Uninvited guest

Yesterday evening we invited a couple to join us for refreshments at 5, we left the screen door open for them. We were making some snacks and popping corn when a resident squirrel comes inside for a handout, had to bribe him out with some pop corn, they are so used to being fed that they will eat out of your hand.
After two weeks we left Franklin this morning and will stay in LaBelle for two days before moving on to the Ortona Locks Monday. Not a lot of exciting stuff going on but figured I better post something before my sister, Rosemary, harassed me for not posting something.




He likes hot buttered popcorn




When the party was over he came back in for more, popcorn gone so we gave him Great Grains cereal, he cleaned the plate.




Live Oak tree behind our MH where they live




In addition to the 30 rv sites at Franklin there are 8 boat slips for those traveling through the locks from the Atlantic to the Gulf.




Coming into the boat ramp with an airboat
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Early morning walk around the park

How exciting can it get, Nita sitting outside soaking up some sun and reading, me taking dumb pictures, neighbor wanting me to join him for a bike ride, wow!! Tough decision soon, what to have for lunch and who is going to fix it.


Waiting for a room


Chumming for mullet, throwing out oatmeal balls


May stop by here tonight


Peanuts for breakfast


OF flying a bumble bee drone


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Big Pecker

I'm kinda fascinated with the sound, diet and action of this big peckered Limpkin bird. His diet is clams and Apple snails. It's fun to watch it poking around in the water and coming up with dinner. After finding the shell fish he takes it to the bank and easily opens it.

Wouldn't you think I'd have something better to do than follow birds around?





He has a clam ready to be opened and consumed


The banks are littered with these empty Apple snails the Limpkin has consumed, some of these measure over 3 inches.


Two headed Moorhens?


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This is we at W P

W P Franklin is one of our favorite Corps park. We're here for 2 weeks and come back for 2 more weeks next month. No fancy amenities, just a beautiful place and friends we have met in past years.




The river is heading toward Ft Myers and empties into the gulf in about 18 miles.




Beside Nita is Martha and Jack, from NC, who we met in a park in PA in 2008, we have seen them every year since, that's their motorhome directly behind Jack's head. We also met Barbara and Tim, from SC, in another park the same year, they are not in their motorhome but stopped by to visit on the way to the Tampa RV show, think they have the bug to get a new bigger one. The structure in the background is the flood gates that control the water flow to maintain the water level on Lake Okeechobee.

Move over Key Lime Pie, here comes the SSC

We departed the Burgess's Sat morning for the Corps of Engineers campground at the W P Franklin Locks near Ft Myers. We detoured on the way south to visit the Strawberry capital of Florida, Plant City. Plant City has the ideal temp and soil to grow strawberries. As we approached the town we observed the strawberry pickers in the fields.
A must stop in Plant City is the Parksdale Market. Famous for Strawberry Short Cake and Strawberry milkshakes.








Oh my gosh, these strawberry short cakes weigh about 2 pounds each




Although the Key Lime Pie is great it doesn't hold a candle to this dish. Nita could only eat half of hers so I had to sacrifice and finish hers.




This is the strawberry milkshake, you could not drink it with a straw as the berries jammed the straw. It had to be 50% berries, OMG, another hit. Not sure about Nita but I was in pain as I left. As we were leaving I decided to go back and ordered 2 more milkshakes to put in the freezer.




Am hooked now, Plant City will be the first stop when we head back north.
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First and second stops on the way

It warmed up some as we traveled south, we spent the first night Florence, SC, arrived in Ocala. fl the second. We spent Friday with our good friends, Joyce and Kent Burgess, in The Villages, we enjoyed some fun games of Oh Hell, watching Kent sail his RC sailboat and of course Joyce,s gormet cooking. We miss them not living near us.


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Made a list and checked it twice - off to Florida for the winter

Packing the motorhome for an extended trip takes some planning. I made several lists to make sure we had everything on board we would need, meds, food, clothing, phones, iPads, chargers, etc.

We departed last Wednesday 5:45 am to beat the traffic around DC, 8 degree temp. As we crossed into Virginia just south of DC I remembered I left my iPad on the kitchen table following breakfast. Bummer, that was our connection to the Internet, email, blog, etc. turning back would have put us in the middle of rush hour and cost us close to 3 hours of travel time. We decided to press on and once again we had to impose on Kim to retrieve the iPad and Fedx it to us. Should have checked that list the third time inside the MH before driving off.


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