Visit with Bob and Maryanne

The January we spent in Venice, Florida was the wettest January on record. There were some nice days once and a while and then we'd get rain for a couple of days. By the end of January we were walking out of the RV into 3 inches of water to wade through to get to the car.  We ended up deciding to leave 2 days early and visiting with my high school friend Don Waltz and his wife Lois in Lecanto, Florida.

The two days we spent with them we had lovely weather and it was so good to have a chance to catch up with them. Nicky enjoyed spending time with Toby their Border Collie. 

Before leaving Venice we did have one more visit with Bob and Maryanne. We ferried over to a small island called Venice Island and then we went to downtown Venice and had scones with clotted cream.

This is us taking off for Venice Island

On our way to the beach from where the boat docked.

This beach is known for it's shark's teeth and shells.

Enjoying our scones in downtown Venice.

We are now in Lecanto visitng Don and Lois.

Lee and Don chowing down.

Nicky's friend Toby

This is Don and Lois's house in Lecanto. They live in a lovely 1 acre lot development.
We left Don and Lois's and took off for Mayo, Florida to the Suwannee River RV Resort. We were about 1/2 hour down the road when the engine light came on in the RV. We had just passed a Ford dealer about a mile back so we turned around and went to that dealer to have a diagnostic run on the engine.  It turns out the problem was an oxygen sensor. Lee then purchased the part and put it in right there is the parking lot.  We only lost about an hours time and were on our way again.

We will be here at the Suwannee River RV Resort for the month of February. We have been here 2 weeks and these are my thoughts.  There is very little to explore nearby. Here at the park the pool and hot tub are lovely.  The restrooms are very nice. They are very dog friendly which is important to us. The dog park is large and well kept. They have a dog washing station. The sites themselves are large and level and well kept. The grounds of the park of lovely to walk.  There are nice chairs and swings throughout the grounds. The game room and dining room are nicely done and they even let you bring your dogs into this area.  To shop at a major grocery store you have to travel into Branford which is about 15 miles away. There is about 7 miles of bike trail just outside the park.

The weather has been a little cool but if it wasn't so windy it would be OK. We cannot keep up our screened in room because of the winds. 
We actually are bored because there is not enough to do here. There are no pickle ball courts, shuffle board or anything like that to do.

There is a nice shop here where they make the furniture and things for the park. Lee would probably be very content if he was working over there.  Now in the summer there would be a lot to do with the river here.
There is also Convict Spring located here on the property which is a fresh water spring. It is lovely and they do allow the dogs to swim in it.

We did make a day trip to Cedar Key about 80 miles away. More about that later and we went to Peacock Springs just down the road. Now we are trying to figure out what we will do for the next 2 weeks.

Wood shop on the property and homing pigeons

The Suzanne River

Above is Convict Spring

Nicky having fun in the dog park.

There are 525,000 acres of pine in the county here.
The only things in this area are pines and dairy farms and ranches.

court house

Suwanee Court House

We will look at Cedar Key and Peacock Springs tomorrow.

Venice/ visit with Brandon

I have a few more pictures from Ft.Myers and then it's off to Venice. We are staying in Venice for one month. The month of Jan. 2016. Brandon, our son, will be joining us for a visit towards the end of the month.
We have really found that we enjoy more traveling around than staying in one spot.  We prefer to come into an area and explore it then move on to a new area. I guess we just got used to this routine when we were traveling around the west. We were always on the go and always exploring new areas.
So let's finish up Fort Myers and move onto Venice.

Here is my little beach bum. When he is done playing he loves to just lay there and watch the water.

I love the buildings and shops at Fort Myers beach. There is talk of taking some of these in and putting high rises in. If they do it will ruin the beach here.

The view from Nervous Nellie's restaurant at Ft. Myers beach.

This is me and my friend Marianne just outside the restaurant. Just being silly girls.

We went into Fort Myers on day and it is actually a lovely town.

We've been babysitting Chris and Mark's dog, Teddy since Dec. 19 and this is the boys taking a nap on the big bed.

This banana tree was in the Fort Myers campground.

We are on our way to Venice now.

We got a very nice site here. It is now the 22nd of January and it has been the wettest weather we have ever had in Florida for the winter. Also a little on the cool side without the sun.

Mark came to pick up Teddy and we went to Snook Haven and had a very nice dinner together. Chris is home with her daughter who is in the last leg of her pregnancy.

We went to the Upper Crust bakery in downtown Venice and had scones and clotted cream. YUM

Lee figured out a way to take the swing along so he could take his nap on the swing just like he does at home.

While here Lee has had 3 Moh's surgery for cancer. Two on his head and one on his leg.  It has taken up a lot of our time here and the one on his leg is quite deep so it will be a long time healing and there has been no water for him.

While at the dog beach last week me met another standard poodle the same color at Nicky.

This bulldog was so cute.

We picked Brandon up at the airport and I think Nicky was as happy to see family as I was.

We went over to St.Armand's for lunch.

Mama is happy now.

We went to South point to walk out the jetty hoping to see some dolphins.

Brandon and I walked from the beach through the Banyan trees to the town of Venice. I wanted a cup of coffee for sitting on the beach.

Love these trees.

Aren't they beautiful?

This beach reminds me of Ocracoke, NC

Two little love birds

Taken at South Point

Brandon and his Dad

This guy turned to us as if to say, Here's looking at you.

Love watching theses guys fish

 

We had dinner with Brandon at Pop's Sunset grill and this was the sunset that night.

This was a sunset I caught a couple of weeks ago

I love sunsets and I don't get to see them at home because we live in the mountains.

We took Brandon for a bike ride on the Legacy Trail in Venice.

Got to see Mr. turtle having lunch.

One of the walkways in the campground.

This is a picture of the Myaka River which runs through the park.

We spent some time going through model homes. Great for getting decorating ideas.

great kitchen

Brandon kissed his buddy good bye.

We will miss our boy but only another month and we are headed home.  We will be going next to Mayo, FL to Swanee River Rendezvous Campground for the month of February. There are 5 state parks close by so that will give us lots of hiking and places to explore. We are looking forward to it. It is 260 miles north of here so it will be cooler but we are ready for a change. 

See you  soon son.