One Great Advantage of Fulltiming For Our Friends & Us

Sanibel, FL (92 degrees, hot & humid and at times buggy)

One of the best fulltiming benefits is having a great place for your family and friends to come to for a visit.  We had a great time showing our visitors are new back yard.   

We started off the month with a visit from our daughter.  She LOVES the beach and spent as much time as possible exploring some of the beaches. Her visit started off a little slow due to a tropical depression.  However, on day three she found this amazing Horse Conch.  It"s very easy to become addicted to shelling after a find such as this one. 

The two education interns (Sara & Jeremy) at J.N. Ding Darling also hung out with us during some of her visit.  The beach and nature walks are even more fun with a naturalist along to show you all kinds of creatures. We also went kayaking together at Tarpon Bay and used dip nets to bring up a few which were gently returned after admiring.  One evening we took a nice sunset cruise out to the rookery islands to see the birds nest at night.  

We reluctantly had to take her back to the airport after a week  It was a great visit and I didn't have much time to feel sad at all because we picked up our friend Debbie from Indianapolis at the airport as we were dropping off Jen to fly home.  Debbie and I used to work together and she has visited us several times since we started fulltiming.  She is also a big beach lover and I don't think she stopped smiling all week.  

Debbie has a great SLR camera and photographed some beautiful sunsets during her visit.  Her boyfriend Dave arrived a couple of days later.  We had not met him and after a through grilling decided   we like him.  LOL!

We spent one day in Ft. Myers visiting the very interesting Edison & Ford Winter Estates Museum.  There are many options for touring the houses, museum, and beautiful gardens.  We decided on the self guide audio tour ($20/person)  The summer homes are beautifully preserved and we could have spent hours in the museum alone.  It was interesting to hear about what Ft. Myers was like when Edison decided to make this his winter home.  It was only accessible by boat at the time and very remote.  Their homes were a respite from their very hectic lives and they often went on off road trips (elaborate camping trips) to Big Cypress.  We'd highly recommend this tour if you are in the Ft. Myers area.  

Debbie's birthday was a couple days after her visit with us.  It only seemed appropriate to have a pre-birthday beach party.  We planned a fun picnic along the causeway bridge beach.  John packed up with roadside grill and cooked some delicious cedar plank salmon and asparagus.  Celebrating with Debbie would not be complete without champagne being involved.  It was a perfect evening and once again the sunset cooperated.  

Our next visit was about a week later.  Jackie and her daughter Kenzie came to visit us.  They have also been to see us three times now since we started full timing and we always look forward to their visit.  This time Jackie invited her sister Jill to come along to join in the fun too.  Kenzie sure has grown and she loves the outdoors and has such a happy out going personality.   Her favorite "place" this time was the pool at the condominium where they were staying.  

We went on a trail hike with Ranger Jeremy down the Indigo Trail and even saw an alligator and a cool spider.  They learned all about the three types of mangroves in the refuge and Jeremy taught us a funny rhythm to help remember the differences.  

Lots of time was spent on the beach and of coarse the pool.  John had to do most of the entertaining for a few days because I got a wicked flu bug and certainly didn't want them to catch that while on vacation.  So now they have visited us at Mt. Rushmore (Black Hills), Watkins Glen, NY (Finger Lakes), and now Sanibel.  They decided the beach has been their best vacation so far.  Walking along the beach sure can be relaxing and Kenzie loved all the shells.  

We sure are glad everyone came to visit us.  It was so much fun and so great to see our dear friends.  

We love you too!  Come back and visit us again soon!

Fun On The Causeway - Watching the Indy 500 In Style

Sanibel, FL (88 degrees, blue skies, breezy)

We are originally from Indianapolis and loved going to see the Indy 500 (the greatest spectacle in racing) for many years.  Being far from home we still wanted to see some of the action on TV.  Our motorhome  has been parked for over a month and it was time to fire up the diesel and give it a little exercise.  So, we decided to drive it out to the causeway bridge which links Ft. Myers to Sanibel.  There is a nice beach on both sides and it is so easy to drive up and be right along the water.  

We invited the interns and a few staff members from J.N. Ding Darling NWR and SCCF to join us for the day.  These hard working young adults have been fun to work with and it was great to spend some time relaxing at the beach.  Some of their duties include studying the Snowy Plover, leading education programs in local schools and at the refuge, assisting with fund raising, and staffing the Education Center.  SCCF (Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation) is also a  non profit organization dedicated to preserving natural resources and wildlife in Sanibel and Captiva  They conduct a lot of research and do some wonderful work with sea turtles.  

Some of the interns are currently in college and here for the summer and others are awaiting admittance into graduate programs.  The interns live in mobile homes located in the same area as our RV site and  usually stay here for 3-6 months.   

Everyone brought something to share and of coarse some cold beverages.  We had a great time including Jimmy.

One of the staff members in maintenance who works with John brought his boat.  He took us all out for a trip around the causeway.  It was cool to see the bridge from the water.   Good thing we arrived early. The beach was packed.

The causeway bridge spans three miles and is managed by Lee County.  The original draw bridge was built in 1963.   Prior to this time the only way to access Sanibel was by ferry or your own boat.  In 2003, due to hurricane damage, the current two lane high span bridge was constructed.  There is a $6.00 toll collected from the Ft. Myer side.  

Tony Kanaan won the Indianapolis 500.  He is a great driver and has come very close to winning it several times.  He finally did!

Most of all we wish to thank all who have served or are serving our country. 

Happy Memorial Day!