Sights Around Tampa Florida

This is part of the Plant Building on the University of Tampa campus.

And, lots and lots of moss

The Wonder of the Manatee

Manatees are a familiar sight in Florida. They are amazing animals. They have no known predators and you can find them in warmer water. The cold weather Florida has been having has caused them problems.

Not too far from where we are staying is a power plant that discharges water into the waterway and because it is warm it attracts manatees. They have built a viewing area so you can see them.

There about 50 or 60 manatees in this area. The lay just below the water and can lay there up to 20 minutes. Their back stick up out of the water and look like rocks. Because they lay so near the top collisions with boats can be dangerous to the manatee.

Some of the manatees in this area have been rescued and have been named.

In the viewing area is a museum. This is one colorful manatee.

While we sat and ate lunch we noticed many fish were jumping in the water. Here is one big one.

We even saw a small shark with its fin scimming on the water line. It is hard to see in this picture. It is about 1/2 inch left of the pole.

Wildlife in Florida

In Florida the wildlife is much different than the robins and crows in Washington. There are egrets, cranes, herons...

AND, THEN THERE ARE THE ALLIGATORS!!!!!! UGH!!!!

You Never Know What You Will See

All the places we have been there are areas with beautiful homes. Tampa was no exception.

First time we have seen a fire boat...

Then there are reminders of home...

Strange mail boxes...

And, unusual murals...

In Florida there is so much swam area, even sidewalks are built over them.

Then, there is the real different -- this was in a field next to an Air Stream dealer.

Tornado Nearby

Yesterday afternoon we almost got in the car to head south. Our First Alert radio said their doppler showed a tornado (it never did touch down) between Brandon and Plant Florida heading northeast a 40 miles per hour. Well, Dover Florida (NE of Tampa) is where we are staying and is in between Brandon and Plant. It even went into detail about what to do in a tornado.

It was raining real hard and we were watching the doppler on our computer real close plus looking out the front window. Then the rain almost stopped and the doppler showed the "red" had moved east of us.

I cannot rave enough about our First Alert radio. It notified us specifically where everything was going on and we knew exactly where the concern was. They updated us several times.

I used to be real paranoid about the weather here on the east coast but not so much any more.

(This picture is not the tornado...just a tornado picture.)