Ft Desoto County Park, St Petersburg, Fl

     Monday we departed Everglades Isle for the 200 mile trip up to St Petersburg, Fl and Ft Desoto County Park.  First of all, let me tell you that you will be hard pressed to find a nicer county park to camp at.  It is just over 1000 acres with pristine beaches / fishing piers that stretch out 100 yards out into the bay, and magnificent sunsets.  Alert - Reservations are a must and need to be made about 6 months in advance.

It is truly amazing how everything seems to stop on the waterfront each evening as the sun sets.  Last night we watched dolphin's in the bay and shorebirds working the water just off of the sea wall.   Some little fish was acting like Nemo repeatedly jumping out of the water as if to say, "take my picture...take my picture."  It was interesting to watch some sort of cruise ship pass behind that island on which the sun is setting, and the only part visible was the ship's smoke stacks.  Camp was all set up, and we threw a couple of steaks on the grill from #16 at the Pelky Cattle Ranch in Malone, and settled down to watch some of the Olympics from Sochi.
     This morning we awoke to what seems like a typical Florida morning.  Lots of sun / cool, but the promise of rising temperatures throughout the day.  We've been working the calender pretty hard the last few weeks, so today we decided to let the day unfold and just enjoy it.  We went for a walk around the park to see some of the sites, and really couldn't find any bad ones.

     This seems to be the typical view from all of the sites and each has
water and electricity.  The most popular state seems to be Ohio, but our neighbors today are actually from Germany.  "Paul" and his wife Gisla are visiting the U.S. for a few months and traveling around by RV.  He's a retired Chief Investigator with the German Police near Schweinfurt, Germany.  We've had a nice visit with them, and got them hooked up to the internet so they could get some emails back to their son in Germany and work on some Google maps.  I didn't know my jet pack spoke German!

     Tomorrow we're off to Wauchula, Fl for a visit with Cousin Mary and cousin Evelyn from the Vandenburg side. Should be a great time.  Friday we're heading up to Gainesville for the weekend with Aunt Anita and the gang.  It's nice not having to worry about snowstorms.