Naples Zoo with Sean and Becky

OOPS, This has been in my draft box, not published by mistake.  Better late than never.


John's Daughter Becky and her son Sean came for a quick four day visit.  Sean is a delightful, talkative, four year old.  Having a little one around gave us an excuse to visit the Naples Zoo. Past reports  had been very positive and all were correct.  Fun day, great small zoo, perfect for a pre-school tot.

Becky and Sean

Marlin and John helping Sean find the anteater

Very graceful, but looking like something out of Star Wars

Zebra's were Sean's favorite

The boat ride circled several monkey islands.

The zoo makes a practice of hiding the food in unusual places to simulate a more natural habitat and realistic environment for the monkeys.

Kids were welcome to feed lettuce to these gentle Graffias.  The animals leaned their long necks over the fence and scooped up the romaine leaves with their tongues.

Tigers and lions and bears, oh my!  Mr. tiger was the only one out roaming around today.

End of a fun Zoo day.  Maybe we will get an ice cream.

Odds and Ends

Still in Naples, hanging out with John Miles.  Wanted to spend Superbowl Sunday with friends instead of cheering by ourselves in the camper.  Spending lots of time at the pool, walking and biking.  A few highlights needed recording though.


Last week John, Jackie and Dick LeCompte returned to New Hampshire to be with a friend who lost her husband to cancer.  Marlin and I filled in as dog sitters for the LaCompte's dog, Journey.  Easy duty for a sweet dog that got me out walking even more.

On the evening they returned home, supper was ready.   John and Mary Cole and their visiting friends also came, making for a full table and an enjoyable evening.

Kim & Garth Getchell, Dick LeCompte, John Miles, Marlin, Jackie LeCompte, John Cole & Mary Cole.  John's new table sat all nine of us comfortably.




One day Marlin and I went to Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Preserve.  The storks are nesting this year and a flock of them were using the natural thermals to assist them on their distance hunt for food.

There was a scope to view where they nest, which is a great distance from the viewing platform.
A docent said they travel as far as Lake Okeechobee to fish, more than 80 miles.  We were also told the storks only come here to nest when the water is at a specific level.  To high or to low and they nest elsewhere.

Lots of ibis.

Many great white Egrets

A young Roseate Spoonbill flew in close by where we were standing.

At Corkscrew your ticket is good for a two day entry.  Mary Cole had never been to the preserve so she came with me the second day.  She can't wait to go back with her John.

Strangler fig (Ficus aurea) vines cover many of the giant cypress trees.  Florida strangler fig begins its life as a epiphyte or air plant, living in the branches of the trees.  It sends its roots down toward the ground and when it reaches soil begins to grow, eventually wrapping around the host and becoming a tree itself, sometime killing the host tree.

Pig frog posed nicely for me.  It is a Florida frog named for its croak that sounds like a pig grunt.

A green night heron we saw on both days.  This must be his usual day time resting spot after he has hunted all night.

On January 31 we went to Bradenton to celebrate Julie's birthday.  

Didn't think her camper would hold 70 balloons, so the balloon banner filled in as a substitute.  Not as much fun as real balloons, but it's the thought that counts.

Lemon cake with cream cheese frosting.  Happy 70th Julie!

John brought Julie a book about what life was like in 1947, the year she was born.  Tough duty relaxing in the sun.

We did manage a couple of balloons.  Great shot of Julie and Chuck

Another day I went to Barefoot beach with Estelle Saunders.  Marlin and her husband Chuck went fishing at Lovers Key.

I got to use these frog clips to attach my beach towel to the chair.  A gift from my dear friend Ruth Bringardner.  She knew we would spend some time at the beach this winter.  Also loved her tip about using baby powder to remove sand from my feet before getting in the car.  Great tip.


Lots of laid back fun in the sun.

Fenway South!

With a desire to get some pictures of the Red Sox spring training facility for Jacob, we headed to Jet Blue park, which is only half an hour from Naples.

There were only 6 or 8 cars in the parking lot when we arrived, so we assumed the park was closed.  Walking around, looking for the best spots to take pictures, resulted in checking out some of the great logo art on the building.

We found the Team Store, but it was closed on Saturday.  Looks like another trip on Monday!



The outside grounds featured many tributes to famous Red Sox players.  This statue of Ted Williams was very impressive

Stylized numbers, from some of the well know alumni, were scattered along the walkway.

After wandering around the outside for awhile, we found an open gate and went into the park.  There was a game in progress.  The players looked a bit older than usual, and a bit out of shape for professionals, so we were not sure what that was about.

We must have looked confused because a park employee stopped and talked to us.  The "what" was the final game at the end of Fantasy Baseball Camp. The link provides information about the camp, including the cost and the names of the Red Sox alumni who make up the coaching staff.

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/fan_forum/fantasy_camp.jsp

The game this day was the final game of the camp, where the attendees played the Pros from the coaching staff.  Over the public address system Marlin heard several names of Pro players that he remembered, such as Oil Can Boyd, Butch Hobson, Rick Miller, Troy O'Leary.  There is a list of coaching staff/pro players on the website.

Rules for attending this Fantasy camp do not include requirements for skill, or physical condition.  If you are over 30 and have $5,000 plus, you can be part of this week long camp.  They get a full week of coaching from the professional players, complete Red Sox uniforms, accomodations, and  transportation to and from hotels.  Quite a dream for someone who loves baseball.

As we stood and watched the game, a foul ball was hit into the stands near where we stood.  There were no other spectators near by, so, after chasing it down,  I got to keep the ball.

Naples Highlights

The community of Bay Forest in Naples is the winter home of our dear friend John Miles.  We manage to get in a couple of weeks staying with him at his condo.   Our camper goes into storage and we enjoy the amenities available at the Bermuda Bay 1 section of the complex.

The community is surrounded by a 2 1/2 mile paved walking/biking path, right outside the door.  Lots of wildlife along these few miles.  That stick-looking object on the left is a snake.  I was trying to stop my bike and get out the camera fast enough to get a picture of  him.  He didn't waste any time crawling into the bushes.

Flowering shrubs in January, just to make northerners envious.

These endangered gopher tortoise dig burrows on either side of the bike path.  Some recent research has shown that more than 20 different species share the burrows for safe places to hide or to make their own home.

Marlin got a good close-up of this fellow.

One lucky shot.  We were riding our bikes on the path and stopped to talk to some friends when this eagle landed on a branch right in front of us.  He had caught this fish in the pond on the opposite side of the path.  Looks like it was too big to carry it very far.

He was enjoying the meal.

When the fish wiggled out of his grasp and fell to the ground.  He looks surprised!  We watched for awhile to see if he would try to pick the fish up from the ground.  He stayed for about five minutes, but when a large dog came along, the eagle flew off.

Boccie is very popular here.  John signed up as an alternate and got to play twice today.

He has pretty good form and great accuracy.

His team lost but no hard feelings.