Fri, Nov 18, Lake Manatee State Park, Sarasota, FL:  Up early this morning for a change.  After our morning ablutions, we drove to the laundromat and took care of the laundry.  Had a lot.  I was running out of underwear.  After that we headed to the Red Barn, a huge flea market.  I can’t believe how much stuff is in there.  We’ve only covered a fraction of the place.  You can even get your teeth whitened in there!  Left there and had wanted to drive out to Anna Maria Island for lunch, but was now starving.  I love this little island.  It doesn’t have any of the pretentious aspects as the other barrier islands—like Long Boat Key. I love all the cute little cottages out there, the remoteness and the beaches.  Anyway, we ended up eating at Sonny’s Barbeque and then fueled up and hit the grocery store one last time.  We leave tomorrow morning for Homestead to visit our Canadian friends for a couple of days who winter at a charming little RV park there.  We stay in their “overflow” area, which is a big empty field.  No hookups.  We’ll see how our solar panels perform.  Luckily, we’re supposed to have sun.  We finally got ahold of the miscreant parts guy at Jayco who will ship the part we need to the Keys and we’ll find someone to install the thing.  81 today and beautiful.

So long Lake Manatee--until next time.