Lakeland, Florida

March 12 - 14, 2010

Sanlan RV Park

Lakeland, Florida

Making a quick stop here in Lakeland to visit with our friends from Ontario, Sheila and John. We met them two years ago in Alabama and spent a couple of days playing golf, kayaking and becoming fast friends.

We packed up in Wauchula, drove through, and set up here in Lakeland in the pouring rain. The rain was so hard we found the two leaks we thought we had fixed (the rear slide-out and the bathroom vent/fan) were no longer holding. So, we put towels down and headed to John and Sheila's for reminiscing, catching up and some really great food!

We woke to sunny skies and 70 degrees, so all windows are now open and all fans are on to dry us out!! Ken will have his hands full with some repairs when we land in Orlando!

Whoa! Whirlwind Day! What do we expect when we hang out with people much younger than us (we celebrated Sheila's 53rd birthday today)...we are exhausted!

We started the day with a "tour" of Sanlan RV Park. They not only have 27 holes of golf (Bramble Ridge Golf Course), a driving range and two solar heated pools, but there are over seven miles of nature trails around the park for biking and hiking. The youngsters were good to us senior citizens and started the day out taking us through the nature trails in a golf cart to save us for what they were offering later on in the day!

Our first sight was one of the largest alligators I had ever seen (and as the day progressed, we saw even bigger ones...some bigger than what we had seen in the Everglades two years ago). We met up with gators, birds, turtles and even some golfers. We met a "mother" gator "sleeping" on the cart path and gave her plenty of room but realized when she started moving a bit too close that we had the cart headed in the wrong direction for a quick getaway.

But, thankful to say we made it with all limbs intact AND we still had Barney!

We returned to the coach for some lunch and then headed over to Circle B Bar Reserve, a 1,267-acre property located on the northwest shore of Lake Hancock which is often referred to as the headwaters of Peace River (in the past I may have referred to this as "Peach" River, totally a clerical error--thank you, Bob).

As you'll see in the slide show, we met up with some alligators, some amidst the mucky green waters where you had to look carefully to see them lounging in the sun. At times I felt I was looking at a "Where's Waldo" book...trying to find the many alligators living in the swamp.

The highlight of this hike was the sighting of the roseate spoonbill, a beautiful pink wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family. They had left the area during the very cold winter in the area and are just beginning to return to the Preserve. We couldn't get our own picture as they were flying "high" in the sky, but their pink color is very distinctive as well as beautiful.

We then took a ride around another recreational lake in Lakeland, Hollingsworth, where there were quite a few birds flying around, but the majority of species you saw were human, kayaking, wind-surfing or just riding or walking about the lake!! The homes surrounding the lake were beautiful and well worth the trip.

Then off to downtown Lakeland where we stopped to visit Mirror Lake with its amphitheater and Hollis Gardens. What we could see of the gardens was beautiful; however, there were two weddings going on and some of it was blocked off to us inconsequential sightseers.

Next stop: Harry's Bar and Grill...yay, we got to sit down at their outdoor dining area to have a couple of beers and watch the world go by. We then took off for Olive Garden where we had a wonderful meal, ending with singing Happy Birthday to Sheila and grabbing our "doggie" bags! But, the youngsters weren't finished yet. They MADE us return to their screen room where they had a fire and yet another bottle of wine waiting for us. Needless to say, I should sleep well tonight (even though I lose one hour to daylight savings)!!

I know I say it a lot, but we have been so fortunate meeting some wonderful people on our adventure!! We will truly miss leaving here tomorrow and having once again to say goodbye.

We're heading out to Bay Lake tomorrow...See you there!