We have begun our trek west across the state of Florida to new territory for us: the Gulf Coast. We turned west on the St. Lucie River and headed towards our first lock to enter the Okeechobee Waterway. There are two routes to travel from the east coast over to the west coast and cruising the Okeechobee Waterway instead of going south through the Keys is quicker and a new challenge. There are 5 locks to go through. The rise & fall is only 14 feet or so, locking up when we enter from the east and locking back down as we exit on the west side. We were glad to be traveling with Lauryl Anne, a fellow Krogen couple who we first made contact with on Block Island, RI and then finally met face to face at Sunset Bay in Stuart. Traveling the Okeechobee Waterway can not be completed quickly due to the fact of waiting to lock through We crossed most of the lake the first day, the water isn't pretty-it's like coffee grounds as to the color & sediment. The locks are only open from morning till 5:00 PM, so we were not able to make it to the lock on the west side of the lake in time, even though we left Stuart @ dawn. There is a Marina called Roland Martin in Clewiston, Fl which is situated on the southwest shore of the lake. There is an additional lock in order to get to this marina. Time allowed us to make this distance and lock. This Marina gives one a feeling of "old Florida" kinda laid back and friendly. Even though it was chilly, the Tiki bar was open but there weren't very many hearty souls hanging out. This whole area has a reputation for gators but we did not see a one! We did see the biggest lizard, we have ever seen in the wild on the bank across from where we were docked.
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| One big Lizard! |
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| Roland Martin Marina |
Our next morning, Captain Doug turned Day Dreams around expertly in the narrow channel and we headed out first, giving Lauryl Anne room to back out down the channel because they are too big to turn around. We finished crossing the narrow portion of the lake and the next 2 locks without incident. When we exited Lake Okeechobee we entered the Caloosahatchee River, which turned out to be a scenic cruise. No gators sighted but we did see cows & horses grazing. By the time we finished locking through the last lock, it was near sunset and the lock master told us we could anchor right in the basin west of the lock where there was no wake and good holding. There would not be any other boats going by because the lock was closing for the night. This anchorage turned out to be great-a quiet, protected spot with a pretty sunset.
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| A Bait shop in the middle of nowhere |
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| Lauryl Anne, nice traveling with you |
Our third morning, we parted ways with Lauryl Anne because we were headed to Legacy Marina in Fort Myers and they were going farther on to Captiva. Legacy Marina is situated on the Caloosahatchee River walking distance from Downtown Ft Myers. It's a convenient location for groceries and restaurants.
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| Siblings |
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| Tom & Rita-thanks for everything |
My oldest brother, Bob & his wife Karen happened to be visiting my other brother, Tom & his wife Rita in Cape Coral. Tom & Rita relocated recently from the east coast of Delaware to Cape Coral and are very happy with their change in Weather! My brothers met us at Day Dreams and took us to Tom & Rita's home, then out to dinner nearby @ Tarpon Point Marina where Pincer's Restaurant has a great Happy Hour. Our generous sis in law, Rita let us borrow her car while we were staying in Ft Myers. Our second day, the weather turned cold, windy & rainy so we took the car and re-provisioned. During our stay, Tom took us to the Flea Market in honor of our Dad, who loved Flea Markets and Rita cooked us a delicious meal @ their home so we could visit more before Bob & Karen left. The winds continued & picked up even more: sustained of 30 mph & gusts over 50 mph really causing havoc on the inner face dock where we were tied securely. Luckily, the wind & waves were pushing Day Dreams off of the dock but waves were splashing across the walkway and a rogue wave even snapped one of our Krogen lines completely in half. We did not suffer any other damage but we did get wet every time we stepped out the door. These winds lasted almost 24 hours.
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| Fort Myers Beach |
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Henry & Doug,
so much alike! |
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Doug & Thomas Edison,
2 great men! |
The first nice day, we walked to the Edison & Ford estates and toured the homes, gardens & grounds. These two far sighted, risk taking, intelligent inventors started out in Ohio & Michigan. The Museum was very interesting & well done. The grounds were beautiful. It always amazes me how much was accomplished in those years with so little of the modern conveniences and how instrumental these 2 were in our lives.
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| Fig Tree |
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| Bamboo forest |
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| Center Queen bed |
Taking advantage of Rita's generosity of the car, we drove to the County's Fairground to an RV show. We have decided that we need to continue checking off items on our bucket list and a big item on the list is visiting National Parks. Well, you can only get to a small percentage of these by boat, which we have done. Our boat won't get us to the interior of our country but an RV will. We have researched and talked with some experts (bro Tom, Susan & Dwayne, Pat & Chris, Dan & Kathy). We had narrowed down our search, knowing what we didn't want and what we did want in an RV. At this show, we narrowed down the brand to Coach House. Two days later we visited the factory. These RV's are made right here in Nokomis, Florida, which is right outside of Venice, FL. Their craftsmanship is superb, everything is custom made. We were able to tour the small factory. They only make about 60 units per year. So we DID IT! We put an order in for a new 24 foot RV. Life is short and we have a lot of country to see yet!
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| our upholstery will be in light gray |
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| Way to suck up & it worked! |
We have begun our trek west across the state of Florida to new territory for us: the Gulf Coast. We turned west on the St. Lucie River and headed towards our first lock to enter the Okeechobee Waterway. There are two routes to travel from the east coast over to the west coast and cruising the Okeechobee Waterway instead of going south through the Keys is quicker and a new challenge. There are 5 locks to go through. The rise & fall is only 14 feet or so, locking up when we enter from the east and locking back down as we exit on the west side. We were glad to be traveling with Lauryl Anne, a fellow Krogen couple who we first made contact with on Block Island, RI and then finally met face to face at Sunset Bay in Stuart. Traveling the Okeechobee Waterway can not be completed quickly due to the fact of waiting to lock through We crossed most of the lake the first day, the water isn't pretty-it's like coffee grounds as to the color & sediment. The locks are only open from morning till 5:00 PM, so we were not able to make it to the lock on the west side of the lake in time, even though we left Stuart @ dawn. There is a Marina called Roland Martin in Clewiston, Fl which is situated on the southwest shore of the lake. There is an additional lock in order to get to this marina. Time allowed us to make this distance and lock. This Marina gives one a feeling of "old Florida" kinda laid back and friendly. Even though it was chilly, the Tiki bar was open but there weren't very many hearty souls hanging out. This whole area has a reputation for gators but we did not see a one! We did see the biggest lizard, we have ever seen in the wild on the bank across from where we were docked.
Our next morning, Captain Doug turned Day Dreams around expertly in the narrow channel and we headed out first, giving Lauryl Anne room to back out down the channel because they are too big to turn around. We finished crossing the narrow portion of the lake and the next 2 locks without incident. When we exited Lake Okeechobee we entered the Caloosahatchee River, which turned out to be a scenic cruise. No gators sighted but we did see cows & horses grazing. By the time we finished locking through the last lock, it was near sunset and the lock master told us we could anchor right in the basin west of the lock where there was no wake and good holding. There would not be any other boats going by because the lock was closing for the night. This anchorage turned out to be great-a quiet, protected spot with a pretty sunset. 
