Still enjoying Florida

Wow, middle of Feburary! We are still enjoying our stay here in Lake Placid. We visited the Everglades at a national park called Shark Valley. There are no sharks there, but there is a 15 mile bike trail to view the different habitat. The gators were sunning themselves right along the trail. We saw all sizes, and even a mother with her babies. We kept our distance, even though some of them looked to be statues, while others seemed to be watching our every move. When the gator moved, so did we! I must admit 15 miles on a bike was a bit exhausting. It took a couple days before I could even look at the bike seat, much less sit on it! Hope you enjoy the pictures.


On Feb.13th we met Bobbi and Harry at their campsite near Ft Myers. We enjoyed spending the day with them . We first went to a flea market in Ft Myers, then off to visit the Edison Ford winter homes. We took several pictures, and are posted for you to view. Thomas Edison purchased his 13 acre estate on the Caloosahatchee River in 1885 and built his Seminole Lodge a year later. He and his wife made several improvements thru the years, like their swimming pool and his office, and lab. We were told that Edison worked 20-21 hours a day taking short "cat naps". The Moonlight Garden was added, when Mr. Edison was 80! You can see his wheelchair, that was in his office. Pretty fancy for the late 1920's. The Banyan tree was one of the many species he planted hoping to find a source for rubber. We were told it just keeps spreading and the roots must be trimmed annually. The mother tree is in India and has taken over thirteen acres!

We even drove the beach as Harry took us off road. It was fun to watch some of the sunbathers expression wondering what the h---.

On February 14 Sebring had a craft show downtown which ended at 4 p.m. and was followed by a classic car show (cruise in). There were some very nice "rides" there.

Feb 15th Twenty of us went to a Mexican resturant in Sebring to celebrate Carol and Ed's birthday. Great service and good food! Quite a feat to serve 22 folks in a short period of time and have all the food good and hot!



I finally did find a place to get some fresh oranges. Our German neighbor, Peter, told us of an orchard close to the park where we could pick our own fruit. I picked a half bushel of an orange called a mercot. It's a smaller variety, and very sweet. We've been enjoying them almost every morning!

This past Thursday we lost one of our newfound friends in the park. Ken passed away after quite a lengthy illness. He was a fantastic musician. He just had a lot of natural talent and was a lot of fun to be around because of his quick wit. He will certainly be missed by many folks here at Camp Florida.

Abby seems to be quite well adjusted. She goes outside most days, but still manages to sleep most of the day and wants to run and play about 4 a.m.!! When she runs through the coach, one would swear she must weigh about 50 pounds!!
Looking foward to Chris's arrival the 23rd! More later!