Day 56 - February 24, 2016 - Little Manatee River State Park Wimauma, Florida

It was certainly an interesting day yesterday. We were up very early - around 6 am. Still pitch dark outside and warm. The weather reports were predicting  severe weather approaching so Ron took Jewel out for her morning walk before the rain. 

We sat out and had our morning coffee and tea watching the clouds careening across the darkening skies. Looked pretty ominous. There were other people out walking their dogs before the storm and one couple stopped and asked us if we were watching the weather front come in. Yes, we were. They also joked that campers are people that spend a whole lot of money to live like they are homeless. I'm sure being homeless is no fun so I really can't categorize this as a parallel to homelessness. 

By 8:30  am the rain, thunder and winds kicked in. There were tornado watches and warnings north of us and  then we were included in the watch as well.  It got pretty intense for about two hours and then the rain stopped, thunder ceased, and winds died down. We later learned that there were 63 tornadoes in this 2000 mile front that extended from Cuba to Canada!  

To brighten the gloomy day we had a visit from a beautiful cardinal!

Once the flooding cleared we were able to get out to take Jewel for a couple of walks. As predicted the temperature dropped and we were once again relegated to long pants and jackets. And they say New England weather is weird. 

Day 54 & 55 - February 22 & 23, 2016 Little Manatee River State Park

Day 54 - February 22, 2016

 Ron went to the front office on the 21st to see if we could extend our stay here. He was told he had to go back on our scheduled day to leave because they had one walk-up site available but couldn't release it until our reservation expired unless we wanted to double pay for the 21st. Well, knowing Ron that was NOT going to happen. LOL The lady in the office was very nice and told Ron she would put a hold on the site as long as he got to the office by 8 am on the 22nd. 

He was off and running this morning and was able to secure site 12 for us. We have been here five days and could extend our stay an additional 9 days. The max is 14 days in the state parks so we got lucky because the place is fully booked going forward. 

We moved from site 9 and were

set up and drinking our coffee  & tea outside by 10 am. Site  # 12 is much larger with more privacy. We're really enjoying our stay here.











Last evening we received a call from a friend of Ron's. He wanted to let us know he had bought a site in a park about 11 miles from where we are staying and we should check it out. After lunch we took a ride to  Florida Acecapaders in Lithia, Florida. We were pleasantly surprised to find it was not the typical mobile home park. The home & RV sites are huge with lots of room to breath and nice grassy sites.

Bob's Site 

Ron saw one of Bob's neighbors and struck up a conversation with him only to find out he is from MA also and has been coming down here for 42 years. He wasn't that old so I'm thinking the trailer he uses has been in the family since he  was a kid. 

We stopped at a development to check out more homes. Although the over 55 development is beautiful Ron is not ready to make a commitment to stay in one place.  He wants to sell our home and go on the road full time. I'm not sure about that option!

Day  55  -  February 2, 2016

Happy 45th Birthday to our son Tom! Can't believe how old we are!

Not much doing today. We have a path in the back of our site that leads to hiking trails so we were off with Jewel. 

The Path

Hiking with Jewel

It stayed warm and we were able to spend a good part of the evening outside before the mosquitoes descended. There is a huge coastal storm heading our way with predicted high winds, rain and potential for a tornado in the morning. We shall have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. 

Day 52 & 53 February 20th & 21st 2016 - Little Manatee State Park

Day  52 - February 20, 2016

Once again we woke to sunny skies and great weather. The days start out  around 50 degrees but then get up into the mid to high 70's. Perfect!

We didn't have anything special planned for the day but did need to make our weekly grocery run. We do like the area and have been thinking about our future plans. There are several new developments going up  - the building boom is in full swing here in Florida once again! We stopped at two separate developments but only found one house we really liked.



Love this home but way too big. We looked at several models but discovered that all the homes are built on top of one another. No yard and no space between them. It's just our confused minds trying to decide what to do with our lives.

It was another nice day for us. Didn't do much but don't feel the need to. I think we've reached a point in our life that relaxing is OK with us. 

Day 53 - February 21, 2016

Hang around Day - The end! LOL  Yes, we have joined the ranks of the kick back and relax group.

Day 52 - February 19, 2016 Busch Gardens Day 2

It was back to Busch Gardens  to finish exploring the park. Ron had several rides he wanted to try out and we had a couple of shows that we didn't get see the first time around. 

We arrived at the park around 10:30 am and the lot was jammed and  we had to wait in line for a parking pass. We weren't expecting to encounter so many people and loads of school buses - more then on our last visit. 

Surprisingly the line into the park itself was fairly short. We had our tickets so were able to get in quickly.

Our first stop was to check out the alligators. We haven't seen any in the wild yet so we decided to view them in the park. There was a turtle sunning itself on the back of an alligator - pretty cool!

Then it was on to the gorilla habitat. Of course Ron wanted his signature picture with a gorilla statue. LOL

As luck would have it there was a mother gorilla with her baby walking around. So neat, because we saw a gorilla and her baby at the San Diego Zoo as well! It was difficult getting a picture of mom & baby looking at us. So we got a picture with mom taking baby away from the crowds and back to their private space. 

