South Florida is Awesome! Naples and Fort Myers, Florida
Craig here. I'm giving Glenda a break and taking a stab at our blog update. I'll cover our stops in Naples and Ft Myers but will first reflect on how things are going at this point in our journey. These stops represent our 11th and 12th, so things are starting to click and become more routine. We've gotten to where we can pack up the RV for departure in about 45 minutes, and it is probably taking us 15 minutes to set up at a new site. Glenda and I have also become much more accustomed to living in tight quarters 24/7. As you can imagine, this was an adjustment for both of us. Also, while I'm far from being an expert, I think I have finally learned the basics of backing a 5th wheel—something I wasn't sure I could ever learn. While we've had some challenges with the RV here and there, they have been relatively minor, and she's holding up well (as I look for some wood to knock on).
One of the reasons I wanted to write this particular blog is because Naples was my favorite city in Florida. It seemed a great blend of nice, clean, and classy--without being pretentious--all wrapped in southern Florida beauty and warmth. However, it appears a lot of others have come to the same conclusion, so it sure isn't cheap to live there.
We only stayed in Naples for three nights, but during our stay were able to tour Naples on bike, catch a beach sunset, spend a day on the beach, and rent kayaks to explore the river near our RV resort. Even though real estate is at a premium, there is public access to the beach on almost every block with space for parking (paid of course) as well as nicely maintained public beach parks. We had dinner one evening in nearby Marco Island but didn't get a chance to spend any other time there. I loved this stop and hated to see us go.
In Ft Myers I purposely planned for a 5-night stay mainly because I figured we would appreciate it after so many 2-3 day stops up to this point. I was totally right in my thinking, and we thoroughly enjoyed our longer stay there. We were able to spend two game and dinner evenings with our friends Jack and Dee Nemecek, who retired in Ft Myers a few years ago. We were also able to find a dog-friendly beach for us to spend the day on the beach with Clay, catch a Braves spring training game, and get some biking time in. I'm happy to report after several days in the Florida sun, the pasty pale complexion we started the trip with has transformed into a Florida bronze. One of the more notable activities on this leg of our trip was a visit to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates and Museum in Ft Myers. Thomas Edison purchased property in Ft Myers in 1885 and built a winter retreat vacation home. He not only vacationed here but completed much research here, and his laboratory is still very much intact the way it was 100 years ago. His very close friend, Henry Ford, visited and loved it so much he purchased the adjoining property and built a home here in 1916. The property is beautiful and full of history. There is a museum dedicated to the work of Edison and Ford, where we could have spent hours.
March 14, 2020: Our blogs are a couple of weeks behind our actual travels. As I write this, we are in San Antonio, TX, and amid the global Corona Virus hysteria. From what we've seen, RV life seems minimally impacted. The RV resorts are still pretty full, and everyone seems to be going about their regular routines. So far, we have been able to go about our planned sight-seeing activities and obtain the groceries and supplies we need (except toilet paper). We are hopeful this will continue as we feel relatively isolated and safe doing this. Along with you, we are praying the added controls placed on public activities will be enough to slow the spread of the virus significantly.
Pictures from February 21-February 29, 2020:
