Bad start, good day

Today got off to bad start. We had planned on visiting the Panama Canal Museum, and then on to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary (as shown on the map). The route to the museum looked pretty straightforward on our detail (though still small scale) map and we set off full of confidence. We soon got lost in a maze of numbered streets and avenues, none of which were shown on the map. We finally found a Kangaroo service station and went inside to seek help.

The man there was very friendly, and pulled out a much more detailed map. But the museum was nowhere on the map. He finally told us how to get to the intersection we wanted and we set off hopefully. Thanks to his directions, we found the required intersection; but no museum, only a dead mall. The last time Gene was there, several years ago and in a different location, there was talk of having the University of South Florida take it over. Some day if we have the time and the interest we may follow up that lead.

So scratch one idea, on to the next. According to the map, the Seabird Sanctuary was at the end of the street we were on, so off we went. When we got to the coast, there was nothing but a solid row of condos. No sign of any kind of sanctuary. So far we were batting .000.

Well, we were at the shore, let's find some beach to stroll on. So we just headed down the road. One could occasionally get a glimpse of the Gulf between the high-rises, but there was no place to park and no obvious way to the beach. We finally stumbled onto a public parking lot for the beach in Madeira Beach (nothing north of that). We bought an hour's parking and took our beach stroll. I don't know if the whole beach is open to the public (like in Mexico) but access is certainly limited.

Most of the beach is guarded by condos

The people congregate at the few public accesses

We missed the sanctuary, but did see some interesting birds at the beach.

 

Willet

As we went further south along the beach, the buildings got lower and there was more frequent public access. But forget it in Clearwater, Largo, Seminole and points north.

After a delightful lunch of fresh cantaloupe and ham salad (a good combination) we crossed the entrance to Tampa Bay and made our way out to Anna Maria Island. That, too, was crowded where the bridge connected, but we drove up to Anna Maria at the north end and found a much more relaxed situation.

After a long talk with a sailing snowbird on a bicycle, it was time to find some place to lay our heads. We made our way back to a Cracker Barrel in Bradenton, ate in the restaurant, and settled in for the night. Tomorrow Sarasota.

Full tourist mode

Today we got into full tourist mode. Checkout time was not 'til 2:00 so we slept in. Then had a leisurely breakfast and did morning chores. Got away about 11:25.

First stop was at a fruit stand where we got some strawberries, a little melon, and a tomato (with thoughts of tomato sandwiches for lunch).

First side trip was to the beach at Hudson. The beach was tiny and there was no free parking, so we pressed on. After looking at the AAA tour guide, we settled on Tarpon Springs. We went down to the Sponge Docks (Tarpon Springs was settled by Greek sponge divers). Getting away from the crowded part, we found on-street parking a couple of blocks away.

Joining the crowds, we looked in shops and listened to the buskers. We were told about a Greek grocery, where Jean was able to buy some mastika for her Christmas tsourekia. Now we know three places in the US where you can find it. Then we went into a restaurant and got really good gyros.




Back at the Roadtrek, Jean took YumYum for a walk while I looked at a really big trawler parked at the end of the street. Here is a bit of the net end.




Jean read that you can sometimes see manatees in this certain bayou, so we drove to the center of town to Craig Park. This is a nice area, with lots of big homes facing an inlet. We walked around (very slowly) with YumYum. A dolphin showed up briefly, but no manatees today. The park has some lovely, old live oaks covered with Spanish moss.

If you look very closely you can see a blue heron waiting for an old guy to toss a cast net for fish. He was very patient but the fisherman wasn't interested.



We headed out about rush hour and drove to the Cracker Barrel in Clearwater. It is right next to the airport, but other than that we found a nice, level parking place. We are still full from gyros, so we will have a light supper and go into the restaurant for breakfast.

What other adventures will await us tomorrow?

Off to Florida

Our annual trip to Florida got started later this year. We left on 1 March, a couple of weeks after a big snowstorm, and just before another one hit. The timing had nothing to do with stormy weather (though we lucked out on that) but in order to attend a BIG motorhome festival in Georgia on our way back.

As usual, the first couple of days were just get-there days. No touring, just keep moving (and keep ahead of the storm). We got a late start Saturday, and made Florence, SC the first night. We ate and stayed at the Cracker Barrel, which is becoming standard for us.

Sunday we headed for Cedar Key. After several hours of increasing traffic on I-95, Jean (the Navigodess) got us off onto US17, which parallels I-95 but is infinitely better. We pushed on through South Carolina and Georgia into Florida. Then across Florida. By 7:00 at night we had made it to Gainesville, where we gave up and hit another Cracker Barrel for supper and the night. A quiet, level space behind the building --- this one's a keeper.

Today we got a leisurely start. We decided to bag Cedar Key (we've been there) and head for Crystal River. After a short side trip due to missing a poorly-marked turn, we got to Crystal River about 1:00 and wound down. We walked around a little, admired a rough-and-ready reproduction of a sailing scow (gaff sloop), and went through the little museum at the visitor center.

Then back to town where we found a shady parking place in a mall parking lot and had a casual lunch.

It's a jungle out there

Across the street we took a short (.3 mile) hike on a boardwalk through the coastal jungle. Didn't spot any birds or other wildlife, but then it was the middle of the day.




















About 3:15 we found and checked in to the Chassahowitzka River Campground (say that five times fast) and Gene went about "summerizing" (more positive than "de-winterizing") the Roadtrek. All went more or less well until he got to the part of flushing out the anti-freeze and filling the lines with fresh water. Then all he got was a little spitting and a lot of air coming out of the faucet. After trying a number of different ideas, and taking a long walk, he tried re-setting the fresh water input to the pump. He must have put it on crooked when he removed the tube to the anti-freeze. It screwed on farther, and things seem to be working now. That must have been the source of the air leak.

