Tue, Nov. 16:
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL, To Pasco Winter Quarters, Land-O-Lakes, FL: Left Manatee Springs In a steady drizzle under low, leaden clouds. Very windy. We finally drove out of it at about Ingles. Had breakfast at a little restaurant in Crystal River and continued on. Arrived at Pasco Winter Quarters by 1:00 and were set up by 1:30. Went over to my sister’s around 3:00 and spent the afternoon and evening. She made a great spaghetti sauce and we pigged out. Had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for desert. Played Spades and watched Dancing With The Stars and were shocked that Brandy was eliminated and Bristol is still in. What’s THAT all about???!! I’m fed up with that show!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Mon, Nov. 15
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: Mike had a fire going this morning, so I took my smoothie out there and enjoyed another pretty morning around the fire. The deer came by as usual. Spent most of the morning making chili and baking a chocolate cake to take to my sister’s tomorrow in Tampa. After lunch we walked down to the spring one last time. There were some people swimming in the spring. I told Mike we should finally don our wet suits and do that, but he said “…go ahead.” Then someone told us there was a gator in there the past couple of days. Apparently the gator was swimming into the tunnel over to another spring. There are about 5 miles of tunnels that branch off of the springs. You have to be cave certified to scuba in there. Several have gotten lost and died under there. And you can’t use lights—just some kind of glow stick or something. Anyway, we walked the boardwalk out to the river. The wind was really whipping up the river—turning the once tranquil river into a cauldron of frothy white caps and rollers. No manatees. Didn’t stay out there long. Walked back and who do we run into but the Canadian couple with the dog. Chester, that we dined next to in Cedar Key. They’re staying out at Cedar Key for 10 days or so. Was really surprised to see them. They have to leave Wednesday to go back to Toronto. Walked the trail back to our site and sat around for a while. There were 5 pileated woodpeckers in the trees around us. They’re such huge birds and so prehistoric looking. Drove into Chiefland and had dinner and then back home. Mike got another fire going and we enjoyed that while about 15 deer wandered through. It’s like the wild kingdom in here.
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: Mike had a fire going this morning, so I took my smoothie out there and enjoyed another pretty morning around the fire. The deer came by as usual. Spent most of the morning making chili and baking a chocolate cake to take to my sister’s tomorrow in Tampa. After lunch we walked down to the spring one last time. There were some people swimming in the spring. I told Mike we should finally don our wet suits and do that, but he said “…go ahead.” Then someone told us there was a gator in there the past couple of days. Apparently the gator was swimming into the tunnel over to another spring. There are about 5 miles of tunnels that branch off of the springs. You have to be cave certified to scuba in there. Several have gotten lost and died under there. And you can’t use lights—just some kind of glow stick or something. Anyway, we walked the boardwalk out to the river. The wind was really whipping up the river—turning the once tranquil river into a cauldron of frothy white caps and rollers. No manatees. Didn’t stay out there long. Walked back and who do we run into but the Canadian couple with the dog. Chester, that we dined next to in Cedar Key. They’re staying out at Cedar Key for 10 days or so. Was really surprised to see them. They have to leave Wednesday to go back to Toronto. Walked the trail back to our site and sat around for a while. There were 5 pileated woodpeckers in the trees around us. They’re such huge birds and so prehistoric looking. Drove into Chiefland and had dinner and then back home. Mike got another fire going and we enjoyed that while about 15 deer wandered through. It’s like the wild kingdom in here.
Sun, Nov. 14:
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: We didn’t even wake up until 9:30 this morning. Our friends had already packed up and were gone. And they even gave us the rest of their wood and stacked it at our site. We made a fire and we sat around reading all morning. While we were sitting there reading a hawk swooped down not three feet from us and got some poor little forest critter. Must have been a mouse or something.
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: We didn’t even wake up until 9:30 this morning. Our friends had already packed up and were gone. And they even gave us the rest of their wood and stacked it at our site. We made a fire and we sat around reading all morning. While we were sitting there reading a hawk swooped down not three feet from us and got some poor little forest critter. Must have been a mouse or something.
