W. P. Franklin Corps of Engineers Campground, N. Ft. Myers, FL: Really cold this morning. Thought Ron and Jan would come over today or tomorrow but Jan wasn’t feeling real great so we went over there. Ron, Mike and I drove over to see some modular home models. They’re thinking of buying a beautiful three bedroom with a huge kitchen and also a large porch. We were going to order pizza when we got back but the Pizza Hut ovens were down and awaiting repair. Stopped at Publix on the way home to pick up some things. Left-overs for dinner. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer.

Osprey

Everglades National Park

W. P. Franklin Corps of Engineers Campground, N. Ft. Myers, FL: This morning was just plain cold! It was only 49 degrees inside. Of course I always have the bedroom window open. Needless to say, we had the heat on this morning. Mike didn’t even go out to deal with the slide until early afternoon when it warmed up a little. But, he was able to fix the thing—at least temporarily. And between the bolts Mike bought and the ones my brother, Ron, gave him, we have a good supply for a while. I only went outside once. The sun was warm, but the wind kept it pretty cool all day. We hung out inside. I made a big breakfast because we both woke up hungry. Fried up some potatoes with peppers and onions, along with eggs, sausage, and rolls. Tasted pretty good. We had two eagles out on the tree across the river from us this morning. It’s like an aviary here—all kinds of birds.

W. P. Franklin Corps of Engineers Campground, N. Ft. Myers, FL: This morning dawned misty and chilly. Mike didn’t want to mess around with trying to fix the slide since he’d have to crawl under there in all the wetness. So, we took a load of laundry over to the laundry room and got that going. After the wash was done we put it in the dryer and went back and watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Went back to get the clothes out of the dryer and someone had opened the door and then not shut it, so everything was still wet. Put more money in the dryer and then back to the parade. Finally dried the clothes, folded and put away. Started dinner around 1:00. We bought a turkey breast that was fully cooked and packaged in plastic. All I had to do was remove the outer plastic covering, put a slit in the inner covering so the steam would escape and then stick it in a pan in a 325 degree oven for an hour. It came out so good! It was really juicy. There was so much juice I made a nice gravy. So we had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, and rolls. Stuffed ourselves. Watched TV for a while and then went for a walk since the sun finally came out. A really nice day.

White ibis hanging out in our site

W. P. Franklin Corps of Engineers Campground, N. Ft. Myers, FL: Rained all day today. Still warm though, but supposed to cool down and then get cold. The eagle was out on his lofty perch in the tree across the river from us all day. Even in the pouring down rain. Early afternoon we discovered water coming in around the kitchen area. Turns out the kitchen slide wasn’t out all the way so it hadn’t created a seal—because the bolt on the slide mechanism sheared off again and it wasn’t going in and out correctly. So, we’ll have to deal with that before we leave for the Keys. Left around 5:00 to meet my brother, Ron, and his wife, Jan, for dinner. A great dinner and stopped at their place for a little while and then back home. So humid our towels didn’t dry out at all, so Mike took them over to the laundry to throw them in the dryer.

View of the river from our site--on a nicer day

W. P. Franklin Corps of Engineers Campground, N. Ft. Myers, FL: Cloudy and humid this morning. The resident eagle is still around, hanging out in the tree across the river from us all morning. He snagged a fish and sat on the pilings devouring his catch. Cleaned the front of the fifth wheel and then relaxed the rest of the day. Think it hit 86 today but it’s supposed to cool off later this week. And less humid. Not complaining though.

Our resident eagle

Devouring his catch

W. P. Franklin Corps of Engineers Campground, N. Ft. Myers, FL: Left at around 10:30 this morning and arrived at W. P. Franklin at about 12:00. I did all the driving, so I thought I’d back into the site with Mike giving directions. Needless to say, we provided some entertainment. Finally managed to get it backed in and got set up. Really humid. After setting up we sat outside relaxing, reading, and enjoying the view. The river was like glass. Went for a walk and then came back and grilled some hot dogs. Started pouring with lots of thunder and lightning.

View of the river from our site

Sun, 11/22/09 Manatee Lake SRA, Bradenton, FL: This morning I cleaned the cabinets where we saw mouse activity and threw away the worthless have-a-heart trap. Cleaned up some other areas and then just relaxed the rest of the day. Didn’t even go for a walk. The Grisham novel I’m reading is really good. Hard to put down. I entered the Osolo Theater web site onto my favorites so when we’re here next year we’ll be able to get on-line and see what’s playing and buy tickets. A mostly cloudy and breezy day. Tomorrow we leave for Ft. Myers and the W. P. Franklin Corps of Engineers park on the Caloosahatchie River.

The Tower on the Ringling Estate

Views from the tower