February 24 is another great morning in Georgia. This park has been so enjoyable. Lexie and I took a walk around the Big Ferry Trail and this walk included a side trip to an observation tower. I was excited about the tower, Lexie was indifferent. But she did make it up the stairs.
morning walk: observation tower on Big Ferry traila view from observation toweranother view from observation toweryet another view from observation towerLexie doesn’t care about the view from observation tower
We left the park with only a minor black water incident. And the trip to Sesquicentennial State Park near Columbia South Carolina was uneventful. We stopped at a rest area/welcome center in South Carolina and at a Love’s closer to Columbia.
Our original camp site was occupied but the park rangers got us another site that we liked even more: very much into the woods! One advantage of coming in on a Monday is that all the weekend people have left, and the park has many vacant sites. The park is very nice, not as nice as Skidaway but we made do. We had another campfire and Vicki played her guitar in the evening. We sang songs both with the guitar and acapello.
Sesquicentennial SP camping site head on viewSesquicentennial SP camping site driver side viewSesquicentennial SP evening camping
February 25 was cool, the morning temperature was 37F. But Lexie and I went out for a 4.4 mile walk around the big outside loop of the park. I thought a walk of that length would tire Lexie for the rest of the day, and it was close. She still wanted a few more walks, but she was satisfied with shorter walks.
Sesquicentennial SP morning walk with Lexie around outside loopSesquicenteninial SP morning walk with Lexie
In the afternoon Vicki and I biked around the park. We biked to the park entrance, but the final hill was a little much for Vicki. We also biked around the lake on an old asphalt trail. The trail was challenging. There were tree roots, broken asphalt, sand, and narrow bridges with people on them. But we made it around the lake without incident. The map from Map-my-ride is incorrect, we did not bike across the lake. I turned off the app at one point and realized about one mile later that I had not turned it on yet.
Sesquicentinial SP bike ride (Vicki is ready)Sesquicentennial SP bike ride (missing a segment)Sesquicentennial SP bike ride overlooking the lakeentrance to Sesquicentennial SP from bike ride
We made another, small campfire in the evening. Sorry, no pictures….
The campsite was easy to set up. Lots of space around the campsite and good hook-ups for electricity, water and sewer. The weather was cool so we didn’t set the awning out. But we did get some outside time.
Lexie was mostly quiet for the rest of the day. But she did appear to have some separation anxiety when Vicki and I left to go to a park event.
Vicki in Skidaway SP
The park and the girl scouts had arranged to sell girl scout cookies at the park while the park had a firepit going to roast marshmallows. So Vicki and I bought a couple of boxes and put roasted marshmallows on a few. Then we went back to our campsite to have dinner.
I did get a bike ride in today. There was a 3 mile trail inside the park that consisted mostly of tree roots. I then biked a couple of miles outside the park on some multi-purpose trails intended to be shared with pedestrians, bicycles and golf-carts.
Skidaway SP bike ride
We also had a campfire tonight, our first campfire during this trip.
We didn’t take any pictures on Feb 11! Steve did have an adventure: his bike’s front tire blew out!
First I replaced the inner tube because the valve stem was cracked. 30 seconds after inflating the replacement inner tube, the tire itself blew out from the rim. Loudly. I was able to get a new inner tube and tire at the local Walmart. The inner tube had a Presta valve, and I have never used (or seen one used) before. But I like the Presta valve, mostly because it has a threaded metal valve stem so that a nut can secure the valve stem to the rim. Now the inner tube is easier to fill. But after fixing the tire, I only took a short bike ride to confirm that there were no other problems.
On Feb 12 Steve took a 14 mile bike ride to Fort Hamer and beyond! The road had bike lanes on both sides, so even though the road was busier than the bike ride to Rye Preserve, I felt safer since I had my own space.
bike ride to Ft Hamer and beyondFt Hamer ParkManatee river at Ft Hamer Park
Also on Feb 12 Vicki went to St. Petersburg to get her hair colored. She also stopped at Dan/Andrea’s place and picked up Dan’s wonderful Taylor guitar. She played it as soon as she got back to the RV.
