Visiting in Fort Myers!

This was our second trip to the Fort Myers area. Holy people batman! People and traffic everywhere! So why go there? We love my sister Judy and wanted to visit her! The beauty of this area is not lost on us. The sandy beaches, the waterways, the islands in the area. All very, very beautiful.

Beautiful Beaches and Sunsets!

Arriving on Valentine’s Day we found a heart shaped box of chocolates on our pillow! Besides seeing my sister the highlight of our visit was an airboat ride she treated us to down in Everglades City. She had been on one before and she knew it was just the kind of adventure we would enjoy and enjoy it we did!

We did the Mangrove tour which winds through the narrow mangrove tunnels that wind through the area.

Judy, Barb and I ready for our ride!

One of the many mangrove tunnels

This guy was looking for a handout!

This guy was looking for a racoon!

 It was a great ride and a first for us. Thanks Judy!

We also spent an afternoon at the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound track to see these magnificent animals race around the track. Of course we had to bet on the races, we did not make any money but Barb had the hot tickets and lost the least out of everyone.

Chasing "Sparky" (on the right)

Of course no visit to this area would be complete without a stop at a brewery! We stopped by Point Ybel Brewery. Oh great, another one of those words that starts with a “Y”! I suppose the readers are going to say it is pronounced "e-bel" but in this case I am going to stick with "pointy bell"!

Judy's friend Pam joined us on this adventure!

We hit a number of other bars and restaurants including Shuckers, Zushi Zushi, SOB's (Smokin Oyster Brewery), The Bubble Room on Captiva Island, City Seafood in Everglades City, Yucatan Bar & Grill and Rondaos Pizzeria.

Marvin, Barb and I along with Judy, Mike and Pam 

The Yucatan has swings for bar stools!

The Bubble Room on Captiva

We also got new tires for the rig while in the area. Well actually we had them shipped down from Ohio as we ordered them from Trailer Tires and Wheels. Our existing tires are 5 years old and about a year ago we noticed that our existing tires were wearing weird but when I looked at them this last time I did not want to drive them any further.

Thank goodness for fast shipping! Any ideas on what would make them wear this way? We have had people say it could be air pressure related, wheel bearings sticking, bad suspension or improper breaking. I know the bearings and suspension are good and have never locked up the brakes so we are thinking it is air pressure related as we were not very diligent with watching our air pressure early on in our travels.

We left Fort Myers exhausted and full. Our plans over the next two weeks are changing by the minute. Kevin has some free time and would like to start building his house in South Dakota on March 1st and we promised to be there to help him. So we are heading back a little earlier than we originally expected!

Our travel route over the next 10 days looks something like this.....

And the weather forecast in South Dakota looks something like this.....

Time to winterize the rig!

Crazy Days in Tampa!

Lithia Springs State Park
Leaving Yankeetown we had no idea where we were going. This was a first for us. I mean who leaves a campground without knowing their next destination? We knew where wanted to be; Lithia Springs State Park but it is a first come first serve park and was full. We had an ace in the hole though, actually two of them as we had two sets of friends (Bill and Kelly and David and Sharon) staying at the park that were looking for openings for us so we headed that way in the hopes something would open up.

In the meantime Barb was making phone calls trying to find a spot within the area. A couple hours later it became evident that we were out of luck and pulled into Sumter Oaks RV Park in Bushnell, paid our $13 for dry camping and got all set up. It was about then that we received a message from Kelly that someone had left and that she had snagged us a site! With that we packed up and were on the road again!

We arrived at Lithia Springs an hour later and were set up in our new spot. Thanks Kelly! The only downside is that Kelly is so young she had to pay the full rate of $24 for the night and not the reduced 55 and over rate of $18. We need to get older friends! That night we got together with Bill and Kelly and finally got to meet David and Sharon, fellow RV’ers who were working in the park. We had been following each other’s blogs for years and although we felt we had known each other the entire time we had yet to meet in person. They were just as cool as we imagined and we hit it off right away.

The next day Kelly had organized an RV Dreamers get together for anyone in the area. Over 20 couples attended including good friends Jim and Diana who had visited us in South Dakota last year. We also got to finally meet Gene and Eileen and several other great couples. Once again, thanks Kelly!

Barb, Diana, Jim and Kelly

Monday was another big day for us as we were headed up to Tampa to visit Dino and Lisa who were working at the state fair!  Arriving, we parked the truck, paid the 55 and older entry fee of $9 and went in search of Dino and Lisa’s rig among all the other carnie rigs. We knew we were in the right spot when we found this! 

Found their rig!

 Dino had to work but we were able to walk the fair with Lisa then we went back to their rig and I drank all Dino’s beer while waiting for him to get off work.

Tarpon Springs
Tuesday Dino and Lisa had the day off so they drove down and took us to Tarpon Springs. This area is known for its sponges and Greek culture. Very interesting town, a bit touristy but interesting nonetheless.

Sponges fresh off the boat!

 We had lunch at Hella’s. Gyros of course, they were delicious! We also stopped by one of the many tourist shops and bought a sponge.

 Exhausted from our busy day we headed back to our place for a night of burgers and beer.

The girls with their Dark & Stormy's

Dino with his happy face!

Any guesses where Dino was sitting?