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| Young buck |
Sat., Nov. 13:
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: Another spectacular morning. We transferred the bikes from the RV to the truck and headed out. The Florida State Trail runs right through Chiefland. So we parked in town and headed out. About 20 minutes into our ride Mike realized he didn’t have his helmet, so he headed back to the truck. I biked back to a bench we had passed and ate the lunch I had brought. A guy biking the trail in the opposite direction stopped and joined me. He was from Michigan and owned a bike shop there. He’s here for a two-week vacation only. But he’d already biked 18 miles today. Mike returned with his helmet and off we went. It didn’t take long to get away from town and out in the country. A really pretty paved biking trail through thick woods. We biked to Fanning Springs and then back—18 miles. Back to our site and started getting our steaks ready to cook up and our neighbors came over and invited us to join them for dinner. We added our steaks to theirs and they also had baked potato and baked sweet potato, garden salad, gelatin salad and asparagus. What a feast! It was also Sandy’s birthday and there was an ice cream cake. We brought a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Crème over and polished that off sitting around the fire after dinner. What a fun night with some great people.
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: Another spectacular morning. We transferred the bikes from the RV to the truck and headed out. The Florida State Trail runs right through Chiefland. So we parked in town and headed out. About 20 minutes into our ride Mike realized he didn’t have his helmet, so he headed back to the truck. I biked back to a bench we had passed and ate the lunch I had brought. A guy biking the trail in the opposite direction stopped and joined me. He was from Michigan and owned a bike shop there. He’s here for a two-week vacation only. But he’d already biked 18 miles today. Mike returned with his helmet and off we went. It didn’t take long to get away from town and out in the country. A really pretty paved biking trail through thick woods. We biked to Fanning Springs and then back—18 miles. Back to our site and started getting our steaks ready to cook up and our neighbors came over and invited us to join them for dinner. We added our steaks to theirs and they also had baked potato and baked sweet potato, garden salad, gelatin salad and asparagus. What a feast! It was also Sandy’s birthday and there was an ice cream cake. We brought a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Crème over and polished that off sitting around the fire after dinner. What a fun night with some great people.
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| On the bike path |
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| Our great neighbors (Jerry & Nina; David & Sandy; Harmon & Dee) |
Fri, Nov. 12:
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: A few little clouds today. We didn’t do much.. Had a fire in the morning. Picked up some groceries. Walked down to the river to see the manatees. No manatees to be found. Walked back and sat around reading and harassing our neighbors.
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: A few little clouds today. We didn’t do much.. Had a fire in the morning. Picked up some groceries. Walked down to the river to see the manatees. No manatees to be found. Walked back and sat around reading and harassing our neighbors.
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| BIG spider... |
Thu, Nov. 11:
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: A beautiful morning. We drove over to Cedar Key. Hadn’t been there since 2005 I think—right after Wilma. It hasn’t changed too much, thankfully. They’ve built a new cement fishing pier. We walked around the little historic downtown area for a while. The resources of this area—mostly the red cedars—were important to its growth back in the day. German entrepreneur, Faber, was looking for splinter-free wood for pencils. He found it in the abundant red cedars in this area. He ended up building a pencil factory on the site where the UN building stands now in NY. There are a lot of historic buildings in this little community. And tourism hasn’t ruined the charm of this place—yet. We had lunch at a little place on the water. We had a great time visiting with four co-eds from Gainesville at one table and a vacationing British couple now living in Toronto at another table with their dog, Chester. We had a great discussion about the Canadian health care system. They LOVE it. Wonder why some Americans are so against health care reform? They wonder the same thing. Upper 70s today.