Vicki and new to her Taylor
Greg and Barb joined us in the evening, after putting up with some horrible traffic going between St. Petersburg and Bradenton. We gave them a quick tour of the RV. All tours of the RV are quick, there isn’t a lot to see. Afterwards we went to Pier 22 for dinner. Pier 22 was a wonderful restaurant, the food was excellent and the view was awesome since the restaurant overlooks the Manatee River.
Pier 22 dinner w Greg and Barb
Feb 13:
Vicki and Steve drove to Sarasota to visit the Ringling Museum. We were only there for a couple of hours so we will need to go again to see the rest of the exhibits. We only had a chance to see the miniature circus and the exhibit that described the different roles of the entertainers. The detail in the miniature circus was incredible, I think it has over 50,000 pieces. And it made me appreciate the effort that went into getting a circus into town for a one day show. We are in awe at how rock stars can transform an arena for a single night’s show, and repeating the process daily in city after city. The circus would do the same thing, on a much larger scale! The circus involved 100 train cars, 1500 people and animals that would arrive in a town in the morning, set up the big top and other areas, have a parade down main street, and have a show with multiple acts going on simultaneously. I remember seeing a couple of circus shows a long time ago, and I could be talked into seeing another one today.
Vicki and Ringling Museum entranceSteve and Ringling Museum entrance Ringling Museum groundsRingling Museum miniaturesRingling Museum miniatures paradeRingling Museum miniatures big topRingling Museum miniatures big top seating
After taking 2 hours to return the rental car (traffic, dog hairs and Uber all conspired to make that a long ordeal), Steve and Vicki went to dinner with their neighbors Tim and Andrea at a local restaurant; Speaks Clam Bar. The Mai Tai at Speaks Clam Bar was on par with the Mai Tais from Hawaii! And the food was awesome! We enjoyed more seafood (2nd night for seafood in a row for us.)
Speaks Clam BarSpeaks Clam Bar w Andrea and a couple of Mai Tais
Afterwards Vicki played a few songs, accompanied with her new best friend Taylor. We all enjoyed the evening, especially since we were in Tim and Andrea’s new screened room that kept out the biting bugs.
Bug free serenade with AndreaBug free serenade with Tim
V-my wonderful son Dan – I told him how much I enjoyed playing his Taylor and he asked if I wanted it. I thought he was kidding. Mind blown! I said I would borrow it for a season and return it to him. It is delightful to play. I promised to play it daily and I’m doing it. Now I just have to remember all the chords and words to all those songs that I sang for many years when I was entertaining for Happy Hour bar crowds. I’m still a bit rusty on some of those barred chords but it’s coming back. Tougher than riding a bicycle.
Great dinner with Greg and Barb, right on the Manatee River. Beautiful full moon and lights reflecting off the water. We really enjoyed the Manatee Winter Quarter RV resort and all the activities and all the really sweet, friendly people. Next time, we will probably stay closer to St. Pete/Treasure Island as the traffic back and forth to see our peeps was tough on them and not great fun for us. Rush hour felt like ALL DAY and into the evening.
Tim and Andrea were a lot of fun as well as our neighbors on either side of us and the ladies in the water aerobics class. We will be catching up with one couple from Fairlawn/Akron area when those snowbirds fly back home. We are truly blessed to cross paths with so many terrific people.
The day started well with Steve taking a 17.5 mile bike ride. And I think the 254′ change in elevation was due to the roughness of the road. Steve biked to Rye Preserve, drank in some of the water at the park, and returned to the RV. The route was along the Manatee river, which was very narrow at this point.
