Day 8, Still In Naples

This place is pretty, but it's boring.  It's a gated community and it seems that the squirrels are even not allowed here.  Mama and I walked three times around the whole place today and all we saw were some birds and not even interesting birds.  We keep hearing a strange sound when we walk in one area. We are wondering if it's a peacock. We don't know what they sound like, so we are just guessing. 

When we drove here yesterday, we saw signs for panther crossings.  Mama thought it was for a school crossing at first, but no, it's actual signs for panther crossings.  We have seen several signs for them. We are definitely learning a lot on this trip.

Mama and Dad left us for a while today.  They drove to Marco Island. They couldn't get to the beach without paying to park and Mama said she didn't want to pay $8 to park just to look at the water for ten minutes.  The beach is on the side with all the hotels and the buildings are so tall that they block any view of water.  They then drove back to Naples and visited a place called Tin City.  They did some shopping and ate lunch.  They came back home and rested for a while.  We then all loaded in the car to visit a state park that is nearby by. It is the Collier-Seminole State Park.   Florida State Parks charge an entrance fee except if you are camping and then you have to pay the camping fee.  We stopped at the gate and we paid our $5.  The gate attendant gave us dog treats. Daddy laughed at the mosquito meter that was at the gate.  It said "Moderate, Bad and Run".  The arrow was pointed on RUN.  We didn't think they were serious.  We drove around the park and through the campground.  It was not nearly as nice as the other campgrounds that we have stayed at in Florida. We stopped the car and got out to take a walk.  Our walk lasted about two minutes because we were attacked by mosquitoes.  We RAN back to the car and then spent 10 minutes killing them.  They were all over Mama and Daddy.  Mama ended up crawling in the back of the Jeep with us to kill them. She hit me once and I didn't know why, but it was because I had one on my back.  Mama said that $5 was definitely a waste of money. 

We don't have many photos from today. They were supposed to be taken at the state park, but since we were only outside for two minutes, there are no photos. Here are two photos of Scout and I after the mosquito attack.

We've noticed the signs for businesses here are not high off the ground like they are back home.  I guess it looks nicer, but it's really hard to find places because many of the signs seem to be hidden by plants.

McDonald's doesn't have the golden arches high in the sky here.

Walmart is even hard to see.

Menu today for the folks

Breakfast: Bacon and fried eggs

Lunch: Pinchers Crab Shack 

Mama had an Angus burger with fries and coleslaw.  Dad a blackened grouper sandwich with fries and coleslaw.  He said you can't visit Florida and not have it.  They had a coupon for a free slice of key lime pie. They both said the food was good, but did not bring us any leftovers.

Dinner:  Mama made pork burgers, salad and baked beans.  The pork burgers came from the pig farm near our house.  It's a place where you buy on the honor system. 

 

We had frosty treats.  Yes, the frosty treats have come with us.  Making is making them in the blender instead of using the Kitchen Aid mixer.  It works well.

 

I guess tomorrow we should start giving you clues about where our next location is going to be.  We are a little sad that our vacation is now over and Dad goes back to work tomorrow.  He has to attend a conference.  Mama is going to take him there and back each day so that she still has a car.  

 

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Doesn't Like Mosquitoes

Day 7, Naples/Marco Island

We left Sarasota this morning around 9:30 a.m. We took  a couple of long walks around the campground and said goodbye to the new friends we made before we left.  We enjoyed the park except for the rattlesnake.

Do you like my alligator impression?

I'm ready for takeoff. I hope we are headed someplace cooler.

The drive was an easy one today.  It was only a few hours.  We are staying at Signature Resorts.  It is actually located in Naples, which is about 22 minutes from Marco Island.  Dad's conference is in Marco Island. The resort is just a half mile from shopping and it is not congested driving at all.  Mama is happy about that because she is going to do some exploring while Dad is at his conference. Anyway, we were concerned about being looking down upon since our rig is not expensive.  However, the place is almost empty.  There are 184 sites and only 14 are occupied. It looks like 4 of those are just storing their motor homes. People can buy the sites and then they are rented out when they are not using them.  The rates are really low right now since occupancy is so low.  

 

The gated entrance.

 

We are here!

The view from our windshield. Our site over looks a "creek".  It leads to the Gulf of Mexico. It is more of a canal than a creek.

Our site.

The view down our street.

