Last Days at Ortona South

Saturday and Sunday, March 30th & 31st, 2013

We have really have enjoyed our stay at Ortona South COE just 8 miles east of La Belle, Florida.  This campground is very clean, all interior roads are paved, each site has a paved pad, covered table, BBQ Grill,  fire ring, and 50 AMP service.  We enjoyed watching the boats pass through the locks, many of them passing from either the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean through the 158 mile Okeechobee Water Way to Florida's other coast.

The locks are on the north bank of the Calooashachee River and the campground is on the south bank of the River. There is a walkway going over the dam leading to a viewing area to watch the boats lock through.  However, this walk way was closed due to some repairs to the dam and was finally opened for the last few days of our stay.

Here a boat enters the lock from the east, heading west.

After the boat is safely secured in the lock, the gates are closed on the entering side, and the water level inside the lock is raised or lowered so it becomes the same level as the water on the exit side of the lock.  My guess is there's about a eight feet difference in water level from one side of the lock to the other side.  

This is the dam thing!  It has two of the four gates open letting water pass through.  You can see a sidewalk on the right leading to a metal walk way over the dam.

Here's Kallie getting her Easter hairdo.

After a long day of getting her hair cut, shampoo, nails done, this gal is ready for some R & R.

What a pretty girl!

This was another beautiful day in South Florida, and what better way to end this day, than with a beautiful sun set.

Well, this ends our stay here.  Monday we will fuel up the vehicles and load up our stuff.  We will be heading almost 200 miles north to Lake Pansoffkee, Florida for a few days before heading to Panama City. If you would like to see where this lake is located, click on the "location" link at the bottom of this blog.

See you in a few days!

Sight Seeing in Fort Myers, Florida

Thursday, March 28, 2013

It was another cool morning at Ortona South near La Belle, Florida. I stepped outside and took this shot of the fog on the Ortona dam.  But, then I hurried back into the 5th wheel because we have a full day ahead of us.

We are going to spend the rest of today in Fort Myers.  Our first stop is just a few miles east of Fort Myers at a Manatee Park.  These manatee are attracted to the warm water that is being discharged from a Florida power plant.  I didn't realize how many similarities I have with manatees.  First, they breath air.  They are attracted to warm water.  They eat up to 10% of their body weight each day, and they reach sexual maturity about 3-4 years of age.  OOPS! Strike that last comment, that's where the similarity ends!  Ha!

Here we are at the Manatee Park.  That's me on the left, my manatee, and my mermaid on the right.

Look at the manatee in the lower left of this picture.  He is smiling at us!

This one came up for a breath of air.

Watch out Kitty!  There's a gator behind you!  Run! Zig and Zag!

Don't worry folks. We were able to glue her left foot back on and she'll be good as new in no time!

After the glue dried, we headed for downtown and stopped at the Fort Myers Marina.

This is downtown near the river front area.

We walked across the street and had a nice lunch at the French Connection Cafe.

After lunch, we headed to the winter homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.

Harvey Firestone gave a Banyan Tree to Edison in 1925.  Today, it is the largest Banyan tree in North American.

 This is Edison's library.  It contained over 800 books.But, as you can see, the books were either removed or eaten by a book worm! Ha!

This is one of Edison's laboratories. It was built in 1886.

This is Edison's living room complete with electric lights of course.

What's left of the old pier is visible on the left.  The first thing Edison did after purchasing this lot in 1885, was build a pier so all of the building materials could be delivered by boat.  The wood for his house was shipped all the way from Maine.

This is the Edison winter home built in 1886 and 1887

This is the winter home of Henry Ford.  Ford and Edison were good friends and their winter homes were next door to each other.

This is ford's living room.

Of course, I had to show you this Ford truck since I drive one. Well...not this one anyway!

We spent several hours touring both homes and their property.  There's lots more to see than what is shown in this blog.  If you haven't been there, I am sure you will find it interesting.

The above picture was taken in Edison's back yard.  It is very peaceful and relaxing along this section of the Caloosahatchee River and it seems so far removed from the hustle and bustle of Fort Myers.

We really enjoyed this entire day.  Now it's time to head back to Ortona.  We'll have more later.

Sanibel Island

Saturday, March 23, 2013

We have been wanting to see Sanibel Island for a long time, and it is one of the items on our bucket list.  But the weatherman has had different ideas.  The best beach weather day in the last week happen be Saturday, with temps in the low 80's and not much wind.  Of course, Saturday means lots of families would be there with their children.

Well, not only were the kids there, there were uncles, aunts, grandparents, second cousins twice removed, and just about on the entire west coast of Florida was there!  We arrived on the island around 11:30 am and immediately headed to the lighthouse on the far southwest side of the island.  We really like lighthouses, and I was anxious to get a couple of pictures.

The causeway bridge requires a $6 toll, so we used our Sun Pass. No problem, Everything is going along smoothly. Parking is $2/hour and there were only a few parking spots, all of which were occupied and a line of several cars waiting for someone to leave.  That's ok. We are flexible and figured we could see the lighthouse later, and headed north to the next beach.

