Finishing my second week at Oscar Scherer State Park

On Sunday 1/28 my plans were to watch the NFL playoffs. My friend Doug Smith had
planned to stay with me before he headed up to near St Petersburg on 2/1. He
called from just past Atlanta and was slowly heading south, I suggested he
could hurry down to my campground and watch the games with me. Well he made it
in time to watch Buffalo and Detroit both lose their games. 

He spent the next 4 days with me enjoying the cool dry weather, hiking, cooking, shopping and both of us telling lots of stories. He hadn’t brought a bike but I was able to borrow an e-bike for him from a camper I met. 

So on Tuesday we took our bike ride south on the Legacy Trail and stopped at the small train station museum and watched the small planes landing at Venice, FL.
He was glad I got him an e-bike so that he could keep up and bike the 18 mile round trip. 

We cooked dinner every night but on his last day Doug took me out for a great lunch at the nearby, on the water, Casey Key Fish House. We both had an excellent Grouper dinner.

After Doug left, on Friday I took another 29 mi bike ride south to Caspersen Beach and then north through the million dollar neighborhoods up to Venice Beach. 

These were nice beaches with lots of people looking for shells.

 

My daughter Pam and her husband Sam had been condo shopping for the past two weeks in Cape Coral and staying with friends, but were now driving back to Vermilion, OH. Since I was only 5 mi off I-75 they stopped by on Saturday morning to say a quick hello and check out my campsite.

The weather forecast for Sunday was lots of rain and I wanted to get in at least one more bike ride so on Saturday afternoon so I took another 14 mi ride along
Casey Key and back to the Legacy Trail.

I love the Legacy Trail and all the connecting trails that you can ride near
Sarasota and Venice. It the past two weeks I rode my bike 160 miles, it was good cardiac rehab.

The next place I have camping reservations is at WP Franklin COE Campground on the Caloosahatchee River east of Fort Myers, however that is not until Sunday 2/11. So I have 6 days to stay somewhere else until then.

In the past I’ve stayed at Pioneer County Park in Zolfo Springs northeast of here and had no trouble getting a campsite. They do not take reservations but that’s where I’m heading to on Monday morning.