They call this a lake.  There is a beach there.  No dogs allowed.  

Another view of the "creek".

I would love to take a swim.

We have Wi-Fi here and it is much faster than our hotspot at the last place.  That connection was so slow. It took us a good two hours to update the blog.  We couldn't use a lot of our pictures because it took us so long.  We have cable here.  We are not using our satellite since the only thing we are missing is Showtime. We will have to catch up on our shows next week.

Scout and I are relaxing tonight.  It's going to be strange to be in the same place for a while.  We leave here next Friday.

Menu today for the folks.

Breakfast:  Jimmy Dean's Breakfast Sandwich

Lunch: Hamburgers fixed by Mama in the electric skillet.

Dinner: Maria's Mexican Restaurant.  Mama had a fried chimi with shredded beef.  Daddy had a pork dish that was supposed to be spicy, but he said it wasn't.  The tortilla chips were thick which is not what we have at home. Dad said it was okay. Mama said it was good. There is not a website to share with you.

Joey,

The Greyhound Is Relaxing With A View Of Water And Palm Trees

Day 6, Myakka River State Park

Today was a non-travel day. Scout and I basically stayed in the motor home except for walks around the the campground.  Mama is still nervous about snakes, but none have been seen since last night.  The folks went sightseeing in the park. They took an air boat tour and saw lots of birds and alligators. They also saw a bald eagle, but he was too far away to get a photograph of him.

Here are the air boats and where the tour started.

Mama said the tour was fun.  The boat captain was very interesting.  After they finished that tour they went on a tram tour. It went off road and through the woods.  They were told there are feral pigs all over the park but we haven't seen any. There are supposed to be at least 2,400 pigs here. They saw deer and turkey but since those are so common, it was a little disappointing, but it was still fun and educational.

This is an osprey nest.  They like to build them on top of electric poles.

They also went on a trail that had a tower to climb and they walked over a suspension walkway.  Mama was nervous about the climb to the tower.  It was 76 feet. She doesn't like being high up.

This is a view looking down at the steps from the tower.

The tower as seen from the ground.

These are photos from the top of the tower.  The smoke in the bottom photo is due to a wild fire in Sarasota.  We thought it was a controlled burn at first, but according to the news it is not.  No one seems to be very concerned about it.

These are buildings made out of palm tree logs. They were built about 90 years ago and still look good.

 These are photos of a walkway to view birds.  See the smoke in the top photo? That's from that fire. It's not as close as it looks in that photo.  Florida is having a drought and were told all of these green grass should be underwater.  The alligators and the birds should have been much closer.

Mama did laundry tonight.  She is trying out the new drying rack. We could have waited a few more days, but the laundry facilities are located just across from our site, so she decided to do most of it tonight.

We have only stayed at two Florida state parks, but so far, we are very impressed.  The campsites are really nice minus the rattlesnake and the parks have a lot to do.  This park had the tours, gift shops, a small cafe and lots of trails that we don't have time to explore. It's really a pretty park. We are staying in the new part of the campground and it's really nice. The streets are paved and we have full hook-ups.  Full hook-ups means the sewer is right on our site.  We can dump (that's what it is called) instead of driving to the dump station.

Tomorrow, we are headed to Naples/Marco Island. We will be staying in a 5 star resort for the next week. We should have a better Internet connection. Our connection here has been very slow.   The scenery is probably not going to be as nice in that park.  It doesn't look like they have many trees, but it should be nice in it's own way.

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Is Resting Up For Marco Island

Day 5, Sarasota Here We Come!

We started this morning off with some nice walks.  The squirrels were so entertaining that Mama took me on a few walks.  I saw a sign that said they were looking for campground hosts and I thought that might be a good job for us.  They let you stay for free and pay for your electric. Mama reminded me that we still had to have money for food.  Hmmmm.....how many ways can you fix squirrel?  LOL

I had the best time at this park just watching the squirrels.

