An update on our time in Fort Myers

I can't believe that it has been 3 weeks since I last posted on the Blog. I have been doing some motorcycle riding with Dale, Bob and Jeff. Most of the trips have been for 200 to 230 miles. The one thing about riding in Florida is your rear tire begins to look like a racing slick because there are not very many curves to lean into and round the corners off your tires.

On the 15th Sandy and I drove to Tampa to a large RV show that was held there. Some friends of ours were at a rally where the show was held so we thought we could see if we could find them there. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone so we never did find them. But when we got back to the motorhome I had an voice message from Mark saying they would be in Fort Myers in a couple of days. So we made arrangements to meet at there motor home for supper when they got here. It was good to visit with them again.
It had been about a year since we last saw Richard and Patsy. We did see Mark and Sue this fall as they came through Minnesota.

Richard, Mark and Patsy.












On the 19th Dale, Bob and I went on a motorcycle ride around Lake Okeechobee. The one thing I had forgotten was that you cannot see the lake unless you get up on the dike that runs the perimeter of the lake.

Here's Dale in the lead with Bob following.




This is the dike that runs around Lake Okeechobee.

Here is a park and marina in Pahokee, FL on the SE side of the lake. Okeechobee is about twice the size of Mille Lacs Lake back home.

One day we met with a group of friends for a late lunch at Matanzas in Fort Myers Beach.

There is nothing like catching people off guard when taking a picture. Jane, Paul, Sandy, Mary and Dale. Part of the group of 14 at lunch.


This Snowy Egret was on the outside eating deck waiting for treats.

After lunch we went to the beach to watch the sunset. A long pier and some shops are along the beach.

Paul, Dale and I walked out onto the pier where a Brown Pelican decided to land and pose for me.

Sandy, Mary and Jane went to the other “pier”, The Pier Peddler.










We stayed for the sunset.







Bob, Dale and I went on a motorcycle ride on the 26th to Don Pedro Island and then to Boca Grande for lunch with a view of the beach.

When we got back to the park we went to an entertainment show put on by “The Marlin’s”. They are a group of 4 brothers who put on a very entertaining show.

Some candid photos of some friends at our table. Sandy, ? and Bob.

Brenda and Georgeann.

Steve and Dave.

Mary and Dale.

Sandy and I went to the Edison & Ford Winter Estate museum. It was very interesting with lots of Edison’s inventions on display. It was kind of interesting how Edison came to buy this property. His doctors told him that he needed to be in some warmer climate because of some health issues so in 1885 he went to St. Augustine, FL because that’s where all the people with money from the NE went. But as it turned out, Florida was having its coldest winter on record, until this year, so he took the train to the gulf coast and took a boat south to Fort Myers (founded in 1885 and with a population of 300). He found a 13 acre parcel on the Caloosahatchee River that he paid the unheard price of $2,750. The normal price should have been $325 to $390 as the going price was $25 to $30 an acre. Ford purchased a house on 7 acres right next to Edison in 1916.

1917 Model T. Dad, wasn't that the same year as the one we brought back from the farm that Grandpa had?

1940? Flat head.













This is a 75,000 watt light bulb that would give you sunburn if you stood under it too long. It stands about 3 foot tall.









This Mysore Fig tree has a most interesting root system.

















Fords winter home.

This is the Edison main house. Just to the right of this is a mirror image home that was the guest house and is attached by a pergola.


This Banyan tree was planted in the early 1920s when Edison, Ford and Firestone started a company to find a way to make rubber so the country would not be so dependent on foreign suppliers. The original tree was 4 feet high with a trunk diameter of 2 inches.

The trunk with the white label is the original trunk.

Now the tree has a crown spread of 222 feet, stands 84 feet tall and spreads over one acre. The tree spreads from "spider" vines that decend from branches and start a new trunk when they reach the ground and start to take root.

One of the sources they developed was a hybrid Golden Rod that stood 142 inches tall. How would you like a field of that close by in hay fever season?













One night, members of the park put on a show called “The Oldie Wed Game”, a takeoff of the Newly Wed Game. It was quite entertaining.

One evening just before dusk the moon was coming into view. Right now it's so large because it is closer to the earth than any other time of the year.

Sandy and I are looking forward to next week because we are going to Orlando and we're staying at Disney's Fort Wildernes Campground for a week. Then after the week in mouseland we come back here to Fort Myers for a month before heading to Georgia and slowly working our way back to Minnesota.

Until next time,
Dave and Sandy.

Now that we are ALL experiencing GLOBIAL WARMING.....

I know a couple guys back home, Terry S and Terry G, who are loving the cold as it is making the ice thicker. All I can say is leave some crappies in the lakes for when I get back this spring.

The weather here, although not as cold as a lot of other areas, has been unseasonably cool. Most days have been in the middle 50's. Yesterday was real nice with a high of 70, but today we are supposed to have a high of 47, which I don't believe we will make as it's only 38 degrees at 11:30AM with rain. I think this will be a day to start a new book.

Most of my reading in the past has been books on history and biographies. But a couple of years ago I started to read some spy, mystery, action books. Both Sandy and I have read the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. They are about a former Military Policeman who travels the country and keeps getting involved in situations. If you decide to read this series, start with the seventh book in the series “The Enemy” as it is the Prequel to the series. A friend of ours mentioned a set of books by Nevada Barr, that has a heroin named Anna Pigeon, who is a Park Ranger sent on temporary assignments in different National Parks around the country. Although not as intense as the Jack Reacher books, they were fun to read as we have been to some of those National Parks. I have read them and Sandy is into the third book of the series. The series that I just finished was the Mitch Rapp books written by Vince Flynn. In these books the character is a CIA agent. In my opinion, these books could have been the basis for Jack Bauer in the TV series “24”. For me they were very hard to put down once I started. Sandy kept telling me to slow down or I would run out of books to read, but I just got so engrossed in them, I couldn't stop. Now I’m looking forward to reading a series of books by John Sandford who’s main character is a the only member of the “Office of Special Intelligence”. I have not read any of the books yet so I don’t know which police department, but it is in Minneapolis or St. Paul. If anyone has any suggestions for books to read in the future, please let me know.


On Thursday the 7th, Bob, Jeff and I went on a motorcycle trip. We rode south through Immokalee down to Hwy 41 then west to Marco Island and then back north through Naples, back up to Immokalee and then back to Fort Myers. It got up to 63 degrees so it was not too bad for the 220 mile trip.

Yesterday I did a little fishing in the lake by Dale’s lot. In the first 5 casts I had 3 bass and lost one. Then for the next 10 minutes of fishing I caught one more, a whopping 12 incher. Jeff, with whom I went riding, said he caught a 7 pounder in the other lake in the park last year. So when this cold front leaves I’m going to do a little fishing.

Until next time,
Dave and Sandy