Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 51

We left the RV park about 9:00 am and after navigating through Tampa Bay traffic, we headed north and into the Florida panhandle.  We encountered some un-forecasted thunderstorms west of Tallahassee but by the time we reached our destination for the night in Milton, FL, just north of Pensacola, it was clear and sunny.

The RV park where we are staying, Avalon Landing RV Park, is right on Indian Bayou and just off of I-10.  Late this afternoon we took a short walk along a path and on a bridge over part of the bayou looking for birds.  We saw a few red-winged blackbirds, but no large water fowl like we had seen around the Tampa area.  It was a long ride today and we are going to bed early. We go on to Lafayette, LA tomorrow – to Bayou Wilderness RV Park where we stayed on our trip east.

Day 51

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 50

Today was our last baseball game.  The Phillies have two more games here before breaking camp and heading north, but we need to get on the road to make Judy’s doctor’s appointments in SF on April 8^th and 10^th.

The weather at the game was clear, a little cool (68 degrees) and breezy but an enjoyable experience for our last game here this year.  The Phillies played the Detroit Tigers and didn’t win, but they didn’t lose either - the game ended in a 4-4 tie.  They don’t normally play extra innings in spring training to break a tie.  After the game, we said goodbye to our spring training buddies (ushers, food service people and fans) and headed back to the RV.

After doing the laundry, we will go to bed early for our early departure in the morning.  Our goal tomorrow is the Florida Panhandle area north of Pensacola.  It has been a great trip but we are eager to hit the road and head home.

Day 50 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 49

Saturday, March 28th

When we woke up this morning the rain was gone and it was noticeably cooler.  The outside thermometer said 55 degrees.  The cold front had passed through and it was now sunny, cooler and a little breezy.

After our morning activities were completed, we decided to check out a huge indoor/outdoor flea market just down the road.  It was fun to walk around the place.  They had just about every kind of thing you would expect at a flea market, and more. A lot of it was low-end, used things as well as clothing and Dollar Store stuff from China and beyond.  They even had a building for used furniture, mattresses and appliances.  And, you could buy snakes, turtles, birds and puppies in the live animal section.  We also saw at least one optical shop where you could get your eyes examined before you bought their glasses.  We missed the dentist’s office booth and I think I saw a sign advertising colonoscopies, but it might have been in a building we didn’t get to.  There were also several guns and ammo booths selling a range of weaponry up to the AR-15 assault rifle level, and maybe more heavy-duty stuff out back in their vans. There was certainly something for everyone, including live entertainment with a C&W singer singing Johnny Cash songs with electronic accompaniment and a food court with carnival midway kind of food selections. We did buy some fresh produce and a few other little things, but passed on the big items like the Tiki-Tacky bamboo bars and rattan furniture with appropriate beach/jungle accessories to decorate our RV (or home) patio.

Our plan was to go over to Dunedin and watch the sunset over the gulf one more time, but we got involved in starting to get things ready for breaking camp and decided to stay “home”.  Our last game is tomorrow, then we will get back to the RV to finish getting ready to depart for our real home early Monday morning.

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 48

It rained a little last night but was just partly cloudy when we got up this morning.  We went to Lenny’s again for another mega breakfast before the game. As always, it was too much food but we will be getting back to normal pretty soon.  Lenny’s is a happy place; we even had a few Yankees fans there because the Phillies were playing them today.  They also regularly have a balloon guy there who goes from table to table making anything you request out of balloons.  He works for tips and we have seen a lot of his amazing creations.  After breakfast, we also stopped at the Brooklyn Knish place and bought a few for the road home.

The weather forecast for the game was not good.  A cold front was predicted to pass through the area in the afternoon with a 50-80% chance of rain and thunderstorms.  The skies were dark at the start of the game with occasional light showers.  The game made it into the 5^th inning before the skies opened up and it began to rain hard.  Mercifully for us, the game was ended as the Phillies were already losing 10-0 with no comeback in sight.

Eileen, Linda and their friend Karen were at the game and we all decided to go over to Dunedin for an early dinner.  We went to the Café Alfresco again and had another excellent meal. Eileen and Linda are leaving for home on Sunday so we said good bye at the restaurant.  They came down to Florida with their car on a train and are going back the same way.

We’ll be working around the RV tomorrow and maybe going to a huge flea market just down the road.  Our last game is on Sunday, then we leave for home early Monday morning.

Day 48 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 47

It was overcast this morning when we got up but the forecast looked pretty good so we decided to go to the beach. We wanted to get in another beach day before we left and today was our last chance to do so.

We ran a few errands then headed over to the beach in Fred Howard Park near Tarpon Springs. We had been there before but had not spent any time on the beach.  The beach is not real large and wasn’t too crowded; it is not a spring break destination. The sun came out and it was partly cloudy but windy as we waded in the water a little and relaxed in the sun.  After a while, we moved our beach chairs into the shade under the palm trees at the edge of the beach and relaxed some more into the afternoon.

