February 9, 2012

We made another trip to Sanibel Island today. This time, we went earlier because our main objective was to take a tram tour through the J.N. “Ding Darling” National Wildlife Refuge. We found out from our previous trips there that without a reservation the tram tours fill up quickly.

While we were waiting for our tour time, we drove to the end of Sanibel Island and onto Captiva Island which is much smaller. Boy did we see some fancy homes! Quite a few houses were for sale and we saw some new ones being constructed. The landscaping is absolutely beautiful. I cannot fathom the amount of money it takes not only to furnish these homes, but to pay for the upkeep of them—and the insurance must be really, really high.

We bought sub sandwiches for lunch in a small strip mall that had some other fast food eateries. We were able to eat in an area provided outside. I think if some of our shops in Maryland would create outside eating places like these they would be very popular.

We began our time at the refuge with the tram tour through the Wildlife Drive—a distance of 4 miles that lasted almost 2 hours. You can take your own vehicle along this drive, ride bike or even walk. We noticed people scanning signs along the way with their smartphones and they were able to receive videos or other information. This makes me want to go back and try to do it with Cordell’s iPad.

We saw an abundance of birds during our ride...

...a gopher tortoise....

...tree crabs...

...and alligators, of course.

 

I especially liked the Anhinga bird. We saw a lot of them sitting on tree branches with their wings spread out. Their feathers become completely wet upon contact with water and they lose body heat quickly. Sometimes they are called “turkey birds” because while drying their feathers their tail resembles that of a turkey when it is fanned out. They are also known as “snake birds” because their small head appears like an extension of its snakelike head when it is swimming. Others call it the piano bird because it has white feathers mixed in with the black ones on its back which resemble piano keys.

The Roseate Spoonbills are often mistaken for flamingos. But, we learned that flamingos are not native to Florida.

We got off the tram and walked back to an area that our guide told us was the way that all south Florida looked like before it was developed. They are doing a great job of preserving this area, but it is a constant struggle and the future, like the Everglades, is not certain. I like this island so much precisely because it has no high rise resorts and condos. The guide told us that no structure can be build higher than the highest tree on Sanibel Island. I hope it stays that way forever!

This refuge has many interesting things to do, including canoeing, kayaking, pontoon boating, hiking, fishing, nature and sea life cruises, sunset tours and touch tank explorations. There is a very informative nature center that has a Children’s Discovery Area with interactive exhibits and lots of items for touching.

We often check for geocache sites wherever we go and there were several listed on Sanibel Island. We chose 3 of them to search for and again we were successful by locating 3 out of 3.

Cordell found the Cache Cow tucked up in the base of a tree in parking lot of The Island Cow Restaurant.

I found the Gulf Side City Park Cache just steps off the pathway to the beach. We were approached by a group of people who were leaving the beach. They were curious and so we were able to explain the sport of geocaching to them. There was a traveling bug named "Boba Futterfly" inside that I took and now I must place it in another cache. This bug's mission is to win a travel bug race that ends in the Tampa Bay area.

I found the Cousins Cache which is an ammo box placed at the base of a tree and covered with a slab of wood. I think that Cordell purposely walks past these easy finds to give me a chance to discover them!

While walking to the Cousins Cache, we passed this mailbox that I suppose you could say has been "dedazzled". I took this photo for my granddaughters in case they might want to try doing something similar to their mailboxes.

February 8, 2012

We drove almost two hours south today to the Everglades. For sure there was less traffic than what we see on Route 4 in just one rush hour. Very nice roadway for a large part of our drive---straight and with limited access. This is part of "Alligator Alley" which goes from Naples on the west coast to Weston on the east coast of Florida.

We visited the section at Shark Valley because tram tours are offered. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and a great storyteller. We learned a lot about the Glades—such as it is not a swamp, but a river, the ground underneath is limestone and below that is one of the largest aquifers in the United States.

We saw several varieties of birds and more alligators that I had imagined.

