Downtown Naples, FL

March 7, 2017

 

We knew this was going to be a special day, but we had no idea what a fabulous experience we were going to have when we planned a trip to Naples

 

 

There is a 10 part geocache in Naples and we waited for Jim and Barb to be with us before we went to look for it. Nine wild and crazy creatures make their home in downtown Naples. Each stop required solving a clue to advance to the next location. The physical cache was located at the final destination.

 

 

 

Total travel distance is about 3 miles and walking is estimated to take about 2 hours. However it took us four 72+ year old seniors 5 hours to complete. We were not slowed by our health or physical conditions. We were just so enamored with the town and all that we saw and we spent extra time soaking it in and taking photos.

 

 

 

Homes here are big and beautiful—way out of our price range and dreams.

 

 

 We took a break during our long walk to eat lunch at the Naples Pier.

 

 

There was a wildfire in south Naples that we understand had been burning for 48 hours and was just 45% contained. It caused an eerie cloud and glow in the distance.

 

Celebrating my birthday!!

 

March 6, 20017

Today was my birthday!! I received cards in the mail, phone calls and internet messages. It was nice to be thought of by so many friends and family.

 

 

 

 

Cordell’s birthday was 7 days ago and he received a handmade card in the regular mail from our 12 year old granddaughter. Her love is evident from the time she put into making it and the sentiment she wrote in it.

 

 

We spent most of the day outside in LaBelle with Jim and Barb. We visited Muse Cemetery which was started as a private cemetery. We were chasing down a two part geocache that sent us to this one acre cemetery which we never would have seen otherwise.

 

 

There was a huge tree on the cemetery grounds.

 

 

It was interesting to see the various items that people have placed on some of the grave sites.

 

 

 

We took time for a quick lunch at McDonalds.

 

 

Later, we went to LaBelle Nature Park. Cordell and I had been there in January and we just knew that Barb would especially like it---not only for the one geocache that was hidden there but also for the hike through all the different trees and shrubs that are identified.

 

 

There are benches placed throughout the park, but my favorite were the two with a view of the

Caloosahatchee (hatchee is Native American for “river”).

 

 

 

I took some photos while we were driving around. I wanted to show my granddaughter in Maryland how the trees here have green leaves.

 

 

 

And then, I wanted to show Jennifer, my farmer friend, the cows in the area. Several of them have calves.

 

 

 

Here are some interesting blooms that I haven’t identified.

 

 

So many straight roads are a sharp contrast to what this mountain girl grew up traveling.

 

 

We had left a pot roast cooking in the crock pot which was ready and waiting for us. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

March 2nd - March 4th

Thursday, March 2^nd, while running a few errands, we were tempted to take our iPhones to Miracle Ear to see if there was anything they could do to make Siri understand the words we speak to her. Anyone who uses the speaker function on their smart phones has probably experienced multiple occasions when the words we speak are not what the phone displays.

 

 

Cordell and I consider ourselves puzzle challenged. A cache owner has placed a series of puzzle caches with the express purpose to teach people like us. Jim, Cordell and Barbara were able to solve all 10 puzzles while I had minimal input.

 

 

I saw some interesting seed pods while we were at a geocaching site.

 

 

 

While we were out and about on March 3^rd, Barb and I really enjoy seeing the various flowers that are blooming. Wonder how people in southwest Florida know when spring has sprung?

 

 

 

 

Our local geofriend, Brian, joined us for dinner. He has a well deserved reputation for uniquely designed and/or placed geocaches. We had an enjoyable evening picking his brain, but he didn’t give away all his secrets.

 

 

 

We spent March 4^th, caching at Port Charlotte. Cordell and I have cached there in the past, but we left some to look for with Jim and Barb. We found 9 caches and each of them was a bit different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim ad Barb attained a milestone when they found their 400^th cache.

 

 

At the end of our adventure, we returned to the Blanchard House Museum, a site that had a geocache we liked and found especially challenging. Jim and Barb also had difficulty finding this cleverly placed container. The hidden place was marked with an “x” and all of us overlooked it several times.