Day 42 & 43 - February 5th & 6th - Endless Summer RV Resort, Naples, Florida

Cannot believe we have been here almost a week already. The young couple that owns the place are working seven days a week to maintain and upgrade the park. Kudos to Brooke & Jim for all of their hard work. 

We watched the Superbowl! WOW, what a game. Cannot believe that the Patriots were able to get out of the 25 point deficit  they were in to win the game in the last 23 minutes of play. Superbowl Championship # 5. Go Pats!

The weather has been almost perfect here except when  the humidity gets over 60%  making it uncomfortable at times.

We  spent some time at  Naples Pier enjoying the ocean and watching the one lone Dolphin there that was entertaining the people on the pier. 

Seagull and Dolphins playing with the same fish!  It was fun watching them share the catch.

The beach wasn't too crowded for such a beautiful day. 

After walking on the pier we drove over to Lowdermilk Park. We are trying to decide which beach to hang out on tomorrow.

                                     

The beach here was a lot more crowded but parking was better and closer. Rain is predicted for the evening but should be good beach weather tomorrow. 

Day 40 & 41 February 3rd & 4th 2017- Endless Summer RV Resort, Naples, Florida

We have been doing  a lot of nothing and I guess that is good. Most everyone we have talked to comes to Florida to do just that - enjoy the weather and hang around.

The couple in the site to the right of us are originally from Dighton and are now living in NH. They have been coming to this park for the last several years and  told us that the park has had major improvements made in the last two years. It is such a small world - there is another couple here from Fall River as well. 

Tonight ( 2/4/17) we went to a local restaurant  ( Alice's Sweetwater Cafe) for dinner. The place was small and crowded but the food was good. 

Did I mention that Jewel is now getting five walks a day. Yes, indeed she is a very happy doggy. Looking forward to the Superbowl tomorrow. Not much to report this trip since we don't have any  new areas to explore. 

Day 39 - February 2, 2017 - Endless Summer RV Resort , Naples, Florida

Today we traveled the  63 miles to Naples. Ron and I both thought we hadn't explored Naples so  this would be a good stopover. In fact, once we got here we realized that we had stopped here in 2013. It was a whirlwind stop ( 1 full day) but we managed to see the things that we wanted to see in that one day.

Endless Summer is an RV resort in the making. A young couple purchased the place two years ago and are in the process of making many upgrades. So "Resort" is a word that continues to be used loosely. 

Our site is pretty good with a brand knew cement pad making it nice not to step in dirt when we get in or out of the MH.  Jewel likes it here because the dirt has been turned up making a nice comfy  bed for her!

Yes, that is Jewel digging herself a nice yucky dirt bed. So much for her recent bath! lol No wonder I can't keep the floors clean in the MH. 

Once set up  we did our grocery run and then settled in for the night. 

Ron and I have been battling a rotten cold and cough for the last three weeks. Will sure be glad when we clear up and stop coughing. 

The park is a mixture of  seasonals, permanent residents and transients like us. There are many families with small children here as well. It is a small park and is  very quiet despite all of the activity around us. 

Days 35, 36, 37, & 38 (January 29, 30, 31 & February 1, 2017) Midway Campground Big Cypress National Preserve Ochopee, Florida

It rained really hard last night into mid afternoon. We moved  to Midway CG around noon. It was a long ride (8 miles) but we managed. Lol. 

Once settled in we were happy to have electricity but not to happy to find that we had little to no cell service and no internet access at all. TV reception wasn't much better so I guess we will be doing a lot of reading and relaxing.

We were in our site for about an hour when this unusual looking camper???? tried to back in next to us. It looked homemade and nothing like we had seen before. The poor guy tried for about twenty minutes to get into the site but was not having any luck. Ron finally went out and guided him in. As it tuned out the trailer wasn't a trailer at all but a "Tiny Home." The  home is entirely self contained and was custom built. It is a little cumbersome to be traveling with so we thought they might be moving it to a more permanent location. They were so happy to have Ron help them into their site they invited in to see their home when they got settle in. Ron didn't realize they would be gone in the early morning so we never did get to see the inside. 

