Wed, 11/11/09 Manatee Springs SP, Chiefland, FL, to Pasco Winter Quarters, Land-O-Lakes, FL: After stopping at the dump station, we were on the road by 10:00 a.m. My turn to drive. Heading south on 19/98, we stopped in the little town of Inglis for breakfast. Continued south on Rt. 19/98 and south of Homosassa we headed east on 98. Instead of taking the Sun Coast Highway, we decided to take Rt. 41 south through a rural area of large cattle and horse ranches. Arrived in Pasco Winter Quarters RV Resort by 1:30 and got set up. Heading over to my sister and brother-in-law’s place tonight. Sent Mike to the hardware store to get a have-a-heart trap for the little mouse we have in here. Hopefully we’ll catch him and release him somewhere around here.

Tue, 11/10/09 Manatee Springs SP, Chiefland, FL: Rained all night last night. But in the wee hours of the morning I looked out and the crescent moon looked back at me. Had a ring around it though—a harbinger of worse weather to come. It looked like it might clear off. But clouded up again. I pulled the keyboard out and played for a while. At around noon we decided to head to Chiefland, do the laundry, and pick up some groceries. It hadn’t rained all morning. But by the time we finished the laundry it began pouring. Continued the rest of the afternoon. We were soaked by the time we carried all the laundry and groceries from the truck. Needless to say, we laid low the rest of the day. Pretty warm though—upper 70s.

Our Site

Manatee in the Suwannee River

Mon, 11/9/09 Manatee Springs SP, Chiefland, FL: Cloudy all day today. Had a fire all morning and sat around reading and relaxing. Then walked over to the spring which was totally deserted. Would have been a great day to snorkel—the water didn’t even feel that cold. But we were already committed to a hike so that’s what we did. It was so humid that it wasn’t long before we were sweating pretty good. At the end of our hike we walked out the boardwalk through the huge cypress trees to the Suwannee River and there was actually a lone manatee just off the boardwalk. A little guy. Back to our site and took a refreshing shower.

Suwannee River

Sun, 11/8/09 Manatee Springs SP, Chiefland, FL: A little cloudy this morning and was partly cloudy and breezy most of the day. We relaxed most of the morning and then headed to Chiefland to have a late lunch and call my brother. We have no cell signal here at all. My brother called to warn us of a tropical storm/hurricane which was going to affect the panhandle. Thankfully, we left there yesterday. Looks like we may get a bunch of rain starting in a day or so. Back to the park and relaxed and enjoyed the books we’re currently reading. Weather permitting, we plan on hiking one of the trails in here tomorrow. Either that or get the courage to don our wet suits and snorkel the spring.

Brown Water Snake

Sat, 11/7/09 Ochlockonee Rvr SP, Sopchopee, FL, to Manatee Sprgs SP, Chiefland, FL: Left Ochlockonee River SP at 11:00 heading east on 98 through a really remote area. Not much between Sopchoppy and Perry. Stopped in Perry to have a late breakfast. Continued on Alt. 27 to Chiefland. Arrived at the park by 2:30 and set up by 3:00. 80 degrees. Walked down to the spring and saw a huge snake in the spring. Glad I wasn’t in there snorkeling. Walked down the boardwalk to the Suwannee River. No manatees this evening. We’re in a new site this year—site 87. We like it. We’re here for 4 nights. Should be a lot warmer.