 A Day in Ybor City!
The next day we were off to Ybor City! Barb and I think we are the only ones pronouncing it correctly as “why-bor”, while everyone else pronounced it as “e-bor”. I mean it has a Y not an E at the beginning so why would you even think it is pronounced “e-bor”? We met Dino and Lisa at the Ikea parking lot and jumped in with them for a tour. Although it was cool and rainy we made the most of the day. This town is known for its Cuban culture.  First stop was Cuba. Did you know that a piece of the U.S. was deeded over to Cuba in 1956?

We are in Cuba!

Just a couple blocks down the road is La Segunda Central Bakery famous throughout the city for having the best baked goods. It was very crowded but worth the wait as each of us  got a pastry for the next day.

Grandma and Grandpa trying to read the map

Then it was on to lunch at the Columbia restaurant. On the way there we passed what seemed like dozens of cigar shops. Ybor is also known as Cigar City and now we know why!

Cigar making station

These guys were fast making a cigar every minute or so!

Living life on the edge Barb and I had the 1905 salad and a Cuban sandwich.  The restaurant was very busy, the atmosphere and food was excellent.

Two cool things about the city is that they have chickens loose throughout the city and a streetcar system that connect Ybor to Tampa and as a bonus it was free the month of February! 

 We rode the streetcar to the end of the line in Tampa and walked the Riverwalk. Certainly not as nice as San Antonio Riverwalk but still nice. 

Riding the streetcar back into Ybor we made our way to The Tampa Bay Rum Company where we had a tour and a tasting of several varieties of their rum.

Returning to Ikea to retreive our truck, what do we see across the street? A brewery! Taking it as a sign from above we knew we had better stop in for a flight!

If that was not enough, we ended the day with a fire and BBQ back at our place and this time we were joined by David and Sharon. It was great to sit down with them in this small setting and get to know them better. Hopefully we will run into each other more in the future!

That brings us to the end of a very busy few days in the area. Next up is Fort Myers where we will be visiting my sister which promises be as equally as busy! 

My Life as a Commercial Shrimper

Few people know it, but back in the day I was a commercial shrimper. Yup, it is true. Hours and hours on the ocean culling countless shrimp. Oh, how I miss the salt water mist blowing through my hair....... When was this day you ask? Well, to be honest it was actually night. One night. One night last week.

Let me pause here to tell you another story. When we arrived in Yankeetown about a month ago and first went to the marina where Dan and Jeanie moor their boat we noticed several shrimp boats moored on the other side. I admired at the boats and wondered out loud what it would be like to be a shrimper. Jeanie said like “It would not surprise me if you guys somehow actually got on one”.

Step in our friends Mike and Liz who we met in 2016 while in Alaska. They saw we were near their house in Florida and reached out to get together. While we were talking he asked where we were staying. When I said B’s Marina and Campground in Yankeetown he replied. “You are just down the road from my brother, he owns three shrimp boats moored at the marina.” Get the picture?

Several days later we met John and Karen, said shrimp boat owners, while out to dinner with Mike and Liz. One thing led to another and Karen said “Would you like to go…..”. Before she finish her sentence I said “Yes!”.

Two weeks went by; it was too cold, it was too wavy, it was Chinese New Year (their customer closed for the day). Finally a day worked out and I was able to get out on the Lady C!

The weather was perfect; warm and calm. Let me tell you this: shrimping is long tiring work. The crew works 12-14 hours a night, 5 days a week in all kinds of weather. It was a fun one-night adventure but I got to hand it to those that do it for a living! Rather than go into detail I have created this video below of the night’s events.

Wow, what an adventure! I cannot thank Mike, Liz, John and Karen enough. Plus, I may or may not have snatched a bag full of some of the bigger shrimp for ourselves!

If that was not enough, we had even more adventures this past week. Mike and Liz had us over for a day of 4 wheeling and a prime rib/crab dinner. We were joined John and Karen (the shrimp boat owners). Only this one picture but a great time was had by all.

Barb in the Quigley's side by side

Tuesday night and Wednesday Farmer Bob and DeAnne flew down for a visit! They have several friends and relatives spending the winter in Florida so they spent a week down here visiting. They were only in our area for one day so we tried to plan activities that they would enjoy and could not do back home in North Dakota. Dan and I took Bob fishing. This was Bob's first time fishing on the gulf. Throughout the day we caught perch, ladyfish and trout. I would tell you that he caught more fish than me but no one would believe it so I won't.

Bob and Dan ready for the big one!

We even saw gaters in the river!

Bob with a Ladyfish

Dan with a Speckled Trout

Bob even caught oysters!

Barb and Jeanie took DeAnne kayaking over to Three Sisters to see the manatees. DeAnne had never seen one so that was a treat.

The manatees got really close!

Manatee under the arrow!

They also stopped by Monkey Island for lunch. Unfortunately it was closed but Barb did get to see a few of her relatives.

Barb's first cousin Ralph

As if that was not enough we all then met back up at Dan and Jeanie's for a Florida Feast of oysters, crab claws, steak and fresh tuna. The oysters and tuna were firsts for Bob and DeAnne, I think they were met with mixed reviews. 

Oysters and crab anyone?

Saturday was also a big day, it was moving day! Although we thoroughly enjoyed the time in the area with our friends, we could not wait to get out of that nightmare of a campground. Saturday morning we were hooked up early and pointed the rig towards Lithia Springs where more adventures await!

Last but not least we had some pretty cool news from our daughter Jessica. They used her in some advertising material for her hospital so if you are driving down I-81 near Chambersburg, PA look for her on the billboard!