Early morning, the tour group walked a half-mile to a great breakfast restaurant, then packed and headed out through the outskirts of Fort Myers to connect with the Florida Connector supplement to the ACA Atlantic Coast Trail, a 43-mile day.  Winds were forcast ENE at 10-20, which proved true.

Having the burden of the car, we spent the morning exploring the Edison-Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers.

Edison, famous for inventing the electric light bulb and the phonograph, also experimented with many plants. Most notably was a collaboration with his friend Henry Ford to find a domestic source of rubber. Ford had bought the house next door and both planted Mysore Fig, from which latex can be obtained.

Edison also built a full-scale botany laboratory on his property to develop methods of rubber extraction from plants such as goldenrod.

After touring the grounds and museum, we made our way east to the Riverside Retreat, the group’s destination for the night. We inventoried the groceries that the camp director had bought from Jack’s list, which included drinking water, as the camp water supply was “swampy” tasting. We determined we needed more of some things, so we drove to LaBelle and augmented the supplies, and collected ice at a large pavilion on the other side of the camp grounds. On return, we also decided to check into renting the small pavilion next to our tent area, as it had a full kitchen and large room with tables and chairs. It was very convenient to have an electric range to cook five pounds of spaghetti with sauce, and to have large cutting boards and multiple knives to cut up fruit and salad. The lighted, bug-free room was also very nice for evening socializing.
Raccoons were in abundance, so having secure food storage was also handy (besides our car, of course). One of the biggest problems with bicycle camping is keeping food away from animals. Earlier in the trip, our hardshell trailer helped, and now the car were alternatives.