Everglades, Florida

March 2 - 5, 2010

Collier-Seminole State Park

Naples, Florida

We arrived here at Collier-Seminole after traveling through a pretty heavy downpour ... which obviously hit the park here too. While we are dry around the rig and at the front door, getting there was another story. Look at those ruts in the mud! So not only is the coach covered in mud, it still has a couple of layers of salt from the Keys! And, we can't seem to find a park that will let you wash your rig.

One of my first priorities was to go shopping. After six weeks in the Keys with only those gift shops, KMart and grocery stores, I needed a Walmart fix. Only problem, I went a bit crazy; however I justified it by the fact that I hadn't seen the inside of the store in so long, I had saved up. Also checked out the outlet stores and was really surprised to see at least one-third of them had closed. I thought the Naples area would handle the recession a bit better than the rest of the country, but I guess not.

So, finally after shopping, we looked for a place to eat...it was only 5:00 so figured there wouldn't be any problem...NOT. I forget that there are a lot of "blue-haired" people here who also like to eat early. Carrabba's (our destination) parking lot was completely full and the line was already heading outside. So, we settled for a China Buffet in the same area and, believe me, Carrabbas it wasn't!!

We spent a good three hours on the mangrove canals here at Collier Seminole. I have to say, we saw an egret, a hawk, another bird (Ken said it was a kingfisher) and a buzzard; also, Ken saw a turtle stick its head out of the water and a fish swimming below. Considering how quiet and serene it is out there, you would think there would be more wildlife. Not on this trip, though. Maybe next time.

Again, the weather is playing havoc with our winter. Even though it didn't rain again since our trip here, we woke up the next day to cloudy, windy and cold weather and didn't get together with Marilyn and Greg for our planned airboat ride. Our return kayak trip above found us fighting some wind around several corners of the canal.

We head out to Peace River for some more kayaking, perhaps a game of golf AND a spring training game! Go Sox!!!