Sanibel Island

Yesterday we took the campground bus to Sanibel Island. For $5 each it is totally worth it, seeing that the toll to get onto the island is about $6 per car and then parking is $2 per half hour. The only problem with the bus is that it is there from 10 am to 1:30 pm and we like to stay longer and would like to take Timmy with us. But it was a very pleasant trip. The beach is gorgeous, white sand, covered in shells and the water is wonderful. We watched dolphins swimming up and down the beach all morning. Caught up with some fishermen on the pier who were pulling Sheep Head fish out by the dozen.

At the campground there is a lady, Judy, and her daughter, Lia, who will come and take your dog out for a walk during your absence. We hired them to take Timmy out at 12 for a potty break, so that was taken care of.

For dinner we had the big shrimp that I bought from Andy's Fish Market. Sautéed in Garlic butter, served on Jasmine rice with peas. It was delicious. So delicious that I did not take a photo before it went down the hatch! :-)

View from the pier

Dolphins swimming and playing near the beach

The fishing pier

The lighthouse

A beautiful hot sunny day. Perfect for just strolling along the shore

Fishing pier

A fisherman checking his haul

The caught fish are threaded onto a rope and kept n the water to keep them fresh

I was a little disappointed with the sameness of the shells. Not as varied and as colourful as those we used to find in South Africa.

The lighthouse.

Michael, catching some rays.

Aaaah! This is the life!

 

 

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Matlacha Island

Between Pine Island and Fort Myers, there is a small island called Matlacha (pronounced MAT-la-shey). It is only a short drive from the RV Park, so we decided to pack Timmy and his stroller into the car and off we went, in search of a seafood lunch and a walk around the town.

Here are the pictures of the quirky buildings in the town. Most colourful!

Andy's Seafood Market where we bought our lunch.

Our outside picnic bench overlooked the Matlacha Passage

Large and Jumbo Shrimp

Fish Fillets on ice.

Our Crab Cakes on a Cuban bun. Delicious.

 

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Hello, Pine Island RV Resort

We arrived here on Thursday after we left Peace River and then stopped in at Dream RV in Bradenton, where they completed the replacement of the faulty battery disconnect solenoid. $350 later we were on our way and are now parked on Site 40 at Pine Island RV Resort. This is an Encore Resort and a KOA. So far it looks very nice. A typical Encore Resort. Lots of seasonal and monthly RVers. The sites are all concrete pads with 50 or 30 amp service. We are just here for a week before we go back into the Thousand Trail system at Sunshine Key.

Friday we explored the Island from South to North and found out that there is no beach here. You have to go off island to get to a beach. A large percentage of the Island is taken up with palm tree farms and nurseries. There is an area in the center of the island where there are stores, including a Wynn Dixie Supermarket. The island is very much a backwater and many areas are like old time Florida.

Today we drove over to the Fort Myers Flea Market in the search of a sun shade for the awning. There is just so much darn sunshine here in the sunshine state! At the Tampa RV Supershow we saw an awning which is in 2 parts. A short drop which is attached to the awning tube and can be rolled up with the awning and then a longer drop which is attached to the short drop with S hooks to give you shade. Sounds complicated, but the idea is quite simple and solves a problem that we with electric awnings have. We first saw an awning like this at Bee's resort. I should have ordered on from the RV show, but didn't. Oh well.

We then decided to go over to Fort Myers Beach. That idea did not go too well. The Traffic!! It was horrendous and then after sitting for half an hour on the road to the beach, we turned around and came home to the RV Park. Tomorrow is another day!

Pool area

Clean, modern laundry

We first saw this at Peace River. No more quarters. Now we can just swipe our credit card.

Lots of books

Wonderful Book Nook

Site #40

Small canoe launch at the southern end of the Island

Sign about Manatees. Maybe we will actually be able to get a good look while here.

Fishing Pier

Looking back toward the land.

I sincerely hope that the school teaches the children to spell!

White pelicans

 

 

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Goodbye Peace River.

We have had our two weeks at Peace River. It's name is so in tune with the atmosphere. One of the most peaceful campgrounds we have ever stayed at. Our site had a lot to do with that, because we were right on the river and we spent many hours just sitting in our recliners, reading and watching the water flowing gently past. The bird life was wonderful, and no, we did not see any gators or turtles. At night we heard lots of animal noise. It took us a few nights to figure out what we were hearing, and after listening to some sound bytes on the Internet we realized that we were hearing families of raccoons.

What did we think of Peace River? Loved it with some reservation. Some of the sites, especially down in the overflow area have very low voltage on the electric pedestals. Our first site was in the 70 to 80 Volts range so we moved a few sites over. There is not a whole lot of stuff to see in the area unless you travel a fair distance. We wished we had a canoe so that we could explore the river a bit more. Some people go fossiling in the river, but that really does not appeal to me.

The pool is nice and heated, but it is small. The hot tub is also small. The laundry is good with about6 washers and 6 dryers. Something that I saw, which I have not seen at any other campground laundry was a pay station where you are able to use a credit card to pay instead of having to get a handful of quarters. Other activities are 2 pickle ball courts, shuffle board, horseshoes and various ongoing activities such as poker, and other card games. There is also line dancing and once a week ice cream social.

There is fast free wifi in the clubhouse and pool tables, book swap and a large TV.

Would we go back? Absolutely.

Here are a few random photos.

The Meeting House

Twice a week there are fresh fruit and veggies for sale at the entrance.

Timmy on his favourite walk along a nature trail.

a camper digging for fossils in the river.

Love the caption on the blue tank!

Never saw any!

The office and the club house

 

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The One O'Clock Shuffle

The Peace River campground is divided into two sections. The upper section has full hookups and the lower section on the flood plain has only water and electric. Probably because it is a flood plain and the Peace River has been known to flood.
When you book into the campground you initially have to set up in the lower section and your name goes onto the waiting list for a site with sewer. Every day at 12:00 noon, the list of empty sewer sites goes up outside the office. Those people wishing to move to a full site, write the site numbers down and then drive or walk around and pick which sites are preferred by them. At 1:00pm everyone congregates at the Trading Post with their list of chosen sites. The names of those people on the waiting list are called out in the order that they checked in and the RVer then call out which site they want. If your chosen site has already been assigned, then you can choose another one, or wait for the next day. Your name stays on the list for 3 days.
Everyday there's two big movements of RVs. The first is in the morning before 11:00 am when campers are leaving the park to go elsewhere. The second is what we call the One O'Clock Shuffle is when people who have been assigned a sewer site move from their site in the overflow section to the full hook up section. We could not be bothered to move so opted to stay down by the river. It is also a beautiful spot.

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