We have arrived at our home in Bradenton for two weeks! The trip from Manatee Springs State Park to here was uneventful. I-75 was busy but traffic moved smoothly. We stopped for lunch at a Travel America truck stop, where we bypassed the franchised fast food (pizza hut, Popeye’s Chicken) for some of the truck stop’s warm food: Salisbury steak on rice with green beans. The food was very good, with quick service.
We returned to Winter Quarters/Manatee RV resort (https://www.rvonthego.com/florida/winter-quarters-manatee-rv/) but are in a different spot than last year, we are not on the lake. Our campsite is large and comfortable, and quieter than last year’s site.
There are many more empty spots at the campground this year, most likely from the Canadian snowbirds not wanting the hassle of crossing the US/Canada border. V: and there are usually a LOT of Canadians at this location for 1-4 months each winter. The quality of the campground has also decreased: the pools and hot tub were closed and there are fewer planned activities.
We were looking forward to seeing Tim and Andrea, a couple we met last year. But they weren’t able to make it to Florida this year.
The first couple of days have been relaxing. This included going to Costco to buy those items we were afraid would freeze on the way down. We picked up large strip steaks from Costco and grilled them last night. Very yummy!
The evenings these first few days have been cool (upper 40’s) so that it was cool (mid-50’s) in the RV in the mornings. But the days warmed up comfortably into the 60’s. With lots of sunshine!
V: Last year we had everything arranged and put in place before we pulled out of the driveway. We also had lots of prepared foods filling the frig and cabinets. The temps weren’t brutal last year like this January AND our Winnie is towing a Mini (Cooper). I still love saying that. So, besides not wanting to stock up on food that would freeze, we can run to the store when needed. All our lovely Finger Lakes wine purchases didn’t come with us on this trip (sorry Dennis – we’ll bring the Bully wine to SML).
We met Dan and Andrea at Pier 22 in Bradenton for dinner Saturday night. The original plan was to meet at Edelweiss, but they only had space for walk-ins on the patio outside. And I remember the patio being cool last year. So we went with plan B: Pier 22 for an excellent dinner.
Sunday we got together with our friends Alan and Patti Watson. First we went to their church: Forward Community Church of God in Palmetto, where Alan was part of the worship team. The worship and the preaching spiritually recharged Vicki.
After the church service the four of us had a great lunch at the Riverview Waterfront restaurant (with lots of seafood options.) This restaurant was across from Pier 22 (where we ate dinner the night before)
Sunday evening was Superbowl Sunday at Dan and Andrea’s house (and Thor and Luna’s house too). We kind of watched the Superbowl and definitely ate too much pizza, but the highlight of the evening was the 3rd Quarter show where Dan and Vicki jammed on guitars.
After the excitement of the game and the intensity of the 3rd quarter jam, the polar bears were ready to crash.
