Pasco Winter Quarters, Land O’Lakes, FL:  Back over to Sandy and Dan’s today around noon.  Sandy put together an apple/blueberry pie which she put in the oven after we got there.  Some really good smells coming out of that kitchen.  After the pie was done we walked over to the clubhouse for lunch.  Came back and had some pie.  Really, really good.  Played spades.  Ate some more pie.  Can’t wait to get on the scale tomorrow.  We didn’t leave there until 9:30.  Stopped to fuel up and some girl tried to sell us some things.  Said she’d just come from the flea market and needed money for gas.  Said no thanks and continued on our way.  We leave tomorrow for Lake Manatee State Park in Sarasota, FL.

Pasco Winter Quarters, Land O’Lakes, FL:  Really chilly this morning.  But sunny and bright. Had the furnace on again (sigh).  Put a couple of loads of laundry in and then had some breakfast.  Made some pasta to take over to Sandy and Dan’s.  We got over there about 12:30.  Played cards.  And Mike went and got the truck washed.  Hung around there until 7:30 and headed home.  80 today.

Thu, 11/17/11


Pasco Winter Quarters, Land O’Lakes, FL:  Poured like crazy this morning.  Thunder and lightning along with it. Cleared off though and we were back over to Sandy and Dan’s around noon.  We sat around, discussed the world’s problems and gave great insight as to how to solve them.  After giving up on that issue, we played spades for a while and then met Dan’s son, Danny, and his wife, Lorell, for dinner.  Chilled off quite a bit.

Pasco Winter Quarters, Land O’Lakes, FL:  Drove over to my sister and brother-in-law’s around noon and we went over to their clubhouse for lunch.  After that we played spades for a while, sat around on their lanai, and played more spades.  Sandy has a pot roast going in the crock pot which was delicious.  Sat outside on the lanai after dinner and it was still really warm.  We are definitely enjoying this warm weather.  86 today.

Sandy & Dan
Marathon, FL

Hanging out on the lanai

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