Mar 23, 2013 - Our News

From Ortona Lock Campground near LaBelle, FL ... Saturday, March 23, 2013 Ok, so here is my explanation of why we turned around and headed south again instead of continuing our trek back home to Virginia. I think that Charlie put it best in a recent email to his sister, so here is "our news" in his words: "We were saving this to tell you when we met for lunch but we have decided to buy a property down here in Alva that is in the most delightful co-op we've ever run across. We are oing to return to the Labelle area to complete the purchase,...

Feb 27, 2013 - Travel to Whisper Creek

From Whisper Creek RV Resort in LaBelle, FL ... Tuesday, February 26, 2013 Regretably, it was time to leave Ortona Lock and move on to our next destination. We were a little sad last night as we enjoyed our last bike ride at sunset. We knew that this would be our last day here until 2014, and that is assuming that we are able to get reservations here next year. This is our favorite spot of all our winter stays. We have to spend two nights in another park before our reservation at Franklin Lock. You may have noticed that we sometimes will...

Feb 27, 2013 - Fisheating Creek Hike, Part 2

From Whisper Creek RV Resort, Labelle, FL ... Wednesday, February 27, 2013 The morning sun shone brightly through our bedroom window today and got up earlier than usual. The temperature was cooler than the past few days and much more comfortable. So we took a bike ride all around the RV park, into the older section, checking out everything. After breakfast, we read for a while and then decided to go out for a ride. We rode down Rt. 29 to one of our "birding spots," but there was not much there today. So we kept riding several miles further...

Feb 15, 2013 - Back at Ortona Lock

From Ortona Lock Campground near Labelle, FL ... Friday, February 15, 2013 On Tuesday we traveled back to Ortona Lock Campground on the Caloosahatchee River. We were really happy to be back here for another couple of weeks. Our first couple of days here were sunny and HOT in the mid 80s. Then during the night on Wednesday, the rain moved in. And over two days of rain, we picked up about two inches. We really need the rain here though, so we didn't mind. Tomorrow the sun should come out again, but a cold front will bring much cooler...

Jan 22, 2013 - Car Fixed

From Ortona Lock Campground near LaBelle, FL ... Tuesday, January 22, 2012 Happy Birthday to my baby sis, Chara! Hope you enjoyed our birthday song this morning. haha And everyone in your office too since you put us on speakerphone. :( Yesterday we left the campground at 7:30 so that we could drop off the car at the Honda dealership in Fort Myers. We decided to drive the truck as well so that we could have a car to run around in while the car was being repaired. It was a good thing that we did since the car was not ready until after 3:00pm....

Jan 16, 2013 - Relaxing days

From Ortona Lock Campground near LaBelle, FL ... Wednesday, January 16, 2013 We have really enjoyed our time here at Ortona so far. Our "routine" if you can call it that, has become slow, relaxed mornings ... walks through the two campground loops and down the road leading into the park. If you walk all the way to the highway and back, you can get in a four mile walk. Ours have been 2 to 3 miles mostly. We usually try to get in a bike ride or two throughout the day too. The remainder of the morning is spent relaxing on our patio overlooking...

Jan 12, 2013 - Travel to Ortona Lock

From Ortona Lock Campground near Labelle, FL ... Saturday, January 12, 2012 Today was a travel day for us, and we were blessed with a pretty one. We woke up without setting an alarm, had a little cereal and coffee for breakfast, and worked on getting ready to travel. We are so much more relaxed than we used to be. Not that we ever want to get too "comfortable" with the process. Sam and Sandy walked over to send us on our way with hugs and good wishes. We really enjoyed our time with them these past few days and hope they will enjoy the...

Apr 15, 2012 - Out In The Country

Norma and I went out today to do Geocaching and waymark , a waymark is a physical location on the planet marked by coordinates that contains unique information about a item or thing. So we went out in the country on the back roads to La Belle , Florida which is about 30 miles from Cape Coral. Our first place to take a picture of that item and post it on the net , was at the W.P. Franklin Lock & Dam near Olga , Florida. We had to take pictures of the lock & dam and a near by survey marker on the pier. We had a nice look around the campground...

Feb 22, 2012 - Catching up

From Ortona Lock Campground near LaBelle, FL … Wednesday, February 22, 2012 I know, I know, it’s been a few days since my last blog. But we have stayed really busy. Since I last blogged, we spent two nights at Walt and Chris’ home in Ormond Beach. Last Friday, the weather was cloudy and misty off and on. So we just relaxed around Chris’ house catching up with Chris, Walt, Pam and Richard. That night we drove over to Flagler Beach and had a great dinner overlooking the ocean waves crashing on the beach. Mom and Dad met us for dinner there,...

Feb 12, 2012 - Return to Ortona Lock

From Ortona Lock COE Campground near La Belle, FL … Sunday, February 12, 2012 We arrived at Ortona Lock on Friday just before noon. By 1:00pm, we were set up in site #26 on the water once again overlooking the Caloosahatchee River. It’s a beautiful campsite, and we’re really enjoying it. It was a good thing we got set up right away since heavy rain would soon move in. We were sitting outside enjoying ourselves and having a light lunch. It started to sprinkle, but we didn’t want to go in yet. So we opened up the awning and sat outside...

Jan 23, 2012 - Wrapping up Ortona

From Ortona South Lock COE Park near La Belle, FL … Monday, January 23, 2011 When we stay at Ortona, the thing we enjoy the most is just kicking back and enjoying our surroundings. So that’s pretty much what we have done in the last week. On Saturday, we took a drive to Fisheating Creek Wildlife Refuge. We took a hike for a couple miles and enjoyed this area. I will post a few pictures to share with you. Afterwards, we drove to nearby Clewiston and had a fabulous “linner” (late lunch/early dinner) at a Cuban restaurant called the Tropical...

Jan 18, 2012 - Life is Good

From Ortona South Lock COE Park near La Belle, FL … Tuesday, January 17, 2011 Since returning from our trip to Tampa last Friday, we have mostly stayed around the park here at Ortona Lock. When we stay at this particular park, that’s what we really prefer to do. It’s just so relaxing here. We have gone out to run errands off and on. To La Belle to do laundry, pick up our mail at the post office and shop for groceries. We spent most of the day in Fort Myers on Sunday doing some shopping and having lunch at Tony Sacco’s. They have the best...