Northern, Central snd Southwestern Florida

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I left Louisiana on January 3rd to go to Alabama because there is a park that I wanted to check out for future reference if I want to stay long-term somewhere on the Gulf Coast. The park where I stayed (not the one I was interested in) was fine although quite deserted because it was just after Christmas and it was too cold for most weekend campers to get out. I stayed a week and left there for Live Oak, Florida and to the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. I don’t know how many folks realize that the song “Suwannee how I love ya, how I love ya…….” Actually refers to the Suwannee River. This park is on the Suwannee River and is a lovely place. It is a venue for a lot of great outdoor concerts; but unfortunately not while I was there. The temperature dipped into the teens for a couple of nights during my week’s stay and I couldn’t wait to head south. My next stop was to be Wauchula, Florida. I started to strip my layers of clothing at the first Rest Stop. This is more to my liking; low temperatures in the 50’s (+ or - 12°C for those who have never lived in Fahrenheit or have forgotten!)
My next stop was Naples, Florida. It had been one of the places on our itinerary the first year after retirement when Wally got sick. Of course, we didn’t make it. Naples is very nice, very pretty. Unfortunately, they don’t allow dogs on their beaches or in their parks. Although there were a lot of dogs in the resort, I didn’t see many while I was driving around at all.
On to the Keys. I have reservations in Key Largo and am really looking forward to getting there.

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Photos

Suwannee
Suwannee how I love ya, how I love ya, my dear old Suwannee. The famous Suwannee River

Ice Sculpture
Like I said it was pretty cold while I was there...this fountain in this statue has frozen in motion.

Venue-Ike on stage
The park is very big, lots of RV and tent parking. It must be really exciting to be staying here when they have a concert planned because they have "pickin' sheds" in several locations for jamming sessions

Florida???
These icicles were hanging from the roof of what is used as the beer barn during concerts.

Punta Gorda
One of the days while I was in Wauchula I drove 50 miles to Punta Gorda. This area was badly damaged during Hurricane but has rebuilt and show no signs of the storm

Ike's First Beach
We managed to find a beach that didn\'t have a No Dogs sign so ventured on. Someone had put out seed for the pigeons and he was bemused by their swooping and landing.

Naples Beach
They don't let dogs on the beaches or in parks around Naples. The beach, as you can see is very pretty, and Naples is a lovely place. Very clean with lots of cultivated areas full of flowers.

Dog Beach
We drove about 26 miles to find a beach where I could take Ike and enjoy sitting by the ocean.

Ike's friend
Ike made friends with another puppy on the beach. They ran and ran and enjoyed playing together. He slept for about 2 hours afterwards.

Club Naples
The park in Naples was very nice. A lot of people stay there year after year. These folks come all the way from Germany to spend the winter months here

Mansion
All of the beaches are fronted with big houses. I strolled a neighbourhood and saw them demolishing single story houses and building mansions on the same site.

Honeysuckle?
This looked a lot like honeysuckle. It was growing wild along the sidewalk.

Ike's Beauty Parlour Visit
I had to get some maintenance work on the motorhome done so I made an grooming appointment for Ike. I guess he couldn't make the groomer understand that you DON'T put bows in a man dog's hair!

Comments

[Gill Chrystal]

Ike looks so beautiful after he is groomed, ribbon and all. Is that a pet carrier for the car he is in?