Tuesday January 3rd 2017

Today’s adventure was a trip to the De Soto National Memorial in Bredenton FL. The site commemorates the 1539 landing of Hernando de Soto with an Army to conquer Florida for Spain. There is nothing at the location of historical significance. The national parks service has created mockups dwellings that deSoto’s people may have created. On certain days characters in historical dress inhabit the dwellings.

Mock up of a deSoto era fort

Example of a period building

Around a half century ago, when I was in school learning about the early explorers of the new world, the history books presented leaders like de Soto as brave altruistic men. The signs and material at this memorial paint a different picture. Their mission was primarily to seize the gold and other riches they believed the indigenous population possessed. To do that they were to either convert them to Christianity, after which they would willingly give their riches to God, or kill them. When de Soto didn’t find riches like in South and Central America, he was primarily in the kill the people mode. I wonder which message today’s school history books and curriculum present.

The park is located on the shore of Tampa Bay at the mouth of the Manatee River. There is a nature trail along the shore of the river. It passes through a mangrove swamp to rocky and shell covered beaches. The primary wildlife on the trail was the little geckos scurrying out of the way as you approach. I didn’t see any bird activity.

View of Tampa Bay

Sailboat entering the Manatee River

At one point of land, the trail is very close to the channel in the river. I watched two sailboats coming in with the wind. The wind direction allowed them to build up a good pace.

I enjoyed the nature trail and the view of Tampa Bay. Some of the people visiting the memorial seem to be there just to watch the action in the bay. They had brought chairs to sit by the shore. The historical significance of the location and the message delivered were secondary to me. I couldn’t help thinking with the low accuracy of the historical record and the amount of change to the rivers path over nearly 500 years the location representing the landing could be off my miles.

Monday January 2nd 2017

I’m still getting used to the new year. I had to go back and edit the date line on yesterday’s blog to read January 1st 2017. The number of times I heard 2017 as I watched the Rose Parade on TV should help get the year into my head. I think every other statement the announcers used included the year. I could have used it as a “coffee” drinking game.

This afternoon I left the campground to check out the area around the southeast shore of Tampa Bay. I found the important things like the grocery stores and Walmart although I didn’t stop today. Groceries will probably be one of tomorrows tasks. Today I decided to go in search of Manatees.

Manatee backs and noses in the middle of the canal.

The Tampa Electric Company maintains a Manatee viewing area beside one of their power plants. The sea mammals come into the outflow canals to bask in the warmer water. When the water temperature gets below 68 degrees Fahrenheit the Manatees can go into shock and die. The outflow canals often have water in the 80s.

Today wasn’t the best day to visit the Manatee viewing center. I was there at low tide and the general water temperature in the gulf was warm enough to support the Manatees. There were only a few Manatee noses and backs visible out in the middle of the canal. When I visited this facility last year the water level was higher and the overall water temperature in the gulf was lower so there were many Manatee visible right beside and under the boardwalk. I will come back later in the month when the temperature has dropped for a few days.

One of many large fish visible from the boardwalk. These are probably Tarpon.

Instead of Manatee there were many big fish visible in the water in front of the boardwalk. Some of the fish appeared to be more than 3 feet long. Based on the posted identification guide, these appear to be Tarpon. Viewing them from above it is difficult to be certain, but none of the other species listed matched the size of these fish.

The big attraction at the Manatee Viewing Center this weekend is the “Touch the Rays” exhibit that opened last week. Fifteen stingrays that spend their summers in a tank at Tropicana Field, home to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, spend their winters at this new facility. Children of all ages have the opportunity to touch the fish as they swim around the 10,000 gallon tank. Naturalists from the Florida Aquarium control access to the stingrays and answer questions.

One editorial note about the blog. Yesterday I made a change to the configuration settings to automatically make a Facebook post every time I post a blog. This shouldn’t impact reading the blog in anyway. It is just one more way to remind people that I’m writing about my Rambling Road trip everyday. The content isn’t always earth shattering, but it keeps me engaged and serves as a record of my life on the road. So if you are new to reading the blog welcome.

Sunday January 1st 2017

Happy New Year!!

This blog entry is a review of Rob’s Rambling Road Trip for the year 2016. The year began with the last 3 months of a 4 month stay in Davenport Florida. Staying in one place at a monthly rate saved money, but I really chaffed at the bit to get on the move after a couple of months.

Disney World was a major source of entertainment this year.  I bought an annual pass in January that got plenty of use.