We had a very light breakfast this morning since we were would traveling.  Our drive today took us about 5 hours. We hit road construction.  We are staying at Myakka River State Park in Sarasota, FL   This park has alligators.  Mama is not thrilled about that.  Daddy wanted to stay here. They are going to take a tour on a boat and tram tomorrow to see the gators.  We have to stay home.  We have a lot less shade at this site and it is hot!  We have air conditioning in the motor home though, so it's fine if we are inside. Mama and Daddy went out to dinner tonight.  They tried one of the restaurants from their Food Network app.  It's called The Old Salty Dog.   Mama said it took forever to get there.  She thought there had to be a faster way, but probably not since it's on an island.  She said the food was good.  She had a grilled burger.  Daddy had a fried shrimp and oyster sandwich.  Mama is allergic to shellfish, so she can't have anything like that.  After they ate, they went to Walmart to pick up some groceries.  They bought a drying rack for their clothes. Mama doesn't like to dry t-shirts and jeans, so she needs something to hang them on.  We really don't have a lot of room in here, so the drying rack will be the best thing.  Most people hang their clothes outside, but the next place we are going will not allow that.  It's pretty classy.  Daddy said we are going to probably have the cheapest motor home there.  They will probably look down on us.  They only allow Class A's and they must be less than 10 years old.  We qualify, but our rig is on the low end as far as cost goes.  It should be interesting.  Okay, so back to tonight.  After they got home from dinner. Mama took this picture of our site. Do you notice anything?

 We were in the motor home waiting for them to come in.  Mama was taking this photo when Daddy told her to be careful and look where she was walking.  She thought there was going to be an alligator there.  She has been so nervous about the alligators. It wasn't an alligator.  It was this.

It's a small rattlesnake.  Our cell phone doesn't work here, but she noticed a neighbor using her phone. Mama thought she would ask her to call a ranger. As Mama was walking to their site, she saw another camper who had spoken to us earlier. She is from this area, so Mama told her about the snake.  She got her husband and then another camper.  The other camper came with a big stick and a spatula. I think he was being funny bringing the spatula.  He acted like he was going to grill up the snake, but that is not what he did.  He just relocated the snake away from us.  We are very nervous now even though we were told by the other campers that they have camped here many times and never seen a snake before.  Mama told Daddy he is going to have to help her walk us while we are here.  She has been cautious with us, but now seeing the snake has scared her.  She will be happy to be out of here and I think we will be, too.  I have not seen any squirrels here.  I did see a jackrabbit though.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Had A Rattlesnake In His Campsite

Day 4, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, White Springs, FL

This morning, I got Mama up around 6 a.m. and we went for a walk just the two of us. We walked around the campground and watched the squirrels.  It was nice. After we got home, Scout decided she wanted to go, so she got to go on a private walk with Mama.

On our non-travel days, Mama fixes us a big breakfast.  Today, we had fried eggs, bacon and hot sausage links.  Well, we didn't have all of that.  Scout had an egg and I had a little bit of bacon.  I don't eat eggs.  Mama needed to fix all the meat because she was scared it would go bad.  I guess enough of that boring talk.  You probably don't care what we eat for breakfast.

We all went for a walk after breakfast.  The squirrels are crazy here!  They hop from fences to trees.  It's fascinating!

This is our spot.

You can see our motor home in the background in the picture below.

Here we are with Dad under a palm tree.

This is an empty camping site.  We like it better than ours due to the palm trees. Maybe next time we will get that one.  The sites here are huge, like our adventure.

This is the back of our site. It's pretty.

After our walk, the folks left to do some sightseeing.  They visited the Stephen Foster Museum which is in the state park.

They also visited the bell tower. It plays his music.  He wrote such songs as Way Down Upon The Suwannee River and Old Suzanna.

There is a little village here where crafters demonstrate their work.  Mama met a lady who collects the stones and rocks she uses in her jewelry.  She travels all over the U.S. in the winter doing that.  She climbs mountains for some of the rocks.  She says you have to do it in the winter to avoid snakes.  She carries a gun in case she meets a poisonous snake. She was probably in her 60's.

We met a lady this morning who is traveling around with just her dog.  She has an Airstream travel trailer.  Mama was quite impressed that she was doing it on her own.  She said she tried traveling with another retiree once and it just didn't work out.  She said she does not play nice with others. I guess at least she knows that.

The people here are very talkative.  It's old to get away from them.  They are all retirees, so they have plenty of time.  Mama said she hopes when she retires that she can have this type of lifestyle.  I think I'm living the retiree lifestyle.  What do you think?

We had more pictures to show you, but the setting on the camera was changed and it is taking forever to upload them, so we will have to pass today.

Joey,
The Greyhound Thinks That The Florida Lifestyle Suits Him