After a very enjoyable time at the beach we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at a riverfront restaurant in Tarpon Springs, Captain Jacks. The restaurant is a typical area beach restaurant, open air, tiki bar, casual dining, lots of food selections with a seafood emphasis, many kinds of draft beer and tropical drinks and live music (Jimmy Buffett genre).   We had a nice meal (fish tacos and a grouper sandwich) then drove back to the RV for the evening.

There is another baseball game tomorrow and the forecast is for thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we’ll see how it goes.  We are also planning to go back to Lenny’s for breakfast again and pick up a few Brooklyn knishes for the return trip.  Saturday, we will start to get organized for breaking camp and maybe visit the large flea market here.  There is one more game on Sunday.

Day 47 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 46

The Phillies played the Houston Astro’s today.  The Astro’s spring training complex is over near Orlando at Kissammee, a two hour bus ride to Clearwater, so they didn’t bring a lot of their veteran players (a spring training seniority perk).  It didn’t seem to matter though, as they beat the Phillies playing most of their first team by a score of 7-1.  It looks like it is going to be a long year for the Phillies.

We ran a few errands after the game and had dinner in the RV (hamburgers cooked on the grill).  We are planning to go to the beach tomorrow for one last time before we leave for home.  The next baseball game is on Friday with the Yankees.  Eileen and Linda will also be there for their last game before they leave for home. 

Day 46 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 45

We drove down to Myakka River State Park this morning to take in the wildlife and nature tours.  The park is just south of Sarasota and about 10 miles inland from I-75, a major North/South Florida highway.  The park is only 65 miles away but the trip took almost 2 hours due to heavy Tampa Bay rush hour traffic.  It seems like the traffic is worse this year and every red light wait is longer.  A highlight of the trip was going over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over the entrance to Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg to Bradenton.  It is a beautiful bridge, very elegant, yet functional – and the toll is only $1.25.

Myakka River State Park is one of Florida’s largest, oldest, and diverse state parks.  It consists of over 58 square miles of wetlands, prairies, hammocks and pinelands.  The Myakka River runs through the park with two shallow rain-fed lakes that attract a myriad of wetland creatures making birding, canoeing, fishing and wildlife observation popular activities. The park is also home to an abundance of alligators, with apparently 500–1000 of them roaming the lakes and wetlands in the park.  The park is also overrun with wild pigs who cause a lot of environmental damage due to their digging for roots and acorns, as well as excessive breeding (3 litters a year, with 6 -12 piglets each).  The park rangers take out about a 1000 of them a year but are still losing ground in their eradication efforts.

The park area was also once one of Florida’s largest dry prairies.  Over the years, cattle grazing and the policy of fire exclusion had caused the area to become overgrown with scrub brush, saw palmetto, and other invasive vegetation.  Eventually, people realized how important frequent fire was in preserving the prairie grass lands. The park now regularly performs prescribed burning to help preserve and restore the prairie lands.  The area is also subject to frequent lightning-caused fires that are subject to selective fire-fighting efforts.

The first tour we went on was a tour of the lake on a large air boat.  The boat holds up to 75 people and lumbers along at a full speed of 6 mph.  Our tour was full and lasted about an hour.  We headed across the lake and cruised along the shore, seeing alligators and several kinds of birds.  The tour was narrated and provided a lot of information about the area, the wildlife and an especially detailed description of alligator lore.  The tour was not as exciting as previous swamp tours we have taken on smaller airboats through the bayous, but was nevertheless very interesting.  And we did see a number of gators.

After the boat tour, we had lunch at the restaurant run by the concessionaire who provides the tours and kayak and canoe rentals in the park.  We had a decent lunch then boarded the tram for an off-road tour of a portion of the park.  The tour was narrated by the guide who was towing passenger trailers with a pick-up truck.  We saw more gators, learned about the history of the park, its various types of vegetation, and the types of birds and other wildlife that live there.  We didn’t see any other wild life although we did observe some of the typical damage caused by the wild pigs who normally forage at night and in the early morning.  This tour was also not extremely exciting, but we learned a lot and it was worth the trip.

After the tour we had an ice cream cone at the restaurant and drove out to a nearby bird observation platform on the lake before heading back to the RV.  Again, we fought the rush hour traffic, now going in the other direction, arriving at the RV park around 5:30 pm.  We had a causal dinner in the RV after resting a bit then retired early.

Baseball again tomorrow – three games to go before we leave next Monday.

Day 45 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 44

Monday, March 23rd

We awoke this morning to heavy rain, but as the morning progressed, the rain decreased and we left for the game.  When we arrived, the field was still covered and the field lights were on.  As game time approached however, the rain stopped and the game began with only a 15 minute delay.  By the end of the game, the sun was out, with only a few clouds in the sky.  It was also a good game for the Phillies as they won 3-0 against the Minnesota Twins.

We returned to the RV after the game.  I went out for a few groceries and brought home a pizza for dinner.  It was another quiet evening and a planned early-to-bed tonight.  We are going to drive about an hour south to visit a state park near Sarasota and take a swamp/lake tour and maybe a wildlife tram tour through the park.  It might be a bit “hokey”, but sounds interesting, so we’ll see how it goes.

