The tightwad got to me, so I'm back at Motel 6 and this time I have a very nice room. Everything else was at least $20 higher, and after all, my grandfather wasn't born in Holland for nothing!
I left Sarasota this morning and went out onto the "island" and traveled from the south end of it to the north end of it. I stopped at most of the beaches and found several very nice ones. They have hard sand that I don't have trouble walking in, parking very near the gulf, playgrounds (I really needed that!), picnic tables, bath houses, restrooms, and of course places to eat. In fact I did eat at one of them, sitting on the beach at their table in the SUN. I also spent some time sitting at a picnic table and some time reading in the van in the SUN. It was quite comfortable with the temperature in the 60's with just my sweater on. It wasn't as windy today on the gulf coast as it was at Christmas on the Atlantic coast. There was just a nice breeze. I have once again retired my winter coat in anticipation of no more cold weather here. Of course cold here is nothing compared to cold in Iowa, especially on Crawley's frozen tundra!
There has been another problem caused by the cold weather here. By the way, someplace broke a record from the 1850's the other night in Florida. That's an old record. It seems that when the farmers pump from wells a lot at night it depletes the aquafers and they have huge sinkholes! At least one house has fallen in and a couple of major highways have fallen and had to be closed in this area. These things have happened in the past a couple of times when there has been a long seige of cold weather too.
After seeing all the island, I came back to the mainland at Bradenton and drove past where the series of concerts will be held in February that I have tickets for and then came to the motel. The island has bunches of places for sale, for rent or for time shares. They include weekly, daily, and monthly rates. I saw a sign welcoming returning winter guests too. I'm sure I'll be going back to the beach often while I'm here.
Have a nice day and enjoy your warm-up!
In the back of my mind I have wondered, and probably out loud too, will Mom come back? Not just in the sense that you will enjoy it so much you won't return, but also, what if you get in a wreck down there and don't make it (remember that you did drive on the wrong side of the median that one time). Now, I can add that you might fall into a giant sinkhole and not get out. And then, what will I do with all of your mail?
ReplyDeleteor, what if the gas prices skyrocket and she won't pay to drive back here...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are enjoying yourself, Linda. For you to be where it is warm must be heavenly for you! HA! I can't believe you've shed your winter coat. Wow! That is amazing! HA! I do remember the Judge's. Our SS class got word that he had passed away. I'm glad she has stayed where it is warm.
ReplyDelete