February 19 - March 14.  Myakka River Motorcoach Resort - Port Charlotte, FL

With very heavy hearts, we are leaving Myakka River Motorcoach Resort (MRMR) and Port Charlotte, FL.  We truly enjoyed our time there and made so many new friends that we're wishing we could stay longer but we have other places to go and people to see.  We were actually able to squeeze out a sort of bonus day because we planned to leave on Thurs (3/13) but there were 20-25 mph winds with gusts even higher.  Driving a motorhome in that kind of wind is no fun and actually quite dangerous so we just dug in and stayed another day.  When we pulled out, there were several osprey flying overhead as if to say, "goodbye".

A pair of Osprey near MRMR

A frequent friend @ the MRMR Office

During the past few weeks, we've grown attached to the water aerobics classes and our instructor, Scott.  We really feel good when we leave the pool after the 1 hour class and it gets the day off to a good start.  

Scott teaching aerobics

What a cast of characters !

On Februay 22nd, the resort held a Murder Mystery play.  Some people were actors and some were observers.  Everyone enjoyed trying to figure out which our neighbors had committed the murder.  Lots of creativity in costumes and improvisation with the script.  

Jan has done several craft classes and Bob has attended a couple of photography classes. Our final Wednesday before leaving, the craft was to make party decorations for a surprise party to be held on Friday evening (3/14) as part of the weekly meet-n-greet.  The party was to celebrate our resort owner's upcoming wedding.  So sorry we had to miss the big party, but our best wishes go out to Amber & Ralf. They are wonderful people and a lovely couple!

We've had time to make some improvements & customize our coach to better fit our needs.  We've done a few minor repairs and gotten our network router mounted to be more efficient.  It's such a big help to pin down where we store items and how things are laid out in our home.

We made a trip to the Miromar Outlets which are only about 40 minutes away in Estero for some shopping, an additional trip to Anna Maria Island,

Jan @ the pier on Anna Maria Island

Our favorite restaurant on Anna Maria Island

 a trip to Stump Pass Beach park  (only about 20 minutes from MRMR)

Stump Pass Beach State Park

Neat blue heron

and a couple of more trips to Boca Grande.  

Boca Grande is the best place ever to look for shells, walk in the sand & surf, plus watch people and birds.  Another bonus is that a trip to Boca Grande wouldn't be complete without lunch at the South Beach restaurant that's right on the gulf and has delicious seafood dishes.   

Bob @ Boca Grande

Jan @ Boca Grande

A brown pelican in flight

Cute sandpiper

A view from Boca Grande into the Gulf of Mexico

The view from our table at South Beach Restaurant

Red-tailed hawk

We did a little exploring around Punta Gorda since it's so close and enjoyed some good seafood there.  While in Punta Gorda, we couldn't pass up another visit to the Peace River Wildlife Center ... the red-tailed hawk and the eagle are our favorites. 

The Venice Area Audubon Rookery warranted another visit and this time we saw several nests (mostly blue heron and egrets) with baby birds.  The chicks seemed to squabble and wrestle like small children.

An egret away from the nest for a few minutes

We also found the Cape Haze bike & hiking trail along the road to Boca Grande where we could hike to observe an eagles nest with 2 eaglets.  Along the trail, we crossed a bridge that gave us the opportunity to watch mullet (fish) jumping out of the water.  Pretty fascinating.   They apparently do that to take in some oxygen.  Who knew fish needed oxygen?!?

Mama eagle watching over the little ones

 

A heron watching the mullet

Most of our kayaking group

Getting everyone set to go

 We joined 4 of our MRMR neighbor friends and 3 additional people for a kayaking trip through a mangrove tunnel and out to Don Pedro barrier island.   While we've kayaked before, this was our fist time using sit-upon kayaks rather than sit-in kayaks.  Much different experience and lots of fun.  Our guide traveled on a stand up paddle board.   With the help of the guide, we were able to see a star fish, sponges, ink fish & upside down jellyfish.  After a nice lunch, we kayaked back to our starting point hoping to see dolphins or manatees, but it wasn't meant to be on that afternoon.

Since the Tampa Bay Ray's spring training facility is only about 10 minutes from MRMR, we spent a beautiful afternoon watching Tampa Bay play against the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Phillies lost, but as we were watching the game, we heard from our daughter in PA that they were getting snow.  For us, it was 80 degrees and sunny. 

Mexican Train is a popular game with the people at MRMR and we learned some different rules for the game.  We're convinced that there must be hundreds of ways to play the game and all of them are fun.   We just need to establish one set of rules for whichever group we join.

On February 28th, we had a potluck dinner with an amazing selection of great dishes.  We took a taco salad that's one of our favorites.   There were probably about 60 people in attendance.  It was a great evening of eating and visiting.

One of the reasons for our extended stay at MRMR  (like we needed more justification), was that we were able to celebrate our birthdays there.  We treated ourselves to dinner at a nice seafood restaurant near the resort. If you get the impression that we enjoy seafood, you're right on target.  YUM !!!   Our daughter sent us chocolate covered strawberries and called to facetime chat.  We also had a terrific facetime phone call from our son, daughter-in-law and two grandkids.   We had beautiful blown kisses from the little guys and only wish we could have felt those little boy hugs they like to give.

Speaking of boys ... while walking one evening just before we left MRMR, we found friends (Mike and Bernie) racing their boats on one of the lakes.  What fun!!

