Mobile, AL - HH

Thursday - Another 350 mile travel day to a Harvest Host farm southwest of Mobile, AL. I think that this is the first time we are staying in Alabama. We picked up some steaks but we will save them for tomorrow. Not quite enough time to make them tonight. We are plugged into a 20 amp outlet so our batteries will stay charged. Plus, we are parked under a large tree. It’s only 76°F so no A/C needed. 

Live Oak, FL - BW

Wednesday - We are at a Boondockers Welcome location in Live Oak, FL. Yesterday, multiple things went wrong while getting ready to go. The right turn signal on the Jeep wasn’t working when connected to the RV. Bridget ended up driving the Jeep from Fort Myers to here. About 345 miles. And the water heater drain was leaking. When I tried to tighten it, it broke. 

This morning, I was able to fix the cable from the RV to the Jeep. It had sagged and scraped on the road wearing through the cable. I spliced in a new piece of wire. And, I picked up a new plug for the water heater at Tractor Supply so we once again have running water. This location has water and power which is really nice. We are staying a second day due to the repairs. 

Sanibal Island, FL

Monday - At 9 this morning, we headed out with Steve & Cheryl on their boat. It was very calm but wind was in the forecast for the afternoon. 

There were quite a few boats in the channel heading away from Cape Coral towards open water. A lot of slow going due to potential manatees but we did not see any all day.

This narrow canal was one of the more promising areas to spot one but we didn’t see any. 

We stopped at the beach near the lighthouse on the south eastern end of Sanibel Island for lunch. 

This is the lighthouse. It looks like an automated light. Hurricane Ian completely flooded the island destroying most homes, boats, and docks. It is still being rebuilt. 

On the way back, we stopped to watch dolphins but I didn’t get any pictures. 

Slipaway Food Truck Marina

Saturday - We are still in Fort Myers, FL, for a couple more days. On Tuesday, we will start heading back towards TX. I'm not sure how many days we will take, but we aren't in any hurry.

After the mid-day test session, Steve & Cheryl took us out on their boat. We stopped at the Slipaway Food Truck Marina with boat parking and about a dozen food trucks. 

Sunday - Happy Easter! We celebrated Easter with Steve & Cheryl and did a seafood boil. With corn, potatoes, onions, garlic, brussel sprouts, kielbasa, eggs, shrimp, lobster tails, mussels, and lemons. Served with garlic butter. It turned out delicious. Seafood was on sale at Publix. We didn’t initially have enough Old Bay seasoning nor any Cajon seasonings. Next time…

Naples, FL

Friday - This morning, we went to the Bird Gardens of Naples. It is an exotic bird rescue organization with around 200 birds who could no longer survive in the wild due to injury. Or are abandoned or abused. 

It’s a pretty nice facility, all donation and volunteers. They do breed some birds and supply other sanctuaries around the country. Some of the birds can be adopted but they are not sold.

They mentioned the need for small openings in the wire cages to keep out the snakes. Cottonmouth viper and Burmese pythons. Neither is protected and one is invasive. The fencing continues into the ground and covers the floor of the cages. 

We stopped at a beach north of Naples after lunch to just walk for a bit. It was not empty but not unreasonably crowded either for a holiday weekend. It is still Spring break after all.