Sunday March 24th 2024

Weekends in this state park are very busy. Today’s great weather with high temperatures around eighty seemed to bring even more people out. They come to see the alligators and maybe take hike or boat ride. Traffic on the main park road is very heavy and all of the turnouts near trail heads or wildlife viewing areas are overflowing with cars. The speed on the park road is defined as 15 mph. The stop and go nature of the ride with everyone pausing to look at real and imagined wildlife is frustrating. When you try to walk or ride a bicycle you just seem to become part of the problem. It is far better near evening when most people have departed or during the week when crowds are lower.

In the last couple of blog entries I talked about the water level in the Myakka River. Today I walked over to the river level gauge and it read 10.6 feet. I compared that reading with a picture I took of the gauge last September. It was 14.3 at that time. The river level is about four feet lower today than it was in September. Last April when I was here it read 9.3 feet. Thus, the water is a little over a foot higher this year. The grass along the shore is probably a couple of feet higher too.

The alligators seemed to be a little more shy today. There weren’t as many taking the sun on the river bank. There were still plenty of heads poking above the surface of the water. Every set of fishermen along the park road bridge seemed to have a gator or two watching their action. If they hook a fish the race is on to see who actually gets the catch.

Saturday March 23rd 2024

Yesterday’s storm was over by the time I got up this morning. It was a beautiful sunny day with a high temperature around eighty. The back side of the front brought strong winds, but the bulk of the storms were off to the east.

I spent the day getting settled in at Myakka River State Park. The last time I was here in late September to early October the water level was near flood stage and the park was still working on some damage from hurricane Ian nearly a year before. Now the cabin repairs have been completed and other areas have been reopened. The trails I couldn’t walk because of high water are usable again.

The one issue that continues is a concern with the drinking water. Since last May there has been a don’t drink the water order in place for the state park. I knew about this before I came last fall and this time, so I came with a full tank of water. They are also providing drinking water by the gallon for campers at the ranger station.

The water level is well within the banks of the river now. I think the high water level persisted well into the fall. The grasses along the banks are very high and in some areas it looks like water only receded recently. On one to the trails that I couldn’t walk last fall there are a number of trees down across the path. It is necessary to climb over or under them to follow the trail. The park staff really needs to get out with a chainsaw.

The alligators were out on the river banks today. At one of the popular viewing areas a group was counting them. They seemed to see twenty in that location. I think it may have been some creative counting, but there were a lot of them. At the park road bridge over the river the alligators were harder to count. Many were in the water.

Initially, I did see as many water birds as I expected. Out along the banks of Lake Myakka there are usually lots of birds feeding along the bank. The trees on the far side of the river have been filled with roosting birds in the past. This morning I saw one bird along the lake shore. Later in the day, along some of the trails along the river away from all the tourists I started to see birds. There are probably as many birds around in different areas than I’m used to looking.

Friday March 22nd 2024

It was a rainy day today, but the frightening forecast for severe weather didn’t materialize. The bulk of the severe storms moved south of here and even there the severity diminished from the forecast level. It started to rain at a moderate level some time in the early morning and continued into the waking hours. It continued off and on until about noon.

I got a little wet finishing up my travel preparations this morning. My raincoat probably saved me from having to change clothes before traveling. My thirty five mile drive and setup at my new location was accomplished between showers. As the afternoon progressed and evening arrived the frequency of showers increased into a steady rain shortly after nightfall. The current forecast calls for the rain to end at breakfast time tomorrow.

My drive to Myakka River State Park wasn’t without its traffic issues. The on ramp to Interstate 75 south was plugged with traffic. The interstate in that area wouldn’t take anymore vehicles. Being familiar with the area it was easy for me to continue beyond the interstate and take a surface street south to the next on ramp at FL 70. From the traffic, I guess a few other people took the same detour. I was able to get on the interstate beyond the blocked traffic. The density of cars was still very high, but traffic moved with only a few slow downs. I’m glad it wasn’t raining.

I’ll be at Myakka River State Park for two weeks. The last time I was here, at the end of September to the start of October, the water level in the river was high. On first inspection it seems to be lower, but still higher than normal. Hopefully the trails along the river will be usable. There seem to be plenty of alligators around.

