More Views of Ortona

 1.31.2024

We leave Ortona South this morning on our way South to the Keys with a stop for a couple of National Park tours along the way.  This campground is a beautiful, restful place which we will miss.  A perfect place to recover from Disney. The mist on the water in the morning, the blazing sunsets, and the birds have all been beautiful.  We've continued to enjoy watching the boats large and small go through the lock. There aren't many places we are good to just sit for 5 days, but this is such a place.  I've read two books, given Comet a bath, and cooked lots of meals.  It is definitely a place we want to return to.

These next three photos I took our of our bedroom windows one morning.

All those little white dots are birds.

The last time I ever went shopping with my Mom she bought a mug made of fine china because it was light enough for her to lift.  I broke it just before we got to Disney.  I bought this one to replace it.

Still miss her everyday.

On a different note I added a follow button to the blog's front page.  If you click it you can follow along directly from your inbox when I post.

Ortona Lock

 1.27.2024

This morning we walked the short distance to the lock.  We walked across the dam to the island created as one side of the lock.  We watched as the lock filled and two boats exited going toward the lake.

There were two large boats and several jet skis waiting to come in to the lock.  We watched as they all entered and the gates closed.

As the water drained to a level 8 feet lower than when the large boats entered those watching realized that one of the crewmen on the white boat had tied off a rope hanging from the edge of the lock.  There were some very tense moments as he scrambled to find a knife to cut the rope and the lockmaster reclosed the gates to try to raise the water level.  The boat was beginning to lift on the one side.  Thankfully, the crewman got the rope cut in time and with a loud bang the boat went back down into the water.  Of course I was so busy watching all of this that I didn't catch it on video.  If you listen carefully you can hear the bang about 25 seconds into the video.

While we were out running errands today we saw this iguana.

If you look carefully just above the top of the gate you can see an alligator swimming down the canal.

Later in the day we were watching the lock from our campsite and the group of jet skis went back through the lock in the opposite direction.

It was a fun day.

  

Arriving at Ortona South Campground

 1.26.2024

Mileage: 1225

Our time in the Disney bubble came to an end today.  We had a few things to do before leaving.  Kenny finally saw his first armadillo in the wild this morning.  I also saw a second one on my way to the bathhouse to do laundry.

Kenny also saw a Red Tailed Hawk at the dog park with Comet.  We drove almost due south through lots of traffic and stop lights until the urban congestion finally gave way to orange groves until we arrived at Ortona South Campground.

Army Corps of Engineers Campgrounds are some of our favorites.  These campgrounds are found along waterways.  This one sits next to a lock on the Caloosahatchee Canal.  This canal was originally built in the 1880's to drain the upper part of the Everglades and to eliminate a set of falls to make navigation from The Gulf of Mexico to Lake Okeechobee possible.  This is about as opposite of Disney as you can get.  Here there are about 50 sites all with beautiful views of nature.  Disney is full of amenities with other campers close to you.  We enjoy both.

On our evening walk we enjoyed listening two birds conversing with each other.

Comet enjoyed some outside time until the bugs got going. Then momma had to retreat to inside where there are at least less of them.  The first stop tomorrow is somewhere to get bug spray.

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Fort Wilderness and Disney Springs

1.25.2024

One of the things we have learned to love about Disney over the year is the resorts.  When the kids were young it was all about the parks.  We are gradually learning to slow down and enjoy all that the resorts have to offer.  Today we spent the day at the pool, biking around Fort Wilderness, and enjoying the Tri-Circle D Barn with many of the magnificent horses used here.

We then took Disney transportation to Disney Springs to do a little shopping and have dinner.

We had dinner at Summer House on the Lake which was very yummy.

We took a boat to Port Orleans for some Micky beignets.

Then a bus to Magic Kingdom and a different boat back to Fort Wilderness.

We enjoyed the boat ride across the lake to The Fort.  It has been a great stay!