Cooler and warmer temps.

 

Saturday was a relative quiet day for us. The temperatures had cooled off so we elected to spend much of our time inside.

 

We did venture out to a couple of stores. I was impressed that the local Dollar General store had a bin in front where they were collecting snacks for our US service men and women. Individual bags were at the checkout counter and were being sold for 50₡ each. I bought a few and dropped them in the bin with prayers for whoever was going to be receiving them. Somehow, actually buying an item rather than donating money seems more tangible to me.

 

 

We stopped by a K-Mart that is closing permanently in March and boy did they ever have some bargains! I found it challenging to limit my purchases. I did buy 4 shirts and 3 pairs of shorts. I got a nice tank top for $1.20—couldn’t pass that up. And the shorts cost $4.98. I am seriously considering going back to buy some shirts for the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes that I will be packing.

 

 

There were a lot of egrets resting on the island tonight before the sunset.

 

 

On Sunday, it rained on and off almost all day. After church, we stopped by the Flea Market again because I had seen something there that I wanted to buy for Christmas gifts.

 

 

I liked this sign for Beach Rules. The advice is good for all times and at all places.

 

 

 

Palm trees can be seen just about everywhere here—even in very urban areas.

 

 

We had a quick lunch at McDonald’s. This restaurant had recently been remodeled and they have the automated ordering stations available. I saw only 2 cash registers at the counter and for most of the time, only one was being used. This is what $15.00 minimum wages are doing to some businesses.

 

 

When I saw the base of this sign in the parking lot, my first thought was that it looked as if a geocacher had been searching around!

 

 

We did get a chance to take a short walk around the neighborhood.

 

 

I do so enjoy looking at all the colorful plants.

 

 

We also enjoy taking naps.

 

 

 

It continued to be a little chilly on Monday, but we had beautiful clear skies. Barb sent this photo and showed me what we are missing in Maryland today.

 

 

Then, we countered with this photo that showed her what she was missing in Florida. She and Jim will be joining us here in a few weeks.

 

 

Our geocaching experience took us to an old cemetery. I don’t know why, but I really like old cemeteries. Perhaps, it’s because when I lived in rural Grayson County, Virginia, I spent a lot of time playing in a nearby cemetery. With no TV or electronic games in those days, and few toys for a poor family, it was a way that I found to pass time. Also, I don’t want these souls to be completely forgotten. This cemetery remains active and I was impressed at how well it is kept.

 

 

 

Lt. Carl Bailey Cemetery was originally established in the 1880’s and serves the African-American community. This cemetery was re-named in 1957 in honor of well-known hometown son, Lt. Bailey, a U.S. Air Force jet fighter pilot who survived combat missions in the Korean War only to lose his life in an automobile accident while on leave.

 

 

Several headstones have various objects left on them. Since I have a collection of angels, I was particularly taken with one that had several small statues on it. A few of them had been turned over, so I paused to place them upright again.

 

 

We searched for a few geocaches in an area around an active local airfield. One could only be uncovered by prodding with a hiking stick. We have to be ever mindful of where we put our hands.

 

 

 

We drove down a very deserted road and it turned out to be a waste of time as far as finding a geocache which is probably missing. However, we do enjoy looking at the undeveloped scenery.

 

 

The sunset tonight looked like the trees were on fire.

 

 

It began to warm up a bit on Tuesday and only one tiny cloud was in the sky.

 

 

 

As we left for a day of play, the maintenance workers in our development were trimming the palm branches. I wondered if that was all this man does the entire year?

 

 

We went to LaBelle and wound up hiking in a delightful little nature park that we would have never known about were it not for geocaching taking us there.

 

 

There are a lot of signs along the trail identifying the plants, shrubs and trees. Every sign had a QR code that we were able to access with our iPhones and read some detailed and very interesting information.

 

 

 

This Pepper Wine plant looks like one I should have, except it would never live in Maryland. Wonder how the edible fruit tastes if made into wine?

 

 

There were a few benches scattered along the trail through the park, but I imagine the one overlooking the Caloosahatchee River is the most popular.

 

 

The geocache placed in this park required us to search a few feet off the trail, but it seemed like we were in the Florida wilds.

 

 

After we left the park, geocaching took us to the site of Fort Denaud which was used during the 1800’s during the 2^nd and 3^rd Seminole Wars. It was abandoned in 1858 and gave its name to the nearby town now known as Fort Denaud. There is a quaint bridge on the roadway and it seems to be quite active. We had to wait for a sailboat to pass and the bridge to be reset.

 

 

We often pass by citrus groves with fruit still on the trees.

 

 

The locals tell us that unlike last January, Florida needs rain now. While walking in one field today, it sounded to me like we were treading on shredded wheat.

 

 

As January ends, I am grateful that it has been a much milder winter than what we experienced last year. However, even the coldest day in Fort Myers is a lot better than being in Maryland right now.

 

 

 

February 1^st was a quiet and relaxing day around the condo. Temps continue to climb, but still not quite warm enough for us to enjoy time at the swimming pool.

 

Thursday, Groundhog Day, promised temperatures in the mid 70’s. We agreed that we hoped the groundhog did see his shadow because we would welcome 6 more weeks of Florida winter weather.

 

 

We made plans to go caching with our local friend, Brian Wyllie. He had waited for our return so that we could look for some geocaches in Lehigh that were placed after we left Florida last year.

 

 

We found some cute geocache host containers today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

I also noticed some cute little wild flowers blooming. One especially reminded me of our Black-Eyed Susans, the Maryland State Flower, although it looked more like the little sister.

 

 

We packed a lunch and had a picnic.

 

 

We saw a few Travel Bugs in some of the geocaches today. I couldn’t resist retrieving this one simply because it has a wine cork attached to it! Its goal is to reach Napa, CA, and be left in a certain geocache. I will try to find a cache to drop it in near the airport here in Fort Myers and hope that a traveler will pick it up and move it westward.