March 12
For breakfast, we went to Dunkin' Donuts to check out their breakfast sandwiches. Similar to egg-Mcmuffin, but you can choose to have it on croissant, biscuit, bagel, or whatever you want. Very good. Relaxing morning, lunch here, then went shopping for jeans at Gulf Coast Mall at Penny’s. Stopped at the book store for coffee and snack, read for awhile. After supper, took a long walk along Island Park Road, which is on the other side of the canal.
FROM THE PAPER:
Parts of South Florida are in a desert-like condition and especially prone to wildfires after a months-long dry spell that forecasters expect to last through May. Also, several cold fronts and freezes this winter have dried out grass and shrubs, meaning wildfires have more fuel available to help them grow. Although lightning and other natural causes ignite about 30 percent of wildfires, humans cause most fires, either intentionally or not. People are being warned not to be careless -- even a spark from an ATV could start a fire in these conditions. So far this year, there have been twice as many wildfires as last year. This year there have been 1,024 wildfires, with over 25,000 acres being burnt.

March 11
Usual morning routine. Lunch here, then to the library. As usual, late afternoon we went to Starbucks for coffee and snack. Home for supper.

March 10
Went for long bike ride, got the paper, read and relaxed. Lunch here, then we went to Bunche Beach for the afternoon. It is the closest beach to us and is on the mainland with Ft. Myers Beach and the inlet to Estero Bay to the left, the south end of Sanibel Island across the bay, and the bridge and causeway to Sanibel on the right. We like it because it is all natural, with no condos or homes of any kind. The sand here is very fine and powdery. At the end of the road, there is a turn-around in the sand with a sign saying ‘four-wheel drives only’. Of course, we saw a car almost get completely stuck as he tried to turn around. Also, it usually is not very crowded, although today it was packed near the entrance to the beach. However, if you walked a short distance, the crowd thinned out. One bad thing is the parking - there is no lot, just some spaces along the entrance road. So I had to park about ¼ mile up the road! Inland was very warm with little breeze. At the beach, it was nice, with an onshore breeze, almost cool in the umbrella shade. You can see pictures if you email me - got a great shot of a red-shouldered hawk.