US Trip Part 20 February 18 - February 29

Day 188 Saturday February 18
I played with my rocks today and Judy was working on her knitting project.  After dinner we went to a show by the Hula Cats which is a group of residents who sing and put on skits.  It was very entertaining and lasted about one and one half hours.

Day 189 Sunday February 19
Going to be a stormy day.  We decided to go to the beach any way.  First we went to church and then picked up some groceries at Sweet Bay.  After lunch we headed out.to Shell Point but found no public access.  Next to Apollo beach nature preserve and walked around there  for a while and then rushed to the car to get out of a big down pour.  On the way home we stopped at a county park and it was very nice with lots of RV spaces and lots of places to fish and picnic..  Fun day.

Day 190 Monday February 20  Happy Presidents Day
Well we planned to go to Honeymoon Island park and headed out stopping at the post office and finding out it was closed due to the a holiday.  So we went back home.  I did some painting on the motor home trim.  Since we had our lunch made we drove down the road to a boat launch place, set up our chairs and ate our lunch.  When we got there a porpoise went by.  We watched the birds and fishermen.  I got out my metal detector and found three corroded pennies, a lot of fishing weights, lots of pull tabs and bottle caps.  On the way home we stopped along the road at a wildlife preserve and watched the birds, especially the spoonbills.  We ended up driving into the preserve to the top of a man made hill with nice views.  Apparently we were not suppose to be there as a man came roaring up and asking us in an unpleasant way to leave.  Well they should not have left the gate open.  After dinner, we went to the ice cream social with entertainment.  There was several different ice creams and lots of different cakes.  Each table was numbered and they drew lots to determine which table went next.  Clever method.  The entertainment was the MacDonald family singers who put on a good show singing gospel songs with a bluegrass flair.

Day 191 Tuesday February 21
What a wonderful day we had.  We left early and headed North on I- 275 over the Sunshine Skyway suspension bridge and went to Honeymoon Island (appropriate for us) state park.  We drove to the North end of the island and ate lunch in a nice picnic area.  We then went on a two mile nature walk and saw many osprey nests (someone said there were 23 on the island), a bald eagle nest with babies, an owl, a gopher tortoise, an armadillo, and a huge (4 foot?) diamond rattle snake that was crossing the path less than 15 feet in front of us. Really neat as it was hissing at us, but no rattles).    Plus birds and lizards. We then went to a hut at had something to drink and had some french fries.  Next we drove to the North Oasis parking area and went to the beach.  There was suppose to be agatized black coral there from dredging  of Tampa harbor.  Well, we found lots and can’t wait to cut and polish some. Found some nice shells too.  The island was not crowded and the traffic was good.  A very nice state park.  Stopped at Subway on the way home as it was late.

Day 192 Wednesday February 22  Washington’s birthday
Goofed off this morning.  For lunch we went back to the end of Cockroach Bay road.  When we got there a blue heron was standing about 5 feet from the picnic table.  A biologist for fisheries was there and he said the bird is not afraid of people or apparently dogs either.  It stayed around waiting for a handout.   The wind was blowing and so we saw 15 pelicans in the bushes across the water. After lunch we went to a U-pick tomato place and got a few pounds.  Listened to the debate on CNN.

Day 193 Thursday February 23
  I did my morning walk around the park and garbage detail.Judy went to the knitting group. I did some rock polishing.  After lunch a lady came and we talked about the places we have been, our rockhounding, and jewelry making.    Goofed off the rest of the day.

Day 194 Friday February 24
Today we went to DeSoto state park.  It is an island just off the southwest side of St. Petersburg.  To get there took three tolls and a park entrance fee.  I am getting tired of the toll roads.  The park was very nice.  We got to the  fort, which was started in 1898, they were having a civil war reenactment.  We toured some of the “exhibits” ranging from food soldiers ate, firearm demonstrations and a small skirmish.  It was lunch time so we ate close to the fort.  It was getting warm so we did a quick tour then headed to the beach.  We found a nice place in the shade on the beach and spent some time there. We visited a few beach site just to see what was there.  Drove home just as it was getting dark.

Day 195 Saturday February 25
Slept in this morning.  On my garbage walk, I saw two alligators and a flock of about 45 egrets in the trees. We went to the store and Judy got some more yarn and I got a case for my camera.   In the Joann Fabric parking lot in the middle of Brandon there was a sandhill crane, a supposedly casual bird in these parts.

After dinner we went to a concert,/show by Jim Frable.  He played six different instruments with music from the late 1800 to the 1950’s. Blue grass,  rock, some gospel, big band. Very good musician except he did not sing very well.

Day 196 Sunday February 26
Today we goofed off.  Judy said it stormed last night with wind and rain..  Cloudy and cool today.  I drilled some holes in the shell beads I am making for Judy.  She knitted.  A casual day.

