What a glorious end to the 2011 Camping Season: Pine Island / Ft. Myer KOA in St. James City, FL! This was our second visit and Johnnie and I were not disappointed. We were blessed with very warm days and slightly cool nights for the entire five days of our visit. It was such a treat to take the sides and top off of the Jeep and enjoy the sunshine and warm air as we drove around!
This visit we explored Sanibel and Captiva Islands. For Captiva, we just drove to Captiva beach at the end of the island, enjoying viewing the large homes, many of which were for sale. Surely, a sign of our times. We will spend more time on Captiva the next time we come to this KOA and explore the Causeway beaches which looked interesting.
On Sanibel, we explored the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Just a note, the Wildlife Loop Drive is closed on Fridays. We found this out the hard way. On Saturday, we took the four mile loop, stopping often to photograph the abundant wildlife, mainly birds. We did see horseshoe crabs a plenty in the water. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in the water, I usually see them on the Jersey Shore during their mating season. But the birds . . . beautiful! Look at my friend, the yellow-crowned night heron in the photo to the left. This little guy, compared to his large cousins, was in the brush on the side of the road and let me take lots of photos. I had a similar situation with a white ibis at another location. I took photos until my arms got tired of holding my camera with the zoom lens. (Just added more photos on my Flickr account.)
It is always sad to end a camping season. We don’t want to stop going out in the RV even if only for an overnight. But the temperature gets way too cold in NJ in the winter to keep the coach accessible. In fact, we had to winterize on the road as we drove home because the temperatures dipped so drastically. When we got back to NJ, the nighttime temperature was 12 degrees. Oh how I am growing intolerant of this cold weather!! Hopefully, the winter won’t be too long and we will be able to dewinterize and start camping in mid- to late-March, even if only for an overnight in Belleplain. For January and February we will be content to plan the possible trips for the 2012 season — Assateague, Amarillo, Albuquerque, and Belleplain are definites. Maybe we will have the chance to add someplace new. Within a 3 – 4 hour radius will probably be the restriction. After that, the possibilities are endless. For anyone else who will be homebound for the next two months, happy planning. For those who have the good fortune to be able to continue camping, enjoy! Let me know where you are so I can enjoy the experience too, albeit vicariously!
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