Florida Specialties

Florida is different than other states and not just their hanging chads!

Motorcycles.  If you want to kill yourself on a motorcycle this place is very accommodating.  It feels like the speed limit does not apply to motorcycles.  There is a road along side one perimeter of the rv park where the speed limit is 45 mph and routinely it appears motorcycles are zooming through in excess of 80 mph.  This usually occurs on Friday and Saturdays nights.  Other nights, they seem to keep it to about 70 mph while racing each other down the street.  The Sheriffs headquarters is about 1 mile away, and surprisingly the sounds of no mufflers and squealing from racing tires go unnoticed.  

In heavy traffic, it is very common to have a motorcycle go by you doing a wheeling.  For a motorist next to them, it is very scary because you do not know if they can maintain control at 55 plus mph driving on the rear wheel only.

This is a state that does not require helmets and, it is rare to see someone wearing a helmet.  As mentioned in an earlier blog, there are billboards everywhere to the tune of call us after your motorcycle accident.

Another interesting Florida thing . . .  When there is an accident, even minor fender benders, the police stop traffic completely, sometimes in both directions, until the accident is completely cleared up.  They do not often route traffic around the accident so you can plan on spending more than an hour at the most minor of accidents--and they have plenty of accidents here!  People are so used to this, that as soon as there is an accident stoppage, they get out of their vehicles and stand around or sit on their vehicles having a soda, snacks, and either talking with their neighbor or reading a book or magazine--they drive prepared.

I would estimate that each day we have been in the RV park, we hear fire engines and other emergency vehicles with sirens blaring heading to some emergency and this happens about 12 times a day.  I have never been in a place where the sirens are going so often that you begin to not notice them!

Florida is also different in a good way.  Southwest Florida, at least January through April, has the been weather we have ever experienced.  Sunny days in the 70s, low humidity, and a light breeze with evenings in the 60's.  There are tropical trees, plants and flowers everywhere.  It is really beautiful and then of course, the beach with silky white sand is spiritually fulfilling.

We are in a location where we can ride our bikes virtually everywhere we could want to go because there are broad sidewalks for bikers almost everywhere you go.

We have enjoyed this first winter here (although it seems like summer) and look forward to many more warm winters.

 

 

Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

On a glorious sunny April morning, we drove the truck, with our bikes, aboard to Sanibel Island.  Just past all the activity of shops and folks along the island, there is a long stretch of seemingly isolation.  This is the area set aside as a wildlife refuge at the end of Sanibel and just before entering Captiva Island.  The refuge is called Ding Darling.  What a name!!  It turns out, a very famous cartoonist whose nickname was Ding and whose last name was Darling was a leader in getting this area preserved as a National Wildlife Refuge.

We took an 8 mile loop through the refuge.  The bird life was truly spectacular.  There were volunteers along the route with telescopes where you could see whatever was spotted along the way.  We happened upon a volunteer who had a two week old hawk in sight.  I looked through the telescope, and to my surprise, saw an all white baby hawk with black eyes.  I did not realize baby hawks were all white.  This little one was squawking non stop for mama. I think she had a lot of hunting to do to keep this little one satisfied.

As we biked along, we saw a young raccoon come out of the bushes--apparently to cross the road--and came to a sudden stop when he saw us.  He ran back in the bushes and then popped out again.  Oh my, they are still there.  He took a quick retreat back to his concerned mama and papa, and we could here all kinds of scurrying going on in the bushes.  We rode on ahead a bit and when we looked, back, the whole family crossed the road.  It was quite a sight.

Along the road were ponds on one side and then the bay that leads to the Gulf of Mexico on the other side.  We saw a sea bird not too often spotted called Roseate Spoon-bill.  This bird is smaller than an egret with white body and pink wings.  It is most beautiful.  All along the route there were hundreds of sea birds of all different species in the pond area.  These ponds make great resting areas and feeding areas.

We also saw an unusual looking turtle--not sure as to its name, but the alligators were busy elsewhere and not seen that day. 

When I see National preserves and parks like this one, I cannot help but think how great an idea it was for people like Ding Darling and those in and out of government to fight to preserve land not only to preserve habitat for native animals and plants, but to have these places of such wonder for people to visit.

tg

 

 

 

 

Ft. Myers Beach Island, Florida

January 2005

We took the trolley, which is without charge, from near Gulf Waters RV Resort to Ft. Myers Beach Island.  This is a great trolley with warm wood paneled ceiling and the sides are also paneled in this lovely wood.  They have large windows for viewing, you can bring your beach chairs and beach things on board, and they have bike racks if you want to bring your bike to the beach.

It is a short ride, 3 miles, along a very busy road to the beach.  We crossed a lovely causeway where dozens and dozens of commercial fishing boats could be seen docked or heading in and out to the Gulf of Mexico. 

The island is 10 miles long.  The trolley drops everyone off at Times Square which is at the north end of the island.  From there you can get on another trolley for 25 cents that goes all the way to the end of the island with many stops along the way.

Times Square, at the northern end, is very appropriately named as it is where the most popular public white sand beach is and many shops and restaurants abound.  In the shop and restaurant area there are musical entertainers and magicians, etc. to put on a show for the folks.  It has that Coney Island feel.

Down the island from Times Square begins a section of mostly hotels and more shops, then further down the island condos appear and shortly after that, about mid way down the island, are homes and small shopping centers--grocery stores, shops, restaurants, etc. and then at the end of this island is Lover's Key which is a State Park.  It is very beautiful--no commercial buildings or businesses only pristine white sandy beaches, tropical vegetation, and oh so quiet.