Day 197 Monday February 27  Happy Birthday Daniel
Today we went to a museum, planetarium and aquarium in Bradenton just south of here.  It was very good.  First we saw a half hour view of the universe, then we walked the exhibits from early times up to the present,  In the aquarium they have “Snooty” a 63 year old manatee which was born in captivity.  Only injured manatees who can not be returned to the wild can be kept in aquariums. The aquarium takes in injured manatee and releases them when well.  Snooty is the longest living manatee ever known and is in apparently good health.  It eats about 60-70 pounds a day of lettuce, carrots, and favorite sweet potatoes. They can not estimate how long he will live.  The whole complex was well done.

Day 198 Tuesday February 28
We did the laundry this morning.  After lunch I finished polishing the shell beads I drilled the other day.  Judy played around knitting.  After dinner we went to the neighbor Ginger and spent about 4 hours talking.

Day 199 Wednesday February 29
We did some grocery shopping in anticipation of leaving tomorrow.  After lunch we went for a final swim in the pool and it was crowded because it was 85 degrees outside.  After dinner we went to Cockroach bay for a final view.

US Trip Part 19 February 9-February 17

Day 170 Thursday February 9

Judy went to the knitting group here at the RV park and I took the Jeep to Bradenton to get the tire pressure sensor fixed and get new spark plugs and air filter.  Goofed off the rest of the day.

Day 180 Friday  February 10
We went to JoAnn fabrics to get some stuff.  After lunch we went swimming for a while.  Pork ribs for dinner.

Day 181 Saturday February 11
It rained about a half and inch last night  and the wind blew all day today. I went for a walk this morning to the garbage can while Judy took a shower.  On our way from the last RV park, when the car was hooked up to the motor home for towing, the lights on the Jeep did not work.  I found out the ground wire had become disconnected and fixed it.  After lunch I did some rock polishing and Judy knitted.  It is suppose to get cold tonight with low temperature in the 30s.  Burr.
 
Day 182 Sunday February 12
Cold last night with the low temperature of 36 degrees.   We slept in where it was warm and snuggy.  I put new grinding wheels on my Pixie polisher in the morning.  Judy continues to work on her knitting projects.  In the afternoon I was trying to figure out a free web page on Google.  Generally in the evening we see some swallows flying around, perhaps several hundred.  Tonight at dinner we saw something very special.  In the sky as far as the eye could see there were “millions” of swallows in the sky. I do not think a million is an exaggeration.  It was an unbelievable sight. 

The little dots are swallows.

They must be getting ready to migrate North.  In Shelton at the lake, they normally show up around March 17.  Freeze warning for tonight.  Are we in Florida?

Day 183 Monday February 13
Today we went to the Florida State Fair just outside Tampa.  It was similar to the Puyallup fair but slightly smaller.  There were lots more food booths and did not seem to have as many exhibition halls. The weather was nice, not too hot.  We were there about 7 hours.  Unfortunately, I dropped my camera near the end of our day and now the camera does not work.  Rats.

Day 184 Tuesday February 14 HAPPY ST. VALENTINE’S DAY
Slept in.  I spent some time looking up what camera to buy.  Wow.  I found one and ordered it on line and it should be here on Thursday.  We went shopping for groceries and a cable to download pictures from Judy’s camera.  No luck so far.  After dinner I took apart my old camera and it was hard to do.  It was amazing the electronics they crammed in. I did not find out way the camera was not working.  Fun to look at the CCD, lenses, tiny motors and switches.  The freezer started groaning so took all the stuff out and defrosted it.
We had a good Valentine’s day because we love each other.

Day 185 Wednesday February 15
Today we went to the “famous” shelling island of Sanibel which is just off the coast of Ft. Myers.  Well, it cost $6 to get on the island to be met with stop and go traffic to get to the beaches.  We went to the “Ding” Darling wildlife refuge to eat our lunch and listened to a good talk on alligators and crocodiles.  There was a nice 3 mile drive through the mangroves. Then we headed to the beach where parking was $2 per hour and a long walk to the beach.  The beach was very crowded but very pretty.  We did find some nice shell, none very big, as the best time to get shells is during a big storm. We then took about an hour to go the ten miles to get off the island.  Whew, and this was mid-week.  On the way home we stopped at the Cracker Barrel for dinner.  It was nice, the food was good but very noisy. 

Day 186 Thursday February 16
Saw four alligators in the ponds here in the RV park on my mile garbage walk. Judy went to the knitting group and I did some cleaning and straitening up in the motor home. I get my new camera today a Canon SX 130 IS and the shell pictures were taken with it.  We had early dinner of taco salad then headed off to the Sunshine Gem and Mineral Society in St. Petersburg.  There program was an auction so I brought some of my rocks from our trip to be auctioned off and ended up buying two pieces of petrified coral. A very nice group of people.  Fun evening.

