2/11/13
   We had to get up early to meet at the dive shop at 8.  Struggled into our wet suits and the eight of us climbed onto the patio boat.  The waterway was in a bay with islands and we puttered along very slowly to avoid any Manatee collisions.  Apparently they come here every year for the winter because the Crystal River is so warm (about 72 degrees).

 We jumped in when we got to the spot.  Quite crowded with other snorkelers.  Most of the time we were in water 5-10 feet deep.  The bottom was all sand and had been covered with grass but the manatees had eaten it all.  they have to roam farther and farther to get find more grass.  They are huge creatures that move very slow.  The lie still with their noses in the sand, then every 2-5 min. their head floats to the surface and they take a breath only to drop to their nose again.  When they do swim it is all powered with their huge flat tail and is pretty slow.  Easy to follow as Jerry and I found out!  We followed a mom and baby back to the boat.

 Our view was much better!  Jerry even touched one. An amazing experience!  Got to spend as long as we wanted.  Lots of rules about safe spots for them. No people allowed.  No chasing or bugging them.

This was in front of a dive shop.

   About noon after our adventure we took highway 19/98 to I 75 south to just north of Tampa.  we decided to go to a motel to shower etc and really live it up after boondocking.  Not so much!

2/12/13

     Happy Mardi Gras everyone!  We woke up with the sheets all tangled up under us, tiny bugs in the sink, dirty shower and outside!  Eeeww.  We drowned our sorrows at The Waffle House with pecan waffles!  No more motels!  Our worst night in the casista was much better than that motel!

   We took the 275 through Tampa and into St Petersburg.  We got off the freeway in St Petersburg and drove through the old town.

Tampa in the early morning

 St Petersburg, kind of like an old Pacific Beach, Ca.

    We continued across a huge bridge from St Petersburg to Palmetto and stopped at a rest stop where the bridge touched down (like Gunther island ).  We had to get in the water!

 The bridge

South on 75 to 867 and West to Sanibel Island!

Near Sanibel Island

 A perfect beach.  Warm shallow water.  Bathing suits!!

Gee, looks like all my other pictures of Jerry's back!

    We drove onto Sanibel Island.  It is famous for shelling.  Very nice homes and town.  Lots of fancy souvenir shops. We went to two different beaches ( $2 per hour), met great people, found some shells, (no big or fancy ones) and had a great rest of our day.  Windy but warm.

We went back the way we came in and went to dinner at the best pizza place.  A little hole in the wall with one table and a terrific take out business.  The cute waitress suggested pineapple and bacon and I swear it was the best I ever had.  We had home made toasted coconut ice cream for dessert.  The dinner more than made up for the bad sleep that night.  We never found the showers in the dark in the funny RV park so had to sleep sticky from the swim and sweaty from the heat and humidity!

2/13/13

   Got up in the dark and headed for the Everglades! The weather continued to be hot and increasingly muggy. 73 degrees at 8AM.  I always thought, how can that be very hot until now.  I walked into a grocery store in Fort Meyers Beach and thought I would freeze to death, walked out and my glasses fogged up!  We turned on the air conditioner!!  When I took my camera out of the car it fogged up!  Walked the beach in Fort Meyers, Foggy and breezy but Hot???!!

    From the 75 we headed south on the 951 to get on the Tamiami highway (41).  I thought it was an Indian word but it is Tampa/Miami combined!  

     Stopped at Big Cypress Swamp visitor center and walked a boardwalk .6 miles into the swamp and back out.  Amazing and beautiful!

air plants

 

     Remember, bad hair day and no shower.  Alligator in the background!

At the next spot we stopped we saw an alligator eating his buddy!

See his little leg sticking out!  The big guy would  thrash around and whack him on the ground and then just lay there.  The other one didn't move a bit!

We stopped at Midway campground for the night.  That's us on the far right, closest to the swamp! 

      We had plenty of daylight left so we wandered a bit around the large lake in the center.  We discovered we had no cell service which meant no internet so I couldn't work on this, so we read!!  First time on this trip!

 Hunting for alligators by twilight in the canal that is cut through the entire state from coast to coast.  It was just on the other side of the road!

     In the evening we changed to long clothes and sprayed insect repellent on each other to go to the Ranger Talk but I had read the brochure wrong and it wasn't until Friday or Saturday. (Yes, Lorna and Doug, we were going to give it another try!)  Aagghh so I decided to take a shower in the trailer to get the sweat and bug juice off and we ran out of water in the trailer (we only had electricity here).  Luckily I had decided to forgo the hair.  I had gotten most of the soap off.  Jerry felt terrible.  A hot and sticky night...But we are in the Everglades!!!

2/14/13

   Happy Valentine's Day!!  And Bon Voyage Fultons on your great Hawaii adventure.   Jerry gave the Florida Keys to me plus some flowers he picked at a gas station!  I told him this trip was enough, but you know him, always the romantic!!  Soo off into the swamp on hwy 41 headed to the Keys!  Lots of construction!  Heard later they are raising portions of the road above the land so the water (called the river of weeds) can flow south to the glades where it is slowly dying due to lack of water from people and our changes to the land.

     Turned south on 997 through lots of agricultural land.  Saw nursery after nursery.  So that's where all the pretty flowers come from!  Saw a papaya farm and cabbages.  Both grocery stores we went to in Homestead were Hispanic and we found everything we need.  Not really sure what we are going to find so thought we'd stock up. 

     Ohh the water and bridges and tiny islands where you see water behind the houses on both sides.  A long way down here so we will have to stay a couple of days! :-) . 

 Had spoken to Jeannie at Breezy Pines RV park on Big Pine Key about 30-40 miles from Key West.  Got to stay for $50/night!  About half what others asked for.  Many are full! As soon as we got we were hooking up and Jerry couldn't get the hose fitting to work for the water so, Bob came to fix it and broke off the PVC fitting and water went everywhere!  Bob had to shut off the water to half of the park!  Jerry really could relate and laughed all the way out of there.  We then took off and went to Bahai Honda State Park.  The best beach on the Keys according to the very wonderful lady at the visitor center across the street.  She also said there really aren't many public beaches.  They are all private.

   

    We swam and snorkeled and sat and walked on the beach.  Had a great time.  It did cost $9 to get in though.  The snorkeling was poor due to cloudy water but the water was so warm!  Jerry did some chatting with the locals, yes Bob, a lot of "what I want to know is"!!!  We came back, I went to CVS and had these pictures put on disc, washed clothes (yay), bar b qued steak for dinner, and took showers!  Just as I was bringing back the hot clothes from the drier, the wind picked up and next thing we knew the sky opened up!!!.  We rushed to get everything into the casista...Yes picture it, I was on the phone to my mom and it was  a scene from a movie!  Hot clothes, wet stuff, hot muggy anyway....The end to a very memorable  Valentine's day!

2/15/13

  Thinking of my dad today,  It's his birthday.  Love you mom.  Jerry is out talkin' with the neighbors and walking to the post office and letting me write in peace!  I think I am my parent's daughter.  I must record everything.....Thanks for listening.  Off to Key West on the bus today!!! Another adventure from what Sue tells me!