On the Road again!

We packed up and left the Baymont this morning and headed out to go to Knoxville for the night.
The weather was rainy and cloudy in Florida but by the time we got to Georgia the sun was out and we made great time. We had a sunny dry pavement ride and are so glad it was not like last week-end.
We found a Pizza Hut and have enough leftovers for a week. The temperature is still around 20 degrees so cannot beat that. If we get home and settled we still have two days off.

Dali Museum in St. Petersburg

Wonderful day down at the waterfront and so enjoyed the Museum. There was the Dali collection and an exhibition with Andy Warhol. I love the building. Very educational!
Last night in Florida, heading to Knoxville for tomorrow night. We have booked a room there and will stay and head back to Port on Sunday.

Thursday Low out put!

Thursday was a Low out put day. Other than shifting the converter we took advantage of having cable and caught as much Olympic skating and the Women's Hockey team win. What a fantastic game.
Relaxing poolside filled the day until around 5:00 pm and we did our annual trek to Beall's Outlet Store. That is exciting as it gets. Weather is exceptionally warm and we are so grateful.

Wednesday we go to the Lowry Zoo in Tampa

We decided to check out the zoo today and it was our pleasure to be able to connect with Maura (the Elephant Trainer). Maura is a family friend who's family has summered in Port Stanley since she was a little girl. Now an accomplished young woman Maura is passionate about her work with the Elephants and after studying to be a Marine Biologist she married and settled in Tampa. She gave us a behind the scenes tour and because of her schedule she was able to allow us to watch one of the Elephant moms and baby get their training session for the day. We toured the barns and meet all the Africian Rhino's and the Elephants. This baby was born on December 23, 2013 and now weighs about 700-800 lbs. The new baby that was born in July is a 400 lbs. In was interesting to hear Maura talk about the work they are doing to develop a more modern approach to Elephant training based on the Marine Mammals Protocols. To date they have not  had any issues since this program has been implemented.

Photo's from Tuesday

This is the walkway along the causeway on the Campbell Causeway on the way back from Clearwater. The pools shots were taken at night on our way home from the Mall

Moving to Tampa

We had breakfast with a couple who were staying in Clearwater. He was retired from the military and they were hoping to stay at the base but they did not have room there so they came to the same motel.
We packed up and headed over to Tampa, on the way we stopped at the walkway along the Campbell causeway and watched some schools of fish from our vantage point high up on the bridge walkway.
At the end of the Causeway there is a place to stop and get a washroom and picnic tables to eat.
We meet a couple of retired Military men and their wives who did get in at he base but they came down in October and they stay for six months.
The Baymont let us in early and our suite is huge and includes two tv's and one remote. The reason there is only one is they are switching over to cable from Satellite. After we settled in we went down to the pool and had a swim. There is lots of families and I love hearing the kids playing and enjoying the water.  We went to University Center Mall and I got some new nighties as I forgot to pack them.
On the way home we picked up some groceries and are relaxing in the livingroom with the one TV.

Clearwater Florida Beach

Meet the German couple again at breakfast. They had gone to the zoo yesterday and their little girl told us all the animal names in German. The funniest one was penguins.

The weather was to be 23 degrees so we decided it would be a great beach day. We headed over to the Island and parked at the Marina after we took a look at the strip.

 In order to park at the Marina you have to use the services at the Marina so we booked a ride on a Pontoon boat to go out and see the Dolphins. They take you to a small island and let you pick up sea shells.
Dick could not take his eyes off two Nacra F 18's doing a lesson with a powerboat in between.
Thinking of you Josh!

We saw about two Dolphin tails. They are around an island where there is a bird sanctuary and they are in very shallow water so not to hard to sight.