February 5-9, 2015

 

Thursday, February 5^th

 

We had a quiet morning with Janelle to begin our day.

 

Since the weather forecast called for mostly cloudy skies with a chance of rain, we decided to find things to do indoors.

 

Janelle wanted to go to Edison Mall so that was our first stop.

 

We thought it was interesting to see a charging station conveniently placed in the mall.

 

 

We see a lot of people here taking their pets just about anywhere and everywhere. So I should not have been surprised to see this doggie fountain at the mall.

 

 

Cordell was a good sport to accompany us while we looked at a lot of merchandise and bought very little.

 

 

We all chose chicken, rice and vegetables at Chao Cajun Eatery. I preferred the bourbon flavored chicken. Janelle ate bourbon flavored and orange flavored chicken.

 

 

Janelle wanted to find some clothing at a Delia’s shop and we discovered that there was one in Coconut Point Mall. We left Fort Myers and drove to Bonita Springs so Janelle could check it out. Delia’s is going out of business so prices were drastically cut. Janelle found a couple of great bargains.

 

 

 

 

There was a movie that Janelle wanted to see but it didn’t begin until after 5:00 p.m. So after filling in time shopping, we went to the theater and saw The MockingJay part 1, a sequel to the Hunger Games. Janelle had filled us in on the first two movies, so we were up to speed.
 

 

 

 

 

 Friday, February 6^th

 

We spent most all of this day at the Naples Zoo. This is an especially nice place because it began as a botanical park and there are many specimens of plants, trees and flowers that are identified.

 

 

 

The Zoo has two daily shows where they present various animals.

 

 

 

 

Throughout the day, visitors are invited to meet the keepers at various sites. One of the tigers especially likes to play with a ball. He reminded us of an overgrown house cat.

 

 

 

Ibises roam free all over the Zoo and there are stations scattered around where for 25¢ a handful of food for the birds or fish is dispensed. Some of the ibises dare to take the food out of a human hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a boat ride on Victoria Lake and rode past islands where the monkeys and apes live. There is no need for fences or cages because the water acts as a natural barrier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither Janelle nor I elected to feed the giraffe as we had in past years. It costs $5.00 for three leaves of lettuce which is a fun way to contribute to the operational costs of the zoo.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, February 7^th

 

Our first activity this day was to go to the flea market. It is a huge indoor market, but there are produce vendors outside as well. It is hard to realize that we are still in the early part of February when I see fresh Florida grown fruits and vegetables.

 

 

After we “shopped” through just about every aisle of the market, we decided to go somewhere less crowded for lunch. Janelle enjoyed eating lunch outside.

 

 

When we got back to the condo, we made a quick change into our swim suits and spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool.

 

 

Janelle enjoyed reading on the lanai before dinner. She remembers very clearly how cold it is back in Maryland, while Cordell and I tend to forget it.
 

 

 

Before turning in for the night, Janelle helped to make a pie for tomorrow’s dessert.

 

 

Sunday, February 8^th

 

We went to church this morning.

 

 

 

 

After church, Janelle asked us to stop at the Dollar Store so she could get some fingernail polish to use with a fingernail design kit she got at the flea market yesterday.

 

 

We ate a quick lunch at “home” and then went to Six Mile Cyprus Slough Preserve. This was one of the sites that Janelle wanted to visit while she was here with us.

 

 

The preserve contains over 3,400 acres of a wetland ecosystem. We walked the 1.2 mile elevated boardwalk while reading a brochure on our iPhones that we were able to download from a QR symbol posted beside the paper brochure box.

 

 

We saw three baby alligators being watched over by their mama. We were not sure of the ages of the babies, but we learned that their mothers care for them until they are about two years old.

 

 

I found the toilets to be a bit unusual and I think I flushed it properly according to the posted directions.

 

 

 

I think this was the warmest day Janelle has had since she arrived with the temperature reaching 78°.

 

 

 

 

Monday, February 9^th

 

This is Janelle’s last full day with us and we have had such a wonderful time with her. All of us wanted to spend some time on Sanibel Island. It began raining before we left, but the weather can change quickly here and after consulting our weather app, it appeared that the rain would clear.
 

So we loaded up our two bicycles and took various types of clothing with us. It was still raining a little by the time we reached Sanibel, so we spent some time shopping in the shell shop and other shops.

 

Shortly before noon, we rented a bicycle for Janelle and we enjoyed biking around the island for a couple of hours. We did manage to find 5 geocaches that were hidden along the bike trail.

 

 

 

 

Once we returned the rental bike, we decided to make a short visit to the beach.

 

 

 It was a bit chilly late in the afternoon so there were only a few other people there. We watched dark clouds moving across the sky and decided that we needed to return to our car.  Before we could drive off the island, it began raining again.

 

 

The rain had stopped when we arrived in our neighborhood and we were treated to a full rainbow.