Day 44 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 43

Sunday, March 22

Not too much to report today.  We slept in and had a late breakfast.  I cooked bacon on the grill and Judy made pancakes.  After breakfast, we did laundry (I helped carry and fold things).  All of a sudden it was mid-afternoon, so we just relaxed around the RV for the rest of the day, although I did start working on the itinerary for our return trip which starts next Monday.  We grilled steaks and cooked baked potatoes on the grill for dinner then relaxed some more before retiring for the evening.

It looks like tomorrow will be an off-and-on rainy day as a front moves through.  We’ll have to wait and see if the weather will have an impact on the game tomorrow. Rainfall around here seems to vary quite a bit from location to location as it is mostly thunderstorm/rain squall type of precipitation and can be quite localized.

No pictures today.

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 42

It was “Alumni Day” at the ballpark today.  Forty former Phillies were honored prior to the game and they circulated throughout the park, talking to people and signing autographs.  They were also individually introduced and thanked for their contributions to the Phillies over the years. They were not all stars in their time with the team, but they made it to the major leagues, every serious baseball player’s dream.  It was a nice touch on the part of the Phillies and a day to be remembered by the fans.  That is, except for the game, as they lost 6-3 to the Toronto Blue Jays.

We stopped for a few groceries after the game and had dinner in the RV tonight.  We don’t have any sightseeing planned for tomorrow and are going to just relax in the RV.  It is laundry day however and we may check out a huge flea market nearby if we get around to doing so.  We are getting down to our last week here.  There are four games left before we leave, so next week will be pretty busy.

Day 42 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 41

We drove over to the Heritage Village in Largo this morning.  It is located adjacent to the Botanical Garden we previously visited and is also a Pinellas County Government Program.  The Village is essentially a living history museum of Pinellas County’s history and heritage.  There are 31 historical structures and features in the 21 acre park.  There is a visitors center with exhibits featuring historical furnishings and antiques of Pinellas County residents from the 1920’s and earlier as well as an exhibit of Florida tourism, citrus growing, and other economic activities during later years.

We started our tour of the grounds with a visit to “The House of Seven Gables,” a 13-room Victorian home typical of upper middle-class residents.  A volunteer docent led a tour of the house, describing it as once belonging to a wealthy businessman from Illinois who used the house during winter months – an early snowbird.

All the houses and structures in the village have been relocated from their original sites in Pinellas County and many have been extensively restored.  Most of the furniture and belongings in the buildings are not original, but have been included to represent typical furnishings of that particular type of building and time period.

We toured most of the buildings open to the public while we were there.  Some were closed, still being restored or repaired.  A highlight of the tour was a house used by a local quilting group, The Cracker Quilting Guild. There were many excellent quilts on display as well as examples of the different types of quilting, weaving, and other fabric art equipment and tools.

 

The Village is an excellent educational resource for Florida residents and visitors that has preserved a glimpse of Florida, and especially Pinellas County’s, history and cultural heritage.  Even the dark days of segregation and Jim Crow laws have not been ignored and the exhibits offer a balanced look at Florida’s past history.

After the visit, it was then time for a late lunch, so we drove over to nearby Indian Rocks Beach and ate at Crabby Bills, a popular restaurant across the street from the beach.  It is a typical beach restaurant with inside and outside eating and bar venues.  I had an excellent grouper sandwich and Judy had she-crab soup and a salad.

After lunch, it was getting late in the day but we still felt pretty good and decided to visit the Largo Nature Preserve, about 5 miles away.  The preserve is part of Largo Central Park, a city park in the middle of the urban sprawl between Tampa and St. Petersburg. A natural lowlands area, it is an oasis for many different types of birds, wildlife and human activities. We took the ½ mile nature walk on a trail along a canal, water ponds and through wooded areas.  The trail was actually a wide, paved access road marked for walkers, runners and bicycle riders.  We saw several types of birds, a large turtle and several fish in the shallow water.  We didn’t see any gators but we assumed they were there and could have been watching us.  It was a pleasant walk and another good example of Florida’s natural habitat - a good way to end a busy day of sightseeing.

After returning to the RV we skipped dinner again, since we had had such a late lunch, and settled for drinks and hors d’oeuvres instead.  Baseball again tomorrow. 

Day 41 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 40

Today didn’t exactly work out as we planned. Judy had a problem putting in her contacts this morning and one eye became inflamed and irritated.  So, we called the ER and they referred her to their Opthalmologist on call.  She got an appointment for 3:30 pm and since we got a late start, we didn’t have enough time to visit the Heritage Village as planned. So, “Plan B” was implemented.

We then decided to drive over to Dunedin and get a copy of the x-ray slides from her ER visit last week.  After that, we stayed for a late lunch in Dunedin.  We went to Flanagan’s Irish Pub and had an excellent lunch.  I had a light meal of “Bangers and Mash” – Irish pork sausage, mashed potatoes, grilled onions, and Guinness gravy.  Judy had a vegetarian flatbread platter and a cup of onion soup. Everything was excellent and I also had a glass of Irish beer (Harp) which was also very good. After lunch, we walked down the to the ice cream shop for dessert.

