Cody's Catfish Pond & RV Park is located in Spring Hill, Florida. A stone's throw from Weeki Wachee Springs, the park is an eclectic combination of unique yard art and antique motorhomes.

Our site had full hookup and was level with pavers.

There were many prehistoric animals throughout the park including a baby dinosaur next to our site.

No need to travel to the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana. There were many antique units including one that escaped being hit by a bomb.

One that we could have towed behind our motorcycles.

Or part of an interplanetary RV

that was shot down by the school bus mounted cannons.

A lot of farm animals that thankfully didn't crow.

The lake had a hippopotamus that slowly turned with the wind.

Luna found one prehistoric animal that was her size.

Lake Manatee State Park is located about 15 miles east of Bradenton. Tom and Lee Markey (friend since Jr. High School) camped next to us in their travel trailer. Several other high school friends, Pam Akins and Linda Bartley, also joined us for dinner.

And Luna went to a dog park with Bradley, Pam's dog.

We have enjoyed camping at many US Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds but this was the first time in our home state of Florida. We're at the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam on the Caloosahatchee River about 15 miles east of Ft. Myers. It is one of only 3 USACOE campgrounds in Florida.

It is a beautiful campground with paved sites, clean gravel yards and a lot of grass.

Luna enjoyed rolling in the tall cool grass.

On the west side of the dam we saw 4 manatees, a pod of dolphins and a bull shark that was caught and released.

Tom and Lee also joined us at Franklin and we had good weather for eating outdoors.

Downtown Ft. Myers is very much alive so we enjoyed some local taste delights and Bobbi & Lee shopped.

In the evenings we shared fond memories (some of them true) from 56 years ago.

June 26, 1971 we spent the first night of our honeymoon at the Naples Beach Club and then a week in Jamaica. The hotel closed this year and this is not the time to fly to Jamaica. Thus, for our redux honeymoon, we stayed in Naples in our RV and Key West instead of Jamacia.

Putting up with me for 50 years I guess Bobbi deserves something.

There wasn't much to do at the campground so we visited some places we have never been. Chokoloskee is the southernmost city on the west coast at the edge of the Ten Thousand Islands. Population is 359.

Everglades City was the orignial county seat of Collier County founded by the entrepreneur Barron Collier. The town was the headquarters for the building of the Tamiami Trail (US 41) through the swamp. When the county seat was moved to Naples, the old courthouse became Everglades City Hall.

In 1926 when the building of the Tamami Trail reached the Everglades, grass and muck had to be removed exposing limestone rock. Holes were drilled in the rock, dynamite inserted in the holes and the rock was blasted. Walking Dredges, which straddled a 20 ft. wide canal, scooped up the crushed rock and created a road bed parallel to the drainage canal.

A 50 HP gasoline/kerosene powered Walking Dredge could dig 700 cubic yards and move forward one mile in a 10 hour day.

To break up a long trip from Naples to Key West, we spent one night at Curry Hammock State Park in Marathon.

It was a very nice campground on the Atlantic and the only one we have stayed at that had labels on the local vegetation.

In Key West our site was right on the water so we had a great view to watch the sunrise and some interesting neighbors.

We were able to ride our bicycles into the city so that made parking a lot easier. Of course some great food

including shrimp Eggs Benedict.

With the projected path of Elsa heading toward us

we decided to cut our stay short and head out early the next morning.