Saturday February 13th 2016

Today was another bright sunshiny day. It was a little cooler than yesterday with highs in the upper 60s, but less wind.
I did a lot of driving and sight seeing from the car with a couple of stops along the way. The general destination was points west and south of my starting point in Davenport Fl. The trip started with heavy traffic on Interstate 4 all the way to Tampa. Interstate 75 south to Bradenton was only a little bit better. I continue to be amazed by the volume of traffic.

Bradenton FL Riverwalk

In Bradenton I walked along the Manatee River at the Riverwalk park. This is an area along the river with entertainment venues, art, natural science displays and play grounds. There were many walkers, bicycle riders and others enjoying the afternoon on the river. I found the area just OK. If I lived in the area I wouldn’t go to this park regularly. The river view is limited by three bridges, two for cars and one for trains. It’s to bad that you can’t see beyond the bridges.

From Bradenton I drove east into the center of the state. When I got to Hardee county, toward Avon Park, I found citrus groves. I was glad to see that Florida still has many acres of groves. Over the years I’ve been coming to Florida, I’ve seen the number of groves in the Orlando area shrinking rapidly. In fact, since I’ve been down here this winter, one grove near my RV resort has been leveled. I understand that there is a citrus disease threatening the crop. It looks like housing developments and shopping centers are a bigger threat in the Orlando area.
It was a lot of driving, but I enjoyed seeing the ranching and agriculture of the center of the state. The flat straight roads made it possible to see things and drive at the same time.