We then went to see the Iceploration - an ice show that included special effects and animal acts. The story line was about a young boy caught up in the cyber world and never going outside to play. His grandfather took him out to explore the world and introduced the boy to the great outdoors away from the cyber world. The message was very clear and the show was excellent. Great performers and a timely message - get your noses out of  your phones and computers and enjoy the world and people around you. It was a fast paced production and difficult to get  pictures. 



Ron then took a ride on Falcon's Fury. It climbs 300 feet up, pivots in midair then drops straight down. Interesting!

Locking   In!!

Going Up!

300 ft UP!

Coming Down! Check out the Face!

Next it was on to another show- Opening Night Critters. It was the show we had expected to see on our last visit but was just the trainers at that time. The performance was an animal variety act. Really cute and funny.

Loved This Guy!

We stopped at the lion habitat and Ron got a great picture of the male lion.

The last show venue was the  Treasures of the Mirage - a dance celebration at the  Dragon Fire Grille. It was also quite nice.

We then took the Sky Ride over the park and got a different view. The park is enormous and we walked the park from end to end and across at least 5 times. No wonder our legs were getting tired. There is a huge wooden roller coaster that was shut down at the end of January. It is certainly is an icon. We got a really nice view of it from the Sky Ride. 

Wooden Roller Coaster

Ron felt the need to ride the Scorpion so off we went. 

Once off the ride Ron had to admit it was a hairy!

We had been at the park since 10:00 am and by 5:30 pm we made our  last stop to see the Hippo swimming in a huge tank.

It was pretty cool watching the hippo swimming back and forth. Did not realize they could stay under water for such long periods of time.

The traffic back to the CG was unbelievable. Since we moved to Little Manatee State Park it put us about 30 miles away from Busch Gardens so the Friday night traffic was brutal. It was another great day and we are glad that we took the time to revisit Busch Gardens after a 40 year hiatus. 

Day 51 - February 18, 2016 Little Manatee State Park, Wimauma, Florida

Ron and I absolutely love it here. The sites are big with privacy and the CG is really quiet. There are only 30 campsites and 4 equestrian sites, so it is fairly small. 

Happy Ron with tan lines!

Deb Is Happy

and

Happy Jewel in her dirt bed!

We discussed several different options today but decided to do what we do best - Hang around and enjoy the weather. I guess our blog is getting very boring. Tomorrow we will return to Busch Gardens for day two of that adventure. 

A view of the moon in the evening sky in the lower right - just a little moon. LOL

Day 50 - February 17, 2016 Little Manatee State Park, Wimauma, Florida

Today we moved to Little Manatee State Park just 37 miles down the road in Wimauma. I was surprised that I was able to get a site in a state park. I think I got in because someone had just cancelled. 

The park is in the middle of nowhere and the sites big and semi- secluded with lots of trees. Once set up we spent the rest of the day sitting in the sun. 

Not crowded like the "Resorts"

Site # 9

Day 49 - February 16, 2016 - Last Day at Southern Aire RV Resort - Visit to Busch Gardens

We have been at Southern Aire RV Resort for one week already. Tomorrow we will be moving on to Little Manatee State Park in Wimauma, Florida. We are about seven miles from Busch Gardens so decided we better get over there today. 

Once in line we had to decide on a one or two day pass. We opted for one, thinking that was all we needed to see the park. The last time we were here was forty years ago and the park has really grown. 



Once inside the park Ron decided we should go left because everyone else was heading right. Good plan Ron - not too crowed to the left of the park. 

We took the Walkabout Way and spent time with the kangaroos.

Then it was off to the bird sanctuary.

These Flamingos Don't  look Real!

Inside the free flying bird area the birds were more then happy to  catch a ride on your  shoulders and drink from a cup.

Ron wanted to ride the Sheikra - a roller coaster type ride that goes 200 feet up with a 90 degree straight down slope. I opted out of course - not a roller coaster lover.

Hanging at the top Before the DROP!

And Down they come!

Then we stopped to see one of the live headliner shows, Strawberry Fields - presented here every month. Strawberry Fields is a Beatles Tribute band and quite good but not as good as "Rain" another Beatles tribute band we have had the pleasure of seeing. 

We then took the The Serengeti Express Train through  the Serengeti Plain.

These were a few of the animals we saw roaming freely.

As we were walking to the Cheeta Hunt we passed by the Congo River Rapids and just had to take a ride. It looked pretty tame so I was all in. 

Before Picture

We knew we were on a water ride but were not aware that we would be bombarded with hoses and waterfalls!

We were both soaked. Thankfully it was really warm so we dried off fairly quickly!

We checked out the tigers then went to the animal show. When we arrived it was announced that the regularly scheduled show was cancelled but that the trainers would be demonstrating how they trained the animals in the show. After the demonstration we walked around a little more and saw some elephants. 

Then it was on to the Motown show. This was the last show of the day because the park closes at 6 pm. 

It was a great day and we enjoyed our time at Busch Gardens. We knew we had made an error not buying the two day pass because there was still a lot of the park we didn't get to explore. On the way out of the park we stopped to ask of we could upgrade our tickets for the additional cost of $40.00 pp. To our surprise we were told that the upgrade would be  free and the tickets good for repeat visits until December 31, 2016. Good deal!

Back at the MH we had a light dinner and were ready for bed by 9:30 pm. It was a long day and a lot of walking so we were pretty tired. Moving day in the morning and a new area to explore or  more relaxing.