Grounds crew at work at McKechnie Field in Bradenton FL.   Spring Training Baseball games made the month of March a lot of fun.

I started north at the beginning of April, taking a little less than three weeks to get back to New England. I stopped along the way to visit Charleston SC. Touring Fort Sumter National Monument and the Aircraft Carrier Yorktown were interesting and educational. The second major stop on my northbound journey was Washington DC. I spent several days touring the National Mall and the Smithsonian.

Once I got back to New England, my focus turned to getting my Sticks and Brick house in New Hampshire ready for sale. I continued to live in the Motorhome as I had since buying it at the beginning of October 2015. I commuted to work on the house every day from wherever the Motorhome was parked. The house went on the market at the end of July and sold quickly. The closing was in the middle of September. I flew back from Jacksonville Fl for the closing.

At the end of July I started south with a stop in North Carolina for a family reunion. I spent the time until the house closed in the Jacksonville Florida area. Jacksonville had a good airport to return north and was near my mail service. I flew back to New Hampshire once in August and again in September for the closing. Once the house sold I drove the motorhome to Red Bay Alabama. I had a punch list of warranty items on the motorhome to be fixed at the factory.

I returned to Florida via Pensacola to visit the Naval Aviation Museum at the Pensacola Naval Air Station and the Battleship Alabama in Mobile Alabama. My plan was to return to the Jacksonville Florida area for a few days. Mother nature had other ideas. Hurricane Matthew was coming up the coast of Florida. I made the prudent decision to run away. I spent five nights north of Macon Georgia while the hurricane hit the Florida coast.

Battleship Alabama forward 16 inch guns.

Once the storm passed I went back to touring Florida. I started in the Orlando Florida area for a couple of weeks. Followed by St Augustine, Fort Meyers, Port Canaveral, Walt Disney World and Bradenton Florida. As the year ends I am settled in for the month of January 2017 just north of Bradenton Florida in the town of Ruskin.

Some statistics for the year:

• I traveled 6100 miles in the Motorhome and many more in my Honda CRV. I had estimated more, but staying near the house until it went on the market reduced the travel some. It also increased the number of miles on the CRV.
• I moved the Motorhome 38 times over the course of the year.
• The Motorhome got only 6.7mpg towing the car. This is lower than expected. I need to investigate possible causes.
• My average cost per night was $33.50. This is over my estimate of $30 a night. Some of this may be because of the region. The Northeast is generally thought to be more expensive for camping than other parts of the country. I would like to get his number lower. It might happen naturally by being out west or I may need to be more selective on the campgrounds I choose. Five nights at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground at $145 a night and staying at KOAs while traveling at around $55 a night had a significant impact on the average. All of these are informed choices I made that worked for my desires at the time.

In 2017 I plan to depart Florida at the end of January. I’ll spend the month of March in Arizona then move north through Nevada, Utah, and Idaho. In general I’ll be on the western side of the Rockies. I haven’t figured out the details yet. As I work on the plan everything may change. So, don’t hold your breath.

Saturday December 31st 2016

The temperature got up to normal for the area today. It was in the low 70s with a strong wind. Tomorrow it will be even warmer.

This morning I looked took a walk around the campground. There are several sites waiting for the after Christmas rush to arrive. In the past I’ve driven north after vacationing around this time. The southbound side of Interstate 95 has been chock full of RV coming for the winter. Other sites in the park have rigs on them that appear to be empty. My guess is there owners are on a trip home for the holidays.

This park has a different mix of license plates than the park I was in last winter. The plates here are heavy on the Midwest states with only a few from the eastern seaboard or Canada. Oddly, there’s even one from Oregon. The park I stayed at last winter had mostly eastern seaboard and Canada snowbirds. The difference may be as simple as the nearby Interstate. Interstate 75 comes down from Michigan and Ohio whereas Interstate 95 comes down from the northeast.

Looking west toward the mouth of the Little Manatee River

On my walk I stopped by the sitting area that overlooks the Little Manatee river for awhile. In addition to the docks at this campground, there are docks up river at the next campground or mobile home park. I keep expecting to see boat traffic but the river has been quiet. This morning’s low temperatures may be the reason.

This afternoon I went south to Sarasota for Lunch/Dinner with friends. The restaurant overlook the Intercostal waterway. It was far from quiet. There were many boats both fast and slow running up and down the waterway. A couple of sailboats even needed the drawbridge to be open to pass through.