The rain was off and on all day but finally subsided around 5 pm. Jewel was happy to get out for her walk and I was happy to be outside as well. 

The rest of our time there we enjoyed the beautiful weather, walking Jewel and relaxing. 

On our last night at Monument Lake we were joined by our new neighbors Wayne and Joanne from Virginia for about fours hours at our site chatting and sharing travel stories. It was a fun time and tomorrow we will all be heading out to our respective destinations. Ron & I are trying to embrace relaxing and just enjoying the good weather. 

Day 34 - January 27 & 28, 2017 - Monument Lake, Big Cypress National Preserve , Ochopee, Florida

We have reservations for four days at Midway in the Big Cypress National Preserve beginning on  1/29/17. Staying at the Boardwalk RV Resort for an additional two days is not possible because they are filling up so we had to make alternative plans. 

We stopped at Midway to ask if they had any additional days available but they do not so we drove the 8 miles to Monument Lake. When we arrived at Monument Lake we were asked if we had reservations????? Nope, and never had to make reservations in the past. Monument Lake was a walk-up only CG  but I guess the rules changed. Fortunately we got there early enough to get a site. We requested two nights but the CG host was hesitant to give us two nights stating we may have to move if someone makes a reservation for our second night here. He told us to only pay for one night then changed his mind and had us pay for two nights.

We have very intermittent internet access but when we were able to connect we went on line and found that the site we were assigned is a walk-up only site and cannot be reserved on line. So we were good for the two nights. We love it here and enjoy the beautiful sunset from our site. 

         

                    
On day two a couple from Middleboro, MA pull in next to us. They were very friendly and we enjoyed talking with them. Later that afternoon we took a ride to the Visitor Center. The last two times we have been here the Visitor Center was closed so it was nice to go in and watch the film on the National Preserve. Of course we had to check out the alligators by the building. There were not as may here as there have been in the past.

That evening Cathy & Ray invited us to sit by their campfire and chat. Cathy worked for Agar another food service company. She also knew many of the people Ron knows from Sysco so they had a very interesting conversation. Lol  It was an enjoyable evening for us and we all plan on getting together when we get back home. Tomorrow we will be moving to Midway for four days and will actually have electricity. 

Day 33 January 26, 2017 Boardwalk RV Resort - (Day 6) Homestead, Florida

Cannot believe that this is our last day here. We stopped in the office to ask if we could extend our stay but they are full. In reality we were lucky to get in here at all - so a six day stay worked well for us. 

This morning we washed the RV and car, checked out the rec center and did a lot of walking.  We went out to dinner and picked up some last minute items at the grocery store. 

We have no reservations for the next two days and are hoping to get into Monument Lake CG, a national park CG in the everglades for two nights. It is a first come first serve park so getting there early is the key. Then we will move to another National Park CG, Midway from January 29 - February 1, 2017. Neither one of us can remember if we have cell service at either of these two places or not. So we may be out of contact for the six days we are in the park. We both feel lost without some type of contact to the outside world so we are hoping we will at least have some cell  service available to us. I guess if anyone needed to contact us they could call the National Park Service and have a ranger get in touch with us.  

So far we haven't done anything exciting or different this trip. On February 2, 2017 we have a week booked in Naples. Haven't really done up that area so hopefully will have something new to do and report. 

Day 31 & 32 January 24 & 25, 2017 Boardwalk RV Resort, Homestead, Florida

We had a gift card from Cracker Barrel so grabbed dinner there. True to form the food was at best, mediocre. We have never gotten a good meal there but Ron had to use up the gift card.  It always amazes us that all of the Cracker Barrel's across the country are always packed!!!

We also went to the movies to see "Patriots  Day." It was well done  and brought up buried emotions associated with the day of the bombings and the  aftermath to that day. 

It's been quiet here and has cooled down since the storms passed through. We have one more day here then will be moving on.