February 10 - February 19. Myakka River Motorcoach Resort - Port Charlotte, FL

Bob near the Myakka River entrance

Our time at Myakka River Motorcoach Resort (MRMR) continues and we've extended our stay until March 10th.  We are enjoying our time here so much that we've completely cancelled our original plans for Walt Disney World and the Florida State Park on the  panhandle called Top Sail Hill Preserve.  We're sure many of you are wondering why we've decided to stay at MRMR for so long and  there are multiple reasons.....

Jan near the Myakka River entrance

* The weather in the north (even north Florida) is still cold or chilly and the weather here in Port Charlotte is beautiful.  Highs running between 75 and 85 each day.

* The owners at MRMR and our fellow residents are really wonderful people and we're enjoying the camaraderie and the activities.

* We love the water aerobics classes and Jan's having fun with the craft classes.

* We're captivated by the amount of wildlife in or near the resort - lots of blue heron, egrets & cranes, an active osprey nest (causing us to learn more about ospreys than we ever imagined); an eagle; a bobcat and her cub;  several alligators; armadillos;  geckos; and sightings of dolphins and a manatee in the river next to the property.

* We're also perfectly positioned to visit lots of beaches and interesting sights.

 We've been having so much fun photographing birds, and we discovered  a rookery (bird sanctuary) near us in Venice.  The rookery is on an island in the middle of a small lake with lots of different birds. 

Rookery:  A blue heron nesting

Rookery: An Anhinga (aka Darter or Snakebird)

Rookery:  Blue heron posing for us

Rookery:  Beautiful egret

In nearby Punta Gorda, there's a bird refuge for injured birds (Peace River Wildlife Center).

Punta Gorda:  Fisherman's Village

Blue heron

Brown pelicans

Red Tail Hawk with his lunch

Bald Eagle

Valentine's Day was celebrated here at the resort with a dinner and dance and a great DJ.  Each lady got a long stemmed red rose as she arrived.  Dinner was beautiful and delicious with plenty of wine and beer.  Dessert was from the "gas station cheesecake place".  Seriously, there's a place about 15 minutes from the resort that's a gas station where the service bays have been converted to a deli with pizza, subs, and scrumptious looking pastries and cheesecakes.  We can testify that the cheesecakes are as yummy as they look.  The DJ had a great  selection of music so there was lots of dancing.  We won the "cucumber dance" contest which gave us notoriety, bragging rights for the evening, and two nice 3-button shirts. 

One of the biggest activities in Southern Florida at this time of year is baseball spring training.  The Tampa Bay Rays do their spring training right here in Port Charlotte and the park is only about 10 minutes from the resort.  Rumor has it that the manager for the team is staying in an RV right here in our resort.  There's a spring training game between the Rays and the Phillies on the 3rd of March and we are hoping to go. 

A huge "Thank You" to one of our MRMR neighbors, Jackie from Traverse City, Michigan, who replaced the zipper on Bob's favorite pair of shorts for us.  Nothing worse than being on vacation with limited wardrobe and having one piece go out of commission.  In addition to our resident seamstress, we have such talented neighbors..... people who teach classes on photography; people who share their travels to other parts of the U.S. with beautiful slide shows; and people who have traveled a lot more than we have with suggestions about resorts and campgrounds that we might like to visit.

We are continuing to visit nearby cities and on a trip to Anna Maria Island, we met up with neighbors from back home, Irene and John, who are in Florida escaping the nasty winter weather (aka they're "snowbirds").  This is their sixth year of staying on Anna Maria Island which just happens to be where Bob grew up.  In addition to seeing their beautiful condo, we enjoyed lunch at a great restaurant with a view of the Gulf of Mexico and wonderful seafood.  After a little walk out on the Anna Maria Pier to see the Gulf  and Tampa Bay, John treated all of us to ice cream at a little shop called "Two Scoops".   The ice cream was super, the weather was terrific and it was so nice to see friends.  After we parted with Irene and John, we went to the northern end of Anna Maria Island to watch the sunset.  Things just don't get much better than that.

On a recent trip to Boca Grande, we watched a fisherman reel in a sting ray in the 100 pound range.  He and his wife were so busy reeling in the ray (which they later released) that they didn't have time to record the event with pictures.  Luckily, we were there with the camera and took a few pictures which we've emailed to them.  

Sting Ray being reeled in

On this same trip, we watched an osprey swoop down from a palm tree and swipe a small fish that another fisherman had just caught.  We found out later that the osprey carry their catch with the head of the fish facing forward because they somehow realize that this reduces wind-drag while they're flying. 

Osprey snatching a small fish from a fisherman

Carrying his lunch

Yummm....fish for lunch

Osprey keeping his eye on the territory

Osprey in flight

Sunset at Boca Grande

Some days, we just hang-out at the coach trying to get a few things done (thank goodness for the washer and dryer in the coach) or go for walks or take a dip in the pool.  Is there any wonder it takes us so long to update this blog??