Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013, Snooty at South Florida Museum, Bradenton, FL

Went to Bradenton, FL, to visit the South Florida Museum and Parker Aquarium. It was a very nice museum with a lot of interesting exhibits. The aquarium was home to Snooty - born July 1948 and now the oldest living Manatee on record. We also took in the planetarium show which turned out to be a film projected on the dome of the planetarium.

Say hello to Snooty, the oldest known Manatee (64 years old).

Snooty had to roll over to have his treat, a carrot.

http://www.southfloridamuseum.org/TheAquarium/SnootyCam.aspx

This is what happens when someone has an interest in music, lots of time and a large collection of shells

We walked down Riverwalk for a few miles. There were several interesting things along the walk including artwork, a unique looking playground, a skate park and outdoor living rooms.  

The Riverwalk goes under this bridge.

View from under the bridge.

Some dogs need to feel useful.

Feelin' the beat along Riverwalk.

Got home and captured a gorgeous sunset over the coach to end the day.

Monday, Feb 25, 2013, Flatwoods Park, FL

We gave each other our first haircuts on the road. They look great, even if I may say so myself. Hiked nearly 5 miles at Flatwoods Park, FL.  

We were pleasantly surprised by the sweet smell of orange blossoms as we walked through several wild orange trees along the trail. All of the low hanging fruit had been picked so we could not sample any of the wild oranges.

Fortunately, there were several watering stations along the way

Thursday, Feb 21, 2013, Lettuce Lakes, MOSI, Tampa, FL

Drove back to Lettuce Lakes (on the north side of Tampa, FL) to try some early morning light. We were too early and had to wait for them to open. We were the first ones on the boardwalk.  

She is giving her mate a hard time. The guy on the left is wondering if he needs a shower.

Waving good morning from the observation tower.

It was cool and still, so I tried bracketing some pictures to process with High Dynamic Range (HDR) S/W. My first HDR picture that I thought might be acceptable although it is clear I have a lot to learn still. This scene is probably not the best for showing off HDR.

Later, we went to the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). Our passes (from the Florida Air Museum) worked (we got in free), but MOSI was a bit disappointing - it was very kid oriented. Probably the most fun was the hurricane simulator that let you feel 80 mph winds. We also enjoyed the planetarium show - again kid oriented and it seemed like he left out a lot of important concepts but it was not a complete astronomy course - it was just to get kids to look up at night.

80 mph winds do a number on the do.  

These turtles may join the circus - they certainly had the balance to be acrobats.

Joani's "Moon" weight

Goodbye from MOSI

Wednesday, Feb 20, 2013, Air Museum, Plant City, FL

We went to Plant City, FL, and visited the Florida Air Museum. Bought the family pass for a year. The pass should be good at several hundred museums across the country - if so it will be a fantastic benefit we will likely use a lot. The museum was not large but it was nice and, of course, we took a lot of pictures.

I can see myself flying one of these ultralights one day!

Later, we went to Parkesdale Farm Market. I have never seen a line so long waiting for strawberry shortcake. It was billed as "World Famous" and it must be true - there were a hundred people waiting and the line never got smaller. We bought a quart of awesome strawberries, 5 lbs. of oranges, 5 lbs. of grapefruit, 2 large peppers and a cucumber for a total of 7 bucks even.

Tuesday, Feb 19, 2013, Lettuce Lakes Park, Tampa, FL

We went to Lettuce Lakes Park on the north side of Tampa, FL, today. It was another extremely nice day - mostly sunny, a little breeze and temperature in the high 70's. The park had a 3/4 mile long boardwalk and a lot of different birds - lots of picture opportunities.  There were also paved and natural trails. We hiked about 5 miles for the day. We may come back for some early morning light.

Roseate Spoonbill

 
Very colorful lichen

"You look'n at me?"

Florida Red-Bellied Turtles

Cypress root knees

Northern Parula, Parula americana

Monday, Feb 18, 2013, Zephyrhills, FL

Packed up for travel - the water on the awning was frozen! It sounded like glass breaking when we pulled the slide in. Another short hop to Jim's RV Park (~24 mi.) just outside of Zephyrhills, FL. Got all settled in. We are on a grass site that runs downhill towards the back/drivers side of the coach. This is the worst situation for leveling so we will be a bit un-level. It's opposite from the last site so all of the doors settle in the opposite direction. Looks like our coach has gone "Native"!

Friday, Feb 15, 2013, Kayaking, Crystal Springs, FL

We rented a kayak in Crystal River, FL. The day started off a bit cool and overcast but it cleared up nicely and was never cold. We got the kayak into Three Sisters Springs but we were surprised by all of the swimmers who never seemed to pay any attention to the kayaks. I guess they were looking for manatees and they were told they had the right of way. If they did have the right of way it was more than offset by our lack of kayaking experience. My pants were immediately soaked so I pulled them up to the knee which is how I got some really sunburned shins. 

We paddled all around the area - strange to see a nuclear power plant - although I heard later it is due to close.

We saw quite a few manatees as we paddled around several of the islands. We stopped at the opening of one protected inlet and heard a bunch of manatees playing. It was quiet - nobody around but us - so they felt pretty safe. All of a sudden they were swimming all around us. We could have touched them they were so close.

We got back in just under 4 hours so we had a late lunch and headed for Old Homosassa. Saw the Yulee Sugar Mill ruins and then what appeared to be a really new park (Pepper Creek Trail) in the Chassahowitzka NWR. Sam was very happy to see us home before dark.

Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins

Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge