The beginning of February found George alone down in Fort Myers as I was still back in MN dealing with the family emergency. George wasn't alone for very long, though, because two of their friends from Minnesota, Gino & Connie, came down to visit for a week. As yo
u can see, George was not the only one enjoying their company. Mr. Bailey was glad to have someone to play with besides George. While Connie & Gino were visiting, they not only had to tour the beach scene like
Sanibel &
Captiva Islands, they had to
hit the two casinos in the area. George said the one on the boat was the most fun and Gino even won a t-shirt while Connie came out the bigger winner walking away with $100 more to her name! (I don't know why, but George didn't take any pictures of Connie, but I know she was there with Gino!) A couple of days after
Connie & Gino left, our close friends, Becky & Gary Rogers (the ones who we saw when we were in Orland0) came down to the Fort Myers area with their entire family (all 9 of them!) and George joined them on a few of their excursions. Gary & Becky were excited to have their grandchildren here for a visit since they live in California and George enjoyed having some little kids around (gave him an idea of what life will be like when/if we have grandchildren of our own). George went to Everglades National Park
with the Rogers to go on a boat ride. He didn't see any alligators while
on the boat, but there were plenty after he got off. He did get to watch a few dolphins that took to swimming around their boat for awhile. After the Rogers left, George had only a few days to get the RV all cleaned up because Curtis & I were flying down to Fort Myers on the 22
nd. After much persuading, Curtis decided to join us on the last part of our winter trip. Since I had planned on being in Fort Myers for a month & had lots of ideas of what to see & do, we didn't spend much time relaxing around the campground once we got there. The day after we got there, we
went down to Fort Myers Beach and walked around. As you can see, Curtis made friends with one of the local birds shortly after we got
there. However, we did discover that you do not walk on the beach while eating ice cream cones. After getting our ice cream, we decided to take the scenic walk down the beach back to our car and all of a sudden we were attacked by sea gulls. They hit George on the hat & got it all sandy and knocked my sunglasses right off my face! But they didn't get our ice cream! Curtis decided that putting the mattress from the hide-a-bed on the floor was the most comfortable way to sleep, but he forgot that by being on the
floor, Mr. Bailey was going to be his mornin
g wake-up call! Even though none of us are Twins Baseball fans, we just had to make a stop at their spring training camp. As you can see, it's an incredibly beautiful area. Too bad we won't have time to see a game because I think it would be fun to watch them play at this stadium. We went to
Sanibel Island and enjoyed doing some shelling and beach walking, but the most fun was stopping by the little shopping center where Curtis found the perfect pair of sunglasses!
Unfortunately, we couldn't convince him to buy them when we
told him he looked just like Elton John! While
Sanibel is supposed to be the best beach for shelling, I found that Lovers Key was much better. There were fewer people and the water was milder so it was easier to walk in the water and pick up shells. I couldn't
believe that I actually found a sand dollar all in one piece and it's got to
be at least 3" in diameter. I was absolutely
ecstatic because sand dollars are my favorite kind of shell! I even found a baby starfish that was about 1" big, but since it was still alive, I had to throw it back into the water. I've found bigger
starfish before when I was in California and walking around the tide pools, but never have I seen one when walking along the beach. It was so adorable! One of the nice things about our campground was that it had a mini-golf course and we made use of it a couple of times before we left. As you can see, Curtis is quite the pro golfer! Now we're off to Naples for the weekend!
u can see, George was not the only one enjoying their company. Mr. Bailey was glad to have someone to play with besides George. While Connie & Gino were visiting, they not only had to tour the beach scene like Sanibel & Captiva Islands, they had to 
hit the two casinos in the area. George said the one on the boat was the most fun and Gino even won a t-shirt while Connie came out the bigger winner walking away with $100 more to her name! (I don't know why, but George didn't take any pictures of Connie, but I know she was there with Gino!) A couple of days after
Connie & Gino left, our close friends, Becky & Gary Rogers (the ones who we saw when we were in Orland0) came down to the Fort Myers area with their entire family (all 9 of them!) and George joined them on a few of their excursions. Gary & Becky were excited to have their grandchildren here for a visit since they live in California and George enjoyed having some little kids around (gave him an idea of what life will be like when/if we have grandchildren of our own). George went to Everglades National Park 
with the Rogers to go on a boat ride. He didn't see any alligators while
on the boat, but there were plenty after he got off. He did get to watch a few dolphins that took to swimming around their boat for awhile. After the Rogers left, George had only a few days to get the RV all cleaned up because Curtis & I were flying down to Fort Myers on the 22nd. After much persuading, Curtis decided to join us on the last part of our winter trip. Since I had planned on being in Fort Myers for a month & had lots of ideas of what to see & do, we didn't spend much time relaxing around the campground once we got there. The day after we got there, we
went down to Fort Myers Beach and walked around. As you can see, Curtis made friends with one of the local birds shortly after we got 
there. However, we did discover that you do not walk on the beach while eating ice cream cones. After getting our ice cream, we decided to take the scenic walk down the beach back to our car and all of a sudden we were attacked by sea gulls. They hit George on the hat & got it all sandy and knocked my sunglasses right off my face! But they didn't get our ice cream! Curtis decided that putting the mattress from the hide-a-bed on the floor was the most comfortable way to sleep, but he forgot that by being on the
floor, Mr. Bailey was going to be his mornin
g wake-up call! Even though none of us are Twins Baseball fans, we just had to make a stop at their spring training camp. As you can see, it's an incredibly beautiful area. Too bad we won't have time to see a game because I think it would be fun to watch them play at this stadium. We went to Sanibel Island and enjoyed doing some shelling and beach walking, but the most fun was stopping by the little shopping center where Curtis found the perfect pair of sunglasses! 
Unfortunately, we couldn't convince him to buy them when we 
told him he looked just like Elton John! While Sanibel is supposed to be the best beach for shelling, I found that Lovers Key was much better. There were fewer people and the water was milder so it was easier to walk in the water and pick up shells. I couldn't believe that I actually found a sand dollar all in one piece and it's got to 
be at least 3" in diameter. I was absolutely ecstatic because sand dollars are my favorite kind of shell! I even found a baby starfish that was about 1" big, but since it was still alive, I had to throw it back into the water. I've found bigger
starfish before when I was in California and walking around the tide pools, but never have I seen one when walking along the beach. It was so adorable! One of the nice things about our campground was that it had a mini-golf course and we made use of it a couple of times before we left. As you can see, Curtis is quite the pro golfer! Now we're off to Naples for the weekend!
