We have had several folks who saw news of the tornadoes in southwest Florida contact us to make sure we were okay. We are. A cold front passed through this part of Florida this morning spawning a few tornadoes and damaging an RV resort as well has several other locations. A tornado warning was issued for the area to our southwest so the team turtled up our RVs and gathered in the nearest substantial structure – the bathhouse/laundry. Fortunately, all the severe storms passed either to our north or south.
Thank you for your concern and prayers.
The team gathered in a safer place
Storm passing us by
After the storms were gone we cooked one of our favorite dishes – Max’s Mother’s Sausage and Grits.
Today has been another beautiful winter day in Fort Myers, FL. We have really had beautiful weather since arriving, with only an occasional shower. Watching the weather over the remainder of the country we are certainly concerned for everyone experiencing such a rough winter. Y’all be very careful as you are out and about!!
Last Saturday was the day we elected to celebrate Max’s birthday. So along with catching up on the laundry, we cooked up some of our red snapper that we brought from Gulf Shores. It was so good! Anne also made Max a from scratch vanilla pie using his Mom’s recipe. It was a first for her because we always just got our pie fix when we visited Juno. She was quite the pie maker. Thanks to Debra who shared the recipe and skill, pies will now be back in our diet – but not too often. Saturday afternoon we took a nice hike with two of our team members in one of the county parks. It was such a nice day.
Anne making a pie crust with remote technical support from Debra
The delicious vanilla pie brought back fond memories.
Enjoying one of the nearby hiking trails
As always, each morning starts with a team devotion.
We again began the week with devotion with the Echo family – such a good time of worship and song. After devotion we all headed back to work with Max and Anne back to the duck pond dock to meet with Elliott. Over the weekend it was decided that the dock looked so good that Echo wanted to replace all the wood above the deck of the dock. That meant we went back into demo mode. Marcia and Phil joined us to help unload all the new material and work on the rebuild. By Wednesday we were ready to install the new balusters and we set up an assembly line with Marcia pre-drilling, Anne starting the screws and Max and Phil installing. We were surprised at how fast that went and by Wednesday afternoon the deck was completed.
Removing the last baluster
The dock at the end of Monday
Removing the old posts
As with most things at ECHO we try to save hardware for re-purposing.
Phil and Marcia cutting the balusters for the dock
We predrilled the balusters to keep them from splitting when we installed them.
We installed over a hundred new balusters.
Finally finishing the dock
Finished dock
This was our audience for the dock project. Periodically they would burst into raucous laughter and we never knew what we had done that was so funny.
A soon as we finished the dock this ibis flew up, landed and posed for a picture. Then it pooped on the brand new railing and flew off.
A new assignment the team began this week was the cleaning out of the A-Frame house used by interns and other guests. At some point the second floor kitchen will be moved downstairs and the bedrooms on the first floor moved upstairs. Voni and Mary began that process of packing up everything into storage boxes and others helped out taking the furniture apart and except for the appliances everything is now in storage.
Mary and Voni spent much of the week packing the contents of the a-frame house. The house is scheduled for remodeling.
The beds were assembled with a wide variety of fasteners.
There were three rooms of bunk beds that had to be moved.
Beds loaded for moving to storage
Our moving dream team showing the contents of the a-frame they packed and moved this week.
The team also built additional plant tables – these even larger than last weeks and dug and set new footing for a hoop house in the propagation area. Work continued on the large bridge with all the supporting beams being replaced. That was a huge, heavy job!
Susan and Kevin preparing tubes for more potting tables
They were really heavy
The team built two more even longer potting tables.
The team also dug and set new footings for a hoop house
The bridge behind the visitor center has been a tough project because of its long span. It has seven beams – each made from two long 2x12s.
Max and Anne began the demo of a bathroom in the Appropriate Technology area with Elliott. All the fixtures and walls were removed. That was also a very physical job. Anne was a little stiff on Friday. All that is left to remove next week is the ceiling. Don’t think we will be involved in that rebuild, but we do enjoy demo.
Our task for Thursday was to remove the fixtures, walls and ceilings from this bathroom in the Appropriate Technology area so it can be rebuilt.
It took longer than we expected because the plywood walls were put up with lots of trim screws, then painted over.
By the end of the day we had the bathroom emptied and all the walls stripped.
The bathroom walls at the end of the day
For Anne Friday and much of today was spent on NOMADS business but she did take time this morning to host a cheese grits cooking school. With Marcia, Mary and Voni, Anne had fun showing them how southerners make cheese grits. Phil who said he didn’t like grits, decided the ladies cheese grits were pretty good. Anne also shared Juno’s sausage and grits recipe and the ladies are looking forward to giving that a try too. Some of the team also played some corn hole and ladder golf this afternoon. This is a great team. We are again enjoying our time at ECHO.