After lunch, it was about time to go the doctor’s office. After a bit of a wait, Judy was diagnosed with a slight scratch of her cornea (not the one that was just replaced).  She got a prescription for an antibiotic and will not be able to put that lens back in for 10 days.  After getting the prescription filled, we came back to the RV.  Since we had had a late lunch, we skipped dinner and settled for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on the patio.

Tomorrow we are going to try again to tour the Heritage Village and Largo Nature Preserve.

Day 40 Pictures 

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 39

We slept in a little today, took our time getting ready and drove up to Tarpon Springs for lunch and to check-out a nearby beach for a future expedition.

We had lunch at Dimitri’s, a Greek restaurant on the “Sponge Docks” where we have eaten before.  We had excellent Greek food and I had a Greek beer that was really pretty good.  While we were eating outside, a Great Heron was walking around just outside the eating area. Eventually, the proprietor came over and tossed what appeared to be several pieces of raw fish to the bird.  I think the bird had been there before - beats fishing I guess.

After lunch, we walked down the main street along the water.  This area specializes in selling sponges that are harvested by sponge divers in the nearby waters.  The area is a popular tourist destination and offers lots of sponges for sale, typical tourist souvenirs and many Greek restaurants.  There are also several Greek bakeries with a wide assortment of delicious pastries.  We bought some Baklava and cookies to eat later.

The beach we visited after lunch is the Fred Howard County Park and Beach, another outstanding Pinellas County park.  It is a 155 acre park with picnic areas, walking paths, scenic vistas and grassy areas shaded by old-growth oak trees.  The beach is on a small island in the Gulf connected to the park by a mile-long causeway.  Our plan is to schedule a beach day there next week if everything works out.

We then travelled to Dunedin for our sunset cruise, departing at 5:30 pm.  We arrived a little early and decided to have a drink at the outside bar at the end of the Dunedin pier.  We had excellent Pina Colada’s while listening to a musician playing guitar and singing Jimmy Buffet songs.

The 2 ½ hour cruise was on an open-sided boat that carried about 35 persons and included unlimited drinks, including beer, sangria, rum punch and cheap white wine.  We accompanied a happy group of mostly middle-aged or older tourists who, because of the unlimited drinks, felt even happier when the cruise was over.  We went south through Clearwater Bay, through Sand Key Pass to the Gulf, then North to Honeymoon Island, through Hurricane Pass, and back to Dunedin.  The cruise was very pleasant until we turned into the Gulf where the water became rougher.

We saw a lot of neat things on the cruise, osprey nests close by on channel markers, dolphins (also close) chasing the boat and jumping out of the water, views of many of the places and restaurants we have visited, several celebrity houses and another pretty sunset.  We arrived back in Dunedin after dark and decided to skip dinner since we had had a big lunch as well as letting our stomachs settle a little after the rough water in the Gulf.

The plan for tomorrow is for more sightseeing at the Heritage Village adjacent to the botanical garden we visited last week.  If we have time and feel like it, we also plan to visit a nearby nature preserve.

Day 39 - Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 38

It was St. Patrick’s Day at the ball park today.  The Phillies wore green uniforms, the fans wore lots of green Phillies garb, the green beer flowed and Irish music was in the air.  Even the Phillies Phanatic had his green shirt on.  Alas, the “Luck of the Irish” did not help the Phillies as they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3.  It was a fun time however and we were treated to the U.S. Special Operations Command Parachute Team (Para-Commandos) based at nearby McDill AFB, parachuting onto the field before the game, one carrying the American Flag , another with the Phillies flag.  There are a lot of Irish heritage residents of the Philadelphia area so the green theme was well received by the fans.  I also didn’t see anyone wearing orange, which is the anti-Catholic Irish color of the pro-British residents of Northern Ireland. Wearing orange on St. Patrick’s Day used you get you “pinched”.  This quaint custom is now usually frowned upon in the workplace and other public venues.

Eileen and her friend Linda were also at the game today and came over to the RV park after the game to see the park and our RV set-up. They have had a busy schedule sightseeing and keeping up with Eileen’s visiting daughters so they decided to not go out to dinner with us and went back to rest this evening at their place at New Port Ritchey.

After they left, we went over to Dunedin for the annual Flanagan’s Pub St. Patrick’s Day Street Festival.  A large portion of the downtown area around the city park is closed off and food booths, beer tents, and music venues provide Irish fare, lots of beer and continuous Irish music performed on multiple stages.  There were lots of people there, mostly wearing green and having a good time.  There were also a lot of families, but as the evening progresses, the crowd generally becomes more orientated towards the hard core celebrants.  Security had the area well under control, with barriers around the area where alcohol can be consumed inside. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department even had a unique command and control center raised into the air on a cherry picker sort of device where they could survey the entire venue from above and direct resources if needed.  We didn’t see any problems; everyone seemed to be having a good time and enjoying the great weather. We didn’t stay to the end though, and decided to have dinner at the Café Alfresco, just outside the event area rather than eat Irish food in the park.

 

After dinner we came back to the RV after another long but enjoyable day.  There is no baseball for three days so the plan is to relax a little and do a little more sightseeing.