Traffic on the island was very congested and moving at a snails pace.  In fact, a couple of turtles passed us on the way to the next beach!  We arrived there just in time to see the turtles making their way into the gulf waters.  They didn't even have to pay for parking!

This parking lot was also full, so we kept our poise and headed up the island to the next beach.

We checked every dang beach along the island until we ran out of island!  Now we are at Captiva Island.  By this time we are starving, frustrated, and my bladder was signing "Release Me Now!"  So, we stopped and relieved our bladders, and ate our picnic lunch while sitting in the car in front of a small strip mall as there was no tables or place to enjoy a picnic.

After lunch, we started back down the island again stopping at each beach along the way.  We finally reached Bowman's Beach and Kitty was driving.  She skillfully maneuvered the car in front of the line of cars waiting for a spot, and Bingo!  We had us a parking spot!!  People were so nice and friendly, they kept waving at us and told us to pick a finger!  I am not sure what that means, but it must be some type of Florida greeting!!  Ha!

By now it's two fifteen and are we both in a great mood after driving around this crazy island for over an hour and half (there are no straight roads going up and down the darn island), having turtles beat us to the beach, eating lunch in the car instead of some pristine gulf view park, and peeing in a chemical toilet that was obviously out of chemicals, desperately needed to be emptied, and had a floor that felt like it was over a  Florida sink hole! I was sure I was going to end up calling 911 from a pile of poop!

But, having said all that, after two minutes on this beautiful beach with gazillions of shells, we forgot all about that stuff and spent our time walking the beach, or just sitting in our beach chairs enjoying life.

On our way from the parking lot to the beach, we crossed over this green river, and we're hoping the gulf doesn't look like this!

The gulf waters looked great! People to the north!

People to the south.

And beach bums everywhere!

After all is said and done, we had a great time.  But, please take this advice from an old beach bum, don't go to Sanibel on a Saturday unless the weather is bad!

Sun Rise in Ortona South Campground

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

We started this day with a cup of coffee and a seat next to the Caloosahatchee River to watch the sun rise in Ortona South COE Campground.  There is something special about watching the sun come up.  Unfortunately, we don't take the time to do this more often.  But, when we do, it's always a joy and seems to make the whole day special.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up headed to La Belle to set up our mail delivery, and then headed into Fort Myers for some shopping.  There is a great BBQ restaurant in La Belle that Barry and Susan told us about called The Log Cabin.  We checked it out and found it to be very busy, but the food was worth the wait.

I wanted to end this blog with some pictures of the sunset. But, clouds rolled in along with some wind and rain.  Oh well...it still was a great way to spend a birthday!

Arriving at Ortona South

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

We departed Ancient Oaks RV resort and headed for Ortona South COE.  Ortona South COE is a corp of engineers campground located between Moore Haven and Labelle, Florida on state route 80.  It has about 70 sites with water and electric hookups, paved roads, and paved pads.  Our back yard has a beautiful view of the Caloosahatchee River.

Ortona South is where the corp of engineers built and operate a lock on the river. The Caloosahatchee River runs from the Gulf of Mexico at Cape Coral, Florida to Lake Okeechobee. The St Lucie River connects Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean, thus, allowing boats to travel to and from the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico without going around the southern tip of Florida.

We arrived here about 12:30 pm and got the 5th wheel set up and fixed lunch.  Then we took a walk around the campground.

 Here's our new living room! (site #33)

This is our new dinning room!

This is our back yard along the Caloosahatchee River

This is the river below the lock and dam.

This is the river above the lock and dam.  They are working on the lock so we can't get close enough to take any pictures of it.

Here's a couple of otters playing along the river bank. We are on one side of the river and they are on 

the "otter" side. You knew I would say that, right!

This shot was taken standing on a bridge looking back at our site.

That's it for our walk.  It's starting to warm up, so we are headed back home to get some cool refreshment and a little R&R.  This was a very nice day and we are looking forward to many more!  See you tomorrow.

Departing Ancient Oaks

Monday, March 18, 2013

We have been in Ancient Oaks RV Resort in Okeechobee, Florida exactly 5 months and it's time to leave the friendly confines. The friendships we made there will last a life time, and at our age that may not be too long!  We really enjoyed our time there.  Our friends were so glad to see us leave, they threw a party to celebrate our departure! Ha!

Bob, our neighbor, had a nice farewell speech for us.  I can't remember what he said, but it had something to do with not letting the gate hit us in the ass on our way out!  You have to know Bob to appreciate that!

Here's some shots of some of the wonderful people that came to the pot luck.

Kitty and I want to extend a special thanks to our hosts and neighbors, Barb and Bob

And a great big thanks to all who attended the "last supper"!

I have to explain the above picture of me wearing a custom made hard hat.  The five months we were in Ancient Oaks I bonged my head on the fifth wheel king pin at least three times. (That explains my brain damage!).  I had just bonged my head a few hours before the pot luck.  While bleeding profusely, my yells to Kitty for help went unheard.  But, thankfully, Eagle Eye Ted heard my calls from across the street and came to my aid.

