W. P. Franklin Park, Ft. Myers, FL:  Chilly and windy again this morning.  And while I was making the bed I noticed our little lizard by one of the windows in the bedroom.  Tried to catch him and he went into the decorative plant we have in our bedroom.  Took it outside and set it on the ground hoping he’d get out.  Not sure if he did or not.  Guess we’ll find out shortly.  Ron and Jan came over around noon I guess.  We had pasta and chocolate cream pie for dessert.  Both eagles showed up while we were all sitting outside.  They hung around for quite a while.  Must be a mated pair.  Got a little warmer in the afternoon, but the wind didn’t let up much.  Nice day though.

Both eagles were up there this afternoon.

Ron and Jan

W. P. Franklin Park, Ft. Myers, FL:  What a difference a day makes.  This morning was shrouded in fog.  Foggy, windy, and damp.  And what a difference a day makes—Mike’s shoulder is much better.  Since the weather was lousy we decided to go see “Flight” with Denzel Washington.  Great movie.  After that we drove over to Jan and Ron’s.  We got there around 3:30 and chatted with Jan until Ron came home from work.  Jan looks great!  Had pizza and Jan cracked a bottle of white zin.  Back home to our site and I made a chocolate cream pie for dessert tomorrow.  They’re coming over here.  Hope the weather is better than today.  Think it was around 80 today though.

Shrouded in fog this morning.

MacGregor Blvd. in Ft. Myers--going by the Edison and Ford winter homes.

Ron & Jan

W. P. Franklin Park, Ft. Myers, FL:  Had to take Mike to an Urgent Care facility in Cape Coral late this morning.  He woke up at around 3:30 with severe pain in his right shoulder.  Thought it might be his RA.  It took until noon before I convinced him he needed to see someone.  Searched on the Internet and found this facility in Cape Coral, so after much prodding he finally agreed to go.  Luckily we got right in and the doctor wrote him a prescription for steroids.  Got back and he took one of the steroid pills along with a couple of pain pills.  He’s now asleep in his chair.  He should be feeling better soon--hopefully.  Also, we discovered we have a little lizard inside our RV.  It’s almost impossible to catch them.  If we can’t I’m afraid he’ll die.  He’s so cute!  And the eagle is back in his lofty perch in a tree across the river from us.  He’s here every year.  

Our resident eagle.

Manatee Lake SP, Sarasota, FL, to W. P. Franklin Park, Ft. Myers, FL:  Left Manatee Lake at 10:00, and of course it’s the warmest day we’ve had since arriving here.  Arrived at W. P. Franklin before noon and were set up by 1:00.  Sat outside enjoying our beautiful view of the Caloosahatchee River.  Called Jan and let her know we were here.  Ron is taking Thursday and Friday off, so we’re planning on going over there Wednesday and having dinner with them.  We drove over to Sanibel Island and had a late lunch at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grill.  I had Mahi Mahi and Mike had a pork chop.  Really good.  I had one Mojito before dinner.  Limited to one since it was pretty potent.  Mike had a Bloody Mary which was loaded with large olives. Explored around Sanibel a little after lunch and then drove back in rush hour traffic.  85 today!!!   Yes!

View of the Caloosahatchee and the estate across from our site.

Doc Ford is the main character in the books of Randy Wayne White.

Only had one of these tasty Mojitos.

Manatee Lake SP, Sarasota, FL:  Today was a lazy day.  Really chilly again this morning, but it warmed up nicely by late morning.  I spent an inordinate amount of time backing up the laptop.  It seems my backup drive is getting full, since I back up both the laptop and the desktop at home.  So I got rid of a bunch of stuff that didn’t need backing up anyway.  After that we had to go back to civilization to get some batteries for our walky-talkies.  I walked to the front gate and Mike picked me up there.  Got the batteries and some groceries.  Then back and sat outside in the sun until it got later and the shadows got longer.  Tomorrow we head to Ft. Myers, FL, and the W. P. Franklin Corps of Engineers campground.  Most of the people in the park left today.  

Tortoises wandered through our site last year.  None this year.  Probably too cold.

The Ringling Mansion

Manatee Lake SP, Sarasota, FL:  This morning Mike cleaned the front cap of the fifth wheel.  Yay!  Looks so much better.  After that we headed out to the barrier islands off Sarasota.  At St. Armands Key we parked at a cute little area of shops and restaurants (built by Ringling) and had lunch at Cha Cha Coconuts, a little sidewalk café.  Mike had gumbo which he said was the best he’d ever had, and I had a really good Cuban sandwich.  After lunch we walked around a little.  Ringling sure did a lot for the Sarasota area.  Continued on to Long Boat Key and finally all the way up to Santa Maria Island.  Rt. 64 which our park is on dead ends on Santa Maria Island, so we took that back to our park.  A really pretty day.  It was 74 in Sarasota, cooler on the islands. 

The Ringlings had a huge art collection.  Most of it is now housed in this building.  Some of it is still in the mansion.

Front gate all decorated for the holidays.

Christmas tree in the park at St. Armands.

Skyway Bridge viewed from Santa Maria Island.

This kid was frolicking around in the water.  Water temp 66 degrees.  OMG!

Manatee Lake, Sarasota, FL:  A beautiful day under a cloudless cerulean sky.  Cold in the morning though. But it warmed up nicely. Sat outside in the sun reading for a while.  After lunch we walked down to the lake.  Manatee Lake is a pretty little lake that supplies water for a couple of counties in Florida.  Swimming is allowed, but I would worry about gators.  Sites are really nice here.  Ours is really private with nobody on either side of us.  Nice and quiet too.  Guess everyone was out shopping.  We wanted nothing to do with that.  Left-over turkey dinner tonight.  

Really pretty in here.  We're surrounded by trees covered in Spanish moss and palmettos.

Don't think so.

Pretty Lake Manatee

Mikey taking a break.