Day 38 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 37

We saw the “Bad Phillies” today.  They lost 16-4 with their best pitcher, Cole Hamels, giving up 5 runs in the first two innings.  On the brighter side, the weather remained great with a temperature of 80 degrees and little humidity under sunny skies.  We each had ballpark pizza for lunch (not bad) with a shared frozen lemonade followed by a beer and peanuts later in the game.

After the game we came back to the RV park, Judy had a short nap and then we ate a late dinner of leftovers from recent restaurant adventures.  Tomorrow is the big St. Patrick’s Day game against the Tampa Bay Rays.  There will be lots of green in the park, including the Phillies uniforms and a green beer option I am sure (and maybe even green hot dogs).  It should be a sell-out and a fun time in the park.  Possibly the Phillies will win – there is always hope.

My sister Eileen and her friend Linda will join us at the game tomorrow and we plan to go into Dunedin after the game to observe/participate in the St. Patrick's Day festivities centered around Flanagen's Irish Pub.

Day 37 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 36

It was a great day for baseball!  The weather was perfect – 80 degrees, little humidity, and a breeze.  And the Phillies won, 11-4.

Not much else to report today.  After the game we came back to the RV and did the laundry.  Dinner tonight was Brooklyn knishes and a salad.  We had a visitor in our “yard” this afternoon – a white ibis.

More baseball tomorrow and Tuesday.  The weather forecast remains the same – temperature in the high 70’s/low 80’s and sunny to partly cloudy. 

Day 36 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 35

We travelled over to Apollo Beach, a small town on the east side of Tampa Bay (a 20-mile drive) to see Manatees at a viewing center at a power plant discharge pond. Eileen, Linda and Eileen’s daughter Amy met us there.  They had previously visited Homosassa Springs State Park north of here to view manatees, where there were only a few in an enclosed area visible from the stream bank.  However, the best manatee viewing is by kayak in the numerous inlets and bayous in the park.  They were unable to tour by kayak so they decided a visit to the power station might be a better option.

The manatees are native to Florida and are a protected species.  They are herbivore mammals, need a warm water habitat and are slow moving and very gentle.  Some refer to them as the “hamburger of the ocean”.  Why the power station discharge pond?  Here is an excerpt from the Tampa Electric (TECO) website”:

“Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach delivered reliable electricity to the community for 16 years before the commercial operation of Big Bend Unit 4 in 1986. That year, people started seeing manatees in large numbers in the power station's discharge canal, where saltwater – taken from Tampa Bay to cool Unit 4 – flowed, clean and warm, back to the bay. When Tampa Bay reached 68 degrees or colder, the mammals would seek out this new refuge. The Manatee Viewing Center was soon born. Today, Big Bend's discharge canal is a state and federally designated manatee sanctuary that provides critical protection from the cold for these unique, gentle animals.”

As the water temperature in Tampa Bay and other natural habitats along the northern part of the west coast of Florida has already warmed up his spring, there were not a lot of manatees to view today.  We saw 2 or 3, mostly just below the water and when they periodically came up for air.  Eileen’s daughter Amy was here in January and literally saw several hundred crowded in the discharge pond to enjoy the warmer water.

The viewing center is very popular and there were many visitors there today.  They have an environmental educational center with a lot of hands-on displays which are focused on environmental protection around the manatee theme.  There is also a walkway out along the edge of the discharge canal.  We also saw several other types of fish including tarpon and black-fin sharks.

After visiting the center it was time for lunch and our options appeared to be limited in what was essentially an industrial and commercial pier area.  There was a small snack bar at the center but we decided to look around town.  Someone at the center recommended going down the road into the town of Apollo Beach which we did.  The town appears to be mostly residential houses and condominiums with water access into Tampa Bay.  We did find a nice restaurant called Circles on the waterfront near a marina.  We had a leisurely lunch and all of a sudden it was after 3:00 pm.  So, we decided to skip the “River O’Green Festival” and headed back to the RV park through heavy weekend traffic near downtown Tampa.  Eileen, Linda and Amy went on to the Bird Sanctuary in Sand Beach; we will see them again on St. Patrick’s Day.  After picking up a few groceries, we ate dinner in the RV.

More baseball tomorrow.  The Phillies won again today in an away game with Detroit.  That’s four in a row, but seasonal expectations still remain low at this point.

Day 35 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 34

We met my sister Eileen, her friend Linda and Eileen’s daughter Amy at the game today.  We joined them for a portion of the game in the section below us where they had their seats. They had two extra tickets that had been reserved for friends that couldn’t attend at the last minute.  While sitting there and talking to an extended family from PA in adjoining seats, I discovered that one of them attended the same high school as Judy and I, graduating in 1959, two years after we did.  Also, the other day I was talking to a lady in a seat next to us who lives in Philadelphia but used to live in Forest Hill, near Auburn, CA.  It’s a small world.

After the game we all went out to dinner.   We decided to go back to the Columbia Restaurant south of Clearwater Beach.  With some apprehension, we headed towards the beach.  There was the “getting out of the ballpark” traffic, rush hour, spring break congestion, Friday night traffic and a lot of other people also going to the beach – a perfect storm!  It took over an hour to get out of the ball park and travel the 7 miles to the restaurant.  Luckily, we had made our reservation with a comfortable cushion in anticipation of potential delays.  In retrospect, it was a wise move as we got there just before our reservation time.  We had another great dinner on the patio and made it back to the RV a lot quicker than it took to drive over there.

