Back To Myakka

Sunday January 11- Its a good day to travel. No rain, not much wind and some sunshine. After Jeff did some research he found a different route, the good news is it cut off around 50 miles, the bad news is its a lot of 2 lane roads. We left around 9:30 and arrived a little before 1.00. We had to wait before going to our spot. Our spot is located in the Palmetto Ridge, the new area. Our site number is 88. Jeff did good on this site, its really big and private because its surrounded with trees. It was a little tight getting in but we got her in. Then we set up and unloaded. One of the things I love about this park is all those amazing trees. But with every park there are good things and bad things. The internet here is spotty at best. We even changed carriers and even with Verizon still no good. They do offer free Wi-Fi at the Myakka Outpost. I couldn't wait to go look for gators. I jumped on my bike to go down to the bridge. On the way I saw deer and turkeys. When I arrived at the bridge they were waiting....gators.

 

Another thing I really love about this park is all the wildlife you never are disappointed. It seems there are always some kind of critter waiting behind every turn or hiding behind a tree.


Monday January 12- Its cloudy out there today, I hope that rain isn't following us. I did get out and walk this morning, I took my umbrella with me and it had started sprinkling on my way back. We had planned to take Jeff's bike into town to get it worked on. He has tried to get it running right but no luck. While we were in town we decided to go check out a couple new spots. We looked at turtle beach, looks like a great place to launch the kayaks. Then we went over to Siesta Beach, its the biggest beach I've seen around here. This beach was so pretty and it was cloudy. I bet when the suns out its gorgeous. Hopefully we'll get to find out. We had lunch at Sonny's BBQ, it was good. We picked up a few things we needed and headed back home. Its fun to get out and explore for some new places.

Tuesday January 13- It was a real pretty morning and it makes me want to walk in the morning. The scenery is so pretty. When I got back Jeff had decided to do some more cleaning. He got up on the roof to clean it. I cleaned up the A.C. cover. It had mold and mildew on it. I used one of those mr. clean erasers. Boy do those work good, took all that right off. Didn't even have to scrub. Makes cleaning fun. well kinda. After cleaning we took the pups for a walk, the weather had started to change. The clouds were coming in. Still a good day we got some things done.




Wednesday January 14- It was chilly this morning. We had planned to go to the big R.V. show in Tampa. We went out for breakfast before hitting the road. The drive wasn't bad until we got close. Yikes the traffic was crazy....we were on the interstate bumper to bumper for at least 1 &1/2 hours. So aggravating. When we finally arrived and headed into the show we had to wait in line to get tickets.

Well after all that waiting we were ready to do some looking around. The place was packed, Jeff thought for sure they were giving away RVs, but that wasn't the case. We found a couple things we couldn't live without. We also got to check out some different RVs that we hadn't seen before. The good thing, I'm still liking mine. None I wanted to trade for.

If you are a people watcher than this is a good place to be. It was just too busy for us. We like people but not that many at a time. It was hard to look around in the buildings where the suppliers were selling there stuff. Then we didn't want to stay too long because of rush hour traffic. This was our second time to attend and I don't think we will make a third trip. When we got home we were tired. The dogs had missed us. So we walked them and called it a day.

Thursday January 15- Another cloudy cool day. Jeff and I decided to go back to the Canopy Walkway. We did this 2 years ago and I wanted to go back. We walked there, then you climb up a platform to the walkway that is suspended 25 feet above the ground and 100 feet through the hammock canopy. Then you climb up to the tower that soars 74 feet in the air to present a spectacular view of treetops and wetlands. With the weather, no crowds that's for sure.























Even with the cloudy skies the views were very nice. It was a bit chilly but the rain held off. I wanted to show Jeff a fishing spot, so we were walking back and both of us heard this weird noised. I think we thought a panther but after investigating we saw a alligator up river raising its head up and making these loud groans. Boy that was something to see and we did.

Friday January 16- Made plans to go to the dog races today. Jeff wanted to go to Bob Evans for breakfast so we found one close. I usually like there breakfast but I had the worst pancakes ever. Not a very good start to the day. We went to the matinee at the dog races. It was $.50 to get in and $.50 cent beer and hotdogs. The place was hopping. My favorite thing was the greeters outside. They had some greyhounds that were up for adoption. Boy it was hard to walk away from them. What nice dogs they are. We had a good day and the weather had changed. It turned into a beautiful day.

We even picked a couple winners, in this picture that was our dog #6. I picked it because its name was WIOWA SHIPPING, then when it was wearing hawkeye colors I knew it was a winner and it was. We aren't big gamblers, I think we had a couple winners and came out ahead. So that was a good day. We didn't stay for all the races because we know how traffic gets. We left just in time and missed most of it. We got home and the roast we put in the oven this morning was ready to eat. Don't you love a slow cooker.

Saturday January 17- Brrrrr it was really chilly this morning. We had planned to hike into the deep hole. We waited awhile to let it warm up. First we needed to get a permit for the hike. They only allow 30 people a day into this area. We hit the trail around 9:45. It was 2.2 mile hike into the deep hole. The hike is pretty easy its flat and easy to follow. I couldn't wait to see all the critters. Again we did this 2 years ago and I couldn't wait to see it again.

When we walked into the clearing we noticed all the gators in the water and around the shore. Then I noticed a tree that was full of roseate spoonbill. When we were walking I scared this one and it flew up to the tree with all his other friends. Jeff was checking out all the gators and we both couldn't believe the size of these monsters. We did run into some people there. We even saw a couple kayakers come into the deep hole. I was nervous for them. Its just amazing watching these incredible animals. I never felt threatened and I didn't want to leave.

We had to get back so I took one last look and we headed out, the walk back wasn't nearly as fun as the one in. It seemed long and had warmed up. What a great trip.

When we got back we had lunch and then we headed into town because Jeff's bike was ready to be picked up. He was really missing his bike in this area. There is lots to see and a bike is a great way to see it all. Oh what a great first week here. My only complaint is the time goes so fast.