Finding Jerry and Mary: Naples, Florida

At this point, we've seen a fair amount of Florida. Here is our take thus far on this state. The Florida Keys is pure beauty. Both Palm Beach and Naples rank high on our on list of beautiful clean cities. So, it was great being able to spend a week here in Naples. But, even at this time of the year, the weather was more than we would want to deal with on a daily basis. Too hot! In the 80s the whole time, with high humidity and dew point. And, it is only January!

We are staying at the Lake San Marino RV Resort. It is a combination mobile home and RV parking center for "active 55 year olds." And when we say "active," we mean it -- people all over the place biking, walking and on the go with various activities scheduled (dances, line-dancing, BBQs and breakfasts, swimming) at the Resort for the residents. We have been wondering since we arrived in Florida "where are all the old people?" (Not us -- I mean really old people!) To be frank, we haven't seen very many of them. If it weren't for the drugstores on each corner (Walgreens a block apart from each other with CVS Pharmacies across the street), we wouldn't know that we are in a state known for its old people. These drugstores are also open all night or at least until midnight.

Stopping at the Visitor's Center on

our way to Naples, Florida.

Our trip here took us along "alligator alley" -- water, alligators and birds along the side of the road the whole way.

Taken at the Visitor's Center where you can

see the road we traveled on from Florida City to
Naples in the upper right hand corner of the picture.

More alligators seen along the road.

Taken from the motorhome while traveling

to Naples.

The Everglades along the road.

We really enjoyed our time spent with Steve, Jerry's first cousin, and his wife, Vivian. We had dinner at their lovely house one night and then they joined us on our coach for dinner on Tuesday night.

Steve, Vivian and Tammy

Pool at Steve and Vivian's beautiful home.

On Sunday, we drove up to Fort Myers and out on to the
peninsula to check out that area.

The beach sand is nearly white and a very fine powder.

Boats everywhere!

We never saw so many boat dealerships as we've seen in Florida. Jerry couldn't resist taking a picture of a couple of them that had four 350 HP motors each on 28-foot boats. They must fly through the water!

Today, we took a trip to a city called Ave Maria that our RV neighbors told us about. It was created by the owner of Dominoes Pizza starting in 2007. Dorothy, this one's for you -- you'd love it here. It is a Catholic city built around the Catholic Church. There is an Ave Bean shop (coffee), an Ave financial center, police and fire departments, a golfing area, its own University, and various shopping stores, including a large Publix (food chain in the south). Here are the pictures we took of Ave Maria.