We heard from the folks back home. After a 65 degree day yesterday, they have several inches of snow and an overnight forecast of 5 degrees. We had to decide whether or not to run the air conditioner. Location is everything.


Back in the saddle. More adventures tomorrow.

11 October 2013

Off and on rain, sometimes heavy, during the night. The weather radio forecast more rain and local flooding.

After a good breakfast in the restaurant, we headed out about 9:30. We ran in occasional rain all through what was left of Pennsylvania, then Maryland and West Virginia. Interstate 81 crosses those two states where they are very narrow. It took a little less than 40 minutes to go from Pennsylvania to Virginia.

Between Winchester and Harrisonburg we ran into heavy rain and fog, giving us some concern about the conditions we might meet on Afton Mountain. However, about Harrisonburg the weather cleared and we occasionally ran on dry pavement. The sky remained overcast and we could see that the mountain tops were in the clouds.

As it turned out, everything was clear when we crossed the Blue Ridge at Afton Mountain. The farther south we drove, the better the conditions became (though the clouds never cleared). We got home about 4:00.

The statistics: We were gone eight days
                       We drove a total of 1,861 miles

All told the trip, which actually consisted of just the Vermont portion of what was originally planned, was a great success --- even including the pump problems. Now we can look forward to the Eastern Shore part that we postponed.

10 October 2013

No pictures today. It is strictly a travel day and has heavy overcast. Eventually, it turned to off-and-on rain. We stopped at Target to pick up some supplies (which we may not need), and then jumped right on the interstate.

We are basically following the blue line; that is retracing our route north, which is shown on the GPS as a blue line. Seeing all the same stuff, but in reverse order.

Stopped for sandwiches and chips at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center, where Jean walked YumYum and Gene got a new map. Exciting stuff. Didn't know how far we would get today, but it turned out to be less than we had hoped. From about Harrisburg south we ran into very heavy, stop-and-go traffic. For about 50 miles we averaged 10-15 MPH. Finally dragged in to the Cracker Barrel in Carlyle about 6:10.

Ended up in a nice, level parking spot in a corner behind the restaurant. We had dinner in the Roadtrek, we will have breakfast in the restaurant.  Maybe home tomorrow if the traffic gods smile.

9 October 2013 --- Leif Ericksson Day

The day dawned foggy and cold, but the fog soon burned off and the day became pleasant. After breakfast in the van, we went down to the farm store and bought our maple syrup for the year as well as a couple of other things.

About 11:45 we headed out and went to the Plainfield Co-op (as per Amanda's advice). We needed to get some dog food for YumYum since the container we used didn't hold enough. The Co-op is a true country store in a old building with uneven floors. It is not very big, but contains an amazing variety of stuff, much of it found only in specialty stores. There are a lot of items sold in bulk (bring your own containers) and only a few examples of most packaged things. Besides the dog food, we got cheeses, bread, and some home-made cinnamon buns for breakfast.

Then back to Montpelier for lunch. We found on-street parking right downtown, and had a delicious lunch at the Skinny Pancake, a place that specializes in crepes. We are sorry to report that a chocolate croissant from Le Brioche (bakery for the New England Chef's Institute) was not as good as the ones from Fresh Market.

We decided to head for home, so we got onto Vermont 100 which is a scenic drive through the Green Mountains. The going was slow but the views were great.

In one of the passes, there is a small parking place beside the road and a path with a bridge to a waterfall. The last time we went this way we didn't see the fall until after we passed the parking. This time we were ready for it.





 We had planned on staying at the Walmart in Rutland, but when we got there we read a couple of chancy reviews of it and decided to press on to Bennington. The Walmart there said that they did not own the parking lot, and while they didn't care if we stayed there, we might get chased out by the police. Giving up on Walmarts, we opted for the nearest Cracker Barrel, which is in Clifton Park, NY. Putting the address into the GPS, we headed off into the (very beautiful) sunset. After traversing every conceivable back country road in the pitch-black night we arrived, exhausted at the Cracker Barrel about 7:40 at night. We elected to have supper in the restaurant.

I couldn't catch up on the blog afterwards because my phone battery was dead (and I use it as my portable hot spot). Thus I will need to catch up tomorrow.

8 October 2013

Jean & YumYum by the lake

 Everyone off to work, but the door was open and Alan had left some donuts on the counter, so that was breakfast. Went through morning chores casually, and Alan came home to wish us farewell (and lock the door) at 11:15

We did a little shopping in Burlington: Lake Champlain Chocolates (of course), TJ Maxx and Home Center for Jean, grocery store for Gene to buy some paper plates and water since the pump is turned off.

Then we headed toward Montpelier --- not on the freeway. Lovely drive through the Vermont countryside.

Partway there, we stopped at a cemetery and made a quick lunch. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny with the hills a mixture of colorful leaves and pines. A perfect Vermont day.

Driving through Richmond, we spotted a sign for the Round Church. This edifice was built in 1812 and served five denominations as well as being used for Town Meetings for about 160 years.





It was in the center of the town of Richmond until the railroad came through and the town center moved north to the tracks.






In Montpelier we found a parking place for the Roadtrek a couple of blocks from downtown. We walked to a couple of our favorite stores, Rivendell Books and a place that has an amazing collection of bumper stickers as well as old LPs and similar interesting stuff.

About 5:00 we headed out to Bragg Sugar Farm. They are a member of Harvest Hosts (as are we). These are farms and vineyards that provide free parking for member RVs. We had a good, level spot on the hill behind the farm store.

Another day in Paradise.