Day 187 Friday February 17
In the morning we did some housekeeping.  The rug was getting dirty so we cleaned it and washed the rugs.  Looked great when done.  After lunch we went to Mixon’s which was an citrus orchard, a store and small factory for processing fruit.  They showed how the processed oranges and made juice.  In the plant I took a picture of the scariest spider I ever saw.  It had red spikes or legs with white body and black spots. 

USA Trip Part 18 January 28-February 8

Day 158 Saturday January 28
Finished polishing the motor home.  After lunch we went swimming and then goofed off the rest of the day.  The area we are at is called the “Redlands” because it is an area which has real dirt.  There are lots of farms here growing tomatoes, beans, sweet corn, and ornamental plants.  Some of the fields are more than 100 acres.  When they harvest these fields there may be a hundred people picking.  It is amazing to see such big fields of tomatoes.

Day 159 Sunday January 29
I washed the windows and Judy cleaned up the bathroom.  We went shopping for a few things.  Quiet day.

Day 160 Monday January 30
Today we went to Big Cypress National Monument.  We saw more alligators and birds than we did in Everglades National Park.  Most of South Florida had been logged of old growth Cypress in the 1950 so that in the monument, most of the cypress trees are less than 70 years old.en so it is very pretty.  This is the dry season so the water is receding and a lot of the flowers like orchids do not come out until the wet season. We stopped at the visitor center and several sites which highlighted the area.  In the visitor center the volunteers were from the Seattle area. We drove some roads in the monument which had been built by the logging companies.  At lunch we met a woman who had been kayaking in the Turner River and she invited Judy to try her kayak.  So she did and enjoyed it very much. We saw two snakes today, a water snake and another one {poisonous?) on the road.  Fun day.  Judy made omelets for dinner.

Day 161 Tuesday January 31
In the morning we got the motor home ready to leave tomorrow.  After lunch we drove to the Chekika entrance to the Everglades Park to see how far the fire spread.  It looks like they got it out very quickly as the area was not much bigger then when we saw the fire.

Day 162 Wednesday February 1
We left South Miami heading North on Krome Avenue to highway 41 West.  Then we went on 29 North to I-75 West to Naples.  We got off the freeway at exit 240 and drove West to highway 41 again.  South on 41 to Cockroach Bay road turning West a short distance to Hawaiian Isle RV Resort taking space 478A.  This is a very nice place.  Over 1000 sites here.
Drove 260 miles today.

Day 163 Thursday February 2
We spent the day checking out the park and relaxing. When I went to go to sleep I felt I was not getting enough air when I was breathing.  Went to the emergency room and they did lots of tests and found nothing wrong.  I are fine now.

Day 164 Friday February 3
Slept in today.  We went to the club house to use the internet. After lunch we went to get Judy some yarn and needles for a new project.

Day 165 Saturday February 4
We had a leisurely morning.  After lunch we went to the manatee viewing area set up by the Tampa Electric Co, power plant. Apparently the warm water attracts the manatees.  They have a nice viewing platform and a walkway into the mangrove swamp.  There were maybe 20 manatees but none were very close to the viewing platform. And they only come up for air every 8 to 10 minutes. No good pictures.  Lots of fish in the water.  There were many tarpon there and some looked to be at least 4 feet long.   Saw one blue crab called that because of blue color around his claws. They had a butterfly garden with what looked like monarch butterflies.  After leaving there we stopped and picked up a few groceries.  On the way home we went past the entrance to the RV park and took Cockroach Bay road to the end.  There was a boat launch and fishing area.  A nice blue heron was just standing there ready to have its picture taken.

Day 166 Sunday February 5
We went to Mass at a new large church in Ruskin.  After lunch I worked on making some cabochons and Judy did some knitting.  After dinner, the neighbor let us come over to watch the Super Bowl.  It would have cost us $75 for the month for cable.  She unfortunately was a New England fan.  The game was exciting and fun to watch down to the last seconds.  I think I am glad that the Giants won. 

Day 167 Monday February 6
I did some rock cutting and polishing today. Judy started on a new knitting project.

Day 168 Tuesday February 7
Today we went to Anna Marie island which is about 45 minutes drive from here.  There were white sandy beaches and lots of small shells.
The temperature was mild, mid-70’s with light overcast and breeze. We ate lunch on the beach and just enjoyed walking and watching the water and sky. There was a flock of cormorants, perhaps a thousand, and they all took off at once. Quite a sight.   Before heading home, we made a short detour to Michaels where Judy got some knitting stuff.

Day 169 Wednesday February 8
After breakfast we drove to a big shopping, garage sale, etc place called the Red Barn.  It hat almost 1000 spaces and you could buy just about anything.  It was very clean and nice.  Spent about 4 hours walking around looking.  We joked that it was designed as a place for all the old snowbirds here to have a place to go.  When we got home we did the laundry.