Fun Times In Florida With Family, Friends, and Previous Workampers

Sanibel, FL (61 degrees, chilly, cloudy skies)

While we have been volunteering at Ding Darling this winter several visitors have stopped by to see us.  What fun!  We love showing our friends and family our beautiful "backyard".

John and Martha

A family tradition-taking your picture taken in this chair on Captiva Island

Our first visitor was John's sister, Martha.  It's always great to see her. This time, however, she had a bad cold and many of our plans were cut short. Sheesh!  Sometimes the body does not cooperate with travel plans.  It was still great to see her and we had our belated Christmas together.  Martha lives in Sao Paulo Brazil so sometimes we have our holidays on a different day.  It's always a good day when presents are involved.

Our next visitor were a couple from a FMCA club we belong to called Cuatro Estados (Four Corners).  It's a very active club which offers some great rallies out west.  We've been in Florida much longer than originally planned but have continued to keep our membership in hopes of joining them this fall.  Barry and Jann contacted us by email and although we have never met before they had heard from other members we had in common...kayaking, birding, photography, Dutch Star motorhome, dining out, and a love of full timing.

We got together several times during their one month stay in Ft. Myers.  We went kayaking down the Estero River, joined a Audubon bird walk at the Bailey Tract, toured Ding Darling, and ate out together several times at our favorite restaurant called Skip One which offers super fresh seafood food at reasonable prices in Ft. Myers.   

Kayaking Estero River (Barry & Jann)

John, Jann, & Barry

This fall we hope to join them out west at a rally they are sponsoring at the Mohave National Preserve. We enjoyed each others company very much and look forward to seeing them again soon.

Sue & Mo -cheers!

Abby swimming at the beach

A fellow blogger I've followed for many years also stopped by for a visit.  Sue writes an excellent blog (The MOHO and Other Travels) and it was so great to meet her, Mo, and their great dog, Abby.  They attended my alligator/crocodile talk and afterwards we searched for Spoonbills without success.  However, they took it in stride and later in the evening we had a nice dinner outside. Wine was involved and lots of laughs could be heard late into the evening from out campsite.  What a fun day!

Pat and Diana

A "lurker" who has followed our blog for several years also contacted us too. Again we met at Skips One and enjoyed hearing about their full time travels.  They recently started their journey and seem to be really having a great time.  This time they knew a lot about us since they've followed our blog. However, we didn't know them at all.  It really didn't seem to matter. This has happened several times now and when you to explain to folks who don't blog that you're meeting someone you've never met...well you get the look..."are you nuts".  Not at all!  It's delightful and we've made many friends this way whom we treasure.  

Me and Sharon

Mark and John

Two special trips were made to meet up with past workampers who are in Florida for the winter. You might remember our friends from Sheridan Lake at the National Forest Campground near Mt. Rushmore.  Sharon and Mark have now stopped full timing after spending one last season at Sheridan Lake.  They will soon move into an apartment near the area where Mark grew up in Iowa  They are very excited about this fork in the road and Sharon is busy dreaming of how she's going to decorate her new place.  Currently they are renting a nice park model in Sarasota. It was great to see them again. Mark drove us all around to some of their favorite places in Sarasota.  

We also visited our workamping friends from KOA @ Watkins Glen in the the Finger Lakes of New York. Fidencia and Tom have purchased a cute vintage trailer on Anna Maria Island. They have fixed it up in such a nice way and the other trailers around them are equally adorable.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.  They live within a couple of blocks of the restaurants and beautiful beaches. They plan to stay at their trailer each winter and workamp in the summer.  It was so good to see them.  Tom is very happy selling some of his beautiful walking sticks and very cool painted coconuts at craft festivals.  He is so talented.

Jen

Our daughter Jen also came for a brief visit to interview for some jobs in Tampa Florida.  She set a goal of never spending another winter Indiana.  With a lot of persistence and courage she landed a great job which will start in a few weeks.  Having Jen here in Florida will be wonderful. Looks like we might be involved with moving her in soon.



We've been blessed by the visits from our friends and family.  Thank you so much for stopping by. Life is good!