Thursday March 21st 2024

There was a nice blue sky and a bright sun when I got up this morning. By noon the sky was filled with fluffy clouds. As the afternoon progressed so did the cloud cover. The temperature managed to climb from the low sixties to the low eighties. When it was time for my last walk of the day just before sunset a light rain had started to fall. A cold front with severe weather is forecast to arrive overnight and last into Saturday.

I took advantage of today’s good weather to get all of my outside travel preparation tasks completed. Tomorrow is a travel day. It will likely be raining when I finish my preparations and hook up the car. I only have about thirty miles to travel and my destination is another state park with a similar checkout time. That means I need to leave here as close to the 1PM checkout time as I can manage. Dodging the worst of the waves of rain in the forecast will complicate that task.

My neighbors were also scheduled to checkout tomorrow, but they departed in the middle of the afternoon today. I don’t know if it was planned that way or if the weather changed their plans. They were a bit of a challenge to figure out. Not that I was really trying, but in the week plus they have been here I rarely saw them. They walked there dog in the morning, but I’m not sure when the pooch got another outing. What I saw most often was them dragging a noisy portable holding tank behind their truck to the dumping station. They must of had a problem with one of their onboard tanks, because the frequency was very unusual. I think that is the only time their truck moved.

The wind wasn’t as strong today, so I saw more boats out on the lake fishing. There were a few people fishing from the docks at the boat launch as well. I often see people fishing there, but today was the first time I saw them catch anything. One guy caught a reasonable size large mouth bass.

Wednesday March 20th 2024

It was a very nice sunny and comfortable day after a cool overnight. The temperature climbed into the mid seventies after getting down into the forties overnight.

This afternoon I watched the boats returning to port from a day of recreation in the Gulf of Mexico. I parked along the north side of the Venice Inlet. There were plenty of other people taking advantage of the beautiful afternoon fishing in the inlet, sitting on the beach or otherwise enjoying the gulf. The gulf waters were a beautiful green color reflecting in the sun. I hoped to see dolphins in the inlet, but there weren’t any around today. I had to settle for a few brown pelicans.

Traffic getting to and from Venice was the challenge I’ve come to expect in this area at this time of year. Going south to the inlet in the middle of the afternoon wasn’t too bad, but returning north at rush hour was far from a rush. It was just a slow steady crawl.

The midweek quiet in the campground continued today. Only a few sites turned over and the day use area wasn’t very popular. A few people were fishing on the lake judging by the empty trailers at the boat launch, but I didn’t see any boats getting launched or landed.

Tuesday March 19th 2024

The back side of yesterday’s cold front was in place this morning. It was sunny with a northeast wind. The humidity was way down and so was the temperature. Today’s high temperature was barely above the seventy degree mark. The overnight temperature is forecast to get below fifty degrees in this area.

Today was a slow day. It was well into the morning before I rolled out of bed. Breakfast was a slow dragged out meal and in general my motivation to get out and do anything was low. When I finally got out for my first walk of the day, I met a Gopher Tortoise that exemplified my mood. It was slowly plodding along nibbling at the grass here and there. This seemed to be a good day for the tortoises. I think I saw six different ones over the course of my two walks. A couple of the sightings were in the same general area so they may have been the same tortoise. I’m not up on the distinguishing features of a Gopher Tortoise for easy individual identification.

There wasn’t a lot of turnover in the campground today. It seems to be settled in for the week. A quick survey of the orange parking tags hanging from the rear view mirrors of the registered campers shows many people are leaving on Thursday or Friday, but my sample size was too small to be statistically viable. I am probably biased since I’m one of the Friday departures.

Monday March 18th 2024

The sky was filled with a thick layer of clouds this morning. The latest cold front was here. There was a little rain during the morning and a thunderstorm in the early evening. The rest of the day was comfortable with a high temperature in the low eighties. Tomorrow is forecast to be clear again, but the temperature will be ten plus degrees cooler.

Traffic got in my way again today, but it was a different issue. I had to deal with Interstate 75 traffic. It normally has very heavy traffic through the Bradenton and Sarasota area. Road construction just complicates the issue. Northbound traffic is slowed and delayed by the work on the new bridges across the Manatee River. The river forms the northern boundary of the Bradenton Sarasota corridor. On the southern end of the corridor, there is construction at the state route 72 interchange. That construction manages to keep southbound traffic trapped in the corridor as well.