People were biking along the same roadway that the tram used. I would not have been comfortable being so personally up and close with the alligators. Cordell had no such qualms.

On our way back to Ft. Myers, we drove along a highway #41 which has a waterway that parallels the road and I was absolutely amazed at the number of gators I saw---many more than what I had seen on our Glades tram tour.

February 6 & 7, 2012

Monday, February 6^th

Today, the sky was very cloudy and we knew rain was expected in most areas. However, we took a ride to Lover’s Key State Park.

We knew there was a snack bar at the park and decided we would eat lunch there. We didn’t know until after we had paid our admission and parked our car that the snack bar was 3,000 feet away at the beach. We decided to ride the tram rather than walk.

There were really nice lounge chairs to rent as well as umbrellas. While we were eating our hamburgers we noticed that the dark clouds were moving towards us.

So, we decided to return to our car and head back to our room. It was a good decision because it did rain.

Tuesday, February 7th

We spent our time today looking for more geocaches and we were very successful. We were able to find 5 out of 5 hides.

I walked right past the first one, but Cordell spied this small tube hanging in a tree.

This one was a larger size and I found it next to a tree in an area near a lake.

Our third find was the most difficult rated cache we have found and I finally found it, after we did some searching and pondered the clues. The sign post I pulled up had a hold drilled in the bottom and it slipped down onto a spike. The small tube was on the top of the spike. Finding this cache has boosted our confidence.

All caches have log books that we sign.

Some have items that we can take so long as we leave something in return.

The fourth cache was in a magnetic key box and we knew it was going to be along a guardrail. This cache was different from anything else we have found because we were instructed to move it along the guardrail in either direction, but no more than one post away from where we found it. I hid it a little better than how we had found it.

And the last cache we looked for today was under a pile of rocks at the base of a light pole.

It is amazing that there are so many caches all over the world. We will be looking for more while we are away from home and look forward to continuing our efforts back home.

February 5, 2012

Not much happening with us today. We went back to Saint Michael Lutheran Church this morning and the sermon was about work. Even the children's sermon was about work. All the references to things that make work stressful, frustrating and boring were really no concern to us retired folks. However, we were reminded how we all can and should work for the Lord.

We stopped in the Super Walmart after church to get our groceries for dinner tonight. It looked like everyone else had the same idea! And from what I have heard, it seems to have been the same scene in Calvert County, too. We prepared a strir fry meal during half time and it was ready to serve just as the second half began.

So, we enjoyed a good Super Bowl game and once again I rooted for the losing team. I must be a jinx! I can't believe that the Redskins beat this Super Bowl champion team two times this season.

My daughter-in-law posted a photo on Facebook of snow in her area today in Mt. Airy. We sure don't miss it.

February 3 & 4, 2012

It was cloudy all day yesterday with some rain here and there, now and then. However, it never rained on us. The two times that we drove out somewhere, the parking lot at our hotel was wet when we returned, but the shower had passed before we got back. It was a good day for inside activities.

We went to an early afternoon movie and saw “Red Tails”. We don’t often go to the movies since there are not many films that we even want to see. This was a very good movie and I think there might be some Academy Award nominations for it.

There was a humorous moment when we arrived at the shopping center to go to the movie. After Cordell got out of the car, he noticed that he was wearing his bedroom slippers! We did not have time to come back to our suite for him to change into his shoes.

We both had a good long laugh over that. A couple of evenings before this incident, when it came time to pay for our meal at a restaurant, Cordell unknowingly gave our server the hotel key card instead of a credit card. The waiter scooped up the bill and card and took them away to process our payment. We were a bit embarrassed and had a laugh when the server returned and told us that it was our room card. I wonder what is going to happen next?

Today was another beautiful warm Florida day—85 degrees and very few clouds. A local person suggested that we visit Delnor -Wiggins Pass State Recreational Area. So that was our adventure today. There are several parking areas spaced along the road inside the park. Each one has access to the beach, restrooms, picnic tables and grills. I like it that we did not have to drive to a special area for picnics—we just walked off the beach, got our food from the car and sat in the shade while we ate our lunch.