More sightseeing tomorrow.  We are going over to Tampa to view a manatee sanctuary near a power plant discharge pond (they like warm water).  After that, we are going to attend “The Mayor’s River O’Green Fest”.  The Hillsborough River is dyed green for the day near a city park where the fest is held with food trucks, Irish faire and live entertainment, etc.  Sounds like fun.

Day 34 Pictures

Florida/Arizona Trip - Day 33

Judy had her follow-up appointment this morning with an orthopedic doctor associated with the hospital where she went to the ER last Saturday.  The doctor didn’t have much more to add that we didn’t already know.  He gave her a new prescription for the pain medicine and another for a muscle relaxant.  If it is not completely better by the time we get home, he recommended additional treatment should be coordinated with her primary care doctor and oncologist.

After the doctor’s appointment, we travelled to Largo, just south of Clearwater.  It is a separate city but you cannot tell where one starts and stops due to the urban sprawl and congestion.  We wanted to check out the other RV park in the Largo area previously mentioned.  As expected, it is not any better than where we are presently staying.

The Florida Botanical Gardens is nearby so we decided to visit it after a fast food lunch.  The gardens are an official Pinellas County program and managed in conjunction with the University of Florida/Pinellas County Extension.  The welcome center is staffed by county staff and trained volunteers who offer a variety of services to constituents regarding vegetation management, best gardening practices, invasive non-native plant eradication and other topics impacting the outdoor lives of the citizens of Pinellas County.

The main attraction for most visitors is the Botanical Garden, which covers 92 acres of land with 2.5 miles of nature trails through formal settings, tropical landscapes and native habitats.  One of the settings is a formal garden that is used for weddings and other outside events.  We visited most of the settings but didn’t walk all the trails.  It was very hot and humid so we had to pace ourselves accordingly.  The gardens are a very nice attraction that provide a beautiful setting but also offer a lot of educational opportunities for school children as well as other visitors.  Admission is free, as it is a government sponsored project.  Volunteers run the gift shop in the welcome center with lots of garden-related things for sale.  There is also an adjacent attraction called the Heritage Village. It is a living history museum with 31 historical structures on 21 acres with interactive activities and hands-on exhibits. It is also a local government project with free admission.  It looks interesting and we may visit it before we depart for home.

We still had some energy left so we decided to revisit the bird sanctuary we had previously visited on prior trips.  The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, is run by a non-profit organization and staffed by volunteers.  It was only about 5 miles away and didn’t take too long to get there. Injured sea birds are brought to the sanctuary and either treated until they can be released back into the wild or kept at the facility if their injuries preclude release.  The facility is very small and is tucked between high-rise condominiums/hotel resorts on both sides.  It is right on the beach though and has direct access to the Gulf.  The facility also seems to have become a haven for other non-injured birds as many are flying freely among the trees or walking on the grounds.

On the way back we stopped at the Columbia Restaurant, one of our favorite lunch/dinner venues in the area.  It is located in Sand Key, just south of Clearwater Beach.  The original restaurant was opened in 1905 by Cuban-Americans and serves excellent Spanish and Cuban food; they now have 5 restaurants in Florida.  The original restaurant is in Ybor City, north of Tampa and once home to the Cuban cigar industry in America.  We had a nice early dinner of tapas and a pitcher of Sangria on the patio.  After dinner, we endured rush hour traffic back to the RV park and retired early after a long and busy, but very enjoyable day. 

Day 33 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 32

On the way to the baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates we stopped at the Brooklyn Knish shop across the street from the ball park.  They had a food concession at the park the last few years but didn’t this year.  Their knishes are very good and we were disappointed when they weren’t there this year.  We tracked down their shop, stopped there today to pick up some knishes for dinner some evening. 

The game was a good one for the Phillies; they won 3-2.  Although the game was officially over after the Pirates were out in the top of the ninth inning, the Phillies and Pirates agreed to play the bottom half of the ninth inning for additional pitching and batting practice. The Phillies are also conducting additional batting practice after the games for those players who didn’t play in the game and for some of the players who did but didn’t get any hits.  So far, I am not sure any of that is working very well since they are not getting many hits this spring.

After the game we decided to check out three other RV parks in the area.  None are any better than where we are staying.  We have one other to check out tomorrow but don’t expect anything different than what we saw today.  When we were finished looking at RV parks, we were near Dunedin so we decided to eat out again.  We tried a new place, Pensaro, a wine bar and Italian bistro in downtown Dunedin.  We split a bruschetta appetizer, Judy had soup and a salad and I couldn’t resist the Linguine and clams.  We also each had a glass of pretty good house wine.

After dinner, sunset was imminent, so we went down to the end of the Dunedin pier to watch the sun go down over Clearwater Beach to the west. We also each had an Irish coffee for dessert from the hotel bar next to the pier as the sun was setting.  Life is tough here on the vacation frontier.

