Trevor volunteered to help grill the food! He's becoming more and more helpful every day- we have hope.

When we take time to slow down and say hello to fellow RVers, we ALWAYS meet nice folks. This time, we said hello to Bluebird Wanderlodge owners with Colorado license plates and were pleased to meet Steve and Jeannie, who hail from Colorado and Minnesota- and are trying out the Florida winter life this year. Steve is an accomplished pilot, and had some positive things to share with Trevor. Trevor is looking into the best plan of attack toward pursuing a pilot career. Our most exciting topic of conversation with our newest friends was when Steve let the news out that his bride had once been a stewardess on the DC-3, and at the time wore gold boots and white fishnet stockings (I didn’t catch what the rest of the uniform was). She humbly said it was neat to fly on this classic airliner- a tail dragger- that would involve climbing the inclined aisle when it was on the ground- which would ‘level out’ once they were airborne. They were fun to visit with and as always, we didn’t have enough time to discuss everything we would have liked to.

We didn’t come here for the beach- although thousands of other spring-breakers do, and did. We drove through Fort Myers beach one evening to check it out, but frankly the beaches are all starting to be very similar. Some stand out for their sand, but fall behind on parking- others are free parking and dirty sand- we’ve yet to find the perfect beach. We’ll keep looking and let you know (Cancun was pretty nice across the board). So what did we do in Fort Myers (City of Palms) if we weren’t there for the beaches? We arrived for one day that turned into 5 nights at the Fort Myers Beach RV Park.


From the RV park it's just 5 miles to Sanibel Island and Ethan was able to eat the whole 'big burger' at Cheeburger Cheeburger and get his photo on the wall. No, he didn't eat THAT burger, but it was almost that big!


We thought we had scored with our Passport America membership saving us 50% off the nightly rate- until our new friend Steve told us he was paying $99 for the week (!). We were not able to renegotiate the 3 nights we’d already paid once we learned this, and wouldn’t get ahead if we switched since we were staying only another day or two…. Lesson learned though: ASK about promotions or weekly rates before booking even one night at any RV park. 



This was about the time Kelly started to kill me in shuffleboard.


This park was a gem: old school grassy spaces with crumbling concrete pads at some of them, narrow, beautifully mature tree lined ‘streets’ and a pool that was perfect. Crystal clear, no chlorine taste or burn, 85-ish degrees, never crowded. The first 3 days the hot tub was clear, but the same temp as the pool. The 4th day it was hot! Word around the pool gutter was that they had to get it fixed. We hosted a ‘Dive In’ movie at the pool one night with popcorn and cracker jacks. I’m not sure that was fun for everyone: The best location for the screen was at the deep end (8+’), and Henry and Simon were constantly moving while watching, so it was like watching them watching the movie.


The outdoor movie is always fun. This is our first water movie. We opted not to show Jaws.



New friends that live an hour away from our home in Colorado!


When I said a night turned into 5, it just was so comfortable- and we knew it would be one of the stops we would later miss and recall fondly, so we just stuck with it. We’re killing a few days before we head North to Homosassa Springs to meet Kelly’s HS friend next week. We tackled a few school sessions, and took some time to do nothing- since we seem to have been on the go for a while now. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but the strain of seeking a new destination, planning a route, dump site, water fill, overnight stay in addition to the school/meal/daily schedule is remarkable. This week has been sprinkled with some interesting side thoughts about this whole project: what we’re really getting out of it, what we’ve lost (anything?), what it will feel like to go back home, and if we’ll ever travel the same way again? I think we’ll have no choice but to sell the bus when we’re done; I’m afraid if we let the bus sit it will fall apart and need more than less- at least if we keep it the way we want it. It is nice be keeping it in such good shape, while I have the ability to give it my full attention and drive it each day - we're so closely connected right now.


One of our Ft Myers stops was the Edison-Ford winter estate. Another good place to investigate the family membership if you have a robust family. Beautiful grounds. This image shows us standing with the same horticultural specimen that Edison posed with so many years ago!


Our last day here is definitely our last, we’ve got the feeling to get moving. Goodbye cable TV, heated pool, RV park friends, shuffleboard and a friendly comfortable place to stay. We’d return here again. I was actually imagining myself with my own golf cart buzzing around the park, with my own matching set of shuffleboard pucks and sticks- until Kelly started to win so dramatically that I abandoned the thought for the time being.




In our travels we've seen several of these 'green' Walmarts, but haven't seen any in Colorado. They are "Neighborhood Markets", set up like grocery stores without all the department store etc etc etc that Walmarts are famous for.