East of Bradenton

Cattle grazing along the road we traveled.

Sunday we went for a drive east of Bradenton to find a radio control flying club location.  There is new development going on here, but at the same time cattle graze on grass pastures and vegetable fields in long, neat rows are being tended.  Florida is most known for its citrus and it continues to supply the vast majority of orange juice consumed in the U.S.  In fact we passed the home plant for Tropicana on our drive today.  Additionally, Florida produces 80% of the nation's oranges and 79% of its grapefruits.  Fruits, vegetables and sugarcane are grown here on 44,000 farms that cover 10.2 million acres which is nearly 30% of the state's entire land area.  Oranges were introduced here by Spanish settlers becoming Florida's most important commercial crop by the early 1800s.  Florida is the second largest producer of vegetables in the country.  The state's 2nd-largest field crop is peanuts followed by cotton, hay, corn, tobacco, soybeans and wheat.  Florida leads the nation in production of watermelons.

Vegetable fields being watered.

Jim also found a radio controlled flying field on this trip after searching the web for clubs.  It would be a bit of a drive, but the club has a nice covered area with tables and a paved landing strip for the flyers.  It is located just west of Bradenton's motor speedway which was active yesterday with the roaring engines of dragsters and a filled parking lot just a short distance from the RC field.  The hobby shop Jim has located for radio control supplies is conveniently located in the same mall we go to for Costco.  So I suspect he will travel out to the field soon to hone his flying skills and get them back to normal after not flying since last March in Ironwood.

Covered area and tables for radio controlled flying club.

We have decided to stay on here another month to save some money on diesel fuel.  In our drive around we scoped out a couple more RV parks and found one we think we will move to if they have space on November 14th.  It is in this same area built around an artificial lake shaped like a square with a mile walk around the lake.  Jim and I have been walking in spite of a knee problem he has developed.  He's going to see an orthopedic doctor to track down the cause and hopefully this park will provide a nice place to keep exercising.  There are the usual stores within a mile or two of the park so I won't have to drive all the way back into Bradenton to shop for a few groceries and I-75 is conveniently just a short distance to the east.    

Sign for the Tropicana Plant