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(Note: This blog entry represents a combination of writings and pictures already posted about our Cool Change II, Land Yacht Adventures 2021 through Cindy via Facebook and Rick via email. So for some of you, the following posts may be duplicative, but for others, this is the first time you are seeing them. We are repeating them here to centralize the record and share our experiences more broadly.)
RICK’S POST, with additional photos and captions by Cindy:
This is how fine the sand was
Fort Myers Beach, Florida is located on the north end of Estero Island, which is just off the coast of Mainland Florida, jutting into the Gulf of Mexico. It is about 100 miles southeast of Tampa. The roadway running through the island to the town of Ft. Myers Beach is for the most part a two lane road of about 14 miles out of Bonita Springs. For us, was very slow going due to traffic and roadwork. Our destination was the Red Coconut RV Park, where we would be spending the night and then Thanksgiving, the following day. The beach is made up of a beautiful, white sand, the finest we have ever seen, and stretches for about 5 miles along the shoreline of Estero Island. The RV park we were going to lies on both sides of the road so that it has several rows of RV spaces right on the beach. Across the road is the main portion of the park and has another 200 spaces. Though it would have been great to have been able to park on the beach side, we felt just lucky to get a space at all on short notice, as they were fully booked. As has been our experience on this trip with private RV parks, the spaces are pretty tightly packed together so that the operators can get as much revenue as possible from the property that they own. The land that this RV park occupies is obviously some high-priced real estate. The park must have been there for eons as it really seemed out of place along side high rise resorts and expensive beach homes.
When we pulled into the park and while Cindy was getting us registered, a worker came up and told me I needed to disconnect the trailer right where it was and that they would use a tractor to bring it to the space. That is just how tight it was to move around inside the park! We were fortunate though that the space they were putting us in was actually moderately private. There was a full time trailer to one side of us whose occupants were not home. On the other side was a travel trailer separated from us by a walkway that lead to the next row of spaces and the clubhouse. The direction we were parked afforded us a small private yard right outside our door, complete with small palm trees and green area. Our space had full hookups but when they parked us in the spot, I neglected to notice that we were too far from the sewer connection to reach it with our wastewater hose. So right away I had to have them come back to reposition us, which they didn’t mind doing at all.
When Cindy was checking in at the office, she was told that they did not have a Thanksgiving dinner reservation for us; we all concluded that someone apparently forgot to write it down. We were disappointed as that was the main reason we had decided to come to the park in the first place! A little while later, a gentleman came by and introduced himself as the chef who was handling the dinner, and he let us know that he had added us to the reservation list.
As soon as we were settled in, we took off for a long walk on the beach in the late afternoon. We walked for over three miles up the beach and then cut over to the main road to walk back through the town. It was beautiful as had been all the beaches we experienced in Florida, with warm water and a quiet surf. The sand was soft, fine and white. It was the kind of sand that makes you immediately take off your shoes to walk through as it feels so good. There were lots of people out but we felt pretty COVID safe as we were all outside and it was easy to keep our distance. We walked up to a outside beach bar and we were going to have a drink right as the sun was setting but unfortunately the bar allowed patrons to smoke and there were a lot of smokers there so we decided to leave. It was a pretty young crowd at the beach bars anyway and the music was not really what we were in the mood for.
We continued on our way off of the beach heading for the main road. The walk through town was not nearly as nice as the beach was. It is a long strip that is pasted with resorts, restaurants and bars. They have a shuttle and tram service that runs along the main road, which was really needed because of all the local traffic.
We arrived back at the RV park and as we were walking up the road to our site, we saw that Robert and Jenny, who we had met earlier in the Everglades, had arrived and their camper truck was parked in the space right across from us. Later in the evening they stopped by and had a drink with us. It was great chance meeting up with people from back home when we ourselves were so far away from it.
The next day was Thanksgiving, and Cindy was working on a backup Thanksgiving dinner. Her thinking was that just in case the dinner we were going to at the park was a bust, we would be left with a backup plan. The oven in the trailer is pretty small so rather than trying to squeeze a turkey into the tiny oven, Cindy stuffed a chicken for our backup dinner. So if the dinner at the park was a failure, we would be covered and if not, we would then have this Thanksgiving chicken dinner the following day!
While Cindy was cooking, I was working on trying to get our refrigerator working on propane again and it was not going well. I had been looking at YouTube videos and trying various trouble shooting techniques to no avail. Fortunately for us, it was still working on AC power. We had so far experienced that for the time we were on the road, the fridge kept cool enough, and when we got to our next destination, as long as there was power, we were ok.
