February 10, 2015

Tuesday, February 10^th

 

Wow, sometimes it seems that time passes in warp speed! This past week with Janelle was a lot of fun and we were sad that we had to let her go back home today. Since she had an early evening flight, there was still some time to do things with her after she packed up all her things.

 

 

 

We stopped by the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, but it seemed like everyone else in Florida decided to do the same thing this morning. Even the overflow parking lot was filled. At the third lot where Cordell parked, he was advised that egress would not be possible during the midafternoon hour when parents were picking up children from school. There was a long line waiting to purchase tickets, so we decided that we would not have enough time for a tour.

 

But, Janelle did get an opportunity to see some of the sites like the gardens where Ford grew and tested more than 17,000 thousand plant samples in his quest to find an alternate source of rubber.

 

 

 

She also saw the huge banyan tree that is one of the largest in the continental United States. It has a 390 feet circumference of aerial roots.

 

 

We left the estates and drove into downtown old Fort Myers. Thomas Edison spent the last 30 winters of his life here and he became so enamored with the city’s royal palm trees that he had some more imported from Cuba and panted along the street where he lived

 

 

Janelle saw the historic oak tree that began growing before our U.S. Constitution was drafted. This tree was significant because the Lee County Courthouse was built nearby. Despite efforts to preserve the tree and secure its limbs by inserting steel pins in it, there came a time when a decision was made that it was too unsafe to leave it as it was. After much consideration, a local resident immortalized the tree when he created from the base and trunk the very symbol of Liberty--an eagle in flight.

 

 

 While we checked out a few shops, we spied this cute sign.

 

 

Last year, we enjoyed eating at Ford’s Garage and we stopped there today to share this fun place with Janelle. It was a bit windy so we decided to eat inside. There is a 1929 Model A Ford suspended from the ceiling.

 

Janelle and I enjoyed a slider sample.

 

 

 Cordell’s hamburger bun was stamped with the restaurant name.

 

 

 We took Janelle to Centennial Park in the River District part of Fort Myers. There she visited a fountain memorial entitled Uncommon Friends which is a tribute of the bond shared by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, three of the city’s most famous winter residents.

 

 

We returned to our condo for a short rest and Janelle ate an early dinner since her flight was scheduled to depart at 6:20 p.m. We had some extra time before she had to board, so we amused ourselves and several other people in the nearby vicinity while we played the Heads Up Game which is an app on our smart phones. Janelle chose to play the one which required one of us to act out words which are displayed on our screens while the other persons try to guess the word. I noticed that we were getting some strange looks from other passengers. Times have certainly changed since we occupied our children while playing “I Spy”.

 

 

 Cordell hugged Janelle goodbye when it came time to go through the security gate.

 

 

I was allowed to accompany Janelle to the gate since she is a minor traveling alone.

 

 

I intended to remain at the gate area until her plane departed. Sometime after boarding, she sent me a text informing me that a full maintenance check needed to be performed since the plane had encountered a bird on its trip to Fort Myers from D.C. I began to worry a bit as is my nature. After more time passed, she texted me again to tell me that there was going to be a longer delay while some part of the engine had to be replaced. At that point, I just wanted to snatch her off that plane and make other flight arrangements. I contacted my four prayer partners and they began to intercede on Janelle’s behalf. There was a beautiful sunset and had Janelle’s plane departed on schedule I would have been able to see it lift off.

 

 

At last, the plane pushed back and started to taxi down the runway taking a big part of my heart with it. We relied on the airport’s electronic information boards to verify that she was in flight. We returned home and constantly kept check our flight tracker app until she landed safely at Reagan National Airport. Shortly after, we received a text from Corinne that she had Janelle with her and it was then that I relaxed.