Naples, FL

Happy New Year! We are still here in Naples and so grateful for warm weather. The RV park we're at has a lake with a two mile road/sidewalk all the way around, so Macie is loving those nice long walks in the mornings.

In case you are curious...it's official...I finally drove this beast. Ok, so I drove it around the RV park once - for 5 minutes - and nearly hit a parked car going around a corner. Everyone keeps assuring me I'd get used to it, and I'm sure I would, but I think I'll keep my co-pilot job for now. Rich is happy about that too.

Oh, and here's some useless trivia. Anyone want to guess how much we weigh while we are barreling down the road towing a minivan? Our total weight is 34,180 lbs.

We visited Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary - walked on a 2 mile long boardwalk through a swamp. We saw birds, frogs, spiders, butterfies, and a glimpse of an alligator.

We also checked out the beach on Sanibel Island for a couple hours while the RV was in the shop. Actually, most of our week was spent on RV maintenance. The boys washed the RV and we got our slide fixed. We feel like we're living in a palace now with all this extra space! We also tried to get an oil change that day which is when they discovered a leak in our oil pan. This required a visit to the Cummins engine shop which we did on Tuesday. They were very kind to stay late to finish the job so we could have our house back for the night. Unfortunately, they didn't quite get all the air out of the coolant lines before they sent us on our way. It wasn't long before Rich saw a big bold message screaming "STOP ENGINE NOW!"

So he pulled off the freeway and we put more coolant in and tried it again. He made it another five miles to a rest area before the lights came on again. So we called the engine people. They offered to come out that night, but we decided to wait until morning which meant we spent the night boondocking in the rest area. Rich didn't sleep too well which explains why he is already fast asleep tonight - long before the ball dropped. The engine guys took care of the problem the next morning. Which made me think about how grateful I am for people who know how to fix engines and such.

We are very excited to have my mom joining us on the next leg of our journey. She flies in on the 1st and then we are driving through the Everglades and out to the Keys. How can you drive to an island 113 miles out in the ocean? I'll let you know next week.

Oh, and one last thing...as you can imagine, this journey we are on is much bigger than an exercise in RV travel and sightseeing. It's also a journey of the heart. With that in mind, I decided to share what I'm pondering and contemplating along with way. And I'd love to hear your thoughts too. The Bendickson Family blog will continue to update you on our travels. If you want to read about what is rolling around for me from a heart perspective, head over to http://conniebendickson.blogspot.com/ I put a little test message out there today.

Wishing you a happy and healthy new year!