First stop - Bradenton, Florida - January 2016

I flew away from chilly Rhode Island on Monday, January 4th.  To my surprise the weather in Rhode Island that short time I was there unpacking, was quite warm.  I didn't need jackets, hats, gloves, etc.  A nice warm spell for moving in.  Check out another post - soon to come - for a little more on the Rhody move in.

The motorhome was left in Florida in the middle of November.  There were thoughts that it wouldn't start when we returned after the holidays, so we arranged a hotel room for the night of our arrival.  The CRV was parked alongside the motorhome - waiting for our return to Florida at the end of December.

The flight down from Providence seemed long - maybe it was the crowded airplane, the fact that I was absolutely exhausted from unpacking in Rhode Island or maybe it was the boot on my left foot that made me cranky and tired.  Not sure...but it almost took us 3 hours to arrive in Tampa.

We hailed a cab at the airport when we arrived in Tampa and were taken to the storage lot where the motorhome and car were parked.  Sure enough, RV had a dead battery.  No problem with the car, it started right up.  We put the suitcases in the car and headed for the Hampton Inn, a short distance away.  We needed dinner and rest and would deal with the RV in the morning.

The next morning we went out to get in the car and the car had a flat tire.  REALLY?

So, warranty service was called for the Honda, the spare was put on and I drove over to Costco to have the tire repaired or replaced.  On the way I dropped Don off at the RV storage lot and he waited for service to come to deal with the battery issue on the motorhome.  Sure enough - "house" battery was dead.

Once the "house" batteries were replaced we were on our way south to Bradenton, only about an hour away.  Our reservation for the month of January is at Pleasant Lake RV Resort in Bradenton.  This first week we've had a number of overcast, cloudy days and one day with a whopping thunderstorm.  But temps are in the 60's and low 70's with evenings dropping down in the 50's.  No snow in the forecast here - so it's pretty perfect as far as I'm concerned!

This RV park has a mix of "park homes," RV motorhomes, Fifth wheel RV trailers, and a small assortment of other types of camper vehicles.  It wasn't hard to back in and get settled in our parking space.

The view out the front door...looking down the street towards the entrance of the RV Park.

The next day I took a ride around the lake to check out how big the park is and what's around the corner.  Here is the activity center.  Behind that white fence is a pool - I hear the water is really warm!

More views of the lake ~

The office, mail location, registration, welcome area:

All of the units are located around the lake and most have a lovely view of the lake.  There are a couple of streets where the RV camper or motorhome vehicle lots are located behind the park home sites.

Next you'll see park homes on the right and motorhomes on the left.  The park homes are neat and tidy and look very comfy! I can see my friends Walt and Laurie from Glenview in this park.  There are dogs everywhere and lots of opportunities for Walt to visit with guys and talk cars, trucks, bikes, etc.   Laurie and her dogs would be making new friends at every corner!  And there are wonderful paths and places to stroll.

I'm impressed with the amount of "park homes" in Florida at this RV park and at others we've seen. Park homes are quite small (tiny houses) but very well maintained and look very cozy.  I wonder if something like this is a better option than a motorhome?

The view of the street "where we live" for the month of January:

So far we really like this park.  The sites are roomy...we have a picnic table and room to pull the car up alongside the motorhome.  And the lot has shade!  In the summer these trees would really be helpful, I'm sure!  It's been cool here at night and in the mornings right now.

The gates to enter the park are locked at 5 pm, this is the exit to Route 70 leading to lots of stores, restaurants, etc.   This park is definitely on the list of places to return to if/when we're looking to return to the Bradenton-Sarasota area.