Bill and Cathy McArthur on the Road 2008: 2  

  We had just finished our Orange Bowl adventure and were ready to start our early winter activities in Naples, FL.

  Saturday, January 5, was a day that Cathy long dreaded. The overnight rain continued as we ate breakfast and broke down camp. We went over our travel route from our campground in Hollywood, FL to Naples and wrote summary sheets for each of us to use in our respective vehicles. We drove out of the campground at around 10:00 AM. We hadn't gone far before the refrigerator door in the RV popped open with bottles clinking. Luckily, Bill was able to pull over and fasten the door. The next little surprise was that our entrance to the Florida Turnpike was on the left rather than the right as we had expected. The next big surprise was that the exit ramp for the connector to I75 was closed because of a massive bus accident. We went on to the next exit and Bill executed a U-turn, with a nifty assist by Cathy, and re-entered the turnpike heading the other way. We were able to exit at the connector in this direction and the trip became easy as we got onto I75 through the Everglades. We pulled into a rest stop for a bathroom break and to talk about the bit of excitement so far on the trip. When we got back on I75, Bill called Tom and found that they had arrived home at around 12:30 AM after a good flight. We arrived at the Rock Creek RV Resort in Naples at 11:40 AM and registered for our expected stay until March 7. We had a lovely campsite, #219. We headed out to Home Depot to get a new circuit breaker, ate lunch at Starbucks, and shopped at Publix. Bill didn't like the slow pace of the shopping with all of the old people (look who's talking, Bill). When we got back to our site, Bill replaced the circuit breaker and we set up the campsite for our stay. Bill saw some sort of liquid dripping out from under the XTerra which might have indicated a problem to be investigated. We ate our first meal of our stay and watched the Presidential candidates' debate on ABC. We got off to bed at around 11:00 PM. We didn't run the furnace for the first time since we left home.

  Sunday morning was sunny and warm. We slept in until 7:30 AM. After breakfast, we went over to the common room in the office to get on the Internet and catch up on email as well as upload photos and narrative for our websites. We had over 4600 SPAM messages! The filter on Outlook grabbed about half of them, so Bill had to sort through the rest. There were 6 "real" emails in the collection. Cathy prepared lunch while Bill checked out the XTerra and couldn't find any problem. Tom, a camper and worker in the RV Resort, came by and set us up on a secure wireless network for $10 per month. We can now receive junk emails right in our own RV. After lunch we took a walk to downtown Naples. It was sunny and 80 degrees. Cathy's hip was hurting, so we only got as far as Tin Town before heading back. We drove to Home Depot to buy a bunch of things for the RV and the campsite. We set up rope lights on the awning struts for a little decoration. For dinner, we grilled burgers. While CNN's replay of the New Hampshire debates droned in the background, Bill set up the digital picture frame that Stacey and Son Bill had sent us. We also finally read through our emails and particularly enjoyed an interview of Son Bill.

  Simply put, Monday was a fabulous day. It started out sunny and 60 and became sunny and 86. We dropped off 5 bags of laundry at a local lavanderia. The cost was $34 for washing, drying, and folding. We went for a 3.2 mile walk and then Bill went for a 3.4 mile fast walk. We had lunch outside under our awning. We picked up our laundry around 2:00 PM and then went to a fabulous produce market on Davis Boulevard to get some fruit. Jim and Chris Devine arrived from Fort Myers around 3:30 PM. We sat on our patio and chatted for a couple of hours and then drove into Old Town Naples. Then we went to Dock's Restaurant for a fabulous dinner on the water. After Jim and Chris dropped us back at the RV, we watched the BCS title game on TV.

  Tuesday was better than Monday. The sky stayed clear most of the day and the temperature went up to 80. We went shopping at Publix. After lunch, Bill went for a fabulous kayak paddle down into Naples Bay. Meanwhile, Cathy took a walk and then a nap. When Bill returned, we both took a short bike ride on the path by the airport. When we re-entered the park, we saw a Bald Eagle and a big Hawk, both high in trees. We finally made a happy hour at the gazebo about a half block from us. We met a lot of people, but it was hard to converse due to the noisy gathering. Our first NetFlix (thanks to Tom's gift to Bill) came in. We viewed "3:10 to Yuma", which we both liked. We discovered a bunch of ants inside the RV just before dinner, so Bill rushed out to Home Depot to buy a bunch of ant baits.

  Wednesday was another lovely day. We ate breakfast at Starbucks. Cathy watched "The Daily Show" at 10:00 AM. Bill went for a 6 mile walk. Cathy did a 3 mile walk after the show. After lunch we both went for a 5 mile kayak trip into Naples Bay. It was warm and pretty out on the water. Later, we went to Wal-Mart to do some shopping. We had a good quiche meal while we watched "Venus", a good movie, but a bit on the sad side.

  On Thursday morning, Bill went for a 3 mile run and then joined Cathy for a 3 mile walk. Cathy had been out for a haircut and some shopping at Publix. After lunch, we drove to the town pier and visited a few of the very interesting shops near Dock's Restaurant. Bill picked up some fishing equipment and talked to a guide about fishing on the Gordon River. We also stopped at Home Depot to pick up some long spikes to secure our awning. We also washed the XTerra at a car wash on Davis Blvd. When we got back, Bill rearranged the awning, using the spikes and rigged his fishing rod. Cathy rested. We went for a great dinner at Carrabba's, about 6 miles down Route 41. We returned just in time to watch the "Daily Show" and get some good insights on the New Hampshire primary and polls. We viewed "The Reaping", a kind of weird movie starring Hillary Swank, who at least didn't get beaten to death during the movie. Spoiler: she only ended up involuntarily bearing the devil's spawn.

  Friday was a mostly cloudy day, but the temperature reached the 80s again. We did a 3 mile walk in the morning. Then we drove to a postal store to mail a couple of items. We stopped in Publix to get a NY Times while we were in the area. After lunch, Bill went for a fishing trip on the kayak while Cathy did the laundry. Bill managed to troll up a 12 inch Bonefish White Trout in a small, shallow mangrove cove where Rock Creek meets Gordon River. Later, we went out to the RV Center on Route 41 to get some awning clamps to help on windy days. We grilled burgers for dinner.

        Bill and Cathy