kc
Lake Manatee State Park
Bradenton, FL

I know it's been a while since my last entry, but as I may have mentioned, we HAVE NO WIFI here at the park!!  We have lots of other interesting things, tho, including eagles, osprey, foxes, gopher tortoises (tortI, in the words of the head ranger), diamond-back rattlers, pygmy rattlers and alligators.  Oh yeah, and the race track.  Yep, that's right.  Out here in the middle of nowhere, we have drag races, oval races, and rocket demonstrations.  Oh, and I'm being told we now have a tornado warning.  HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??  I thought we moved OUT of Tornado Alley last month!

Well, we got tired of having to drive into town (9 miles, each way) and fighting the traffic and parking lots just to get connected, so, today, ole Mr. Dick buzzed into the Alltel office and got himself a little pigtail attached to a gizmo, and now we HAVE WIFI, right here in our camper!!  You can't beat THAT!!  Not even with a stick! 

So, here we are, fully connected, waiting for the approaching storm.  Been really hot and a bit of rain is actually welcome.  We are under a fire ban, which means that campers cannot have open flames.  Too bad for some of them, but once we explain the stage 6 drought and the risk fire brings to the park, they usually are appeased and comply with our request to douse their campfires and tiki torches.  Hate to be such a scrooge and party-pooper, but I sure don't wanna go up in flames b/c some drunkard lost control of his fire. 

We haven't really done much sight-seeing outside the park yet — we've been busy establishing ourselves and getting our chores done.  We are both working much harder and longer than we'd anticipated, but it is work that produces results.  You can tell when the bathroom is clean, and every day we see less and less litter around the park, making pick-up more difficult.  (That's a GOOD thing!!)  I've learned the reservation system and cash register operation — tonight we went through check-out.  Now they've got me working on the camp maps and picture files.  This morning, we held our first Meet 'n Greet for the campers, and it was pronounced a success.  We had a good ratio of campers turn out and most of the staff & volunteers attended as well.  The "regulars" are beginning to arrive and they'll be with us for the duration of winter.  Speaking of which, we've never experienced winter like this — it's about 80* every day, with lows in the 60's at night. Clear, stars twinkling, and I even saw a falling star the other night.  I think we are due for a "cold front" tonight - we'll see.  I feel so very sorry for the people we left in Branson — they are suffering through snow, ice and COLD.  Gonna be a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG winter up there.  Geeze, I'm so glad we were able to get out before that mess hit. 

We've not been dancing yet, but we have found a couple of clubs.  One of 'em dances at 9:30 on Mondays; we have to assume it's A.M>, and we just cannot make that!  The other local club is 1st & 3rd Friday nights, but last Friday, Dick's wrist was still messed up (just ask him what happens when bike hits sand!), and he didn't think dancing would be conducive to healing.  Had to agree, so we'll just have to wait until the next go-round. 

The beach is also beckoning....so are the fish!!  Our licenses became effective today, so I bet we go drown a worm or feed a gator tomorrow.  Never a dull moment!!

Well, I'm about out of battery & still have some email to look at and I'm sure some shopping to do....y'all take care, and don't work too hard.  Stay warm and dry..

Love ya!
k