Ted was calm and knew exactly what to do.  He was in complete control of this situation  He calmly sent Kitty inside for towels and ice to stop the bleeding.  In the mean time, he applied a tourniquet around my throat cutting off the blood flow to my head!  That was some quick thinking on his part! Probably saved my life! Ha!

After I woke up from lack of blood to my brain. the bleeding had stopped and Eagle Eye had everything under control.  I am so grateful for his help, I may call him doctor Ted from now on.  Well...maybe not.  I like Eagle Eye better.

Any way, Kitty and I will miss everyone at Ancient Oaks and we really look forward to returning there in November.

The Murals of Lake Placid Part 2

Sunday, March 17, 2013

We were in Lake Placid, Florida to see the murals in December of 2012, and have wanted to return there to see the rest of the murals and relieve Kitty of her craving for another bodacious banana split.  If you haven't read my blog about these murals, please click on the 2012 folder in the left column and go to December 4, 2012 folder for "The Murals of Lake Placid.

So, six seniors slithered into Ted's Yukon and headed out of Ancient Oaks RV Resort. The six slithering seniors included  Birdman Barry, and Susan, Eagle Eye Ted, and Pat, Kitty, and myself.

After driving for about an hour, we arrived at Lake Placid around half past one, and quickly found a parking spot. The four of us riding in the back seat were able to slither out and could actually walk just fine after rubbing the cramps out of our legs!

We checked out a few of the murals as we walked a couple of blocks to the restaurant that features the bodacious banana split.  But, our minds could not focus on the murals because our stomachs were yelling for banana splits! We had been starving ourselves all day anticipating a bodacious banana split.  Each banana split has enough ice cream to fill up four normal people. Since none of us are normal, we planned to order several of these monsters and we all started walking faster and faster as we got closer and closer to the restaurant.  By now, our tongues were dragging and I actually tripped over someone's tongue!  I have no idea who's tongue it was, and for all I know, it could have been mine!  Some folks might say that's because I have my foot in my mouth again! Ha!

We slipped, tripped, and slithered up to the restaurant only to find that it had closed 30 minutes ago!  Our collective "OH NO" could be heard all the way to the coast!  After shedding a few tears and a few "Oh Gosh Darns", we were able to find another restaurant and had a nice lunch and a few banana splits.  They weren't as good as the bodacious banana splits, but it satisfied the craving, at least for now.

Now, on to the murals.  The murals you will see here all reflect the culture of this area in Florida.  There are 43 murals painted on many of the buildings around downtown Lake Placid.  Many of the murals have hidden objects in them and it's really fun trying to find them.  You can pick up a visitors guide and see a brief movie about the murals in the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center. This blog features ten murals not shown previously in my blog from last December.

Title: Hometown News - Lake Placid Journal 1960

Artist: Monica Turner

This is Linotype printing press designed to print two pages at a time. 

 Title: Istokpoga

Artist: Keith Goodson

Istokpoga means "many men died here". It features two Seminole Indians hunting the gigantic alligator.  The Indians are each in a different century dress, but this picture is not long enough to show them.

Title: Jewels of highland County

Artist: Keith Goodson

This mural features Lake Istokpoga which is the largest of the 27 lakes in this area.  It is a premier fishing lake over 27,600 acres.

Kitty is on the left and Susan is on the right.

Title: Lake Istokpoga Village

Artist: Guy LaBree

This mural features a Seminole Indian lady grinding corn with a mortar and pestle to make grits.  Her dress is authentic.  The huts were their only shelter used for sleeping and communal cooking.

L to R: Susan, Birdman Barry, and Kitty

Title: Our Citrus Heritage

Artist: Keith Goodson

The early Spanish explorers brought citrus to Florida half a millennium ago.

 This is not a mural.  It is Pat sitting with a clown.  Oh, ya, the clown is on the right!

Title: Rare Resident Florida Panther

Artist: Terry Smith

There are only about 50 panthers alive in the wilds of Florida today.

L to R: Pat & Kitty

Title: Richard Archbold & Archbold Biological Station

Artist: Keith Goodson

Richard Archbold  founded the Archbold Biological Station in 1941 and was a founding member of Glades Electric Cooperative.

Birdman Barry on the left

Title: Sandhill Cranes - Dawn Patrol

Artist: Thomas Brooks

Sandhill Cranes live in this area year around and are noted for their red cap of feathers.

 Title: Toby's Clown School

Artist: John Gutcher

This mural features three clowns that live in Lake Placid and are graduates of Toby's Clown school.  The clowns shown are the Auguste (German), White Face (English), and Hobo (American).  Do you think there's lots of clowning around in Lake Placid?

 Title: Train Depot

Artist: Dan & Peter Sawatzky

This depot was built in 1926 by the Atlantic Coast railroad and is on the National Historic registry.

Eagle Eye Ted is looking for one of the hidden objects.

Well, we didn't get a bodacious banana split, but we did have a really great time with plenty of laughs, good food, and lots of fun with friends.  You can't beat that combination!!