Punta Gorda to Kissimmee again May 2012

Sunshine Skyway Bridge from St. Pete to Palmetto area

GRRRR...  Been using Blogger.com for years for these posts, and they just changed everything.  Not sure how this will work!  Well, at least can caption the photos, but haven't figured how to place them where I want them.  Last I wrote, I think we had been in Punta Gorda.  From there, we moved to South Sarasota Elks (30 Amp hook-up) then to Palmetto at Winterset Resort.  Were going to stay a week, and stayed 2-1/2.  They had a nice pool, nice people, and were close to lots more beautiful beaches.  ( I shouldn't wait a month before trying to remember where we've been and what we've done, as it is all jumbled up in my head, and if we ever need to know for sure what happened when, perhaps credit card charges will help!)   We're getting pretty good at being relaxed, lazy tourists!  Met some nice people there who told us about places to go, and we had dinner with some of them.  One fellow figured out why I have not been able to connect with the Verizon hotspot regularly, and gratefully, that is working well!  Pretty cool when perfect strangers become fast friends.

Us in garden at Mixon Farms

Iguana at Mixon Farms

Owl at Mixon

Some of MANY Koi at Mixon Farms

One of several Rescued Tortoise at Mixon

Koi Pond at Mixon Farms

One of the beautiful benches at Mixon's garden

This was at Ft De Soto Park where dolphins were chasing the fish

Beach at Ft De Soto Park

Boa (?) at Mixon

We visited Anna Maria Island which is 7 miles long, and only a few blocks wide.  This beach bum life is growing on us.  No, that is not snow, it is the WHITE sand.  So white the sand doesn't get hot as the sun is reflected off of it.   Took a tour of Mixon Fruit Farm and it took us through the groves of orange, grapefruit and lemon trees.  They also had an animal rescue center and the guide told of each of the animals they house there.  From Snakes, Turtles, cranes, owl, iguana, etc.  There is a Koi Pond,  beautiful garden, tended mainly by Charlie, who is 86 years old.  He works with love every day, and was really interesting to talk with.  A WWII veteran of the army air force (which, he told us, no longer exists).
We visited a couple Flea Markets, had a couple nice dinners out with fellow RV park friends.  Drove 20 miles north to a place that was supposed to be good to see Manatee, but it had closed the day prior :-(.
Went to Fort De Soto State Park and watched men fish off the pier.  Dolphins would chase the fish on their line, and try to get the fish before it could be reeled in.  Those men did not have the love for Dolphins like we do.  Guess it's kind of like Sea Lions at home!  The beach at the park was nice, and since the busy season is over, it was quiet and peaceful.
My Verizon phone died AGAIN!  Have had it replaced twice!  Nice they shipped it next day so I wasn't too much at a loss, and all my contacts and photos were saved. :-).   It gets to be such a comfort, habit, and time-waster, but hard to be without.  Saw a gal at WalMart with 6" heels, about 6" long black mini-skirt, big hoop earrings, and tatoos all over her body.  She was about 5'10 and 200+ pounds and really walked like she was Queen of Sheeba.  Wish I would have had my camera phone that day!
     From Palmetto we moved to Largo to Lee's Trailer Park where we were before.  Went to the Elks at Holiday Isles for dinner and 2 wonderful couples got seated at our table.  We had such an enjoyable time with them that we made a plan and met again that Friday night same place for prime rib dinner!  Pretty amazing to get along with complete strangers so well.   Spent a couple days there and moved to Seffner to LazyDays, RV Park where we had the window in the door with the broken seal repaired.  Did not know they could repair them!  Took it apart and buffed the glass, and put it back together good as new!  Nice pool and hot tub at the park which we enjoyed, especially the good Rock and Roll old time music over the speakers!
     Ate at a couple different places around Largo that really pleasantly surprised us as to the quality for inexpensive food.  One was "Boston Market", which was recommended by a security guard at a shopping mall.  We thought it would be typical fast junk food and were skeptical, but I got a wonderful salad on mixed greens with rotisserie (not fried or grilled) chicken.  Al had their chicken  pot pie, and said it was delicious, too!  The other place was Golden Corral Buffet!  They had a great selection of fresh salad and fixings, fresh vegies, stir-fry, etc., but also would cook to order fish and/or steak.  We had wonderful grilled top sirloin steak!  $11 and some change each for whole dinner!  Now Al is not a buffet person, but he really liked it, too.  We also ate at Ruby Tuesday's for a nice meal.  The waitress told us to go online and get signed up for 2 for one dinner, which I have now done for next time.  She was expecting a baby any day, and a good waitress!  Hope all went well.  She had 2 boys 10 and 17 (I think), and this was 1st girl.

