FRANKLIN LOCK, NOV. 16-23, 2009

On Monday we moved over to our final campground before the Keys.  We will spend the last 2 weeks in November at Franklin Lock Campground, another Corp of Engineers Park on the Caloosahatchee River.  This campground, which is actually an island in the river (connected by a causeway) is closer to Ft. Myers.  We like that every campsite is right on the water, but miss being able to see the boats go through the lock close-up as the lock is on the other side of the river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our project on Tuesday was to go over and put the new tires on the boat trailer in the storage yard.  Hank did a masterful job and I was his able assistant!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next day, Wednesday, we picked the boat up and drove directly to the car wash in LaBelle to clean it up.  There was a lot more mildew in the boat this year.  After the initial cleaning, we gave it a thorough cleaning and waxing back at the campground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The manatees were frolicking in the spillway next to us the whole day we cleaned.  I wish I could have gotten better pictures of them, but mostly we saw their backs and tails as they surfaced and rolled over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put the boat in the river on Friday and everything ran great.  We met up with Art and Jane in their boat and did some exploring with them.  Remember the camel we spotted last year?  We got another picture of him this year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday morning we had breakfast with Art and Jane at Riverbend in their beautiful clubhouse.  Afterwards, we spent time at the Riverbend outdoor model railroad.  Jane showed me all the houses that are still in the shed, but that will be spread along the tracks as they get the train fully set up.  Amazing all the work and creativity that has gone into this project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We explored the Groves—one of Janie’s favorite areas at Riverbend—looking for the hoot owls.  We did find a couple of groves of bamboo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I love their neighbor’s golf cart!

 

 

I leave this posting with one of the spectacular sunsets we’ve witnessed this past week.

 

SOUTH TO ORTONA, NOV. 6-15, 2009

 

We continued our journey south, spending a night at Huntington Beach State Park near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  We spent some time here last fall, so we traveled on to Blythe Island Regional Park in Brunswick, Georgia, for the week-end.  Hank discovered this park when he would drive to the Keys by himself when I was still working and would fly down to join him.  I can see why he fell in love with this park.  The shady, roomy pull-through sites have to be seen to be believed.  And have you ever heard of Right Whales?  See sign below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had planned to spend the next few days in St. Augustine, Florida, but changed our minds when we saw what was happening with Hurricane Ida.  After making landfall, it was traveling across northern Florida before sweeping up along the east coast.  Rather than put ourselves directly in its path, we decided to drive directly down to the LaBelle area in Florida where our boat is stored.  It was a rough drive for Hank with all the gusty winds and sudden rain squalls.  You can see what the skies looked like over Jacksonville and outside of Disneyworld.  No sunshine that day at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We settled at Ortona Lock Campground, which is a Corp of Engineers Park located on the Caloosahatchee River.  It’s a quiet, peaceful place and we always see all kinds of wildlife while we are here.  This visit we spied an armadillo, bobcat, sandhill cranes and a bald eagle.  We also spent an entire morning watching 4 river otters playing and splashing in the pond behind our motorhome, avoiding the alligator who shares their space with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view out our front window is even more fantastic.  We never tire of watching the constant parade of boats passing through the locks as they travel up and down the river.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove over to check on our boat.  The framework Hank had built to hold the cover in place held up well.  But our wheels are badly rusted and we will have to replace them before we take the boat out of storage and set off for the Keys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday night we met Art and Jane at their place at Riverbend and then had dinner at the Alva Diner.  They, like us, are happy to have left the coming Michigan winter behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve watched, with horror, the weather reports as the remnants of Ida have made their way up the coast.  We are certain that our Kitty Hawk campground, pictured in our last posting, was flooded and today we saw pictures of the area along NC12 that we told you was under water when we were there.  Over 600 feet of that same highway have been completely washed away and many of the dunes are gone!  We’ve heard from friends in Alabama, Virginia and New Jersey who have all suffered some type of damage from this massive storm.

I leave you with a picture of a busy day on the river.  The smoke you see in the background is from one of the many sugar cane fields nearby being burned off.