Tuesday January 24th 2017

The wind was much calmer today. The sun was shinning and the weather forecasters called the day a normal winter day. I have no complaints. It wasn’t a very eventful day.

A couple of Pelicans taking a swim in the Little Manatee River

I stayed in the local area today. It was a day for shopping. With all of the holiday stuff out of the stores, items like gas grills are being restocked. I am still looking for a replacement for my old gas grill. Most of the ones I’ve seen so far are too big. I’m looking for a small grill that can fit in my basement storage bins. The nearby Home Depot and Walmart don’t have a good selection.

The location of this RV resort is not ideal. Tampa Bay is to the west, the city of Bradenton is about 20 miles south and Tampa is about 40 miles north. Out to the east are citrus groves, farms and cattle land. In the immediate area there are plenty of supermarkets and a reasonable selection of big box stores. What’s missing is interesting things to do. The Manatee Viewing area is here, but I can only go there so many times before it becomes old. I’ve only found a couple of small parks on the bay.

To get to the interesting things I need to drive through congested, traffic filled areas. Bradenton and Sarasota to the south have things to do and access to the gulf coast. If I cross the Sunshine Skyway bridge into St. Petersburg there are more possibilities that I haven’t explored yet. The issue with all of these is traffic, distance and time. They all represent activities that must be planned as opposed to the just go and explore mode that I prefer.

I’m still learning what I want for the location of an RV park. I picked this one for its proximity to Bradenton, Sarasota and Tampa. That turns out not to be enough. I need parks that have things to do without fighting heavy traffic to get there. It wouldn’t be as bad if the RV resort had more open space and park like features. Walking around the campground roads and stopping at the river overlook are good for some exercise, but not for enjoying nature.