Fort DeSoto County Park, Tierra Verde, FL

Fort DeSoto Park is in Tierra Verde, FL, but is very close to St. Petersburg.  While there I did a little bit of hiking and a good bit of biking.  I also went to the RV Super Show in Tampa.  My main reason for going there was to see the vendors, not of RVs, but RV supplies.  I didn’t get anything I had on my list!  The only RVs I looked at were several made by Nexxus RV.  I am not in the market for a new RV, just thinking ahead and wondering about these as they have been discussed a few times on the Lazy Daze yahoo group.   Of course, they didn’t have the plan that I really wanted to see.  I might stop at the Indiana plant on my way up to Michigan since I usually go that way anyway.   

I have been to this park before, but learned something this time.  I reserved one of the waterfront spots that is on the main water. (something Bayou). The other side of my loop is on water, but it is just a boat channel.  Well, 3 or 4 days while I was there it was extremely windy.  I noticed that the other side did not get near as much wind.  There was so much difference that if there was an empty spot on that side, I would walk over and sit at their picnic table.  Next time I will try for that side of the park. 

Like much of the country, Florida is having a much colder winter than normal.  I have had to use my heat several times up to this point.  I guess I can’t complain, my sister in Wisconsin has had several days where they did not get above 0 degrees!!!

One day, I went biking for a while and when getting back to the campground I noticed that on the non-windy side of the loop was an empty spot and lots of birds.  I stopped for 30 minutes or so and enjoyed watching the birds and kayakers.   The birds seem too tame as I was only 10 feet or so away from some of them, I am guessing that some campers feed them.

Below is the view from my campsite as a storm is blowing in.

I joined a Bird watching group, but unfortunately it was a bit windy and we didn’t see too many birds.  We did find the Roseate Spoonbill below(one of my favorites!), along with a Tri-colored Heron, Oyster Catchers, Willets …--

We also saw a nesting Great Horned Owl.  When I saw her on the tour, the light was not great, so I went back another day.  When I visited the second time, the sun was shining perfectly on the tree where the nest is and I was thinking what a great picture this will be.  This is what I found --

The owl was facing the opposite direction!  She did turn around and check me out a few times --

Below is a picture from the first day --

There are a few birds visiting the area that are not typically in Florida.  Above is a Western Tanager, that many birders were very excited to see. 

We had several great sunsets.  The one below was taken from my campsite on my first night at the park. 

From here, I head north to Hillsborough River State Park. 

Oscar Scherer State Park, Osprey, FL

From Jan. 9 – 15 I stayed at Oscar Scherer State Park, which is known for their Scrub Jays.  The Florida Scrub Jay is on the decline and there are only about 30 Florida Scrub Jays in the park, just a few years ago there were more than 100.  While there I did a short walk trying to find one on my own, but I only saw regular Blue Jays.  I was concerned about joining the Scrub Tour because of my toe, but decided to anyway.  I let the leader know that if it started bothering me I would turn around.  Fortunately he knew where they were usually spotted and it was fairly close to the start of the Blue trail.  

The Jays are quite friendly and one of them walked around the 7 or 8 of us on the nature tour.  Walking on the soft sandy trail wasn’t too bad on my toe, but the next day I could tell I had over done it. So I went biking.  (by this time my little toe, the next toe and an inch or so down my foot were purple and/or red) The Legacy trail is another nice Rails to Trail trail and it goes through the park.  I rode it several times to Venice and beyond where it becomes another trail.    It is basically flat, thank goodness, with the only hills being a couple of bridges.

I am not good at hills and am a bit ashamed to say that the runner on the hill headed up to the bridge made it to the top before I did.  But I was trying to bike and take pictures at the same time!!  I beat him on the other side!!  Going downhill of course!!

One day, I went into town to run a few errands and ended up spending an hour or so at Venice Beach.

From Oscar Scherer I headed to Fort DeSoto County Park (Pinellas County). 

Myakka River State Park, Sarasota, FL

My plans for 2014 were changed a couple of times.  I finally settled on wintering in Florida and then going up to Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota for the spring and summer.   Much of what I plan on doing will be repeats, with a few new places added in.

If you notice in the next few blogs, I drove down to Sarasota and then headed back north for a few other parks, then back south again.  Due to some parks being full, I had to do a bit of back tracking!!

Anyway, I am not taking as many photos so some of the blogs may be shorter than normal. 

