Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL:  Foggy, warm, and humid this morning.  After some breakfast we started putting things away.  Hooked up, stopped by our hosts, Deborah and Wayne to say goodbye and we’re on the road again by 10:30.  After a short stop in Ingles for breakfast we were in our park and set up by 2:00.  Fortunately, we remembered to affix our Sunpass thingy to the windshield last night, because from now on we’ll be using the Florida Turnpike a lot.  And it is a great convenience.  Speaking of which, while we were on the southbound lane of the turnpike we encountered a tortoise crossing the road.  We managed to go over him without hitting him.  Hopefully the car behind us did the same. Talked to my sister briefly who we’ll be visiting while we’re here.  She sounds horrible.  Has a sinus infection.  We will definitely keep our visits short. Going to a restaurant tonight that Mike saw featured on the show “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.”  It’s called Skippers and it’s in Tampa somewhere.  We entered the address into our GPS system and it took us right there.  Only about 10 minutes away.  And this place had a lot of character.  Reminded us of Ricky’s Blue Heaven Café in Key West.  Mike got barbecued gator ribs (gasp) and I had black beans and rice.  I tried the gator ribs.  They were excellent!

Our host, Deborah, and her dog, Buddy.  This feral dog was rescued from an avocado orchard near Miami at 14 weeks, along with some other feral dogs.  Deborah and her husband, Wayne, adopted him.  He's now 11 months old and is the best dog.  He's a little wary and loud noises scare him, but he is a charmer.  Deborah and Wayne have worked with him a lot, and he understands sit, down, stay, leave it, etc.  Amazing! 

Mon, 11/14/11


Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL:  A lot warmer this morning.  Chilly at first, but once the sun came out it warmed up nicely.  Mike went off to run some errands.  I sat outside reading my new book, “Grace and Power”, about the Kennedy presidency.  It was so peaceful and quiet once all “the weekenders” left.  I decided to walk down to the Suwannee—such a beautiful day.  There were 6 manatees in there this time.  The ducks were all in the spring run.  Checked out the spring, which was pristine once again.  The water didn’t feel that cold at all either.  We’ve been coming here for 7 years and have yet to swim/snorkel this beautiful spring.  When I got back to our site Mike had returned already.  Our neighbor, Bob, was getting ready to leave and stopped over to say goodbye.  After he left we sat outside enjoying this beautiful day.  Later we went back to Bar-B-Que Bill’s for dinner.  Tomorrow we leave for Land-O-Lakes near Tampa.   

This spring (mostly covered in duck weed) is about 100 yds. from the main spring.  The divers enter here to access the underwater cave system.

Sun, 11/13/11


Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL:  Not as cold this morning.  And a beautiful day in store.  We just hung out this morning chatting with the young couple and the two kids in the tent next to us.  Guess they had a cold night last night.  They didn’t even have sleeping bags—just blankets. Oh boy…  After lunch we walked down to the Suwannee.  There were hundreds of ducks down there.  And the two manatees were still there.  Walked back through the picnic area where the divers were just finishing up and the outfit from San Diego had their stuff all packed up and ready to go to the next stop—somewhere in Texas.  Walked back to our site and sat around reading.  Finished my John Grisham book, “The Confession”.  Good one.  Had burgers for dinner.  74 today.

Suwannee River

Sat, 11/12/11


Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL:  Another beautiful morning—but cold.  I got up at 6:00 and turned on the furnace.  A couple of hours later it was warm enough to venture out from under the covers.  Took a shower and dressed.  Mike had a fire going. So I made my smoothie and went outside to join him.  A lot warmer already.  Sat around the fire for a while and after lunch we went for a hike.  Stopped by the spring first to see what was going on with all the divers.  It’s a great deal for the divers.  For $15.00 they get to dive for two days and are able to try out all the gear that the outfit from San Diego offers.  And they had a food tent set up for lunch and dinner.  Hiked around for a couple of hours.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any wildlife.  We see more behind our site.  Got back from our hike and we had some new people in the site on the other side of us.  A young couple and two small kids.  They unloaded all their stuff and he told them how to put up the tent—and he left.  So the woman and the two kids struggled for a while.  I asked if they needed some help and she gratefully accepted.  We got the tent up finally and Mike came out and helped stake it down.  I told them to tell their dad they did it all by themselves.  Anyway, then we left to go to Chiefland and Bar-B-Que Bill’s for dinner.  They have the best food there.  A great salad bar and their soups are all homemade.  The other night they had Brunswick stew which I got hooked on when I lived in Atlanta.  It’s hard to find on any menu unless you’re in the deep South.  Tonight they had goulash which was wonderful.  Didn’t look anything like the stuff I used to make.  No big surprise there.  Back to our site and got ensconced inside.  Hope it doesn’t get so cold tonight.  Down into the 30s last night.  72 today.

A couple of these large snakes live in the spring.  Just a harmless brown water snake.

Fri, 11/11/11


Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL:  A beautiful morning this morning, but really cold.  Reluctantly got out of bed, turned on the furnace, then back under the covers until it warmed a little.  When it was a little warmer, I got up, stripped the sheets off the bed and put clean ones on.  Showered, dressed, and was ready to get the laundry together and hit the Laundromat  Mike wanted a fire, so we decided to enjoy the fire on this cold morning and go to the Laundromat after lunch.  Got talking to the guy in the site next to us who’s in a tent.  He’s here to do some diving.  There are going to be a bunch of divers here to dive the spring on Saturday and Sunday.  There is a network of underwater caves fanning out from the spring.  Sounds dangerous to me.  You have to be cave certified to do it. Well, you’re supposed to be cave certified.  The reason for all this diving activity is a company out of San Diego who is here letting divers try out all their dry suits.  They were setting up a big tent over by the spring as we walked over there yesterday. Law enforcement was here today getting certified.  Going to be a busy place this weekend.  Really cold again tonight and then a gradual warming.  64 today.

Manatee in the Suwannee River

Thu, 11/10/11


Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL:  This morning dawned bright and sunny.  We walked over to the Suwannee River and there were two manatees in the river at the end of the dock.  Water is low in the spring run and the river.  This spring emits about 50 to 150 million gallons of water a day.  And it’s considered a medium-sized spring.  Shortly after lunch the clouds started rolling in.  No rain, but it sure cooled down.  For dinner Mike grilled some steaks and I sautéed thinly sliced potatoes with onion and red pepper.  After dinner we played Monopoly for a while.

Pretty Manatee Spring

Wed, 11/9/11


Chattahoochee KOA, Chattahoochee, FL, to Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL:  Left this morning around 10:00 and stopped at a Flying J to fuel up and have some breakfast.  Continued east on I-10 and just east of Tallahassee we dropped south on Rt. 19/27.  This route is a four-lane, limited-access highway that winds through what old Florida was probably like back in the day.  Drove through the little towns (more like wide spots in the road) of Eridu, Idoo, and Shady Grove.  Past little cracker houses with tin roofs, large cattle and horse ranches behind brown flat board fences and electronic gates, old pecan groves, and magnificent live oaks dripping in Spanish moss.  Arrived at Manatee Springs SP and were set up by 3:00.  We were all by ourselves for a while.  Sat outside in the peace and quiet—the only sounds the buzzing of the insects and the raucous call of the pileated woodpeckers.  About 4 deer and a little fawn hung out in the woods behind us for a while. Hated to leave, but we had to go pick up a few groceries and have some dinner.  81 today.  Unfortunately, no Internet here.

Our pretty site tucked into the woods