Jan 21st to 24th - Thonotosassa FL

Jan 21st - Wed - Thonotosassa
It was very cold last night (near freezing) and windy this morning. The cold front is supposed to be leaving in a couple of days which will be great.
Billy & Lauri and we went to a Manatee viewing area that Paul & Vicki had told us about yesterday. When the water is cold, the manatees move to a protected inlet where a power plant discharges warm water. There are viewing platforms, a long boardwalk/pier, an interpretive center with an informational film and a gift shop. Retired power plant employees are hosts and docents. And for a nice change it is free.
We had dug out our warmest jackets and I should have tried to find ear muffs as well since the wind made it pretty cold. There were lots of manatees mostly submerged in the water. They would slowly raise their heads to breathe and slowly roll and go down a bit. We saw a sting ray and schools of large fish (tarpon, we think) off the pier.
Billy had heard about a restaurant (Cody’s Roadhouse) in Brandon that had 2 for 1 fajitas on Wednesday so we had to check it out on the way back. It is a “peanut shells on the floor” and “disposable paper on the table” type of place - very relaxed and fun. We were there at happy hour so drinks were 2 for 1 as well. The fajitas were great and Billy was very happy with his 2 glasses of beer so it was a good dinner choice.
Carie wore a mask to dinner last night as she was sneezing like crazy and did not want anyone else to catch whatever she might have be coming down with. She had a full blown cold today so they were taking it easy.

Jan 22nd - Thurs - Thonotosassa
Cold again this morning so we hibernated until about 10:30 when we joined Billy & Lauri for a drive to Ybor City which is between here and Tampa. It is a National Historic District which still has several hand-rolled cigar companies that were the reason for the growth of the city in the late 1800’s. It is well known for it’s nightlife from Wed to Sat. We visited the visitor information center and wandered down the streets before stopping for lunch. I wanted to sample a Cuban sandwich and figured this would be a good place to do so. The sandwich has ham, pork, salami, cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickles, mayo & mustard on Cuban bread which is like a French bread. Then it is pressed and toasted. Good but too much ham and not enough pork & salami which would have made it more distinctive.
We wandered back to the car - still cool but the sun was warm - then stopped at Camping World and a little roadside produce stand on the way back to the park.
After dinner, we and Billy & Lauri went to Bingo. No one at our table won a thing!! Gary now has Carie’s cold so they didn’t join us.

Jan 23rd - Fri - Thonotosassa
Relaxing day today. Did laundry and then took advantage of warming weather to go to the pool.
We have been getting wonderful, huge avocados here and both Lauri & I had the idea to use them for guacamole before they went bad. So we had to force down a couple bowls of guacamole at happy hour!
Tomorrow is an auction and bake sale at the park so I baked a few dozen shortbread cookies to contribute.

Jan 24th - Sat - Thonotosassa
I made a dozen quick danish this morning - 6 for us and 6 for the bake sale. Terry & I delivered the baking just after 9 and took a quick look at the auction items. This is a Chinese Auction - donated items are grouped on sheets of paper on tables with a red plastic cup for each group. You buy tickets (10 for $1) and drop a ticket into any cup where you want the items on the paper. Then a ticket is drawn from each cup to determine the winner of that lot. Any item that we wanted had other junk grouped with it so we didn’t buy any tickets.
At noon, a regular auction started with larger donated items. We attended for a while, took a break for lunch and then went back for a few minutes just in time for a 30 amp cord go for more money than Terry wanted to spend. Went to pick up a few groceries and had happy hour at our place - first with Billy, then joined by new acquaintances Larry & Judy (we met Judy at bingo) and then Gary & Carie joined us for a while.