We are still fascinated by the variety of fruits grown at ECHO.
Kevin and Susan hosted a team campfire Thursday night after a tough week.
Anne sharing her technique for cooking cheese grits with some of the team members.
With great team leaders, great team members and a host agency with a truly great mission how could we help but to have a great week? We started the week with a joint devotional time with the ECHO staff and other volunteers. That is how each week will start. In additional to the devotional time, we learn a lot about ECHO (Hope Against Hunger) and their mission. After the devotional time everyone breaks into small groups to pray for each other and ECHO.
Then our NOMADS team was treated to a tour of the farm by one of the docents. Most of the team had not been here before but it was still very interesting to those of us who have.
The ECHO Global Farm is a fascinating place. Even though we took the tour last year, we learned even more on this tour.
Our guide pointing out some jackfruit. Two of our team members have eaten it at a BBQ restaurant where it is offered as a vegetarian option to pork. They said the taste and texture were just like pulled pork.
Our guide also explained the difference between a bunch (or stalk) and a hand of bananas.
One of the growing techniques ECHO teaches
After the tour our team leaders, Susan and Kevin, gave us our marching orders. Top priorities were to repair some walk bridges and the duck pond dock, install a vent fan in the mushroom house, build some potting tables and build some steps to a goat birthing house.
Bridge to the front of the tropical highlands when we arrived
Checking out the bridge framing
Finished bridge to the front of the tropical highlands
Testing the finished bridge
This bridge to the back of the tropical highlands also needed to be rebuilt
When Anne and Mary were demolishing the bridge they used “appropriate technology”, banana plant papers, to collect the old screws.
The team used benches as field expedient saw horses while rebuilding the bridge.
Almost finished bridge to back of tropical highlands
Bridge to back of the tropical highlands at the end of the week. Several team members worked on demolishing the old bridge and building this. The whole structure had to be replaced.
The duck pond dock when we arrived. We had to empty the water tank, remove it and the human powered pumps before we could start work.
Then we had to remove all the old decking
Since the dock holds a large water tank and sometimes several people in a tour group, we had to strengthen the frame. We laminated new rough cut 2x8s to the existing joists.
Last year we worked almost the whole three weeks with Elliot. He is the manager of the Appropriate Technologies area of the farm. We were glad to get to work with him again this week.
After strengthening the structure we re-decked the dock with treated 2x8s.
Some of the work involved wading in the duck pond.
Fortunately the farm had boots we could use.
Getting ready to set a support post. It was set in concrete just before the end of our work week.
The duck pond dock at the end of the week. Next week we will replace the end rail and the last couple of deck boards.
The team prepared a third bridge for repairs. We will probably get back to it next week.
Preparing pipes for potting tables. They were fastened to 4x4s to form the table tops.
Drilling pipes for potting tables
One of several potting table tops the team built
How the potting tables are used
Some of the team installed a vent fan the the mushroom house
New steps for goat birthing house
Today was spent doing laundry, grocery shopping, resting and enjoying the sunset.
Sunset at Riverside Camp where we stay when working at ECHO
Since our Christmas blog post, we spent our time enjoying the many trails and attractions at Gulf State Park. We hiked and biked every day and did our usual wildlife viewing and photography. We had several delicious meals of local seafood and took care of chores and NOMADS business.
We walked on the beach several times.
We checked on the eagles almost every day …
… and occasionally saw an osprey fly over.
The first gator we saw on this visit was this small one along the Rosemary Dunes Trail.
Then we saw this larger gator on the bank of Lake Shelby.
We also got to see this large tortoise. Its shell is over 12″ across.
Sunrise from our wonderful campsite. We liked it so much we reserved the same site for Christmas next year.
Last Tuesday, while Anne worked on NOMADS Board business, Max once again participated in the park’s Give Back Tuesday, a day each week for volunteers to help out around the park. About a dozen volunteers showed up to help finish a fence that was needed to direct people away from occupied campsites to an established trail. Apparently some people don’t know it is rude to walk through someone else’s campsite.
Unloading fence parts
Setting a post
Finished fence
As much as we enjoyed our time and rest at Gulf State Park, it’s time to get back to work. We sadly left the park Friday morning and started south to our next project. We arrived here in the North Fort Myers, Florida area to spend three weeks working on a NOMADS project at ECHO, also known as Hope Against Hunger. Our regular readers may remember that almost exactly a year ago we were also here for the same reason.
On our drive from Gulf Shores to North Fort Myers we spent New Years Eve at a Florida rest area known for its Snake Wall.
We attended our first Sunday service of 2022 at Grace UMC, Fort Myers Shores Campus with the team. It was a great service!
In the three weeks we spent here last year we don’t remember ever being stopped by this drawbridge. In the first 24 hours we were here this year we have been stopped by it twice.
RVing With a Purpose 