Wednesday, April 1, 2015

March 25-28, 2015

 
Wednesday, March 25th
 
I had some intestinal issues for a few days and didn’t feel like doing much of anything. So, it was a very relaxing day for us. We spent the afternoon at the community swimming pool
 


After dinner, we went to the Ash Wednesday service at Hope Lutheran Church. They have a beautiful tree that seems to have been blooming ever since we arrived
 

 
Thursday, March 26th
 
We spent a good part of this day geocaching in the Bonita Springs area. One of the caches is placed in a little known park—many of the local residents do not know it exists.
 
 




 
 

Besides having a place to launch canoes and kayaks, there is a nice trail along the Imperial River. Cullum’s Bonita Trail has been described as “one of the best little trails hidden in plain sight”.
 
 

Afterwards, we visited Victory Park which was developed by the congregation of Christus Lutheran Victor Church and dedicated to The Reverend Thomas G. Slater in recognition of his 20 years of ordained ministry.
 


 






 
This is a well-designed park and exudes much peace. There is an outdoor chapel which I imagine can be used often considering the climate in the part of Florida.
 
I really liked the walk around the lake which contained Stations of the Cross. In addition, there are park benches with plaques that contain the names of people, inspirational messages, Bible verses and a lovely wind chime.
 
 

 
 

On our way back to the condo, we stopped at Bass Pro Shops where I bought a cushion that is designed to be used in a swimming pool
 
 
 

I like the way they have marked their pedestrian crossways.
  
 
 

As we drove through the neighborhood, I noticed that the stuffed animal that sported a St. Patrick’s Day message now has an Easter message. I still think the animal looks a bit weird suspended from the bush.
 
 

Before we went to bed, I spent a good amount of time organizing my geocaching supplies.
 
 
 

Friday, March 27th
 
The weather forecast for today called for clouds and rain. A man who is staying in a condo across the road from us was fishing in the lake this morning and he caught a fish.
 

 

 

We went to an early movie this afternoon and saw McFarland. It is based on a true story and we enjoyed this show very much.


 
 
 
 
It had just begun to rain when we left the theater and by the time we reached our car it was really pouring. A huge streak of lightning came down from the sky while we were driving and it caused me to jump—especially since I was talking on my cell phone at the time and I got a loud noise in my ear.
 
 
 

Saturday, March 28th
 
Our local alligator made another appearance this morning.
 
 
Our neighbor was fishing again until Cordell brought his attention to the alligator that was swimming in our direction.




Our big adventure today was retrieving a geocache (Leave Your Pacemaker at Home) in the Port Charlotte area with our friend, Brian. This was particularly challenging because the container was hanging about 40 up in a pine tree. Since there were no branches between the ground and the cache, Brian was willing to climb the tree.
 
 

A local cacher had told Brian that she wanted to be in on this find if he ever attempted it. So he called her and Pam met us at the site.
 
 

Brian brought ropes and other equipment which he fashioned into a homemade apparatus to use to scale that tree. He had a fishing reel that had a small rope tied to the fishing line. He was able to hurl the rope over a limb on his first attempt.  Then we helped pull his climbing rope up over a limb.
 
 

Brian slowly, slowly made his way up the tree and signed the log for all of us.
 


 

When he was ready to descend, he discovered that he needed the three of us to help get him back down.
 
 We have a You Tube video of The Climb.
 
 
We were relieved that Brian did all the hard work because there is no way that any of us could have reached that cache. He knew that he would not be able to do it by himself and I am glad that he suggested that we make this a team effort.
 
 
 
 

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