All Good Things Must Come To An End

Well, we have spent 103 days in Florida and the time has come for us to go back home. We have enjoyed the warm climate, our old bones and muscles felt much better and neither of us had a cold or virus. Preparations were much easier for our return trip because there were not any decisions to make---just pack up everything we have here with us.

 

 

 

One morning at 9:00, we noticed that the 68° temperature in Dunkirk was warmer than the 67° we were experiencing here in Fort Myers. However, the beautiful Florida sunshine, which I contend is more intense than in Maryland, made it almost too hot for me by noon.

 

 

We attended Hope Lutheran Church for the last time this season on Easter. The Paul Oman painting was on display and I thought the sanctuary was decorated very nicely.

 

 

Our resident alligator must be a bit shy. He didn’t show himself very much while we had visitors staying with us. But, recently he has been cruising around the lake regularly.

 

 

I am going to miss seeing the Big Blue Heron that spent time very near our lanai.

 

 

We spent our last few days geocaching. One of those days, we were joined by our local geobuddy, Brian. 

 

 

Some caches are fairly easy to find for experienced geocachers like us.

 

 

Other caches take some searching.

 

 

 

 

 

It is always satisfying to finally find the caches.

 

 

 

We have had a lot of fun with Brian and look forward to his visit with us in Maryland in a couple of months.

 

 

 

Brian is a gifted craftsman and some of the cache containers he devises are incredible. He has a reputation for unusual and challenging caches. He also enjoys building kayaks and we checked out his latest project which he is making from scratch. He obtained wood over 25 years old and then cut it into beveled slats. The gluing process takes a lot of time. Two years ago he built a kayak from a kit that he purchased from a dealer in Annapolis. That boat is hanging behind Cordell’s head in the photo.

 

 

 

Like several other places we have seen, Brian has mounted an electrical box on a tree instead of using a post.

 

 

 

We have noticed many details in various places here--lots of murals, beautiful landscaping in urban and residential areas. Today, I was surprised to see this decorative base on a utility box.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes, we find other things near the sites where we are caching. We have learned to be watchful every time we are near water, including places like this water retention site. It didn’t look as inviting as some of the preserves or undeveloped areas, but there was an alligator swimming around while we were there. Several turtles were in the water, but they didn’t seem concerned about being alligator bait.

 

 

 I have seen a lot of beautiful flowers that have been blooming while we were here.

 

 

We went back to Cape Coral for our last caching trip before leaving for home. When we stopped at Bissett Park, I thought it was interesting to see a sign warning about the presence of alligators that was posted so closely to a children’s playground.

 

 

We spent a lot of time there looking for a very well hidden cache.

 

 

Our caching trips have taken us down a variety of road surfaces. But, this day was the first time we drove on a grass road. There were no houses or any signs of development, but stop signs were placed at the intersections. We didn’t see even one vehicle while in this area. I surmised that the only people who would have any interest or business here, would be geocachers. It appears that road maintenance here consist of mowing the grass in the highway instead of plowing snow.

 

 

Last year, this part of Florida had record rainfall. This year, they are experiencing a drought. The difference was very noticeable in this neighborhood where one yard was green while the other was brown.

 

 

And so, we end this Florida visit with another beautiful sunset.