Titusville

Here we are on our last day with our camping friends, Jim and Barb. We've had a wonderful time with them and hate to part ways. The domino tournament is over and as MaryAnn B would say, "the scorekeeper always wins." Such was the case here and yours truly was the scorekeeper. I was hoping to pass the trophy along, but we know have a reason to hook up next year (hopefully in AZ) and continue. Perhaps we can include the Bernauers and the Bohmans.
We've spent time at Kennedy Space Center and Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Great places to visit. It's our second time for both and we throughly enjoyed them just as much this time as the first.
Tomorrow we're off the Ft. Clinch State Park just north of Jacksonville.

Wekiva Spring State Park

What a beautiful place this is! It's located in Apopka, FL just NW of Orland. Our first full day (Wed) was perfect weather. We took a bike ride to the spring and river which was just down the road from our campsite. Barb and Jim went out in their kayaks for a couple of hours and then Barb and I went out. The river was like paddling in the jungle. Lots and lots of vegetation, clear water so you could see right to the bottom and very peaceful.
But, before my kayak ride, I met a young couple with the cutest little cockapoo puppy who were trying to rent a canoe. The problem being the park didn't allowed animals in the boat, so they were discussing what to do with "Ella" while they were on the river. First, the guy said they could tie her to a tree.....the girl was horrified (so was I). Then they discussed leaving her in the car for two hours......I was horrified, they were not. I offered to "dogsit" Ella until they got back.
So Ella and I walk up the hill to find Paul and Judy (my sister was visiting for the week) to show off little Ella. They fell in love with her, which was good because then Barb and I took off in the kayaks. When we got back, all was well and they had met lots of people who just had to come over and pet Ella. Aren't aniamals amazing how they bring people together?
Thurs. was a torrential downpour all day. We were to go to Disney World, but cancelled out until Sat. Went to the movies instead to see Matt Damons' new movie, Green Zone.....not a particularly good movie. Friday was also a rainy day, so we hung around the campground.
Sat. was perfect for Epot and we had a wonderful time. Stay until the end of the fireworks; came home tired. Sunday we met up with a sorority sister of mine from FSU for dinner. Paul, of course, knows her well also since he was one of the "houseboys" at Alpha Chi Omega. We had a great time catching up with each other and with mutual friends.
Today we are in Mims just north of Titusville. The campground is very, very nice and we're looking forward to seeing Cape Kennedy, Merritt Island and all the other sites. This is the last week we'll be with Jim and Barb, so we need to finish our Dominos tournament and award the trophy.
They internet site I'm on will not allow me to post pictures. So I'll post them at a later date.

Sanibel Island Wildlife Refuge

Today we took a bike ride through the wildlife refuge on Sanibel Island. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the beautiful homes and beaches on Sanibel/Captiva, but if you've been there you know how wonderful it is.
We did do the 8 mile bike ride through the park and it was very interesting. No alligators today even though it was a perfect 68 and sunny. I think they haven't figure out it safe to come out and sun on the shore. We did see the Snowy Egret, Ibis, Rosette Spoonbill, herons of different types and other I can't name.
Here are a couple of the pictures I took.

Edison Banyan Tree

I have discovered that once a mistake is made while doing a posting, it's either very difficult to correct it or I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm inclined to think it's the latter.
So, I'm trying this approach; posting the picture on another posting. I hope this works.

Edison Home and Lab

r>
Friday we spent a very windy, cool day at the Edison Home. It is a beautiful spot on the Calooshatchie River. Edison had his winter home here as well as his Botanical Lab where he was looking for a replacement for natural rubber. He developed an oversized (6') goldenrod plant for this purpose. Eventually the need disapeared for the alternative for natural rubber and he closed down this operation.
The grounds are lovely. He and Henry Ford became extremely good friends. Ford bought a house immediately next door to Edison where he and his family would spend 2 weeks every year. Ford thought of Edison as his mentor.
There is a huge banyan tree on the property that takes center stage. These trees are amazing because roots extend from each of the limbs toward the earth and bury themselves making a single tree seem like a jungle. You can see just a portion of the tree in this picture.

Ft Myers

We've moved to Ft Myers in heavy wind, but are here safe and sound. We've started our domino tournament with Jim and Barb and thanks to MaryAnn and Larry B (their idea) I've made a trophy to award to the winner at the end of our domino Olympics.
We've also met with other St. Louis Sailing friends who are at the beach in a beautiful penthouse with wonderful views of both the bay and the gulf.
Today we're heading to the Edison Home and Lab. It's a wonderful complex, one we look forward to seeing again.
The weather is still in the high 50's and very low 60's with the promise of warming weather to come. We really want to be able to enjoy the beach while we're here.