I find it hard to believe that tomorrow is New Years day. I need to finish my blog entry summarizing my thoughts on this year of travel. I’ve been working on it for a few days now, but it isn’t done yet.

Happy New Year everyone!

Friday December 30th 2016

The cold front moved through last night with a brief down pour. As a result it is ten to fifteen degrees cooler today. I have a long sleeve shirt on for the first time in a long time.

Today is moving day. I moved my RV home about 30 miles north to the town of Ruskin Florida. The Tampa South RV Resort will be my home until the end of January. Last nights cold front had a couple of annoying level impacts on my travel today. The rain storm left a puddle on top of the slide out room awning. When I bring in the slide Niagara Falls crashes down the side of the rig. The other annoyance is the high winds on the backside of the front. The Motorhome got pushed around pretty good on the drive.

Site at Tampa South RV Resort. The grown is covered with crushed shells. It’s not snow.

This is a fairly typical RV park. The sites are only as big as they have to be and there are a good number of park models. So far it has been a friendly enough place. This park is squeezed between highway 41 and the Little Manatee River. The road noise doesn’t seem to be too bad, but just the other side of the road is a train track. So far two trains have gone by. Train tracks and RV parks always seem to have an affinity. It is not unusual to hear a train in the middle of the night when staying at an RV park.

Today seems to be a big arrival day at this park. The guys in golf carts have been busy bringing the new arrivals to their sites. I arrived just as a Motorhome was being lead to their site and as I was escorted in, another rig arrived. Some of the big rigs had an interesting time getting into their assigned sites. All of the arrivals kept the noise level high most of the day, but it has quieted down nicely.

The resort has fishing docks and boat moorings on the Little Manatee River. When I checked it out this afternoon, there were several day use boats tied up. I had expected it to have cruising boats, but maybe they can’t get this far up river. Also, the water level looked low. A sand bar area was visible on the far bank. It’s a good chance the docks are just for the park residents boats.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a little warmer and by Sunday the idea of a cold front will be long forgotten. New Years day should be back in the 80s  about 10 degrees above normal.

Thursday December 29th 2016

The warm sunny weather continued today, but it is forecast to change tonight. Friday and Saturday are scheduled to be cooler than normal in the 60s. Today was a day of preparations.

The primary task was getting ready for the move tomorrow. I had Christmas decorations to take down in addition to usual outside stuff that I take care of the day before travel. The inside stuff can be done in a short time tomorrow morning. Since I only have a short distance to travel, I won’t be in a rush.

The second task for the day was restocking the cupboards and refrigerator. A trip to the Super Walmart was much less hectic than before the holiday. They still had close to the pre-holiday number of cashiers on so there were no lines. I haven’t resorted to preparing grocery lists so I need to go up and down the aisle to trigger my memory. I often return home without something significant. Luckily, that didn’t happen today. I also didn’t come home with many unplanned purchases.

While I was out I also did some scouting for a good place to buy gas in the Motorhome. I can’t stop at just any gas station. I need to be able to get in and out of the station without too much difficulty. I found a few possibilities. The one thing I noticed is that the price of gas went up fifteen to sixteen cents yesterday. I’m not sure if it is supply and demand or some new tax. Either way it is going to cost more to fill the Motorhome tank.

My friend the tortoise had no interest in me today.

Back at the campground I took one final walk around the park. I saw one of the Gopher Tortoises out in the open. It wasn’t interested in my attempt to say goodbye. It steadily moved along away from me. I guess there is no reason to come back and visit.

Wednesday December 28th 2016

After spending yesterday driving and sight seeing all day, today was a stay at home day. It was a little cooler today, but still higher than the seasonal norms. There was nothing to complain about the weather and hard to write about in this blog. Writing about the weather when I don’t know what else to write about is one of my bad writing habits. It isn’t going to work tonight.

The highlight of the day was a half an hour spent lake side. One little heron was putting on a show as it bounced around looking for lunch. I sat on the bench with my camera snapping pictures. I’ve include three in this blog entry.

Watching to the right.

Watching to the left.

Got it!

The heron was the only significant wildlife I saw on my walk today. As usual there were lots of geckos running around to stay out of my way as a walked along. The little things usually scramble onto a tree or shrub and watch as I walk by. If I show any interest in them they run around the trunk and up the tree. The first couple of times it is amusing.

