Ahhh, Florida

We finally headed inland from the gulf coast and made our way into Ocala. Driving through the countryside on Hwy. 27, we got to see the beautiful horse farms that fill the area. Ocala is one of the major thoroughbred centers of the world, with over 1,200 horse farms.

We also got a chance to have dinner with some former neighbors, Bill and Casey, who had moved back to Florida a number of years ago. It was fun to catch up with them.

Ocala was our first experience with RV parks that aren't. Most of the parks are really set up to accommodate the sno-birds who winter in Florida every year and they are filled with permanent trailers, mobile homes and park models. If they did have an RV spot, it was usually in an area close to a road or railroad track. In California, we would call them Trailer Parks! We're learning to search out state and county parks instead. Most of them are well designed to handle large RV's like ours and have full or partial hook-ups. And of course, we're still happy to boondock at the friendly, neighborhood Wal-Mart.

Edward Menard County Park outside of Tampa Bay

This was our first real exposure to alligators living in the lake. Lots of fisherman... none of them using float tubes. ;-)

We took a day off from prepping our taxes to take a sight-seeing tour around Tampa Bay. The whole bay is lovely and we especially liked the area around St. Petersburg. It was funny to us that the news programs always refer to the "bay area". Makes us feel like we're home!

Our lunch spot at the Parkshore Grill in St. Petersburg. Yum.

Moving south, we stopped in the Sarasota/Port Charlotte area. The beaches are very popular and we had found the perfect spot for lunch on Venice Beach. Hmmmm, is lunch becoming a theme?




Above Les's head is a huge Staghorn Fern attached to a palm tree. The Staghorn is an epiphyte plant, which is an organism that grows upon or attaches to a living plant, but they're not parasitic (unlike mistletoe); they get their water and food from the air. Epiphytic plants are sometimes called "air plants" because they do not root in soil. Spanish Moss is also an epiphyte.



(Tanda, I took this photo just for you!)