Rye Preserve bike ride mapBiking to rye preserve rye preserve nature center inside rye preserveupper manatee river outside rye preserve
After the bike ride, Steve, Vicki and Lexie went back to Dandrea’s place for another dog walk. The walk was uneventul and we saw some turtles and bottom heavy ducks at a nearby pond.
ducks and turtles at Dan and Andrea – notice the 3 turtles in a row on the concrete culvert
The afternoon took a nasty turn when Thor thought Lexie was too close to him when the dogs were going through a door into the pool zone. Thor snapped at Lexie but this growling/snapping lasted less than a second. Steven was guiding both dogs into the pool zone and pulled Lexie quickly away. About a half hour later Andrea found some blood on Lexie’s throat, and the blood was from a puncture wound. Lexie didn’t notice anything, but Vicki and Steve packed her up to get her stitched up. Lexie was a great dog, declining the anesthesia. She has been quiet today (Sunday), it probably helps that we have given her some drugs to keep her calm.
V-Lexie was a great patient. The vet techs said she was well-behaved and they had no issues cleaning out the wound and checking surrounding areas and then getting 3 small staples in to close the wound. The price was so reasonable. If you’ve ever needed services of an emergency vet (hopefully not) they can easily run into the thousands. Better yet was the sweet care they showed her and us. Beacon Emergency Vet Hospital in St. Petersburg 2909 4th Street North St. Petersburg, FL 727-888-2191. The primary tech on our case was Hunter and he reminded me of my Connor, so compassionate and thorough in all the details of aftercare.
It was so quick and over immediately when Thor got her, just a quick snap to remind her of who is King at South Pole. The dogs were not freaking out at all. We checked her over and didn’t appear to be any problem. I did say it was karma – Lexie got Little Dog’s ear about 6 months ago.
Another morning walk with Lexie at Tom Bennet Park. Our morning route is shown below.
Steve and Lexie morning walk in Tom Bennet park
Today we got Vicki’s bike out and we took a short bike ride around the local neighborhood. While only seven miles, Vicki’s wrists still became numb from the vibration.
Vicki preparing for her first Floridian bike rideSteve and Vicki first bike ride together
Dan and Andrea treated us to dinner at Beau’s and Moe’s Italian restaurant. The food was fantastic! Dan ordered a chopped lobster tail for us to share as an appetizer, which was smothered in butter and delicious.Vicki and I shared a Chateaubriand, a baked filet that was very tasty.
Afterwards the four of us returned to Dandrea’s place and Vicki and Dan jammed on the guitars. Steve played a tambourine, at his own beat. Andrea was on a beat box…
dan jammingVicki jammingDan and Vicki jamming
V – what an absolute joy this evening was. From great food to a really FUN jam session. Dan’s Taylor guitar is really SWEET, first time I ever played it. I haven’t had so much fun playing guitar in a while, especially great playing with this very talented guitarist while he was playing on his newest guitar, I believe this was his electric Fender. We be jamming. LOVED this night.
The morning started with a short walk with Lexie and Steve. The traffic outside our campground is busy, especially early in the morning. And it freaks out Lexie. As an alternative Steve took Lexie to a dog park to let her run around without a leash. Lexie mostly walked around.
Lexie in the dog park not running
But Lexie is getting good at relaxing:
Lexie not using her outside bed
Vicki joined a water aerobics groups this morning and will be going regularly.
Steven took a longer bike ride, same route:
feb 3 2025 bike ride
We bought a fan for outdoor use with the intent of blowing away the no seeums.
And the shower pan has been sealed to the shower walls so we can use the shower. But I think the bath house shower will still be the preferred location.
V-I am loving the water aerobics class every morning at 10 am. Really good exercise (I’m feeling it) and a great start time – I can still have time to relax in the morning before going to exercise, hot tub, swim. Steven is enjoying the daily Lexie walks, bike rides and we both are enjoying the really nice people we are meeting. Now it is feeling like camping/glamping, being in one place for 3 days and really relaxed. Great view. Cooking in this RV is so easy, I love all the storage spots, sleeping good, bed is comfy. Love this vacation.