I almost forget!  Right in the middle of this Island is a wonderful library in a building whose large windows bring in sun and light giving the feeling of being outside.  I do not know if other libraries do this, but they offer a 3-month visitor card for $5 which I think is so great. 

tg

 

 

 

Gulf Waters RV Resort - Part 3

January 2005

During our search for a campground for next year, we came across Gulf Waters RV Resort in Ft. Myers Beach.  As soon as we entered, we knew this was exactly what we were looking for--large spacious lots, beautiful landscaping, close to everything, and in a quiet and peaceful place. 

The resort is 5 years old and last year, they began selling lots.  We thought that some time in the future, we may want to purchase a lot in the South for the winter and a lot in the North for the summer.  However, the opportunity that presented itself to us was too good to pass up.  With more and more people retiring in the next number of years and RVing becoming more and more popular, we could see that it might get much more difficult to find a winter spot in the Ft. Myers area.  We took the plunge and purchased a lot at Gulf Waters.

It was a big step, but we feel wonderful about it.  We have a warm place to stay from December through April, and if we become ill and cannot travel for a period of time or if there is a serious economic downturn, we have a place of our own to come to where expenses will be fairly low, and we can stay as long as we want.

In Southwest Florida, maybe elsewhere too, there are wide sidewalks everywhere so we can ride our bikes to the grocery store and many other retail type stores, the library, restaurants.  It is great exercise and gives us more opportunity to be outside and not on the roads driving in a vehicle.  Ft Myers Beach Island is only 3 miles from us and the city provides a free trolley to the beach which is less than a 5 minute walk from Gulf Waters.  Sanibel and Captiva Islands are only 6 miles from us.

We will move to our new lot in early February and stay until late April for this year.  It is an exciting time and the biggest thrill, for me, is that I have a library card again. 

tg

 

High Season and No Place to Stay - Part 2

January 2005

After the Woodsmoke fiasco, we headed to what we were told was a campground up the road on the left three miles--and we actually believed these people.  We get 5 miles up the road and no campground.  We do the thing you never want to do when hauling at 38 foot RV, we decided to pull off into what looked like a large parking area of a strip mall to work out a plan.  We are on the frontage road and beginning to pull into the parking lot when we see that every parking space has a concrete rectangle slab in front of it.

With an RV like ours, you need to be able to go across parking lanes.  You may ask why did you not see this from the road.  The road--three lane divided highway with a motorcycle going by us on its rear wheel, close traffic conditions, and vehicles darting in from our left and right.  We see a large dirt area just beyond the end of the frontage road, and I get out to assist with hand held radio with the backing process while a number of cars trying to get in and out of the parking lot wait patiently.  A delightful and calming experience.

We finally get to the Ft. Myers RV Resort (resort is always used loosely) where they can put us up for a night or two.  After calling and visiting many campgrounds, we discover that indeed High Season without a place to stay is a bad thing.  The folks at Ft Myers RV Resort say they have only two sites (which happen to be next to each other) that could accommodate our RV.

Now this campground has wide streets, good size sites, about 300 sites, which is a good size as there are many streets in the campground for walks and biking, no tree problems and our site is more than large enough for our needs.  However, there is a reason the row of sites where we will stay are slow to go.

Our site backs up the three lane divided highway.  There is 5 feet of grass in back of our RV, then a row of large (2 feet or so tall) rocks, 30 feet of grass, a sidewalk and then the road.  The manager said we would get used to the noise--we're still waiting.

It has been an interesting study in the life of Route 41 (the old Tamiami Trail).  At rush hour, thousands of cars go by an hour between 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. and then between 4 p.m. and  6:30 p.m.  Now this expressway seems to have as many vehicles going from north to south as they have from south to north.  I wonder if these folks ever thought of flagging someone down who is going in the opposite direction and discuss trading homes.

The fire truck and ambulance.  I noticed that early morning, mid morning, lunch time, mid afternoon, and evening rush hour the fire truck with all sirens going races down the highway trailed by a few minutes by the ambulance with all its sirens going.  This happens every day so I though maybe they are going for meals and breaks!!  What do I know?

Now I also noticed that many folks here have Harleys -- not the quiet Hondas -- and the drivers and passengers generally do not wear helmets, they love one wheel riding, making as much noise as they can accelerating (just to impress the natives), and yes, going very fast.  Yesterday, I saw a woman, sounding like a race car without a muffler, probably going 80 mph in a 45 mph zone and at that speed her pony tail was flying straight out behind her. 

Also, on this motorcycle thing, I notice many billboards advertising lawyers to call after your motorcycle accident, and insurance companies who specialize in motorcycle accident insurance.  Have you ever noticed that when you get car insurance, it is called car insurance and not car accident insurance?  I now believe the fire truck and ambulance folks are not going to meals.

There is a great deal of construction going on in this area.  Hard to believe there is still land for construction.  For some unknown reason, maybe it is a law, but when the cement trucks drive past this RV resort, they have their air horn going full blast as they drive by.  I wonder, Is this another form of Southern hospitality?

This spurred us on for an all out hunt from Naples to our South to Port Charlotte to our North, looking for a better campground for next year.  In spite of the wild scene on US 41, the area is beautiful, rich in culture, and the winter weather is the best in the US (Thomas Edison discovered exactly that and set up his winter lab here for many years).  Something really good came out of this as you will see in Part 3.

tg