January 09
Crystal River, Florida

2009

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 January
   31   This morning was a cool morning.  We did some reading and then around noon headed out to try some Bass fishing in a new area.  There is a fresh water lake just off the barge canal.  We got some minnows and headed out.  We caught one bass about 14 inches.

   30  Today we lounged around, worked on photos, our journal and website.

   29   Today is a rainy cool day.  So we watched the DVD which ended up to be 2 hours and then played some Texas Holdem at the campground in the evening.

   28   We have some domestic stuff to do today.  We went to pick up the DVD’s we had made up from my Mom’s old super 8 movies.  We did some other shopping and headed back.

   27   Today is my Birthday and we headed out early to go to the Sun Cruz Casino in Port Richey.  First we stopped at Denny’s for breakfast.  The casino boat is about 60 miles away.  We got on the 11am shuttle boat.  The shuttle takes about an hour to get out to the casino boat which is 10 miles offshore in international waters.  It was fairly crowded for a Tuesday.  We were going to take the 2pm shuttle back but decided to stay to the 4pm shuttle.  It worked out better.  We both won some money back.  We ended up about even.  John won a little and I lost a little.  We were going to stop for dinner, but we had free drinks and sandwiches on the boat so I wasn’t ready for a big dinner.  I’ll save it for another day.  We did stop to get a cake for later.  

   26   Spring is here and the weather is getting really nice.  We went for a 2 mile walk and then headed over to the pool for some rays and reading.

   25   This morning we went for a 4 mile walk.  We brought carrots for the horses but they weren’t out.  On the way back they were out, but way far away.  So we ate the carrots instead.  I made a pasta salad for the Poolside Fish Fry this afternoon.  They have been collecting fish that were caught and now the park fry’s them up and everyone brings a dish.  Ed is the DJ again.  Louis showed us a 10.3 pound bass he just caught.

   24   Today we had breakfast at the rec hall then worked on pictures and our website.  Later in the afternoon we headed over to the Docks for a Parrothead Party.  It was outside along the water.

   23        This morning is a little warmer than the last few.  The last few nights have gotten down into the 20’s.  This morning I finished up my Dads tribute page. 
    Then we headed out to Kings Bay to snorkel with the Manatees.  We got to the Port Hotel and marine at 1015am.  It’s still cool outside but the sun is out and it should to get to the mid 60’s today.  You want to get to Three Sisters early before the Manatees head back out in the bay.  We rented a canoe and wetsuits.  We have our own snorkel stuff. 
    Since it is during the week there were a lot less people out.  We got to the entrance of Three Sisters and there were already a few people there.  We moored our canoe on the rocks since you technically cannot tie up on land.  Then we got our snorkel stuff on and in the water we went.  We saw over 100 manatees.  They were all around us.  The law is, and there is a ranger right there, that you cannot go up to the manatee, but if they come to you, then you can touch them.  There was a baby that came right up to my face and then pushed against me and rolled over so I could rub her belly.  Then she went by John and hugged him and let him hug her.  She came back to me to hold hands. 
     A few more people were coming and some of the Manatees were heading out, so we headed out also.  We took our time and canoed back to the port.  We stopped at Dan’s Clam Stand for lunch.  I won a free burger lunch for singing at the “Sing like Jimmy Buffett’ contest at the Manatee Fest.

   22   This morning my brother Scott called early to let us know my Dad passed away.  Today was the day we were going to get him set up with Hospice.  Scott took care of the arrangements and I put together a memorial page for him.  We will miss him.

   21   Another COLD day.  We did some laundry.  John made a big thing of salsa.  We also researched for our next destination. 

   20   Today is a COLD day.  It’s not going to get out of the 40’s and it’s dropping to 25 tonight.  We hung around the cow.  I made phone calls regarding my Dad.  He is not doing well and we're getting him set up with hospice. 

   19   This morning was much milder.  Today about 30 people from the park headed out for a 4 day Royal Caribbean cruise.  We headed over to the barge canal to try some fishing.  Shortly after we got setup we were relaxing and watching the birds and pelicans.  We saw we thought was a Sandhill Crane, but it was actually a Whooping Crane.  Then we saw more.  We saw 5 total.  Whooping Cranes are very rare to see down here.  They are trying to reintroduce them, but only a few here and there.  So we were in the right place at the right time.  We did each catch a fish and brought them home to cook on the grill.

   18   Today is another Texas Holdem Tournament.  I made it further than John, but I didn’t make it to 2^nd place like last time.  There was a much larger turnout.  About 35 players.

   17   This morning is another cold and windy morning.  We can’t complain, since our cold is 55/32.  Chicago is -1/-14.  We lounged around this morning and then went over to the barge canal to do a 3 miles hike.  It was sunny and the wind has calmed down.

    16   We were going to go snorkeling today, but it’s cold 38 degrees and windy.  Not a good day for canoeing and snorkeling.  So instead, John is replacing the Fantastic fan and we’re going to pull the slides in to grease them.

