January 30-31, 2015

Friday, January 30th

 

We had another quiet day hanging out at the condo. After all, we do have to take time to wash our clothes and take care of some other things.
 

I had left overs for lunch today and the best part of the meal was that I also had some leftover wine to drink. It seems like everything tastes better with wine! I haven’t tried it with a PB&J sandwich----yet.

 

 

We took a quick run out to Walmart and I have never seen such a nice area in one of their parking lots.

 

 

We saw a vehicle towing a boat and the motor looked huge!

 

 

When we took our walk through the neighborhood late this afternoon, we strolled up to the Club House and checked out the swimming pool. There were three people basking in the sun. We haven’t taken advantage of the pool and hot tub yet, but it is only a matter of time until we do.
 

I found it interesting to see that there are two parking spaces reserved at the Club for the male and female golf club champions. That’s a nice perk, especially since their names are written on the signs.

 

 

There were more ibises walking around in the neighborhood yards today. I think I have seen more of them than I have of squirrels!

 

 

When the sun set tonight, I was reminded of the old hymn, “Now the Day is Over”.
 

Now the day is over,

Night is drawing nigh;

Shadows of the evening

Steal across the sky.

Jesus, give the weary

Calm and sweet repose;

With Thy tend'rest blessing

May mine eyelids close.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, January 31st

 

Wow, it’s hard to believe how quickly the time has passed! Already one-third of our vacation here in Fort Myers is over.
 

Today we went to Wild Turkey Strand Preserve. It was acquired as three parcels in 2001, 2003 and 2008 and totals 3,137 acres. Preserves such as this one are immensely important since 93% of Florida residents get their drinking water from ground water sources—more than any other state. Due to negative impacts that result from withdrawing too much water from the aquifers, only a fraction of that amount is available for use. The preserve provides the ability for the land to absorb water to prevent flooding and to help keep the aquifer supplied with clean drinking water.

 

 

We hiked at least 1.8 miles in the Wild Turkey Strand Preserve.

 

 

 

Portions of this site were once part of the Buckingham Army Air Field’s Flexible Gunnery School. It was here that recruits trained over 5 weeks as turret gunners assigned to bomber planes flying in the European and Pacific Theaters during WWII. I thought it was appropriate that we saw several airplanes flying over while we were here. Today, they were commercial airplanes, but I could imagine how it must have sounded during 1942-1945.

 

 

 

 

 

By the war's end, more than 50,000 gunners had trained here.  The airfield and gunnery school included runways and taxiways, a railway, rifle and small arms ranges, skeet and trap shooting ranges, ground moving target ranges, parachute/ditch training grounds, and hundreds of buildings.

 

 

 

As I was standing on one of the remaining concrete turret foundations, I paused to think about all of the men who had been in this very place and was thankful again for the sacrifices they made for our freedom.

 

 

There are two solid concrete structures on the site and no one is really sure what purpose they served. There are two ventilation holes on the front—one of which is very near ground level. I peeked inside one of the buildings and was amazed to see an uncountable number of wasps nests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part of the trail is comprised of a rubberized material that makes it easier for a handicapped person to travel. Boardwalks make up a very small portion. Most of it is just a trodden path on the sandy like soil or grass. However, some sections are covered with gravel and a seashell mixture which we have never traveled on in Maryland.

 

 

 

 

January 28-29, 2015

 

Wednesday, January 28^th

 

Winter has definitely arrived in Fort Myers. It was a bit too chilly when we woke up this morning, so we turned the heat on in our condo for the first time since our arrival. We ran the furnace just long enough to knock the chill off.

 

We just stayed inside most of the day. After two full years of Cordell’s retirement, we have the art of doing nothing and doing anything we want to down pretty pat.

 

 

When we took a walk through the neighborhood late this afternoon, the temperature was 68° which I felt was a little chilly until I saw that it was 34° in Mount Airy, Maryland. How soon we forget!

 

When I saw this sign along the side of the golf course here at Crown Colony, I figured that there must be some golfers who play a la Cordell.

 

 

 

Thursday, January 29^th

 

Oh my, was this ever a full day! We met our local friend, Brian, at his house at 9:00 a.m. and drove to Punta Gorda where we intended to find some geocaches. There aren’t too many caches left in the surrounding counties that Brian hasn’t already found. But, he delights in accompanying other caches and I wanted to take advantage of his experience.

 

 

 

Punta Gorda, comes from the Spanish, meaning "Fat Point." This historic small town is a hidden treasure of Florida and lies as a “Fat Point,” sticking out into Charlotte Harbor – one of the US's largest natural harbors.

 

 

 

Punta Gorda was the scene of massive destruction after Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 hurricane, came through the city on August 13, 2004.  Charley was the strongest tropical system to hit Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and the first hurricane since Hurricane Donna in 1960 to make a direct hit on Florida's southwest coast.

