Gainesville and Tampa Fl

Thurs Nov 17:  we were going to stop in Lake City Fl, but went another 50 miles to

Nice park, pretty close for driving the rig but we had plenty of room.  It was about a 150 mile trip, we took about 4 hours to get here, stopping a few times for breaks and lunch.

After setting up we went to the northern part of the preserve

it was about a 1.5 mile hike to the end of the trail.  plenty of signs to warn us of roaming animals.

we did see plenty (100's) of alligators, some were very very big..  we also seen bison and a few wild horses!

we did see the one lone Whooping Crane along with hundreds of Sandhill Cranes and ducks.

great day of travel, birding and relaxing.

Only here for one night then off to Tampa until Dec 1.

Since we only had 115 mile trip today we went hiking around the park before packing up and leaving at about 10:00.  Traffic on I75 was crowded and crazy.  So far we have not encountered too much traffic or crazy drivers.  We stopped a few times landing at Happy Traveler RV Resort in Thonosassa (near Tampa) at about 1:00.   The park is pretty old but renovated shower house and laundry rooms.

Since we went walking this morning we were able to just relax before going out for dinner at a wonderful Peruvian restaurant about 4 miles from our camp.   The food was so delightful and tasty, if we did repeats this would most definitely be a redo..

Saturday Nov 19:  Today we went to Lakeland to visit with family (Kathy's brothers and Eric's Aunt).  But first we went to Circle B Bar Ranch for a wonderful walk. Never enough time to spend walking around this wonderful place.

brother Danny, Dominique and granddaughter McKenzie in Dan and Dominique's new home

Arron and his "baby"

Kathy, Jane and Patti (Jane's daughter) in Jane's new home

great day to visit with everyone.  Its fun to catch up in person.

Big Top Flea Market is across the street from our resort.  It was HUGE!  there are 16 sections with a few more in the works.  We did not buy anything and was a bit disappointed in the food selections.  The prices seemed to be pretty good.

We are going to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving this year to meet up with the Gaskills and the Castros.  We will spend time getting ready for our trip.


Back from Vegas!!!  Dec 28 we arrived back to our RV by 6 pm.  long day but such a fun time in a very fun city.

we have two final days in the Tampa area before heading to Big Cypress for 4 months.

beautiful place to unwind after all the lights and noise of Vegas

so quiet and serene

and yes snakes!!

looking forward to the final leg of this journey.  Big Cypress National Preserve will be our home for the next 4 months.

Bird count life up 2 to 549,   year up 30 to 317 and the month at 175.  Vegas really brought our numbers up!