We decided to ride our trikes from our house in Lakewood Ranch to go to Lake Manatee State Park. Our 28 mile ride took us into the country past many cattle, horse, and goat ranches.

To get there we cruised up Lakewood Ranch Road to State Road 64 and then went through a number of developments. It is always fun to see what types of homes developers are building and where.

We have to say one thing about the Florida rides, there aren’t enough bathrooms along the way. We even look for builder’s port-o-potties!   They are pretty gross,  but sometimes necessary.   That is one upside of so much building going on in the area.

About 7 miles into the ride, we came to the ranch area. The nicest thing is that this is “old” Florida.  Lots of wild palm trees and other vegetation. There is also lots of wild life –  especially lots of birds,  including hawks looking for food (I just hoped it wasn’t me).

We find the ranches very interesting as they have a lot of fun signs even if they don’t realize it. One of them obviously raises pigs as the sign outside said “we raise them, you show them. Another had a beautifully done iron sign that said simply “Go Away”.

 

After a short while we came upon the Manatee County Water Plant and dam. As we kept going we came to an area that either had a fire in the not too distant past or was a controlled burn. In any event, there are lots of baby palm trees taking over. At that point, we reached SR 64 and the Lake Manatee State Park.

The park isn’t the prettiest one we have been to since we have been in Florida until you reach the lake. It is a big, beautiful lake with a boat ramp in one area and a so-called beach around the other side.

Since there was a rain storm the night before, the “sandy” area was pretty much washed out but it was a pretty view even if there was a “respect the alligators” sign.

We stopped there for a few minutes and then started on our trip back. The best part of the trip was getting back to our neighborhood and into the pool.

Ahhhh! Great ride!