There was a Marine unit working out on the beach when we arrived. They were constantly drilling and exercising. I was able to understand why they are strong men. It sure looked like a nice place to work out---even though it was hot, there was a refreshing breeze blowing.

Here we are before lunch:

And here is lunch—PB&J sandwiches again:

And here we are after lunch:

I don't think either of us were snoring---at least no one punched us awake!

Did you ever have the feeling that someone was watching you? Well I did while I was stretched out on a beach mat and this is what was watching me:

I still am amazed at the audacity of these birds. Cordell tossed a sharp piece of a seashell I found over into the brush so no one would cut their foot. A few seconds later, there was the seagull pecking around it.

We saw a couple of porpoises swimming in the water today. If you enlarge this photo, you can see the one I am looking at in the right side of the picture.

And here is a close-up shot:

This park has a nice nature walk with signs posted along the boardwalk explaining the history and uses of the various plants. There also are some benches and areas developed around the outside showers as well as nicely constructed wooded trash receptacles and recycle bins which were done as an Eagle Scout project by some Boy Scouts.

We climbed an observation tower just to say we did. I suppose we were above the tops of most of the trees, but we still couldn't see as much a I had hoped.

It has been difficult for us to stay awake until it is a decent time to go to bed tonight. Is is possible that being retired is making us tired?

I was happy to receive news tonight that my cousin, Ken, has improved enough to be released from the hospital. His lung is expanding and we pray that it will fully inflate with no more problems.

February 2, 2012

We have had a very restful day. I didn’t have a great amount of energy since that long bike ride yesterday. Maybe it was the weather that made me want to laze around.

It has been cloudy most of the day, but the temps still remain in the 80s. We are expecting another cloudy day tomorrow.

Cordell took our Explorer to have the oil changed while I did some shopping. I bought myself some more summer clothes and a new beach bag.

We ate Pizza Hut pizza (my favorite pizza) while we were at a Super Target. Both of us took naps this afternoon.

We had dinner this evening at Two Meatballs In The Kitchen.The service was quick and it was one of the best meals I’ve eaten since we’ve been on this vacation. It must have been the wine that made everything taste so good. It also helped me take another nap while watching TV tonight.

It looks like we are learning to “deal” with this retirement thing!

February 1, 2012

Most of our time today was spent on Sanibel Island. This was our second time on the island and so far, it is the place I like best.

Someone at this visitor’s center had a good sense of humor to post this sign. It says "Please wipe snow from shoes before entering building."

We rented bicycles and rode about 10 miles.

There are many really nice bike paths. Some paths pretty much parallel the road...

...and others go deeper into the preserved areas.

There were a lot of other people riding bikes, but we saw very few on the path we took away from the street.

Perhaps it was the possibility of seeing an alligator that kept most people away.

We never spotted an alligator, but I will admit to being a little nervous when I was on foot in that section . Every noise in the undergrowth sounded like it could be an alligator to me. Cordell has no such worries for it is the same thing as bears in the mountains when we are hiking for he know that all he has to do is out run me!

Cordell wondered if an alligator should bite off someone's leg, would they still be fined the $500.00 for feeding the alligator?

We saw other wildlife including a large osprey, a heron and a red shouldered hawk, but the most surprising was a huge iguana perched in a tree.

There are many areas that give public access to the beaches. This is the only one we have seen where boats can be anchored so closely to the shore. Instead of driving or biking to this beach, those people arrived in their boats.

There is a lighthouse on this island that began operating in 1884 and is still in use.

The temperature was 86 degrees here by late afternoon. We hear that it was one degree below the record for this date. My granddaughter and her mother spent time on the beach at Chesapeake Beach today. So it appears that we haven’t escaped all that much cold weather after all.