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: A beautiful morning. We drove over to Cedar Key. Hadn’t been there since 2005 I think—right after Wilma. It hasn’t changed too much, thankfully. They’ve built a new cement fishing pier. We walked around the little historic downtown area for a while. The resources of this area—mostly the red cedars—were important to its growth back in the day. German entrepreneur, Faber, was looking for splinter-free wood for pencils. He found it in the abundant red cedars in this area. He ended up building a pencil factory on the site where the UN building stands now in NY. There are a lot of historic buildings in this little community. And tourism hasn’t ruined the charm of this place—yet. We had lunch at a little place on the water. We had a great time visiting with four co-eds from Gainesville at one table and a vacationing British couple now living in Toronto at another table with their dog, Chester. We had a great discussion about the Canadian health care system. They LOVE it. Wonder why some Americans are so against health care reform? They wonder the same thing. Upper 70s today.
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| Old mill |
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| Historic hotel--1859 |
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| Beautifully restored MG sitting in front of one of the shops |
Wed, Nov. 10:
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: Pretty cool again last night, but it warmed up nicely this morning. Sat outside reading for a while. We have some great neighbors—three brothers and their wives in three sites around us—all from Florida. Really nice people. After some lunch we headed to Chiefland to do the laundry. That’s always fun (sigh). After that we came back, put everything away, and headed back down to the spring to see the manatees. Got talking to a couple from Colorado that had just pulled in and were setting up across the loop from us. They had been down to the Keys for a couple of weeks and were heading back home to Grand Lake, CO. They’ve been everywhere and have done everything. Walked down to the spring and then out on the boardwalk to the Suwannee. Not as many manatees as yesterday, but they were pretty active. Back home and had Italian sausage sandwiches for dinner. Think it hit 80 today.
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: Pretty cool again last night, but it warmed up nicely this morning. Sat outside reading for a while. We have some great neighbors—three brothers and their wives in three sites around us—all from Florida. Really nice people. After some lunch we headed to Chiefland to do the laundry. That’s always fun (sigh). After that we came back, put everything away, and headed back down to the spring to see the manatees. Got talking to a couple from Colorado that had just pulled in and were setting up across the loop from us. They had been down to the Keys for a couple of weeks and were heading back home to Grand Lake, CO. They’ve been everywhere and have done everything. Walked down to the spring and then out on the boardwalk to the Suwannee. Not as many manatees as yesterday, but they were pretty active. Back home and had Italian sausage sandwiches for dinner. Think it hit 80 today.
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| Couple of manatees |
Tue, Nov. 9:
Chattahoochee KOA to Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: Left this morning at 10:30. It’s noticeably warmer already. Back on Interstate 10 heading east and dropped south on 27/19-98 just east of Tallahassee. A pretty drive through what old Florida must have looked like. I love getting off the highways anyway. Never did stop for lunch because we couldn’t find the restaurant that we thought we stopped at last year. So I ended up doing all the driving. Wasn’t bad though—only took 3 hours. We were set up by 1:45 or so. Starving though because we hadn’t had lunch. Heard from one of the rangers there were 21 manatees in the Suwannee River, so we walked down there before going out to eat. Glad we did because there were manatees everywhere—including two babies. Watched them for quite a while and a bunch of grass carp swam in. Huge things. Drove to Chiefland for dinner. Back home and there was a herd of deer in back of us. It’s like the wild kingdom in here. Loving it. And, it hit 79 today. That’s more like it!
Chattahoochee KOA to Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL: Left this morning at 10:30. It’s noticeably warmer already. Back on Interstate 10 heading east and dropped south on 27/19-98 just east of Tallahassee. A pretty drive through what old Florida must have looked like. I love getting off the highways anyway. Never did stop for lunch because we couldn’t find the restaurant that we thought we stopped at last year. So I ended up doing all the driving. Wasn’t bad though—only took 3 hours. We were set up by 1:45 or so. Starving though because we hadn’t had lunch. Heard from one of the rangers there were 21 manatees in the Suwannee River, so we walked down there before going out to eat. Glad we did because there were manatees everywhere—including two babies. Watched them for quite a while and a bunch of grass carp swam in. Huge things. Drove to Chiefland for dinner. Back home and there was a herd of deer in back of us. It’s like the wild kingdom in here. Loving it. And, it hit 79 today. That’s more like it!
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| On the boardwalk down to the river |
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