Wednesday, February 19th – Sunday, February 23rd

 

Wednesday:

On Wednesday, we stayed at the condo all day and just took it easy. Jim was nursing a cold and the rest of us were lazy.

 

 

We did enjoy BLT sandwiches with the fresh tomatoes that I had picked on Sunday. It is going to be really difficult to return home and have to wait a few months to eat vine ripe tomatoes.

 

 

Thursday:

We got an early start and went to the Naples Zoo. This was our second trip there this month and the fourth overall. Each time I have learned something new or seen a different animal.

 

There are two shows presented everyday which showcases some of the animals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the “holding areas” of this zoo have full glass windows that allow visitors to see the animals up close and personal.

 

The black bear was out today instead of sleeping as he was one our previous visits.

 

The primates live on an island and therefore do not have any fencing or cages to confine them. We got a closer look at them from a boat ride around the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We especially enjoyed the zoo keeper’s talk at the Malayan tigers’ area. The two male litter mates are Malayan tigers which are the second smallest of their species.
 

 


During the time that the keeper was feeding them, she offered them food from above her head so that the tigers had to stand on their back feet to reach it. She explained that she did this so that she could check the underside of them.

 

 

 

   

For his small size, the screech owl is very useful in controlling the rodent population. It eats 3 mice a day and is found throughout the both of the Americas. I intend to download plans for a screech owl box and put it somewhere in my back yard with hopes that it will eliminate the moles.

 

It is apparent that Cordell is the oldest one of our group because he stopped for a rest.

 

After we left the zoo, we went to a geocache site. This one involved a puzzle that Jim and Cordell solved the night before in order to obtain the final GPS coordinates. Puzzle caches have never been easy for us and it is helpful to have Jim and Barb work on them with us. Barb appears to be very excited!
 

 

 

 

Before we left Napes, we returned to the Garden of Hope and Peace near the county hospital. I knew Barbara would especially like visiting this beautiful place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped for dinner at Skip One, a local restaurant where we have eaten twice before and really liked. We probably should not have bragged on it so much to Jim and Barb because we had a very bad experience tonight. We had to wait about 25 minutes to be seated, but that was no problem because we shopped around in their adjoining market. However, once we took our seats, it was over one hour before we got any of our dinners. We spoke with the manager and were given various reasons, but a free bottle of wine and extra food helped to calm our irritation. And after two bottle of wine, we all were feeling pretty good.

 

 

Friday: 

Our adventure today took us back to Fleamasters Fleamarket here in Fort Myers. This was our third trip there since we arrived here. We gave Barb the catalogue and let her choose the places she wanted to check out. The four of us had items we wanted to buy and we were able to find all of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday:

 

Jim and Barb went to a local Messianic Jewish synagogue for a service this morning. Cordell and I went geocaching at Cape Coral again.

One of the favorite sites we visited was at the Big John shopping center. A 29½ foot fiberglass statue we saw there has been in Cape Coral since 1969. When problems arose over zoning regulations, the City granted him full citizenship in 1971. This is one of the original twelve made in Missouri and due to their rarity, they are sought after by collectors.

 

Cordell and I spent an hour at the pool late this afternoon. We overhead a man remark that he and his family had to leave tomorrow and go back to snow at his home in Massachusetts. And we remain thankful that we can stay here for another month.

 

Our difficulty with keeping track of the days is not unique to us. Barb and Jim have exhibited the same problem, but we came up with a solution that is working for us really well. We have appointed a designated date keeper where one of us remembers the date for the rest of us. None of us have to worry about the time because we have plenty of time.  We just go to bed when it gets dark. Cordell says it's 5 o'clock somewhere!

 

 

Sunday:

 

Wow—this was one of the foggiest mornings we have seen since we have been here.

 

After church today, we drove over to Sanibel Island to find the geocaches for which Barb had solved the puzzles. She now understands that she spent much more time working on the puzzles than it took for us to find the actual cache. We are thinking about forming a team and calling ourselves The Four Fogeys. There were some other Earth Caches we wanted to check out, but the island was so busy this afternoon that we weren’t able to find a parking spot near them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We probably will go back to Sanibel during a week day when it is less crowded.