After a nice visit with our friends Don and Lois, we went to the Orlando Thousand Trails park for 5 days. We actually spent a lot of our time organizing things in the RV we had packed way too fast and needed time to really organize.
Next we went to Ramblers Rest for 2 weeks. We love the Venice area. The beaches are great the town is a fun town and the park is filled with very friendly people. While there we went to the Englewood Sports complex to play pickle ball and who do we run into-- John and Carla. They have now bought a house in that area. When we are in this area, we attend the Englewood United Methodist church. We decided to spend Christmas day volunteering for the church. Each Christmas they feed about 1,600 people in the local community a full Christmas dinner. It takes about 300 volunteers to do it and Lee and I volunteered. What a great way to spend Christmas.
Jim and Cheryl pictured above.
This picture is out of sequence. The picture above is of new friends we made in Nokomis. Their poodle Anna and Nicky had a lot of fun together. We all went to dinner at the restaurant pictured above. What is unique about this place is your dogs can be with you as you eat. They even prepare a chicken and rice dinner for the dogs.
This picture was taken at Royal Coachman in Nokomis which is where we went after our 2 weeks in Venice.
This picture was taken at the Christmas dinner we were volunteering for at the Englewood church.
This is a picture of one of the many lovely beaches in Venice.
This is the Royal Coachman one of our favorite Encore parks.
This was our camping spot.
While in Nokomis we spent a lot of time on the beach and a lot of time biking. The Legacy Bike Trail is just outside the campground and is just lovely.
There's Lee off to another day at work!!!
Royal Coachman
Our next stop was Peace River. It was so good to see Jannie and Ed and Jerry and Lee. We arrived there New Year's Eve and next day joined a group for the traditional Pork and sauerkraut.
The picture above was taken over at Hardee County Park along one of their trails.
We also finally got to see Bob and Julie, Travis, Lou and Carol and Mark and Chris. I finally got to met Teddy (Mark and Chris's new puppy). Teddy and Nicky became fast friends. I so enjoyed spending more time with Mark and Chris. We were also able to catch up with Lou and Carol and play "Hand and Foot" with them. We are looking forward spending more time with everyone when we return to Peace River.
Taken at Hardee County park
Mark and Chris and Lou and Carol joined us for a lovely dinner at The Wauchula Family restaurant which is owned and operated by a Greek couple. Very good food at a fair price.
The latest hit in Wauchula is a new ice cream parlor.
The ice cream is being solidified here with liquid nitrogen. Really cool to watch.
After Peace River we were off to Pine Island. The picture above was taken at a restaurant here where they were having a singing contest. It was a hoot!!!
The island consists mostly of palm tree plantations and fishing.
I love these trees they remind me of our Blue Spruce at home in color.
This cute little shack was in the back yard of the plantations owners.
Below is a picture of the church we attended in Pine Island. I was so impressed at the community outreach they have.
While here Lee and I made trips to Estero beach, Lovers Key, and Sanibel Island. The park is very nice and the people very friendly but there is very little to do on the island.
Sanibel Island
The first Sunday we went to church a man came up to us and handed us a card and said give me a call I'd love to take you out for a sailboat ride while you are here.
It was a 32 foot Morgan.
That is Clarence's house on the left.
This is Clarence. After showing us around his yard and all his fruit trees etc., he then took us out for about a 3 hour sailing trip. It was a gorgeous day.
Clarence's bananas and the view from his house.
Renee this is for you. You asked about the red shoes that I found in Venice. Here they are and they are comfortable. I never thought I would wear heels again but these are like sneakers. I a definitely wearing them on my 70th birthday because they make me feel young again.
This is our camp site at Fiesta Key
The first day there we drove over to Key West and had lunch and toured around the town. We have been there once before on a cruise but didn't get to see all we wanted to.
We spent most of our time this time around looking at the beautiful houses and landscaping. Last time we did the stores.
Another campground picture
This is the nicest park we have seen on the Florida Keys .
These pictures were taken at a fort ruins at Key West. The Garden Club restored parts of the fort and put gardens all around it. It was beautiful and no entrance fee.
Back at the campground again
I am really tired it's been a long day. Talk to you all again soon.
The first day there we drove over to Key West and had lunch and toured around the town. We have been there once before on a cruise but didn't get to see all we wanted to.
We spent most of our time this time around looking at the beautiful houses and landscaping. Last time we did the stores.
Another campground picture
This is the nicest park we have seen on the Florida Keys .
These pictures were taken at a fort ruins at Key West. The Garden Club restored parts of the fort and put gardens all around it. It was beautiful and no entrance fee.
Back at the campground again
I am really tired it's been a long day. Talk to you all again soon.
