Places Visited:

Florida: Sarasota, Sun N Fun RV-Resort

Thursday, December 22 through Wednesday December 28: Sun N Fun RV-Resort in Sarasota, FL $35.30 FHU with 50-amps, paved interior roads N27° 20.66' W82° 24.96'

On Thursday we moved 20-miles south from Bradenton and Lake Manatee SP to Sarasota and Sun N Fun RV-Park where we will spend Christmas and New Years.

Christmas is just a few days away and the roads around Sarasota are clogged with last minute shoppers frantically searching for objects to put under the tree. Traffic jams are the norm. We are sticking close to Sun N Fun.

We are having fun learning to cook more of the Latin American vegetables that we see in the markets. We have caramelized plantains down pat and have been doing a good job on chayote squash. Next week we are going to work on prickly pear pad "green-beans" and French fried prickly pear. I will let you know how that works out.

Christmas day began with some rain that quickly gave way to sunny skies and warm temperatures. We wandered over to the pool at Sun N Fun around 2PM and it was full of snowbirds with the lounging area being occupied by sun worshipers. While Joyce and I were in shorts we didn't think it was swim suit weather. However, we were in the minority. As always Sun N Fun brings in a "Buffetesque" type entertainer on Sunday afternoons to perform around the pool. Most of the Buffet wanna-bes are employed as entertainers on area cruise ships and perform here while on shore leave. It's a nice touch for the RV-Park to provide this entertainment every Sunday afternoon.

On Monday after Christmas we headed back to Lido Key to walk some of the nature trails. The South Lido Key County Park provides an extremely nice walk starting along the Gulf of Mexico then along the pass between Lido Key and Siesta Key where the shoreline transitions to Sarasota Bay all the way to a mangrove lagoon. The park is a special piece of property on this barrier island that has been preserved. Another nice park is located on the peninsula housing Mote Marine and the Pelican Man Sanctuary. A wide variety of birds are generally hanging around that park. Pelicans, herons and egrets as well as osprey can usually be spotted at the boat ramp behind Pelican Mans Sanctuary.

We spent another day enjoying the marina area in downtown Sarasota. This area is a city park with good paved walking trails, plenty of parking and the ambience provided by docks full of yachts.

Sarasota offers so much to see and do for the winter visitor. Joyce and I stay busy enjoying this unique slice of paradise.

On Christmas Eve I was fishing in a lake not far from the RV-Park when I snagged this weird fish. It was living in fresh water, it was a foot long and weighed somewhat short of a pound. The shape of this fish resembled a salt water sea robin. The pectorial fins large and full like a sea robin. The head was bone hard. It had large heavy duty scales like a carp. The spines in the fins were like the spine of a catfish. The mouth was on the bottom and resembled some kind of sucker fish or bottom feeder.

If you have any idea what kind of fish this is please let me know. Remember it was in a fresh water pond in Sarasota, Florida.

Friends on the Rec.outdoors.rv-travel newsgroup quickly identified this creature as a Sailfin Catfish once a South American native but now residing in ponds and streams across southern Florida. I would have never guessed a member of the catfish family because of the heavy duty armoured scales.

Joyce is holding 8 cones from one of the Australian Pines in South Lido Key County Park

This county park has a large family of raccoons that roam the park begging and raiding garbage containers.

This great blue heron was cruising the parking lot looking for bait buckets that might contain a quick bite while the one on the right is foraging in the surf.

Don't you just love the breeding plumage on the great blue heron on the left?

Laughing gulls like these lined the shoreline waiting for a change in tide to deliver bounty from the sea.

This morning glory adds a splash of color to the lush vegetation along the parks shoreline.

This great egret was begging a fisherman to share catch with him.

These black mangrove roots were located along the bank of a small lagoon in the park.

This grandfather was having a good time with his grandson on the eastern shore of the park. Across this inlet is Bird Key a fairly posh island between St Armands Circle and downtown Sarasota.

The willet on the left was patrolling the shoreline in search of a seafood dinner.

The snowy egret on the right seems to be telling me that I am getting into his space. Note his golden slippers.

These pictures are of white mangrove roots. Notice how different the root systems of the white mangrove is in comparison to the red mangrove's pencil root structure pictured somewhere above.

This little raccoon was just too cute to pass up without taking his picture.

The great blue heron was wading in the shallows while waiting for an unsuspecting fish to enter his space.

This pelican is showing off some beautiful plumage.

This great egret has decided to hunt for lizzards, frogs and snakes in a grassy area instead of fish in the shallows.

Sarasota has recently added this memorial to the harbor park. You will recognize this statue as a replica of the famous picture taken at the end of WWII.

These lesser scaup are wintering in a pond not far from Sun N Fun. In all there are several hundred of them.

These beautiful ficus trees are in the marina park in downtown Sarasota.

These are condos located on Sarasota bay near downtown.

A bank and several condos located near the marina area of downtown Sarasota.

Traveling south on the Tamiami Trail aka US-41 near downtown Sarasota.

This great egret was keeping a keen eye on several fishermen cleaning fish nearby. Any morsel that falls on the dock is immediately scarfed up. I was lucky to get the above picture of that great egret as he made his way across the dock to retrieve one of those tidbits.

This pelican was also keeping a sharp eye on the fish cleanng table.

Until next week just remember how good life is.

Mike & Joyce Hendrix