April 20-26, 2014

Little Manatee River State Park

 Wimauma, FL

Sunday-

Happy Easter

We drove down to North Port to spend the day with my parents.   

 Monte took advantage of my dad’s power washer to clean off the LOVE BUGS from the Jeep.  During the ride down, at one point the bugs were so thick I thought it was raining.

Mom made delicious veggie lasagna for dinner.

 

 Monday

I didn’t have anything tasked to me but Monte and one of the other volunteers were asked to drive up north of Ocala to pick up a new sign for the park.  They left at 8:30 AM.  They took a wrong turn coming back and didn’t end up returning until 7:30.

I took advantage of the beautiful day to sit outside alternating between reading and doing crossword puzzles.

Tuesday

Sharon and I began painting the back room of the maintenance barn that will be used as an office.  

 

Monte did several jobs including cutting the grass in the volunteer village.

 When my dad's pressure washer stopped working he bought a new one-Monte took the old one to see if he could fix it--and of course he did.  It is really coming in handy cleaning the love bugs off the jeep.

 I think Annie sleeps 90% of the day.  I just happened to catch her awake for a few minutes.

Wednesday-

I began my training in the Ranger Station beginning at 8AM.  I woke up with the beginning of a sinus infection that had half my face swollen.  It didn’t really hurt but there was a lot of pressure making it difficult to concentrate of my training. 

 At 12:30 I went out to lunch with a couple of the other volunteers, Darlene and Sharon.  We went to Bob Evans and I had such a nice time that I forgot to take any pictures. Darn.

While I was gone Monte did some more grading in the Equestrian Campground.

In the late afternoon, Monte and I took one of the mules down to the fishing area near the Youth Camp.  This spot is a little “hidden” gem.

 

 

 

 

Thursday

Day two of training in the Ranger Station for me.  Working in the ranger station is not going to be difficult but there are a lot of little details to learn.  The method of learning something new that best works for me is taking notes.  Later on, back home, I typed up the notes and sorted the pages into my own manual.

Monte continued working in the equestrian campground.

 

Annie in one of her favorite spots.

Friday

We had the day off.  I sat outside alternating between doing crossword puzzles and reading 

 while Monte worked on his truck

 and cleaned the tail light assembly of the rig.  

 He removed the assembly and wire brushed the the little bit of rust.

 Painted and hung on the fence to dry-

Assembled again-all nice and shinny.

After dinner we took a bike ride down to the campground and then up to the Ranger Station. 

Saturday-Anna Maria Island

Anna Maria Island, on the coast of Manatee County is a barrier island bounded on the west by the Gulf of Mexico, on the south by Longboat Pass, on the east by Anna Maria Sound and on the north by Tampa Bay.  

 

 

 We drove around trying to find a parking spot.  We finally found one in the parking lot of a thrift store only a block away from the pier.  Monte found this 13 foot fishing rod that appeared brand new.  A real bargain at only $10.

 

 

 

 We walked across the pier.

 

At the end of the pier is the City Pier Restaurant

 We walked around the restaurant to the rear where there where people fishing.

 Walking back across the pier we stopped to see what a large group of people were looking at in the water.  It turned out to be a dolphin.

Back in the car we drove around the island

 admiring some of the beautiful homes.

 

 

 

 Our last stop before leaving the island was a stop at the Manatee Public Beach.  We drove around the parking lot several times vainly in search of a free spot.

 Monte suggested I get out and take a few picture
 while he continued to circle the lot.

 

 After taking a couple of pictures I walked back to the parking lot and just happened to spot a car backing out of a spot.  While I blocked the spot, I called Monte to let him know where I was.  Luckily he arrived before anyone tried getting into the spot.

 The beach had wall to wall people.  We didn't stay long because the sun was pretty intense.  I wished we had thought to bring along our suits.