No ball game tomorrow so we are planning to do some sightseeing.  Judy also has a follow-up appointment with an orthopedic doctor tomorrow morning regarding her sciatica event last Saturday.  The pain is a lot better but she still has numbness in her left leg.

Day 32 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 31

We arrived at the ball park about 11:00 am today, had our complementary bloody marys, talked to our usher buddies and took a short walk around the park.  Judy did not walk all the way around as she is still nursing her sore leg.  Lunch was Italian sausage sandwiches with the “works” (onions and peppers) and a shared lemonade.  The weather was excellent – 84 degrees, lots of sun and little wind.  Alas, the game was not as good.  The Phillies only had 5 hits and lost 6-0 to the Detroit Tigers.  A disturbing trend is emerging.  The team cannot hit and shows little life.  It may be a long season for their long-suffering fans, but we still have hope the season will not be a complete disaster.

Dinner was in the RV after drinks and snacks on the patio.  We had pizza for dinner tonight, nothing fancy, but very good.

Day 31 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 30

We went to the beach today, travelling over to Honeymoon Island State Park, just north of Dunedin.  From there we took the ferry over to Caladesi Island, a small island managed by the Florida Park Service. The ferry ride takes about 15 minutes and is just for passengers, as vehicles are not permitted on the island.  There is a public marina, a concession stand and several picnic areas.  You can also rent kayaks, but the main attraction is a 4-mile beach on the Gulf of Mexico side of the island.  It is a great beach for looking for sea shells as there are many different varieties and a lot of them.

We have been to the island twice before and have always enjoyed dipping our toes in the water, beach walking and just relaxing in beach chairs under an umbrella you can rent while there. To keep the crowd moving I guess, your stay on the island is limited to 4 hours.  You can actually stay longer or leave earlier if you want to but your return ticket is only guaranteed for the specific 4 hour time period after you arrived. Other departure times are on a space available basis.  During the season (now) the ferries run every half hour so it has never been a problem for us to leave early or stay late.  They keep track of how many people depart and arrive the island and the count has to match at the end of the day.  The only people who can spend the night are state park staff, maybe a few concessionaire employees and people sleeping on their boats in the marina.

Four hours was about right for us today so we were back on the ferry at 2:30 pm with our obligatory bag of sea shells found on the beach. Its’ not like we needed more sea shells but it’s sort of like going to Mardi Gras and catching beads. Perhaps it’s the thrill of the hunt or something.

After we got back to the mainland we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at another Frenchy’s Restaurant just off of the causeway from Honeymoon Island State Park.  We then came back to the RV, planning to go to bed early tonight.  We will get back to baseball tomorrow and Wednesday.  The weather remains good but the humidity is starting to increase.

Day 30 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 29

We didn’t go anywhere today.  Judy was resting her leg although she did do the laundry (I helped carry things).  She is feeling pretty good and the pain medicine is helping. 

My big project for today was to unhook the RV and drive up to the office and get the propane tank in the RV refilled.  We had about 1/3 of a tank left but we would have to have filled it before we leave for home. We are not using that much propane and try and do most of the cooking outside.  We also don’t use the propane heater in the RV, but use a small electric space heater for heat if needed. The only consistent use is the hot water heater. Today was a good day to deal with refilling the tank and one less thing to do before we break camp. 

We spent the rest of the day reading and cooked steaks on the grill for dinner.  More reading after dinner and then to bed.

No pictures today.

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 28

Judy awoke this morning with a sharp pain in her lower back and hip and a numbness running down her leg to her foot.  So, we went to the ER at the hospital in Dunedin to have it checked out.  It was diagnosed as pressure on the sciatic nerve (sciatica).  They did a complete series of pelvic and back x-rays and confirmed there was no fracture or disc compression.  The treatment is prescription pain medication, heavy duty IBP, taking it easy and no heavy lifting, etc.  We were in the ER (they call it the Fast Track area down here) for about 4 hours, leaving there about 2:00 pm.  The facility at the hospital was very nice and the medical staff competent and attentive.  The medicine quickly kicked in and Judy is not feeling very much pain this evening, although there is still some numbness in the leg.

Since we didn’t go to the game today (It was a lousy game anyway – the Phillies lost again 4-2), we decided to have a late lunch in Dunedin followed by an ice cream cone and a short walk down to the city pier.

We were back to the RV by 5:00 pm and skipped dinner since we had just eaten lunch.  The next baseball game is Tuesday but we’ll see how Judy feels before we make any plans for the next two days.

Day 28 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 27

We left the RV park a little early this morning to have breakfast at Lenny’s.  The place is always crowded on game days and, as expected, we had about a one-half hour wait to get seated.  The menu is extensive with huge portions and lots of east coast food selections.  The crowd was mostly Phillies fans with a few Yankee fans here-and-there.  A roving balloon-guy was also making the rounds making funny balloon hats and animals for the kids and the young-at-heart.