In early January, I stayed at Myakka River State Park for a week.  I had planned on hiking and biking a lot.  I biked the first 2 days and did a bit of hiking.  One of the bridges is called alligator bridge for a good reason.  On sunny days, you will see many alligator (and other wildlife) from the safety of the bridge.  Below you can see 5 alligators along the river.  

From the bird watching boardwalk I saw deer, feral pigs, Sandhill Cranes, Palm Warblers, a Bald Eagle, gulls, ducks…  I also learned something!!  I always thought that Snipe Hunting was a practical joke.  Did you know there really are Snipes???  Below is a Snipe, I believe it is a Wilson’s Snipe--

Have you ever cooked oatmeal in the microwave and had it run out of the bowl?  It’s a mess to clean up.   While cooking my oatmeal on my fourth day at Myakka, I started doing something else and then remembered the oatmeal.  I ran to the microwave and hit my toe/foot on the bathroom door.  Well the oatmeal was ok, but my toe was not.  For an hour or 2 I was debating going to the hospital to determine if it was broken or just jammed as it had swollen quickly and hurt!!  After reading a bit on the internet, I decided to wait it out as there isn’t too much that can be done for a broken small toe.   For a couple of days I didn’t do too much, then  I had to head out to my next campsite.  Walking wasn’t too bad after the first couple of days, but it didn’t feel good!! For the most part, I have been wearing flip flops but I did find one pair of enclosed shoes that had a lot of stretch to them.  From Myakka River, I headed to Oscar Scherer State Park. 

Note – I am currently at Hillsborough River State Park and my toe is still not right but is improving slowly.   I talked to a retired nurse a couple of days ago and she said it sounded like a broken toe, but said that without an x-ray you really could not tell – I’m calling it a broken toe.  I am not hiking as much as I would like, but biking does not seem to bother it so I have been riding my bike a good bit when the weather behaves.  Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since I hit it.  Next time, I’ll just let the oatmeal run over the bowl!! 

Skidaway Island State Park and Jekyll Island, GA

Well, I start off 2014 behind in my blogging, big surprise!!!  I am currently in Myakka River State Park, Fl (Sarasota), but need to finish Dec, 2013 in my blog. 

After leaving the shop in Auburn, GA, I headed to Skidaway Island State Park in Savannah, GA.   I was there Dec 6 – 14.  They have Water & Electric sites like many state parks, but they also some premium spots that are Full Hook-ups (they have sewer hookups along with water and electric). But those sites are $10.00 more. I decided to go with the cheaper spots as Georgia’s state parks aren’t that cheap. I paid $30.00 per night, but the campground was great!  I have noticed that many state parks have gone up in price.  The park has a few trails and a great campground.  I enjoyed several of the trails including the Big Ferry Trail, which is the only trail you can bike on.

It started off as a wide trail, but didn’t take too long to get much narrower.  But it was fun, even with all the roots in the trail.

On one part of the trail is an old still.  A nearby sign stated that from the early 1900’s up until the construction of the first bridge in the late 1960’s Skidaway was a hideout for moonshiners.  In the picture below, you can see the axe marks made when the still was destroyed by law officials.

Also on the trail is a birdwatching tower.

I didn’t do too much in Savannah, but I did go to Bonaventure Cemetery and attended the Bonaventure Historical society walk.  One of the graves is Gracie Watson.  She was a young girl who died of pneumonia and supposedly her ghost wanders around the cemetery some nights.

It was a foggy dreary day, when I visited – just right for a cemetery visit.

My next stop was Jekyll Island.  While there I enjoyed biking and walking.  Most mornings, I walked a loop that included a quick stop at Driftwood Beach. 

When biking around the island, I stopped at St. Andrews Beach picnic area for a quick break. 

I also found a bench just next to one of the crossovers was a great rest area.  One day, while here I saw a ferret that had escaped from someone and watched him go into the ocean for a swim. 

I have always liked the pictures of big bridges that appear to be floating above fog.  While on a drive from Jekyll Island to Bainbridge, I saw this --

From Jekyll Island, I headed back to the North Georgia Mountains to spend Christmas week.  On the Friday after Christmas, we had our family get together. 

I wrote this about a week ago while at Myakka River, but I did not have a very good internet connection, so I am just now posting this blog.  I am currently at Fort DeSoto Park in Tierra Verde, FL!