Thanksgiving dinner at the park was going to be served early, at 2pm. We walked over to the clubhouse and once inside, we were pleasantly surprised at what a nice job they all had done. Everyone was assigned to a table and they were calling up people by their table number to the serving line. It was quite a spread with all the fixings, and there was also a dessert table loaded with pumpkin and pecan pies. They had invited the local fire department and several of the firemen had shown up for the dinner. There were at least one hundred people in attendance but we noticed right away that our new friends Robert and Jenny were not there. They later told us that they had tried to get a reservation for the dinner when they arrived but were told that the event was booked up. Actually, as it happened, there were several people that were no shows and the chef was not happy about that as they could have otherwise allowed more folks to attend.
The Chef, Norm
Late that afternoon we went for a final long walk on the beach. It was beautiful outside and this time we did end up at a beach bar for a sun downer. Afterwards we walked back along the beach to the park rather than through town and enjoyed the sunset until it had faded away to darkness.
Our sunset cocktail spot 
Lots of loud, casual, outdoor pubs at Ft. Myers Beach 
A wide beach with lots of families 
After dinner we sat went back to the trailer and sat outside in the warm Florida sunshine. All was right with the world until Cindy got through to her best friend for 45 years, Chris Puccinelli, and the news she shared with Cindy was not good. Chris had been struggling with health issues for several years and had been on dialysis for months as a result of renal failure. She told Cindy that she was at a point that she just could no longer continue her dialysis treatments. She did not feel that she could even muster the strength needed to get out of the house and to her next dialysis appointment. Chris had been through so much over the last several years and had made the decision she was ready to just let go of what had become a struggle to stay alive.
The news was devastating and we decided right away that Cindy needed to get on a plane back to California to be with Chris and her wife Roz through this difficult time. It made the most sense that Cindy should fly out of New Orleans, and I could extend our stay we had already booked there in a state park until she returned. We would need to drive more than 800 miles over the next two days in order to get to New Orleans and get Cindy onto the flight we then booked for her. Unfortunately, it was the worst time in the entire year to get a last minute flight: Thanksgiving weekend. This was Thursday night and she couldn’t get a flight out of New Orleans to San Francisco until 5:00 am Monday morning.
On our walk in the late afternoon, I (Rick) took a photo of some seabirds in the sand after the sun had set, and I sent it to Chris in a text that night. I would often send Chris photos of wildlife back home as well as on this trip. It was a little ritual that we shared and will be one of my best memories of our friendship over the years.
We made ready for an early departure in the morning for what would be a 400 mile drive to Ochlockonee River State Park, in Sopchoppy, Florida.
The drive from Ft. Myers, Florida to New Orleans was a long one, covering 800 miles over a two days’ driving. We arrived at our first destination, Ochlockonee River Park in Sopchoppy, Florida well after dark. We drove into the campground and threaded our way to our site, which was barely deep enough to fit our rig. It was pitch dark and we were very happy we had our 2-way handheld radios to aid in getting parked in our spot. There have been many times on this trip that, as we are in the process of maneuvering into a space, well-meaning people (usually guys) walk up and want to assist. I am not sure if this is a reflection on my parking skills or of them thinking that because she is a woman, Cindy somehow needed their assistance. I do understand the good intentions, and we have witnessed on this trip at least a couple of bad outcomes as couples were attempting to park their rigs. Most recently when we were in Orlando, a couple was trying to get their 40 foot 5th wheel trailer parked. They cleared a tree with the trailer only to crunch the side of their brand new truck on the same tree. But the point is that Cindy and I are a team. Over the years we have learned to work together very well at lots of things, be it reefing a mainsail in big seas on a stormy night or parking the rig in a challenging space. So this night as most always, we politely declined the offer and continued with our normal routine.
The location of Ochlockonee River State Park, in the Florida panhandle
We had read that there were white squirrels and white-tailed deer in the park, and in the morning I got a first glimpse of a white squirrel that was perched on the front tire of the truck. He was there with a friend poking around. We went for a walk and found a nice trail that ran along the river, where we then soon started seeing the white-tailed deer we had also read about.
The campground was on a peninsula with a river running around the perimeter. It was a nice space and had several large gazebos with picnic tables and barbecues for gatherings. The grounds and the trail we were on were all very flat and open with lots of tall, slender trees. There was a boat dock we walked by at one point that seemed out of place.
We decided to stay for an extra night and then push on to New Orleans the following day. It was good to have a break from the long drive, and Cindy’s flight date to California allowed for it.