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??

January 29 - February 10.  Myakka River Motorcoach Resort - Port Charlotte, FL

It's amazing how fast the time goes when you're having fun!   We've now been at the Myakka River location for 3 weeks.  

Entrance to the resort

The resort clubhouse

Our coach looks right at home here amongst the palms

It's Florida ... of course there are gators!

Two ponds within the property and both have gators!

Beautiful sunset at the resort from the dock thatextends 100 yards into the Myakka River

 After our last posting, we had several days of rain.  In fact, rain that was heavy enough we wondered if it was time to buy a boat instead of a motorhome.  We took advantage of those days to get some shopping done and Jan got her first "on the road haircut".   Haircuts will be interesting since each one will be at a different salon and with a different stylist and with short hair, it will need trimming every few weeks.   When we mentioned heavy rain to friends and family in other parts of the country, they were less than sympathetic.  Most of them were suffering through the worst winter weather in many years including snow, ice, and power outages.  Our "stick house"  also lost power for several days.  A huge "Thank You" to our neighbors, Lois and Gene,  for helping us out during the power outage.  They drained water from the plumbing lines and emptied our freezer since the food had thawed during the outage.

We had a day when we met friends from our Wellness Center, Sue and Nick for lunch.  They had been to Naples, FL and were working their way back up to the Tampa area before heading home.   Good lunch, great friends and we had such a nice visit with them and then had a chance to give them a tour of our coach while they were in our area.

Any of you who know Bob, know that he likes to keep his cars clean.  Neighbors have seen him in the driveway washing and waxing the cars on a regular basis.  Guess what?  The coach is like a very BIG car and he feels the same way about it, but it's a much bigger job.  At one point, he washed the sides of the coach in the driveway at home and it took him nearly a full day.   Luckily, here in the resort, there's a mobile coach washing group that will wash your coach for you.  They have a team (3-5) of people who don't seem to mind climbing up to the roof and washing the whole vehicle.   Actually pretty fascinating to watch!  They also offer a polishing service, which we thought was a good idea since we hadn't polished it since it was built.  So now our coach is now bright and shiny.  Looks better than brand new!

Almost done ... just applying the final touches...

 In honor of the SuperBowl, we celebrated with a Chili Cookoff and party at the Resort's clubhouse.  We sampled twelve different chilies each yummy in it's own way.  Some were spicy and some very mild and all very different from the others but all good.  With our tummies full of chili and other snacks, we settled in at the clubhouse to watch the first quarter of the game and watch the Seahawks take a solid lead in the game.  We watched the second quarter on the TV outside our coach and at half-time moved indoors to watch the second half since it was getting dark.  We'd been rooting for the Broncos, but can't deny that Seattle deserved to win this year.

We've joined the water aerobics classes that are held on Monday and Wednesday mornings.  We were missing our workouts at the Wellness Center back home and wanted something more than walks through the resort.  The classes are about an hour long with a great instructor.  It's a nice workout with exercises suitable for everyone and a wonderful way to get the day started.  Jan has taken time to sit in on craft classes at the clubhouse.  One craft was card embroidery (also called Prick and Stitch) where she created a cute Valentine.   It's a fun craft to do and nothing she'd ever seen or attempted before.  Bob got to attend a Photography class conducted by one of the other people here in the resort who's done a lot of photography while traveling (including a trip to Alaska).   Each Friday afternoon, there's a Meet & Greet at the clubhouse for people to get together and get to know each other.  We have people in the resort from lots of different states and a few from Canada.  Some travel full-time in their coaches and others are part-timers ranging from days to weeks or months on the road.  We get to hear about where they're from, what they've seen on their travels, and their experiences with their coaches.  We swap campground recommendations.  Thursday evenings we play Card Bingo with varying amounts of success.  The fun part is just getting together with neighbors and visiting.

Fisherman casting his net at Port Charlotte Beach

Sea gulls flying in formation.....really clear water !

 











 We've done several beach excursions.  We spent one day visiting Sanibel and Captiva and had really neat dinner at Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grill in Sanibel.  The seafood has been spectacular.   We've been to the beach in Port Charlotte a couple of times since it's only a 15 minute ride in the car.  On one day we caught the boats coming back in from the Charlotte Harbor Regatta.  On another day, we drove to Stump Pass Beach State Park  which is about 40 minutes from the coach.  Each beach has slightly different shells so we've had a pick up few along the way.  Can't put into words how nice it is to be walking in the surf, enjoying the sun and sand and trying to comprehend that it's February.  

Jan with a few of the boats

What a colorful event!

We also had two more trips to Sarasota.  One for a visit to LensCrafters.  Yup....Jan's glasses didn't need adjustment this time... they broke and will be replaced thanks to the protection plan we'd bought at purchase time. 

Stump Pass Beach

Lunch in Sarasota with Roy and Kathie

The second trip was to meet great friends and former neighbors from home, Kathie and Roy, for lunch.  They have a condo in Bradenton and were checking on it before they headed on to San Francisco for Roy's business.  With everyone's busy schedules, we hadn't visited with them since early last fall.  Couldn't pass up the opportunity to have lunch with them.  They have two children that are similar in age to our two so we always have a lot to catch up on when we get together.  We found a wonderful restaurant where we could eat outdoors and the food was great, too!  The hours just melted away.