Saturday December 30th 2023

The weather this morning was cloudy and gloomy, but by noon the low clouds burnt off to a nice blue sky. The afternoon was a clone of yesterday with a few more degrees of heat added. The high temperature was in the mid sixties today after an overnight low in the forties.

Once the weather cleared I set out for a little exploring in the area with the idea of making it out to the gulf beaches. The traffic had a very different idea. I ran into stop and go traffic requiring multiple cycles to get through most every traffic light. It was so bad that I assumed it was caused by an accident or breakdown. Unfortunately, it was just traffic volume. Getting anywhere was a very slow task. Traffic didn’t improve after I crossed under Interstate 75 as it often does, so I crossed south from state RT 64 to state RT 70 hoping for better traffic conditions. It was just as bad maybe worst.

The volume of cars with out of state plates has increased dramatically. Looking around while stopped in traffic there were times that I didn’t see any Florida plates. It is probably a combination of vacationers and snowbirds. Only some of the cars with out of state plates seem to know where they are going and a few of the others don’t know how to get out of their own way. Being out on the roads without a specific destination or mission was a bad idea. I returned to my RV home after a brief stop at Bennett Park. This time I was able to say hello to the pair of sandhill cranes I’ve seen before.

This is my last full day at Lake Manatee state park. Tomorrow I’m moving north to the Tampa area for a couple of weeks. Checkout here is at 1PM so I will take my time getting everything packed up in the morning. It is less than seventy miles to my destination, so I should be able to be off the road before the New Years Eve traffic gets on the road. Having to move on New Years Eve was bad planning on my part.