Myakka River State Park

Yesterday morning, we stripped the beds in the condo, washed, vacuumed, and packed the car and camper.  (While the dryer was going, I couldn’t resist a final visit to the Farmer’s and Flea Market.)  We pulled away about 1:00 and stopped at Bob Evans for lunch.  We arrived at the campground about 4:00 for our first official camping with the LXE.  Friends Robilee and Les Leedy stopped to say “hi” – they are camped 2 sites away.  Setup went smoothly, but I had to get out the instruction manual for lighting the propane water heater. 

After a sandwich supper, we and the Leedys attended one of the monthly “Moon Over Myakka” concerts – Ben Prestage with “raw black water bayou Mississippi Blues”.  He was an amazingly multi-talented musician, playing guitar, harmonica, and percussion simultaneously.

Last night, our first in the LXE, the overnight temperature dropped to the low 40s.  The furnace seemed to do a fine job … until about 12:30 AM when we both woke, cold, to find the thermometer inside registering 55.  Turns out that the “anticipator” in the thermostat, a lever that controls the cycling of the furnace, was way out of adjustment.  It was a quick fix and we were comfortable again …. until about 3 AM when I was wakened by two beeps from the propane detector.  I turned the detector off and back on, and the rest of the night was both warm and quiet.

Just before dawn, we heard the first raindrops.  It was cold, overcast, and drizzly.  Figuring that this wouldn’t be a good day for kayaking or hiking, we walked to the nearby “concession” where there was cell phone and WiFi service, and bought tickets for an 11:30 tram tour of the park.  By 10:30, the rain was cold and steady.  Since we had good rainwear, we decided to take the hour-long tour anyway.  We were the only two passengers on the 4-car tram.  We met the Leedys for lunch at the concession and tried the Gator Stew – very good!  By the time our naps were over, the sky had cleared and the day had warmed to a balmy 59.  The four of us took a spin on our bikes, had supper at our own campers, and met back at the Leedys for popcorn, wine, and a couple of rounds of Yahtzee.  I think we’ll sleep late tomorrow!