A Christmas vacation in February

Saturday we picked our friends Lance and Janice up at the airport - refugees from an Illinois winter! They had decided to make this trip as their Christmas present to themselves. And that makes sense - it was 20 degrees when they left Illinois and mid-60s where they landed here. It was afternoon when we got home so we "snacked" on the antipasto tray and bread, before going to The Villages to hear a band. To our surprise, the band who was playing was the same band how played The Villages the last time Lance and Janice were here! They're not bad, but a cold wind picked up so we didn't stay late. We were still full from the antipasto so we just got some deli meats for dinner, instead of the steaks Randy had for dinner. And we ended up skipping dinner anyway!

Sunday we all went to church together, then came home for a lunch of deli meats. The forecasted rain came in so it wasn't a good day to do outside things. Lance and Janice like touring wineries so we went to Lakeridge Winery. And they were still having their 2-for-1 case sale! They bought some that we will store for them until their summer trip back. Later we discussed watching the Superbowl but none of us cared much about it; Lance would have been if the Vikings had made it, but as it was, no interest. So we had steaks for dinner, then Janice and I went over to Donna's to chat and borrow her Mexican Train game. After dinner we taught them how to play, and they learned so good that they both won several times!

Monday the weather changed to what people come to Florida for - high 70s and mostly sunny. We spent that good weather going to see the manatees. Lance and Janice have been to Florida many times but usually in warm weather, so the manatees were new to them. In spite of the upturn in temperature, the springs were full of manatees. There were over 200 there today!

It's good to see so many here, and less and less have prop scars. Although boats are still a danger to them, nowadays the cold is more of a threat. They live in the warm water during the winter but cannot eat there - there are no leafy greens in the springs. So they have to travel out to eat. And there is something called "cold stress" that can kill them. A docent told us that recently about 35 were found dead from cold stress. Not here, fortunately, but it's a very real problem for them everywhere.

Lots of babies are here with their moms. Since the babies stay with mom for 2 years, it's common for a mom to have a baby calf and an adolescent with her. 

A trip to watch the manatees is always so peaceful!