Georgia– Fort Yargo State Park, Dillard and Auburn (Apalachee RV)

Again this year I stayed at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, GA for a while.  I was there the last week and a half of October.  Since I have blogged about it several times, I am not going to blog about it much. 

While there, I did get a new Smart phone.  So I had to try out the camera --

There are a lot of features on the camera, that I need to learn.  While the pictures are not as good as my other cameras, it is nice to have this available when I don’t have a real camera!

During my stay at Fort Yargo, I walked the 7 mile trail around the lake 4 times  (that’s where I took the pictures above) and I started visits to my Doctors!  I also meet a couple of friends for lunch.

For the month of November, I headed up to Dillard, GA which is about 15 minutes from where my mom lives.  While there, I not only visited with my mom, but I also continued my doctor visits.   I had thought about taking pictures while at the doctors, but never did.  I even thought about it while getting a new crown at the dentist –yuck!! 

Also, while there I cleaned out my RV.  I dumped ever cabinet, drawer and outside storage cabinet and got rid of a bunch of stuff that I was not using.  I took a couple of loads to my storage unit and gave some stuff to GoodWill and Habitat for Humanity. 

From Dillard, I wanted to head someplace warm, it had been colder than I like in the GA Mountains.  But first I headed to Auburn, GA where I had some work done on my RV.  Nothing big, just a long list of things I needed to get done.  I had the work done at Apalachee RV.  I would strongly suggest this place if you need any work done.  They are great to work with.  I stayed in their parking lot for 3 nights. 

Above is my RV next to one of the Varsity catering trucks inside the shop.  At first I thought they were coming to the shop to give us hot dogs, onion rings and frosty oranges (Most people familiar with Atlanta and/or Athens, GA will know what I mean!!), but nope they were getting their generator worked on. 

After everything was done, I made my way to Skidaway Island State Park for a week and a half and then on to Jekyll Island, which is where I am currently. 

Chattanooga, TN

I know, it’s hard to believe that I am behind once again in my blogging and  this time I can’t use the excuse that I took too many pictures! 

I stopped in Chattanooga, TN for a week in October.  I just missed the SouthEast Lazy Daze group by a couple of days.  One day I went to downtown and spent a few hours at the Chattanooga aquarium.  I was looking forward to my favorite display, the Leafy Sea Dragon.  But I couldn’t find them.  I found the Weedy Sea dragon, by no Leafy.  I found someone and asked and they said they had none!!!  Apparently these creatures are very fragile and can only be supplied to the aquarium by one supplier in Australia.  They are on the waiting list to get more.  I still enjoyed my time there.  Below are a few pictures I took while there--

 

The Giant Sea Crabs above were huge and I overheard one conversation discussing how they would make a good dinner of crab legs. 

They also have plants and I enjoyed the orchids.

Also while in Chattanooga, I went to the Enterprise South Nature Park several times.  They have several trails that you can combine to get a good walk in.  I walked from 2.5 to 5 miles.   The park was a TNT manufacturing facility between 1944 and 1977.  It was built to support WWII and then reactivated several times including during the Korean War and  Vietnam War.  Many of the dynamite bunkers can be seen from the trails, including the one below --

From Chattanooga, I headed back to Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, GA and then up to Dillard, GA.  My next blog will be about both of these stops. 

Southaven, MS (suburb of Memphis, TN)

You may remember that I stopped in Southaven 2 or 3 years ago.  When working on my route from Colorado to Georgia, I decided to stop in Memphis and visit the zoo again.  I stayed at the same RV Park in Southaven, MS that I did last time.  (Next time I think I will try Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis)  For you fellow Lazy Dazers out there, the website for the RV Park, has a picture of a Lazy Daze on it,  (EZ DAZE with Lazy Daze)

I like old cemeteries and while walking around found this --

It looks like somebody was digging up old graves.

Just kidding, this was part of the Halloween decorations at the Memphis zoo.  Below are other pictures that I took while there.

Wolf --

Micronesian Kingfisher – There are less than 100 of these in existence with none in the wild.  This zoo along with others are trying to keep this bird from going extinct.

Grizzlies -

Sea lion -

Ostrich -

Panda -

I spent 15 – 20 minutes watching the panda.  The last picture reminds me of the pose that many kids are posed in when they get their picture taken professionally!!!  This was the Panda’s resting spot after eating a good bit of bamboo. 

From here I headed to Chattanooga for a week before making my way back to Georgia.