Florida was a GREAT choice this year!!

  I have told MacGyver a gazillion times that I am sooooo glad we came back to Florida this year.  Compared to Texas weather, this has been down right balmy!  I just cannot tell you all  how happy we are to have made it to our 2nd month on the road in Florida without any “mishaps” calling us back to Illinois…Last time we tried Florida, 2 years ago, we made it 5 weeks and had to head home…Geez, I had better quit thinking like that or I will jinx THIS  trip!!

We are happily set up in W.P. Franklin Locks campground, just North of Alva, FL…The sites are not quite as spacious as Ortoona, but closer to the water with lovely homes across the Caloosahatchee River…Pretty nice spot, site #28.

 

Pretty nice boat ship? across the river, and some fancy homes peeking from behind the palms too!! I could do this! I could live here!…or so I thought. 

Left photo I took yesterday in front of our Hiker……………………..Right photo I took this morning in about the same spot…SAY WHAAAAAT?  When I first saw her yesterday I did mention to Dennis..”Don’t they have alligators here in this river?”. Answer is a big YES!!!!! THEY DO!!!!! Holy crap, what was she thinking…or what WASN’T she thinking…SHEESH doesn’t even describe my reaction to this one!!

Here are a few more shots taken here yesterday and this AM…

There are only 30 campsites here in two loops..We are on the loop where people can also pull up and park their houseboats (RV’s with oars), which is the pic on the right.  The other loop seems to have more spacious spots than this one, but we aren’t complaining.  There is abundant wildlife here (and reptiles!!), lots of water fowl …and our neighbor says he saw a Manatee right at our shoreline yesterday morning and got lots of great photos. In the words of Maxwell Smart, “Missed it by THAT much!” (only you old duffers will remember the TV show Get Smart)…And speaking of neighbors, this is what our nice neighbors are camping in here.

What we have here is an Outback Loft, made by Keystone..When we pulled up I first thought it was a home made job..having never seen anything like this before.  Not sure I would like that “tower” bunk in a bad storm…”Auntie Em…get me down!!” They are really nice people living in it, and the gentleman who owns it said there were only 16 made …very interesting.

Get ready, this is just our second day and I will be boring you posting LOTS of bird photos…and hopefully a Manatee or too,,if I’m blessed by the water mammal Gods. Tomorrow is “date night” and we are driving to a Moose Lodge on the edge of Ft. Myers Shores, not far from here.  I know we should have sea food, but I am hankering for a good pizza..and that is what we will bring home for dinner after a few adult beverages.

You might remember me saying that our daughter and her family, The Heisers, went to Walt Disneyworld for Christmas…Had to share these two photos…two of the MANY they took!

Obviously they had a wonderful trip…Terrie cannot say enough about it, and the kids were absolutely ecstatic!..Well, Goofy was a big influence..

When we took our 2 mile walk this morning, we came across this car parked in the camping area and thought “Dang! Where did they get that decal???”

I need to get some T-shirts…but until then, I’m stealing it…

“CAVE ON!”