Tin Can Tourists

While year round Florida residents might not anxiously await the annual winter return of the “snow birds”, we have admittedly adopted the lifestyle. Florida winters are sunny, mild, and generally lovely- and we have been lucky enough to find summer jobs or adventures to help us beat the heat of Florida summers.

While we tend to use the RV as our escape vehicle from Florida, it was fun to see that Tampa hosted the earlier version of RV parks.

Post trail or travel winters for us tend to be uneventful, if productive- but usually nothing to blog about. Colby works on the condo and has transformed a very rough one bedroom into a comfortable and beautiful homebase. Between sometimes helping my folks with the cutest Florida snowbirds (manatees) and a retail job, I usually just work to save up for our next endeavor.

This winter though we have managed to get out and explore Tampa and a bit of the surrounding area some more. Between some unique places, some local history, and just trying to see some of the (arguably) more wild Florida residents it made for some nice down time before our next journey.

Downtown Tampa Bay has a wonderful river walk, some great restaurants, and some fun facts about local history. I think part of the appeal of getting to jump around on job locations has been exploring new areas and picking up tidbits of the history.

Formerly The Tampa Bay Hotel, now Plant Hall and part of the University of Tampa. The minarets were part of Henry Plants idea to make the hotel grand enough that folks would take his railroad to visit a lesser known town.

I very much support bringing these postcards back into style!

At the recommendation of a co-worker we made a small journey out to Lakeland to visit Circle B Bar Reserve. With lots of trails and ample wildlife, it is great for some light day hiking, as well as a chance to take out the cameras and try capturing some cool critters.

Male (left) and female (right) anhingas. Sometimes referred to as “snake birds” or “water turkeys”.

We now know that I have yet to see an armadillo I didn’t like.

All in all it was a good winter. We had a chance to catch up with some friends who live here, as well as some who made the trip to visit. We snuck down to Key Largo for some much missed diving, and a heavy dose of nostalgia. We explored some local parks and restaurants, plus knocked out some projects that had been simmering on the back burner. As the weather warms up and the big gray marine mammals start moving, we are too.

While the RV and it’s repairs could constitute its own saga- it isn’t terribly entertaining, but it is currently working! We are on the road and on our way back to Oregon, but might do some tin can tourist activities on the way.