Treasure Island Beach

     We spent one day at Treasure Island for a Blues Festival on the beach.  It was HOT!  We rented a big beach umbrella like the yellow ones here ($20), and enjoyed the water, music and the sun, then the wind came up.  We picked up and went across the street for a quick bite as the food at the festival was not healthy fare.  Waffle House, was NOT a good choice, but it filled the void.  Plans to go back and watch sunset over the ocean were foiled as it began to rain.
We've thought about getting on a cruise ship while here in Florida to save the airfare, but we waited too long for many of the cruises.  Still have them out of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, but we really don't want to drive back there again.  Tampa's cruises were full for most of the balcony rooms (which are a must for us!), and prices were not as good as we had hoped for a last minute deal!  So, we still may take one at another time, but not now.

One of   Magoo's "friends"

     One night at Lazy days, we played ping pong.  Neither of us have played for years, and were quite well-matched...equally poor, but we had fun!  I beat the 1st 2 games, and Al was going for "best 2 out of 3", which we changed, and he beat me the last 3.  Hardest part was remembering who was serving, and what the score was.  Should have had paper and pencil...guess that was good for the brain!

  The kitties are fascinated by all the geckos (?) or whatever these little guys are called.  And this ugly green bug about 4" long, was hanging on the post at the shuffleboard court.  We also saw a big black "grasshopper-looking bug" about 3" long, just hanging out on the railing by the pool at Lazy Days.  Didn't have a camera, but a lady said it may have been a  lumpy or something like that, that devour plants like locust???  Lots of different bugs in Florida!      Cripes!  Now Blogger is messing with me!  Didn't put blue ink or underline, but there it is, and won't go away!  Always more to learn! We are back at Ponderosa RV Park at Kissimmee, where we stayed back in December and January.  Great pool, and really quiet here now.  Weather has been in the 90's, and grateful it cools down to about 70 at night.  Yesterday at the pool, the cement was almost too hot for our bare feet!  Life is tough!  We plan to stay here until May 7th, and move to Cape Canaveral to see the Kennedy Space Center.  Were going to do that in January, but never got around to it.

   Last night, went  to St Cloud for dinner at Buffet City with some new friends, then to a Blues and Jazz Festival at the lakefront .  (Meeting new friends is fun, but I really miss friends and family from home.)  Was the BIG MOON night, and we walked and talked in the moonlight til midnight! Music was great, but we missed most of it.  It had been going on all day.   So nice to be outside in shirtsleeves at night and not be cold.  But, I did get eaten by some bugs!  Today, who knows?
     I think I will get off here before more stuff gets changed thanks to the new format of Google Chrome Blogger.  Hugs to all.
Comment from friends from Palmetto added info:  The big green grasshopper is a "katydid" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katydid );  The little gecko is probably a cuban brown anole (a-new'-lee).  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina anole)The geckos  have different colors and patterns, but have broader snouts and googly eyes like the Geico gecko.  They also have pads on their toes that allow them to climb straight up a glass window (or inside a shower or tiled wall!)  The tortoise is a gopher tortoise                      ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher tortoise) that lives in long burrows they dig in the ground.  The Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes like the burrows and frequently move in with them.  So, don't follow one down the hole!!!  Thanks for that last comment, friends, I'm not sure I wanted to know that!!!  Pretty interesting stuff.