Cape Coral to see what they are like and to make sure we like this area before making a long term commitment somewhere else. We went to North Port one day and Bonita Beach another but I think we’ve decided Cape Coral is the place for us. The more we get around, the more we discover that it certainly has all the amenities we’d ever need without the hustle and bustle of somewhere more metropolis and we are within 10-15 minutes of all the beaches.

We connected with a Real Estate agent yesterday and spent some time talking to her about the process of finding a place for next year. Ironically, she’s originally from Quebec City and has lived in Miami/Cape Coral for 30+ years so knows the area well. Bottom line is that we will contact her in early June and give her a list of things we want and she will e-mail some of her available properties for next winter.. She was very helpful and spent a lot of time with us (she’s a talker) so Wayne is relieved that there is one less issue to have to surf the net for…..

I have not done much photography and I’m anxious to get off my behind and do something. There are a couple of wildlife sanctuaries in the area that we’ll visit and I just need to get out and walk around vice driving in the car. Yesterday we took a short trip over to Pine Island. From what we saw it still has many of the small cottages that must have been originally built when the island first was populated as a ‘get-away’ location. It’s slowly being discovered as a more affordable vacation spot but slow to get going. What made it unique was that after you drive over the mangrove lined causeway and arrive on the island, all the little original cottages have been painted or decorated with bright colours…pink, blue, orange, green…and are now little boutiques. Photo op here….no camera…so goes on the list of places I must return to before we leave. The list is growing!

The weather has changed here in the past couple of days. That crappy wind from the North has made the temperatures drop here and it was down to 55 degrees last night! The sun still shines through the day and it gets up to 70+ but certainly not beach weather with that cold wind. Wayne has taken the van to the gym this morning so I’ll put on long pants and a jacket and go for a walk and see if I can find a little café that has cappuccino’s on tap.

Until next time, love and hugs to all. Our wireless connection has been fixed so if you’re computer starts to beep…it’s us calling you on Skype. xx

Florida Trip - Saturday, 5 Feb 11

Yesterday turned out to be another pool day…which was fine with us. This condo complex has mostly older owners/renters who have been here forever so there are a lot of unwritten rules regarding what you should and shouldn’t do. Taking the cover off the pool, and letting that heat out, has a whole set of rules that only the oldies know.

I was really pissed off…the sun is shining, the pool is heated and I want to swim…and had made up my mind THE COVER WAS COMING OFF TODAY! I did do a quick walk around the condos looking for someone sitting out to ask first but didn’t see anyone. By the time I got back up to our place and started yakking at Wayne, two of the ‘regulars’, who just sit in the sun (by the covered pool) were staking out their territory. Back down I went…and they were having a conversation about why the cover was still on the pool. I added my ten cents worth, and off came the cover. It was amazing as within minutes 8 different people came down and commented on how nice it was to be using the pool???????? New blood rules!

Today we got in the car at 9 am to go to the local Saturday farmer’s market and pulled back in at the condo at 6:30 pm. After buying some wonderful fresh veggies, we saw a sign for ‘Pancake Breakfast’ being run by a local group so chowed down on waffles, eggs, ham, and all the trimmings. On the way back to the car, I made the mistake of going into a new children’s consignment shop and broke the ‘No more shopping for Grandchildren’ vow. Consignment shops are BIG business here as well as Thrift Shops…there seems to be one on every corner. This one was amazing! It was huge, well stocked, extraordinarily clean (she irons everything before putting it on hangers), and the prices were awesome. My girls are going to look so-o-o cute this summer!

Our next jaunt took us to North Port which is about 45 miles from here, between Ft Myers and Sarasota. We were looking at rentals on the internet and can clearly see that once you go inland, even a little, the rental prices drop significantly. There are beautiful homes in North Port that are renting for the same as what we are paying for a 1 bdrm….the cost to that is we are much closer to a beach. It’s a nice area and we took a side trip to Englewood. Wayne couldn’t understand why the listings for Englewood were so high but once we got there, we understood! There were miles and miles of gorgeous beach and million dollar (plus) mansions and condos all along the road. We are getting more attached to Cape Coral and will visit a couple of real estate places next week to see what listing they have before we commit to another area for next year.

The (pool) rumour mill says Cape Coral is #2 in Florida for foreclosures and I have to say that I’ve never seen so many vacant houses, many with foreclosure stickers on the front door. Others just look like the owners walked away from them. Even in Englewood, we saw so many ‘For Sale’ signs on those big houses and one which was started but clearly has been left unfinished for a couple of years. Canadians haven’t experienced the recession in the same way Americans have and you don’t see any new home construction here…at all.

We couldn’t go two days in a row without shopping and Bealls was having a big sale this weekend. Wayne stocked up on shorts/t-shirts and I hit the Bealls Outlet for 3 bathing suits…at less than the price I’d pay for one at home—assuming I could find one that fit in all the right places! We ended up at Rib City for a mondo feed of the best ribs in the world. Carol would have been disgusted at the plate of food that was put in front of us….and more so at the gusto with which we attacked it!

Tomorrow is Super Bowl. We’ll catch a few minutes of it just to say we turned it on and to catch up on the weather frustrations in Dallas. I suspect we’ll spend the afternoon around the pool. Until next time, hugs and kisses to all. xx

Florida Trip - Day 11 - 3 Feb 11

Yesterday was a ‘lay low’ day and we didn’t move the PrayerMobile a mile. I did end up falling asleep by the pool…sun was warm, breeze was cool…and ended up with firey red legs and arms! That tube of #60 was still sitting on the kitchen counter. Lesson learned!

Watching the weather channel has been interesting. Cape Coral was within 2 degrees of matching it's record temperature (it was 85 here) and yet everywhere else in North America is in a deep freeze. People in my favourite place in Texas must have been wearing their winter coats as Corpus Christie was only 17 degrees. Am I glad to be here….oh yeah! Watching one storm almost paralyze 1/3 of the US is creepy and whoever says climate change is a myth must live in bubble.

There’s a gorgeous big heated pool here and we got our first chance to use it today. Because this is a condo, with a board of directors, and the condo residents have to pay the cost of heating the pool, the ‘regulars’ monitor the process of removing the cover very closely! The pool guy was here today and made a comment that ‘in this weather, somebody should actually be using the damn thing’ which promoted a roll-up of the pool cover. However, as soon as the sun went down someone went out and covered it up again—in case it cools off tonight. Regardless, it was wonderful to be able to just walk into the water without hyperventilating!

We went out to see the local eco centre that has hiking trails but we didn’t venture out as it was just too hot and I only had flip-flops on my feet so we’ll go back and check it out later. We still want to spend some time in Naples and get a trip to Key West in before it’s suddenly time to home. Time flies at the best of times but seems to go faster when you are on holidays.

Colin & Jen called on Skype last night and it was so nice to see them, and Gillian. She got so excited when we talked and waved to her. I love Skype and if you decide you want to call us, I am normally on the computer from 6 pm – 10 pm. The wireless service here is ho-hum but certainly better than none or having to go to an internet café.

We are getting more familiar with the area and can actually get to the local beach without Gertie (GPS) telling us how to get there and then back home. Given the weird weather in every other part of the country, Florida may become the last bastion of places to spend the winter, although someone was telling Wayne that they nearly froze here last year. Who knows!

Until tomorrow, love and hugs to all.

Florida Trip - Day 9 - 1 Feb 11

Trying to add a video but blogger is busy so will keep trying!

Yesterday was a down today...packing, throwing away paper, getting car washed, etc...also, no blog. Truth is, I went to the outlet mall while Wayne did most of the above. As if smoking isn't a big enough addiction..... When I came home, my first words were "NO MORE SHOPPING FOR GRANDCHILDREN!" or words to that effect so very little of what I bought was for me!

Today we met our landlord Chris at the condo and we are very pleased with it. It was exceptionally clean and although it would have been nice to be on the 1st vice 2nd floor (for all those bags I haul in), we have no complaints. It has been outfitted with every appliance and tool you can think of and lots of linens. He is quite a businessman; originally from Sweden and after 34 yrs here, has mondo properties and a limosine service. Nice guy though and anxious to please.

We have a cute little porch where we can sit and watch the old folks at the pool (which is heated) or the local boats heading down the canal to the gulf. Chris brought over 2 nice bikes and a new fishing rod for Wayne so we are all set. Everything is quite close to us and this is a sleepy enough community that biking shouldn't be a life-threatening sport. I know Wayne has already taken a temporary membership at Gold's Gym up the road and as long as he doesn't wake me up when he leaves in the morning, we'll all be happy. lol

We did a trip to the grocery store to stock the larder....I keep saying it but boy, I love grocery shopping in the States. Minced garlic in a squeeze bottle was the item that enchanted me today but a 4-day trip home at the end of the month with the half-used bottle may make it much less of a novelty.

If your computers are on after supper, don't be surprised to get a Skype call from us. Until tomorrow: remember, most of you should not be doing strenuous shovelling! :) Love and hugs to all. xx