Today I got caught in the interstate 75 traffic traveling northbound several miles before the bridge construction. I resorted to something I don’t often do. I asked my GPS for an alternative route. It found a route through the Lakewood Ranch development area that was advertised to be twenty five minutes shorter today. Lakewood Ranch is a massive development area that includes all kinds of housing and business located on the east side of Sarasota and Bradenton. The new housing development near Lake Manatee State Park may even be considered part of the Lakewood Ranch development area. The GPS route through the developments wasn’t without its problems. There were several areas of construction and lots of traffic lights, but I managed to get back to my RV home without major traffic issues on the route.

The state park is back in sleepy midweek mode. Now we just need a trash pickup before it gets busy again. Dumping my trash into the dumpster this morning was one of life’s little challenges. I had to use the dumpster cover to squish the bags down into the dumpster. I think they usually come twice a week to pick up the trash.

Sunday March 17th 2024

The overnight clouds and haze burned off as the morning progressed. By afternoon it was a partly sunny day with the high temperature in the low to mid eighties. Another cold front is due tomorrow and may bring a little rain to the area.

I needed to make a grocery run today. My supply of deserts and snacks was in short supply. When you sit in my RV home the food supply is only a few feet away. It makes resistance by the out of site out of mind method impossible. The best I can do is make sure the snacks are a little better than pure junk food. Today I returned from Walmart with cookies, cup cakes, pastry, and Ritz crackers to fill the snack and desert void. I also managed to get a few other things like sandwich meat and a piece of steak. The steak and a baked potato made a nice Sunday dinner.

The Walmart wasn’t too busy for a Sunday afternoon. I managed to get in and out in a reasonable amount of time. As normal for this visit to the area, traffic was the biggest issue. I made the best of my time today. Before I went to Walmart I got in a good hike on the trails at Bennett county park. It was fairly busy. Several people were using the Disc Golf course, trails and picnic facilities.

The expected Sunday turnover took place this morning in the campground. About half the weekend visitors seem to leave on Sunday and the rest on Monday. The facility was full again before nightfall.

Saturday March 16th 2024

The day began with a thick layer of clouds. As the day progressed the clouds thinned and the sun made an occasional appearance. The cloud layer kept the temperature down from yesterday’s highs. The temperature peaked in the low eighties today.

I wasn’t particularly active today and didn’t produce any blog entry worthy content. I thought it was Sunday most of the day. This entry will be brief and rather random.

The state park was very active today. Both pavilions at the day use area were in use for parties. The volleyball court was even getting used. The boat launch area had boats going in and coming out of the water when I was there around noon. Usually I only see an occasional transition. Today they were waiting in line. In the campground several of the campers had visitors turning their sites into party locations.

I took two extended walks around the state park and the camping loops today. The second was near sunset, but not close enough to make my sunset picture great.

Friday March 15th 2024

The huidity and temperature are climbing. The temperature peaked in the mid to upper eighties and felt warmer do to the humidity. Tomorrow is forecast to be about the same.

After failing to get to Robinson Preserve yesterday, I set out for Emerson Preserve today. It is located across the Manatee River from Robinson Preserve on the north side of the Manatee River where it empties into Tampa Bay and the gulf. It is a little further to the east than its south bank counterpart. The traffic on the north side of the Manatee River, while heavy, kept moving. It wasn’t anywhere close to yesterday’s slow moving parking lot.

Today’s issue happened once I arrived at Emerson Preserve park. There was nowhere to park. Each of the parking turnouts was overflowing with parked cars. I finally found a place to park at the far end of the point. Another car was pulling out as I was circling the lot. This is the first time I remember visiting the park at high tide. Usually there is plenty of sand between land and water to walk around the point. Today the water was lapping at the plant life along the shoreline. Every opening in the mangroves and bushes people were sitting or playing in the water. It wasn’t much of a beach, but people were using it as one.

Back at Lake Manatee State Park later in the afternoon the campground was filling up for the weekend. People were taking walks to the day use area and boat launch into Lake Manatee. I met many more people on my walk this evening than usual. There were also several Gofer Tortoises out grazing along the walkways. I don’t think I was late enough to see the rabbits from yesterday’s walk.