Lake Manatee State Park

Thu, Nov 19, Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  Cloudy and humid today. But no rain yet. Spent the day futzing around getting ready to leave tomorrow. Mike filled up the water tank, since we’ll be two days at Homestead without hookups. These two days will give us an idea of how the inverter will work, and how well the solar panels will keep the batteries charged. We’re not going to be in a regular site. We’ll be in the “overflow” area right across the street from Esther and Gerald, our Canadian friends. They only charge $15/night. There for two nights and then we head down to the Keys. Mid-80s today. Left-overs for dinner.

The trees in here are all swathed in Spanish moss.

Lake Manatee State Park

Wed, Nov 18, Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  Another nice day today. After lunch we drove out to Anna Maria Island and then down through Long Boat Key before coming back to our site. I really like Anna Maria Island. It has way more character than Long Boat Key. And they have a trolley/bus that runs all over the island—for free I think. Stopped at a little park on the beach and wished we had a couple of chaise lounges and our books. From this park you could see the Skyway Bridge off in the distance. Coming back we got on I75 south of Sarasota and were dismayed to see more construction on I75. Looks like they’re blowing the lanes out to 5 each. I hate driving through construction areas—pulling the fifth wheel anyway. Mike grilled up a couple of steaks for dinner. Served with mashed potatoes and southwest corn. 91 here today! But with a nice breeze. All the locals are complaining about the heat. We’re loving it!

Look at the size of this Australian pine. That's Mike on the right.

Lake Manatee State Park

Tue, Nov 17, Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  A beautiful, warm and windy day today. And a productive one for us. The mobile RV repair guys came out and fixed the cover hanging down underneath our RV. A quick fix and only cost $55. Then we drove into town and I got my hair cut and Mike dropped off a prescription. Back to our site and relaxed and read for a while and then went out for a late lunch. Later we walked down to the lake. A beautiful evening—warm with a crescent moon shining down. 86 today.

Lake Manatee

A heron looking for dinner.

Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL

Mon, Nov 16, Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  This morning dawned bright and sunny and turned out to be a perfect day. My sister, Sandy, and her husband, Dan, drove down from Tampa and spent the day with us. We hung out at our site for a while and then drove into Bradenton and had some lunch. They then went on their way back to Tampa, hoping to avoid rush hour traffic there. It was great seeing them. When we got back to our site we called a mobile repair facility and they’re coming out tomorrow between 1:00 and 3:00. Hopefully they’ll be able to fix the problem with our fifth wheel good enough to at least continue down the road. Mid-80s today.

Sandy and Dan

A couple of years ago while staying here, a couple of tortoises ambled through our site.

Love the shell on this one.

Houston, we have a problem...

Sun, Nov 15, KOA, Wildwood, FL, to Lake Manatee State Park, Bradenton, FL:  Not a great driving day today. Had a problem right off the bat when we couldn’t make a turn getting out of the KOA in Wildwood. One of the workers had to have a truck moved that was impeding our turn. After that we got on I75 okay, but were inundated with construction on I75 just south of Wildwood. I pulled into a rest area and let Mike take over. We ran out of construction just north of Tampa and it was just fine after that. We arrived at Lake Manatee and were set up by 1:00. Mike’s walkie-talkie had dead batteries, but we were able to get in there okay. A nice site with lots of privacy. But…something is dropping down under our passenger side storage compartment. Looks like a cover over the insulation or something. Guess we’ll have to find a mobile RV repair facility to fix whatever it is (sigh). Took a walk down to the lake and back.  A nice day in the low 80s and breezy.

Looks like a cover over the insulation is dropping down under one of our storage compartments. Got to get that fixed before we go any further.

Our site at Lake Manatee.

Hopefully we'll have a fire going in that fire pit some night soon.

Wildwood, FL

Sat, Nov 14, KOA, Wildwood, FL:  Another nice day today. Mid-70s with a cool breeze. I decided to get rid of some way overripe bananas and made banana bread. Used the oven for the first time. Turned out okay. We didn’t do much today. We have the Gallagher’s across from us. For those of you who watched the “Shameless” series, you know what I mean. Take-out for dinner again. We leave tomorrow for Lake Manatee in Bradenton. We’re there for 5 days.

Old Town Key West.

Wildwood, FL

Fri, Nov 13, KOA, Perry, FL, to KOA, Wildwood, FL:  Another beautiful day today. We had a quick breakfast at Huddle House and then came back and got the fifth wheel ready for the road. A short driving day today too. We continued south on 19/27 and then took Alt. 27 toward Ocala. About 20 miles from Ocala we started seeing these huge horse ranches with acres and acres of beautiful pastures, dotted with stately live oak trees and beautiful horses. All of this enclosed in neat white or brown flat board fencing and elaborate electronic gates. Arrived at the KOA and were set up by 1:30. Relaxed for a while and then regrouped and did the laundry. Take-out for dinner tonight. 83 here today.

Key West