   15   It’s a cool day.  We headed out to do some projects.  We stopped at the mall for our fantastic fan supplies, then to the post office and to Kings Bay Bridge to check out the Manatees.  We saw one.  Due to the recent rain, the water was stirred up and not clear.  We went to the Ale House for a cocktail and to look for more Manatees.  They have a deck on top of the outside bar.  Then we stopped at Crawdaddys for Oysters and to Sweetbay for groceries.

   14   Today is a cool, damp and windy day.  We just relaxed and did some reading in the cow.

   13  Today is raining, cold and windy.  We stayed in and did some projects until around noon.  Then we went to get an oil change, drop off old super 8 movies to get them put on DVD and to the used book store. 

   12   This morning is overcast, windy, cool and there is drizzle.  We lounged in the cow until around noon and then headed out for a walk.  We went about 5 miles.  During our walk we saw Black Vultures circling above us and some on the ground.  We saw that they had found an Armadillo that didn’t make it. 
   John’s been watching his new birds at the feeder.  We have had Cardinals, Tufted Titmouses, Black Capped Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, Eurasian Collarded Doves, Red Bellied Woodpeckers and Morning Doves.

   11   Today is a little overcast and rain is expected later.  So we decided to stay around and watch football and work on photos and the website.

   10   Today we have a full day.  After reading the paper and having coffee outside, we walked over to the clubhouse for a full breakfast.  Biscuits and gravy with eggs. 
   Now were heading to Crystal River for the Manatee Festival.  This is a big event for Crystal River.  It’s both Saturday and Sunday.  There are a variety of vendors, food stands, boat rides to see the manatees, kayak trips and 2 or 3 bands at once at different locations.  We walked around and then headed over behind city hall to listen to the steel drum Buffett band. 
   The Parrotheads of Citrus has a booth and is sponsoring the “Can you sing like Jimmy Buffett” contest.  Well, me, Judy and Beth all of us parrotheads got up on stage with the band and played the mariachis.   We also lead a couple of conga lines threading throughout the crowd.  I wasn’t going to do the sing like buffet but not many signed up.  I met Cary another parrothead that wanted to sing but not alone, so we teamed up.  We sang “Change in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes”, and “Cheeseburger in Paradise”.  We didn’t win, but we did come in 3^rd place out of 6 entrants.  After the contest, it was time to head back to the campground.  We sat outside to watch the full moon rise and have a glass of wine.  Since this moon, the Perigee, is the closest to the earth and won’t be this close again until sometime in 2010, it’s the biggest and brightest during 2009.  Tom and his wife Ray stopped by to talk about things to do in the area.  They just got here and others told them to come and talk to us.  Then we headed over to the clubhouse for ham, beans and cornbread.  Now we’re done. 

   9   We decide to try to get our oil changed but the line was to long, so we just did some grocery shopping and then did some reading back at the cow.

   8  We headed over to the Plantation Inn to go golfing.  They have 27 holes.  The main 18 hole course is normally packed.  The 9 hole lagoon course is normally empty.  Today we didn’t see anyone on our course.  We went back and played an extra 3 holes.

   7  We did more projects and later we went to the library.  The library is a great resource.  We can read various magazines instead of signing up for subscriptions.  Especially since we want to limit our mail. 

   6   Today is going to be around 80.  So we are having a nice long pool day.  Tonight we’re going to the clubhouse for poker.

   5      We are still getting projects done.  Even though we’re gypsies, we still make sure to keep up on our medical stuff.  Actually, if we do the research we can find discounts and freebies at local medical fairs. 
   I went for my annual mammogram today and on the way back to the cow, we stopped and had the rear brakes on the truck replaced.  While they were working on the brakes, we stopped at Fat Boys BBQ for lunch.  It’s a bright warm sunny day and when we got home, we went over to the pool.

   3 - 4   We did various shopping and gave blood.  We try to give blood every 8 weeks.  We started out doing just a little cleaning and John ended up cleaning the roof and all the outside of the cow and I did the inside. 

   2   This morning had a few showers but turned into a warm and sunny day.  I worked on trying to get our network setup, but I always have a mental block on networks and could not get it working.  I did go help our friend Bonnie start a blog so her and Bill can share their RV experiences with family and friends.  Their blog is http://ourrvdream.blogspot.com.  Now were ready for a walk.  We did our riverwoods walk and saw our reggae horse friend.  I did 4.5 miles.  John continued on and ended up doing around 8 miles.

   1   Start of a New Year.  This morning is windy, overcast and cold.  In the 40’s.  The high today is only going to be in the low 60’s and windy.  So we are working on our year end accounting and miscellaneous projects.  Last night we bought more stone crabs even though we said we weren’t going to based on our last experience.  Later we are going to grill them up with our neighbors Keith and Janis.  They know how to prepare them.  Bonnie and Bill also came over to grill.