30. Apr, 2016

WEDNESDAY 12-11-08 

Today was to be a bit of a rest day; we’d washed and polished the RV over 4 days, cycled down to Naples beach or downtown on numerous occasions at 8 miles each round trip, and had the pleasure of seeing friends yesterday. Today was to be our last day here, so we thought we’d take it easy. Doing nothing doesn’t come easy to me, especially on trips like these. I did manage a short period in my reclining chair but other than that I was up on the roof checking out all the joints and adding mastic if it seemed appropriate, the roof looks a grubby colour rather than the bright white it should be but having now washed and polished the sides there’s no way I’m going to wash it now and have all the dirt run down the sides. 

As an introduction to the rain which we promised the campground manager within 48 hours of our leaving, the sky gave us light showers later this afternoon. We had promised ourselves one final trip down to the beach taking wine and a picnic with us, and we couldn’t let the prospect of getting wet stand in the way. We cycled off at about 16:20 determined not to miss the sunset. It was hot and humid but the thought that this was the last time we’d be doing it kept us going. 

On arrival at the beach we went for a stroll along the pier. There were a number of fishermen there with shoals of fish swimming below in the lovely clear water around the pier which begs the question: How skilful do you need to be to catch a fish here? The sun was starting to set and I was keen to get back to the beach for some pictures otherwise it would have just been pictures of sky and sea with no foreground. That done we sat on the beach and had our picnic – and then it rained. First we thought it was going to be a light shower, but it persisted and so we walked to the now empty pier and took shelter underneath it before finding that rain was dripping through the wooden slats on the pier decking. We collected our bikes, dried the seats with a towel we had taken to sit on, and sheltered under some roofing at the pier entrance. Whilst standing there a lady pointed out the presence of a rainbow in the sky, in the dark, most odd, and not something we’d ever seen before. When the rain finally stopped we set out for our evening constitutional, this time riding on the pavements as we couldn’t find the one working front bike lamp which The Chef uses, and so it was single file with my coal-miner-on-vacation-headlamp lighting the way. 

Tomorrow we need to be up early as we have to be packed away and on the road as soon as possible because we have to get ourselves to Titusville across the water from the Kennedy Space Center from where Space Shuttle ‘Endeavor’ is due to launch the following evening. 

LOCATION TONIGHT: Neapolitan Cove RV Park, 3790 Tamiami Trail, E, Naples, FL 34112.

30. Apr, 2016

30. Apr, 2016

30. Apr, 2016

30. Apr, 2016

TUESDAY 11-11-08 

Today Denny Smith, a friend and former work colleague of Rosina and I, her husband Tony, Denny’s brother Darryl and his wife Patti were due to visit us for lunch. Denny & Tony were on holiday visiting Darryl & Patti who live near Fort Myers and we thought it would be nice to meet up if possible as we were only about 40 miles apart. 

After showering we went off to Publix supermarket on our bikes for the fresh salad bits and pieces we needed. We were going to provide burgers and chicken drumsticks as a light and informal lunch with our guests offering to bring the dessert. 

After the Publix trip I set of for Wal-Mart to buy three 10lb bags of ice cubes. These would keep our drinks cold in the coolbox we keep in the rear cargo locker. 

Our guests arrived at around noon. It was lovely to see them all again, we hadn’t seen Darryl & Patti for about 10 years. 

We had a very enjoyable afternoon with them spoilt only by the BBQ grill deciding not to get as hot as it should, I don’t know why, maybe the gas levels in the cylinders are getting low now, but as we’ll be finished with them in a couple of weeks or so it’s not worth refilling them.  Luckily I’d purchased a large aluminium skillet tray to go on the folding duel burner camping cooker and so we cooked the burgers and chicken on that. 

Our guests left around 16:45 heading back towards Fort Myers. After clearing up we relaxed outside watching the sunset as best we could over the roofs of the large RV’s across the road. 

When we felt it was getting a bit too chilly we decided to go indoors, only to discover that we’d left the air conditioning unit on and the RV was now like an icebox inside. As it now felt warmer outside we turned the unit off and returned to our reclining chairs until eventually the interior became a comfortable temperature to return to. 

LOCATION TONIGHT: Neapolitan Cove RV Park, 3790 Tamiami Trail, E, Naples, FL 34112.