FLA west coast
Trip Start
Nov 22, 2007
1
16
55
Trip End
Dec 01, 2008
Where I stayed
Tampa, Florida
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Yes-We are still alive! I know it has been a while since our last update! I know it's bad when my younger brother (who is traveling solo through the countryside in India right now) is concerned with the radio silence! Well, we are currently in Tampa, staying with Bob's brother.
We took Alligator Alley over to the west coast from the Everglades. The hardest part about the trip was getting away from Miami-seems every wrong turn leads you back to Miami. Not a lot of fun driving a 30 foot RV with a trailer on the streets of Miami during rush hour! Of course the way was obvious on the map, but we understand that the Florida DPW has a sense of humor. I can't tell you how many times we will be traveling in a lane on a road or highway and all of a sudden a sign pops up and it becomes a "right turn only" lane, the sign appearing long after you would have had a chance to make a different decision. Or you may be dutifully following the signs to the interstate when soon it's been miles since you've seen the last one and the road you were on changed names, so basically you have to cross your fingers and hope you didn't miss a sign to turn a few miles back. Inevitably, the next sign will appear on the opposite side of the road without warning giving you a maximum of 20 feet to switch three lanes to make the turn or be stuck for another 10 miles before the next opportunity for a U-turn! Thank goodness for the occasional (and I do mean occasional) kind FLA driver that lets us in, or we surely would still be driving around the outskirts of Miami (and for those of you that watch "The First 48" or "Cops" you know that's not the safest place to be).
Well we finally got out of there, but much later than we'd liked. We managed to make it past Naples before we set up "camp" at a rest stop for the night. (Many rest stops have night security here, which is comforting when you need to stop in the middle of the night.) The next day, we made our way over to a place called Pine Island, where our friends Ivan and Leslie live. At the same time, Bob's folks were visiting a friend in Ft. Myers, which was very convenient for a visit to our campsite at the Encore RV resort (formerly the KOA) on Pine Island.
While we were still in the general vicinity, we took a motorcycle ride to Everglades City (the part of the Everglades that extends to the west coast and home of Ten Thousand Islands). It was an interesting place. Such a small town and so remote that it's hard to imagine growing up there. But a beautiful place if you enjoy water sports. And a few very large homes have been built taking advantage of panoramic views of the water and the islands. We had lunch and took an airboat ride through the mangroves-a lot of fun! The guide/driver of our airboat warned us as we entered the mangroves to watch out for low hanging snakes and spiders-they hang from the trees and have been known to fall on people as the boat powers by. Snakes, no problem, but spiders-well, if you read our blog about our mountain bike ride in Crooked River, you know they're not my favorite. Wouldn't you know it, not long after we entered the mangroves, I felt something drop on my shoulder. I didn't feel it moving, so I figured it was probably not real, but invoked by my spider heebie geebies. That is, of course until I felt it again-I reached over and swiped at the back of my shoulder, but nothing was there. I looked over at Bob and asked him to take a look. Have you ever taken an airboat ride? You have to wear ear protection for the noise, so it is near impossible to be heard. So I made hand gestures and mouthed that I thought something-maybe a spider!-was on me. He took a look but didn't see anything. A couple minutes later, and I felt it again! Okay-clearly I am not hallucinating-I tapped Bob on the shoulder and pointed to my back. He shook his head; no, he didn't see anything. Not a minute later I felt something again!! This time, I turned quickly to look myself and see if I could see anything. As I looked back I caught sight of the airboat captain smiling. At the same time, Bob started laughing. The airboat captain had a stick in his hand-the obvious source of the imaginary spiders!
Unfortunately we forgot the camera for the airboat adventure. Luckily the couple who shared our boat ride with us did bring camera and video recorder. They took our email address and were kind enough to send us a few pictures so we can share with you. Very nice folks; we ended up chatting with them for about 45 minutes after the ride.
We spent a long weekend on Pine Island and visited with Ivan and Leslie. They took us to the hot spots-the Moose Lodge, the Ragged Ass Saloon, and Froggie's to name a few. They took us out on the water in their Boston Whaler. We saw a lot of dolphins, but I had trouble catching them on film. Got one pretty good shot if you look hard enough! We also saw a bald eagle-that makes three of the majestic birds that we have seen so far on our trip. We had a great weekend with Ivan and Leslie (and a great homemade steak dinner!) and it was nice to see them.
We left Pine Island on the 4th of February and dropped our RV off at RV World of Nokomis. We haven't gotten it back yet and it's now March 6th! It's not been a pleasant experience, but we hope to get the RV back this week and hit the road again soon. We have been staying in Tampa-Bob's brother, Lee has a house in South Tampa, which we have used as our home base. We've taken a couple trips across the state to visit our friends Maureen and Ralph in Palm Coast, including for the beginning of Daytona Bike Week, and a couple of trips to Sarasota to visit my mother and stepfather. It's been great to spend the time visiting friends and family, but we are itching to get back on the road.
