Belts & Suspenders and A Bike Friendly Island

Where We Are NOW ... Periwinkle Campground, Sanibel Island, FL

NAPLES

We made a one night stop in Naples to do a scheduled oil change service at Tamiami Ford. We were told the garage could handle a vehicle 12’ high ... we are 11’ 6” (or, so I thought) including a 4” safety margin ... Surprise, SURPrise, SURPRISE!!! I pulled through the approach bay slowly and it was marked 12’ clearance. BAMB! ... I nailed the bow of one of the kayaks. I stopped soon enough that no damage was done to the boats, other than a minor scratch on the nose of mine. I backed out. We were subsequently told that they could ‘now’ NOT handle us for an oil change ... so, we drove next door to the ‘Qwik Lube’.

When the kayak bow hit the low clearance roof it pushed the boat back, put pressure on the crossover bars and pulled the front connectors of the rear feet completely off the boat rails. I was able to tie the rear feet back down using hose clamps. Belts & Suspenders ... I’ll do this to the front feet also once we’re set up.

UPDATE of yesterday’s clearance issues: We were wrong! ... I remeasured. Might have been a math error, a typo error or just a stupidity error, but I was wrong. We need 12’ 6” clearance with the kayaks on, NOT 11’ 6”.

Our site here at Periwinkle Campground on Sanibel Island, backs on a narrow, shallow creek that attracts a variety of local wildlife.

  

You Know ... I think LOAF likes this site ... seems to be smiling!

We have a herd of resident frogs that ‘chirp’ throughout the night, we’ve had several different Warblers wander through searching  for insects and we even had a young river otter splash by and bark at us. We did get picture of these two - a Little Blue Heron and a White Egret.

 

Sanibel Island is one of the ‘bike friendliest’ places we’ve ever been. The island is small and vehicle traffic moves slowly and is very conjested. The complete island including adjoining Captiva Island is covered with well-marked, well-maintained paths. You can bike almost anywhere, safely and conveniently. The local drivers are very ‘bike aware’ and consitently give bikes right-of-way and are always watching for cyclists.

Most of our riding has been on the secondary streets on the island. These are quiet and wander past some very nice homes and properties.

The remainder (but the minority) of the riding paths are through forested areas and some higher traffic areas.

  

Updates to follow ......