It was cloudy again this morning and the forecast was for partly cloudy skies with a 10% chance of rain.  When we arrived at the stadium the temperature was 69 degrees, overcast and the stadium lights were on.  It started to drizzle just before the game started and turned to rain by the second inning.  They finally stopped the game in the third inning and put the tarp on the field.  We decided not to hang around during the rain delay so we left and came back to the RV.  The rain finally stopped at the stadium and the game resumed after a one hour delay, but we didn’t go back.  They lost anyway, 4-1.

It remained cloudy the rest of the day and the threat of more rain still exists.  So much for the 10% chance of rain.  We went out for comfort food tonight at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant down the road.  It is much cooler tonight and still drizzling.

Day 27 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 26

Well, we didn’t make it to the beach today.  We slept in again and took our time getting up and having breakfast.  It was also pretty gloomy this morning, not cold, but overcast and it cleared up in the early afternoon.

So, we “stayed home” today.  Pat continued to work on his on-going issues with the wireless printer and Judy relaxed, reading and sewing and offering encouragement about the printer issue (i.e., why don’t you just buy a new printer?” etc.).  The problem was finally resolved by connecting the printer to the computer with a cable.  Electronic mysteries win again, although I think the problem is with the RV park Internet server.

We ran a couple of errands after lunch and finished the afternoon off with cool drinks at the local Starbucks.  Dinner was spaghetti and salad in the RV.

The baseball game tomorrow is with the NY Yankees again.  The plan is to have a late breakfast at Lenny’s before the game.  It is a local restaurant near the ball park that caters to Phillies fans and features Philadelphia food choices (e.g. six kinds of sausage, scrapple, pork roll, etc. on the breakfast menu, all served in extra large portions.) The complementary Danish baskets however are excellent.  The waitresses all call you “Hon” and have east coast accents.  If you are down here from Philadelphia for the baseball and warmer winter weather, you feel right at home.

No pictures today.

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 25

Not much to report today.  We slept in, Judy got her nails done and we both got haircuts.  We ate lunch out and came back to the RV.  I am struggling with getting my computer to talk to my portable wireless printer and wasted much of the afternoon trying to get it do so without success.

Dinner was hamburgers in the RV after tequila, wine and appetizers on the patio.  We’re thinking about going to the beach tomorrow, but we’ll see in the morning.  That is the great thing about retirement, you can usually be flexible without having to rearrange your schedule and worry about what you didn’t do.

Here are a few pictures from around the RV park:

Day 25 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 24

More baseball today.  The Phillies played the NY Yankees in the pre-season opener for both teams.  The weather was great, 85–90 degrees, sunny and no wind.  There was also a good crowd - a mix of Phillies and Yankees fans all having a good time.

My sister, Eileen, her friend Linda and one of her daughters and her family are staying in New Port St. Richey this month and also came to the game today.  My sister, who lives in New Jersey, is a Yankees fan but my niece and her husband, who live in Pennsylvania, are Phillies fans.  Everyone came away more or less happy as the game ended in a 5-5 tie (extra innings are normally not played in spring training).

After the game, we all went over to Clearwater Beach to one of our favorite beach restaurants, Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill, for dinner and to watch the sunset.  My niece’s small children also had a good time playing on the beach while we waited to get seated.  My sister’s other daughter and her friend, who were also in Florida this week, joined us at the restaurant but could not stay for dinner as they had to leave for the Tampa airport for their flight back to Philadelphia.

Our next game is Friday.  Wednesday is an R&R day.  Judy is getting her nails done and I will be catching up with first-of-the month paperwork.  Thursday looks like a beach day.  The weather forecast for at least the next week is clear to partly cloudy skies with the temperature in the mid- 70’s.

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 23

We slept in today until about 7:00 am.  I finished setting-up our outside stuff and Judy did laundry.  I also drove over to a local Camping World about 15 miles away to pick-up a few things.  All of a sudden it was 5:00 pm and time for tequila and wine on the patio.  After that, I cooked a pork tenderloin and baked potatoes on the grill outside for dinner, accompanied by a good Sonoma red wine.

Tomorrow is the first official spring training game against the Yankees.   Eileen, Linda, Allison, Dan and their kids will be there and maybe we all go out to dinner afterwards.

No pictures today but tomorrow for sure.

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 22

We slept in a little today, had breakfast, and left for our first baseball game about 10:30 am.  The park is about 15 minutes away, but we got there early, walked around the park and had lunch.

This was the first game of the spring training season for the Phillies.  They played a college team from The University of Tampa, a top-rated Division II baseball team.  The Phillies did not play any of their regular players and the ones playing today were rookies, minor leaguers, and non-roster invitees to spring training.  Few if any are expected to be on the major league roster when the season starts.  So, perhaps as expected, the Phillies lost to a very good local college team, 6-2.

It seemed like most of the fans in the park today were Tampa University fans.  They also brought a pep band and two cheer squads.  It was a good day for the Tampa fans and not an auspicious start for what almost everyone seems to think will be a bad year for the Phillies.

We ran a few errands after the game and returned to the RV for dinner.  Our plan for tomorrow is to finish setting up our site, do laundry, and first-of-the month paperwork.  The next game is Tuesday against the Yankees.  Eileen, Linda, Allison, Dan and their kids will also be at the game and possibly go out to dinner with us afterwards.

Day 22 Pictures