Tuesday - March 7 - Tuesday night, watching Big Bang (oldies). We are now in Homosassa, having arrived on Sunday. No luck getting Gail's tire repaired on Saturday, as none of the bike shops in Largo seem to open on the week-end. So we had to wait until Monday, when we found a shop in Crystal River.

Before leaving Largo, we looked up the bus schedule on Saturday that would get us to the County Botanical Garden. Turned out to be a nice visit, although the florals weren't at their peak, it being a little early for some, late for others. But it's a very nice site, and we enjoyed it. There is a Wedding Center in the middle of the property, which was hosting a big wedding that evening. It was interesting to float by the various preparations being made by the caterers, including the set-up for the bar. When we asked if the bartender was taking orders, we got a rather pained reaction. Think he'd heard that line before? No luck there!

The drive up 19 on Sunday was traffic light after traffic light, until we got to within 15 miles of our turn-off. But still better than taking 75. And there was a good ABC liquor store along the way, where we stocked up. Should be good to last well into spring.

Why do we like Homosassa? It's off the beaten path. It's not chockablock full of cars, malls and masses of people. There's a great wild-life park just down the road. And one of our favorite bars, The Shed, is also down the road in the village. We've already been there twice for a beer (2 bucks), and great French Fries. Plus, there are dozens of brown pelicans floating around, waiting for the fishermen to come in. Then it's total havoc. Fun to watch.

Yesterday, while we were getting the flat tire fixed, we met a couple from Ohio, who clued us into local bike trails. So once the tire was fixed, and after another visit to the local Beall's, we found a neat bike path that runs along the former Cross Florida Barge Canal to the Gulf. Great trail, only 15 kms return, so a nice little work-out. Other trails await.

Today we went to the Ellie Schiller Wildlife park. We've been there twice before, but we enjoy it a lot, as there is a good variety of birds, some animals such as the Florida panther, bobcats, and so on. There's also Lu, the hippo, and a few alligators. Re the latter, the staff are training the gators to respond to "Come", just like your pet dog. Reason: when a hurricane hit last September, there was a big storm surge that flooded the park, to the extent that the alligators were almost able to escape over the enclosure fences. Training them to respond to a call to come will enable the staff to secure the animals for their own safety, and the safety of the general population. It was pretty neat to see the gators swim over when called, opening their gaping jaws to receive small rewards. Sort of like the pelicans waiting for scraps from the fish cleaners. Also saw lots of manatees, so it was a good day.

We've checked the weather at home, and have decided to stay here until the 17th, rather than try to track down another park north of here. So we'll be here for nearly 2 weeks by the time we leave, a record for us. Then we head home, looking forward to seeing friends and family, and hoping for above zero weather.

That's it for now! Stay tuned. More later.