January 10-13, 2015

 

Saturday, January 10^th

Other than going for a bike ride around the neighborhood, this was a lazy day for us. Since I hadn’t ridden my bike for several months, my leg muscles were out of shape and they let me know it!

 

 

 

We watched the pro football playoff games on TV and were sad that the Baltimore Ravens were not able to win.

Sunday, January 11^th

 

Today, we worshipped at Southwest Baptist Church here in Fort Myers. Our upstairs neighbor, Al, who is a year round resident, invited us to attend. At this time of the year, the church adds an extra service to accommodate all the extra people. It is a country worship service and today there were three people playing guitars, one playing a mandolin and a piano player.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the hymns we sang were ones I grew up singing in southwestern Virginia. The Pastor sang a solo and has a very gifted voice. There were two guest ministers who gave a message about prayer evangelism. One point that I will remember is that when we pray with someone, we immediately usher them in the presence of God.

                                                    

After we returned home, we took a short walk around the neighborhood. I noticed several homes that have poinsettias in their yards.

Then we were ready to settle in for a nice afternoon of watching more of the pro football playoff games. We were glad to see Green Bay beating the Dallas Cowboys (the team we like least and that’s putting it mildly). When things seemed to be turning around in favor of the Cowboys shortly before half time, Cordell mentioned that he would rather be geocaching than watching Dallas win. So, in a flash, we were out the door and off. However, when we were beginning to look for our third cache, a rain shower came up and we decided to come back home. The Packers and Cowboys were still playing and we were joyful to see that Green Bay was ahead. So, we happily watched the Boys lose!

 

We stopped by a warm mineral springs site that is located at a Day’s Inn. It is advertised as one of a few dozen natural springs in the U.S. It was located in the 1960’s by a company drilling for oil. The iron, calcium, sodium and sulfates contained in this spring water are known for their healing and restorative powers.

There lots of building with murals painted on them and this one was near the springs.

 

At another of the geocache sites, I saw a plastic clothespin attached to a spider web. I still wonder how it got there and how it stays there. I didn’t see any little spider clothes drying on the spider line.

 

 

Today was one of my granddaughter’s birthdays. It was nice to have a video call with her. We also had a video call from Janelle while she was at our house checking things out for us. She showed us that there was still a bit of snow on the ground outside.

 

Monday, January 12^th

 

Today we visited Mantanzas Pass Perserve which is located on Estero Island near Fort Myers Beach. Estero Bay was the first waterbody in Florida to receive Aquatic Preserve designation in 1966. Today, there are 42 aquatic preserves in the State of Florida. This Preserve offers 1.25 miles of trails that wind through the canopies of mangroves and an oak hammock. There were times when we were hiking the trails that I felt like this must have been what old Florida looked like before it was settled.

 

 

 

 

 

During 1920-1940, beach residents relied on collection of rain water for fresh water. There was a rain barrel which had been relocated from a beach cottage and reconstructed at the preserve by an Eagle Boy Scout after it was destroyed during hurricane Charley in 2004.

 

We spent some time at a boardwalk pavilion gathering information we needed to claim a find for an EarthCache. We met a couple from Wisconsin who were staying for only one month. But, they were happy like us to escape the weather at home.

 

After they left, we were alone and several minutes later we heard a strange sound. Finally, we discovered that it came from a dolphin that was swimming very nearby us. Each time he broke the surface, we could hear him breathing.

On our way home, we stopped by a couple of stores. I saw a sign at a thrift shop that I found amusing.

 

 

On our way to a Target, I saw petty palm trees that at first seemed to be a mural on the wall. But, as we got closer, I discovered that they were alive.

 

 

Back at “home”, I was pleased that it was warm enough to sit on the lanai and use my laptop especially after learning that schools in Mount Airy were closed and other school districts in Maryland had a two hour delay due to winter weather.

 

 

Cordell enjoyed his time on the lanai in another way!

 

 

Tuesday, January 13^th

 

Early this morning, the maintenance crew began mowing the grass in our section of the development. It is strange to think about doing yard work in January. This photo captured the snow and snowman decals I put on the sliding glass doors.

 

 

This turned out to be probably the most beautiful day we have had so far this month. By 1:00 p.m., it was 82 degrees and the sun was shining like I expect it to do in Florida. We have been reading and hearing that snow is expected at home tomorrow. Cordell and I agreed that it would be nice to experience at least one snowfall. Some of our family has been able to purchase some air fares for very, very reasonable prices. I mentioned that maybe we should just go over to the Fort Myers airport and catch a flight to Maine and visit there for two or three days. Cordell wondered how would we explain that to anyone so that it would keep us out of the insane asylum!

We visited ten geocaches today and my favorite was a resin like frog that I found on the ground under some palm trees.

 

 

We made a quick stop at McDonald’s and ate our lunch outside. It actually was warmer outside than inside the restaurant with the air conditioning running.

 

 

We finally had to quit playing and do some serious grocery shopping. I was amused when I saw a golf cart with a Wisconsin license tag in the parking lot. I could just imagine some senior citizen driving all the way to Fort Myers from Wisconsin and wondered if he was no longer allowed to drive an automobile.

 

 

And so the end of this near perfect day had a gorgeous sunset.