 

The Spirit of Punta Goda memorial is comprised of a bent tree that symbolizes the wind that stopped the town clock at 4:29 p.m. on the day Hurricane Charley hit the town. Like the upright tree, the citizens stood tall.

 

 

The revitalization of the city that took place in the immediate years following the storm include new buildings, restorations and amenities which  preserve the city's past while showcasing state-of-the art modern facilities.

 

 

 Railroad Station

 

 

We took a walk along part of the 2.4 mile Harborwalk which extends along the southern shore of The Peace River at Charlotte Harbor as it passes through two beautiful parks.

 

 

I especially liked the various animal and bird footprints that are imprinted in the cement.

 

 

Brain showed us the nicker bean plant and cautioned us to be very careful whenever we are around one of these.

 

 

 

Later, he showed us a mahogany tree. They are under legal protection in Florida and on the Endangered and Threatened list. The fruit they produce are large, oval, woody silvery capsules from 2 to 5 inches long.

 

 

There are bicycles scattered all around the city that have been made into pieces of art. I only took photos of a few of them.

 

 

 

There are also murals on many of the buildings. The Hotel Punta Gorda has one that depicts some of the famous people who had been guests. This one included Clarence Darrow, Henry Ford, author Daniel Beard, Harvey Firestone, Andrew Mellon and tennis pro Patty Berg.

 

 

Even the restrooms at the park had murals painted on the doors.

 

 

We didn’t take advantage of this special that was offered by The Celtic Ray Public House. The outside tables are mounted on glider platforms. I can’t imagine trying to dismount after one too many beers!

 

 

 

While touring in the downtown area, we came across another piece of art, Whispering Giant, Calostimucu, which is an effigy to the first people inhabiting this area. A time capsule is contained in the base.

 

 

After lunch, a decision was made that the three of us would walk across the bridge and back because there were geocaches placed on both spans. The bridge is just over a mile in length, but we wound up walking much longer from the parking lot and back again.

 

 

 

 

At the end of that trek, we stopped at Hurricane Charley’s Hunker Down Patio & Bar to refresh ourselves. I think I was the only person who was drinking a soda. Even the old ladies were either drinking beer or cocktails! There was a small amount of seating inside, but not one soul was there—everyone was outside where we had a great view of the Peace River.

 

When the server asked Cordell if he wanted another beer, he declined and told her that he was the designated walker.  

 

 

Brian took us to find some very unique and interesting geocaches. One of them was camouflaged so well that it was even difficult to see Cordell while he was searching the terrain.

 

 

 

Another cache was hidden in the bottom of a metal fence post and difficult, if not almost impossible to retrieve. This is where we got a good lesson from Brian. He had a fishing lure with a treble hook on the end that he tied to some line, dropped it in the post and fished around until it caught the cache.

 

 

 

 

 

It was dark by the time we found our last cache for the day. From there we ate dinner at the Red Lobster and enjoyed a feast.

 

 



January 26-27, 2015

Monday, January 26^th

This was an uneventful, rather lazy day. There was a lot of wind blowing all day. We did make a quick trip out to the grocery to pick up a few items because we were having a dinner guest tonight. Both of us enjoyed resting and napping for a while in the afternoon, recharging our internal batteries.

 

 

Our local friend and fellow geocacher, Brian Wylie, came to have dinner with us. We also had an ulterior motive—we wanted to pick his brain. He has logged 5,417 geocache finds. We have 2,414, so we figured we could learn a few tricks from him.

 

 

 

We enjoyed sharing dinner and wound up talking until well after midnight. Brian brought us some avocadoes that were grown in his yard. He told us that he has more than he can ever use. A lot of us at home have tomato plants in our backyards, but can you imagine having avocadoes?

 

 

Tuesday, January 27^th
 

Well, some of the folks back home had snow again today and hearing that made us so thankful to be where we are right now.
 

There is so much to see and do on Sanibel Island and we decided to go back there today. This time we took our bicycles and rode a little over 4 miles looking for geocaches.
 

 

 

There are no traffic lights on this 12 mile long island, but there are two intersections where officers direct the flow of cars, bicycles and pedestrians.
 

 
 

There are numerous signs all over the island and once in a while we see one that is a bit different—like this warning for a gopher tortoise crossing:

 

 

…or this bicycle safety rule:

 

 

We found a geocache that was hidden in a sea grape tree at one of the beaches.
 

 

 

My granddaughter asked me to test the water and tell her what the temperature was.
 

 

When our iPhone batteries got low, we stopped for a picnic lunch while we recharged them.

 

 

We are sure that one geocache which we couldn’t find is missing because we saw the tell-tale sign, but not the container.
 

 

 

Back out on the trail, we saw some more interesting things. Most all of the residential areas here are really very nice, but one neighborhood we biked through was especially pretty. One house had flowers growing above the garage door—something I have never seen.

 

 

Many of the mailboxes on the island are uniquely decorated and I thought of my daughter-in-law, Corinne, when I saw this one. When she visited us last year, she bought a string of these buoy floats to use for decorating at her home.