Absolutely right!  There is something wonderful in all the places I've
lived - New Jersey, Florida, Manhattan and now California.  I know about the
negative but I try to avoid it as much as possible and celebrate the
positive.  We must all be optimists here, if we're driving a Vanagon!

Debra Clark
Santee, California
clark10006@cox.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill N" <freeholder@STARBAND.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 9:56 AM
Subject: Re: The truth about Florida--Love Bugs

> I lived in Florida for a year.  I spent the first 6 months on the northern
tip on Pine Island
> in an old house (widow's walk and all) right on the ocean, and the next 6
months in Cape Coral.
> There were a lot of insects, so I got a field guide and studied them.
Ditto for the reptiles.
> Very interesting place.  I went fishing and crabbing a lot.  Picked all
the oranges I could eat
> from the 5 acres of old trees I owned.  Did you know that the blossom end
(away from the stem)
> is sweeter?  We would cut them in half and throw the stem end away.
>
> Spent a lot of time in the everglades.  We once counted 134 alligators in
a 30 mile drive.  We
> added an awful lot of birds to our life list.
>
> Yes, there are a lot of snowbirds and upper east coast people there, but
they didn't go to the
> same places we liked.  Slog out into the everglades a ways and you won't
see many motorhomes.
> The weather?  Hot in the summer, but actually not much worse than Northern
Illinois, where I
> grew up.  Washington DC is about identical in the summer.
>
> Yes, you can step on a jellyfish or ray -- if you aren't careful.  Where I
live now, there are
> black widows under every other rock (literally), and giant centipedes (up
to 8 inches) that
> have a very painful bite.  There are also scorpions, gila monsters, coral
snakes, and 15
> species of rattlesnake.  None have ever got me yet.  You learn to look
under stuff before you
> pick it up.
>
> I went back a couple of years ago.  We put a new AVP engine in our '81
Westy and wanted to take
> it out for a test drive (we put about 800 miles on it first).  We took two
weeks and went to
> Key West.  I still liked Florida.  There are still a lot of wild areas and
beaches with nobody
> else on them.  Look around.  Rolling across 7 mile bridge with everything
you need right in
> your VW is a great feeling.  It doesn't get much better.  We camped on Big
Pine Key (in the
> "primitive area" of the campground -- water, but no electric or sewer, so
no motorhomes.  Key
> deer were in our camp most of the time.  Some great places to hike.  All
in all, don't believe
> all the negative stuff too much.  Sure, Florida has some lousy places, but
so does everywhere
> else.  Not bad overall.
>
> Bill
>