One of the advantages of staying home today was cooking a big dinner. I’ve had a couple of pork chops in the refrigerator for awhile. It was either cook them or freeze them time. I chose to grill them and eat one along with a baked potato. The second one will get added to something like rice for another meal later in the week. For the most part the supplies in the refrigerator are now current. Nothing is going to spoil in the next few days.

Tomorrow is my last full day at the Lake Manatee State Park. On Friday I move up the road about 30 road miles. It’s a lot less as the crow flies. I’ll be spending the month of January in Ruskin FL on the shore of the Little Manatee river.

Tuesday December 27th 2016

Today’s adventure was a trip to Bok Tower and Gardens in the central part of the state. It took a couple of hours to get there, but it was well worth the trip. The gardens and the Pinewood Estate were decorated for Christmas.

The remainder of this blog entry is made up of some of the photos I took today.

Bok Tower across the pond.

Close-up of the side of the tower.

Poinsettias were used liberally as a decorative element

Christmas tree in the Visitor Center

Tree in the 1944 Christmas decoration in the Pinewood estate. This tree is in the day room.

Christmas tree in the Pinewood Estate Living room

Pond in the gardens

Brazilian Red Cloak?

Monday December 26th 2016

I woke up this morning and the clock read 9:30. While I might chose not to get up until 9:30, I’m usually wake up by 7:30. This late start set the trend for the entire day.

I lingered over my morning coffee and reading, before starting my daily walk around the state park. The sun was high in the sky and the temperature was in the 80s by the time I set out. Today I took a trail that I hadn’t been on yet. I didn’t see any wildlife on the walk, but I saw plenty of evidence that it exists. The edges of the trail and occasionally the trail itself have holes where animals have been digging. In most cases the holes seem to be from animals looking for bugs and other small food. A few of the larger holes are probably burrows for tortoises.

The wind today was brisk.  All of the shore birds were on the far side of the lake sheltered from the wind. The state park side had all of the loose water plants blown tight to the shore. The boats getting loaded at the boat ramp were covered with green plants. It was so bad that you could follow a trail of green plants up the road toward the exit.

A Great Egret on the far side of the lake.

Late this afternoon I decided to see a movie. The Star Wars Rogue One buzz had raised my interests. I arrived at the theater complex to find a nearly full parking lot. People were heading into the building in large groups. I should have been suspicious, but I parked in the back of the lot and headed into the building. In the lobby the crowds were lined up to purchase tickets or redeem certain kinds of online purchases. The line was longer than I saw at Disney World a couple of weeks ago. I had half an hour until show time, but after 5 minutes I hadn’t moved. The odds were against me making it into the theater before the feature started, if I succeeded in purchasing a ticket at all. I decided to try again another day.

I think my overall patience was low today. First I bailed on the movie then I bailed on watching the sunset on Anna Maria Island. The backlog of cars going over the bridge was long. At first I thought it was a raised drawbridge, but it was just very slow moving traffic. After moving 100 feet in five minutes I turned around and headed home.

The moral of this story seems to be don’t sleep in. It turns the entire day upside down.

Sunday December 25th

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

My Christmas tree.

Today tied the record for the warmest Christmas day in the Tampa area. It was around 85 here today. It is forecast to be warmer than the 70 degree norm for most of the week. I really like the weather, but I can’t equate it with Christmas.

After Christmas dinner with friends it was time for the beach. Unfortunately, other people had the same idea. The parking lot at the award winning Sarasota County Siesta Key Beach was overflowing. A continuous stop and go flow of cars up and down the parking aisles didn’t produce any available space. I ended up at the beach on the south end of the island. There were a few parking spaces available.

The beach was full of people taking the sun and many that were actually in the gulf water. Walking along the water line, the water seem to be about 70 degrees. Not uncomfortable by northern standards and probably a little warmer than the Atlantic Ocean water I experienced at the beginning of the month.

Going to the beach on Christmas is becoming a habit. Last Christmas I traveled from my campsite in the Orlando area to Coco Beach on the Atlantic. I’m much closer to the gulf coast today. Next Christmas will be another story. If all goes according to plan I’ll be in the southwest next Christmas. The Pacific will probably be a little too far away for a day trip. Maybe Christmas of 2018 the habit will become a tradition.

Traffic all day has been heavy. I don’t know when people took time to open presents, eat or socialize. The local roads and the interstate were all full of cars going somewhere. I got back to the campground a little after 5:30. Usually the campground is settling in for the night by then, but tonight there has been a lot of cars returning to the campground. So the heavy traffic on the roads continued into the campground.