January 9, 2010

Well we arrived back in Ft. Myers on the 29th of December after an uneventful trip south. We stayed with Danny and Susan Godin and the Weiner dogs, on Potest Fieri the night of the 28th. It was nice to see them and we had a good time even though we thought it was cold in Clearwater. Little did we know what we were in for.

We had two nice days on the 30th and 31st and went to a great New Year’s Eve party at Heidi and John Asiaf’s home in Naples. Also at the party were old friends from Plymouth that now live in Marco Island and Naples.

Since then, it has been cold. The other morning we went out to drive to Sarasota to go to the Ringling Circus Museum, estate and art museum, there was frost on the windshield. This was not in the trip description.

We left Ft. Myers yesterday, a relatively nice day (70 degrees) and are now in Moore Haven, Fl, a thriving metropolis of 1000 souls on the west shore of Lake Okeechobee. Yesterday, while traveling through the northern everglades on the Caloosahatchee River looking for wildlife such as alligators, manatees, boys with banjos, etc. the only interesting thing we saw was a camel in somebody’s front yard.

Today, Saturday the 9th, is another wonderful South Florida day with cold rain, winds 15-20 from the Northwest and a balmy 37 degrees at 2:30 in the afternoon. They say it will get into the mid 20’s tonight and tomorrow before it warms back up to the 60’s. Eat your heart out you New Englanders.

We are, however, tied up to the town dock with all three heating units on and it is a cozy 75 degrees in the boat.

We, hopefully, get across Lake Okeechobee in the next couple of days if the winds subside. Then is on to the Florida Keys where it was 50 degrees in Key West this AM.

The plan is to go to Key Largo, Islamorada, then on to Marathon where we will meet up with several other travelers we have met along the way. Perhaps by then we will see some warmer temperatures.

I am beginning to think that Al Gore is in hiding with Tiger Woods.