June 2, 2010 - Day Twenty-six

As I was walking the dogs this morning I came upon a plastic trash can with its lid lying next to it. Being a former Boy Scout, I wanted to pick it up and put it back on the can, but as I approached it I heard strange noises coming from it. And when I got really close this large raccoon jumped out of it and ran up a tree. The dogs were startled and tried to chase it up the tree, but since they were on a leash they weren’t going anywhere. But they did bark up a storm and were thoroughly sniffing the raccoon’s tracks. Good morning!

As promised, at 8am Mike and Robin showed up with their kayaks and together we drove the short distance to the ramp so we could launch our four kayaks into the river. Although it’s been very warm lately, it wasn’t too bad on the river. Marianne had dreaded kayaking in this heat, but she too was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was on the river with the slight breeze and occasional cloud shading us.

We headed west, in the direction of the Gulf, watching all sorts of birds including sea eagles diving into the water trying to catch fish. Although we didn’t see any, there was a sign in the river that this was a manatee area. The mangroves we encroaching on both riverbanks and onto the islands, which they probably created in the first place. We entered one tributary and the overhanging trees made the trek narrower and narrower until we reached the end. We’d never done any kayaking like this before, it was definitely a treat.

Then we turned around and headed back up the river. Marianne was worried that we couldn’t find where we put it, but remember, I was a Boy Scout. No problem. We had a snack on the river, and then continued. A short time later we came upon a house on the river with the fuselage of an airplane sitting next to it, a really strange sight.

I had always envisioned taking our dogs on the kayaks with us. But that dream was shattered when we tried to get Coco to swim in Marianne’s mom’s swimming pool in Montgomery. Coco just sank like a rock. It was a sorry sight to see the dog doing the dog paddle with his tail heading to the bottom of the pool and his head slipping under the water. Marianne was right there for the rescue. Since then, fortunately, Coco (and Molly) has been leery of water, although they seem to find every water puddle there is when we’re on our walks.

That afternoon, for the first time ever on this odyssey, I finally got into a swimming pool. The KOA’s pool was probably close to 90°, maybe not refreshing but it still sure feels nice. There’s no hesitating in getting into a pool like this.

That evening we drove to the opposite side of Naples to have dinner with Robin and Mike at a Cuban restaurant. But on the way we had to stop and photograph an entire neighborhood of flaming red trees. We were fortunate that the trees were in bloom, since it only happens in this part of Florida, and they’re only in full bloom for a few days this time of year. It was time for dueling cameras again.

And like I’ve chronicled before, trips in Naples are long trips. So this trip to the restaurant was like driving from Oceanside to San Diego for me, but here we never left the environs of the city of Naples.

Fernando the Bull was located in a strip mall, yet the food was excellent. Marianne and I have had Cuban food only once before in Oceanside, but Robin and Mike knew the ropes here, so we each had our own delicious plate of Cuban Caribbean cuisine with red beans and rice, complete with dessert: flan, plantains, and cheesecake with mango sauce. It doesn’t get any better than this.

After dinner, we had to say our good-byes to Robin and Mike because the next morning we would be heading still further south in Florida, this time to Key West.

Oh yeah, it rained again – our record is still perfect.