Making My Escape From Sarasota

November 7, 2001 - Wednesday Day 12

6:50am - I slept without any problems right up til 5:45am . Other than it being cold and awful wet , it was a pretty good rest .We didn't waste any time trying to put this place far behind us . Not much shenanigans going on at 5:00 in the morning . Glad to be gone from there!
8:45am - We are just south of Bradenton and looks like we will be entering the city limits soon.There seems to be a few miles of open road ahead and there is a six foot high fence along each side of the road .That doesn't surprise me a bit , after that last neighborhood I was in .I can picture "crack-heads" climbing these fences and helping themselves to anything that would possibly get them their next hit.
10:30am - Just crossed the Manatee River and 301 turns to the east , so I'll stay on 41 for awhile . The next town will be Palmetto (large farming area) might be able to rob somebody's tater patch . We are just gonna take it easy today , I hurt my ankle yesterday and I pushed Skil's pretty hard trying to get out of that last "Hell-Hole"
Right now , we are in a place called Oneco under a oak tree , I have been picking up snipes as I go along , so I'll have something to smoke along the way . I haven't seen any of those farms that Palmetto is so famously known for .
The last 24 hours were a nightmare now that I am sitting here feeling somewhat relieved . When I thought I was near Bradenton , boy , was I way off .By about 10 miles , and a very hot 10 miles . Had no water for the little boy , then the bridge itself was a nightmare . It goes way up in the air and the gaurdrail is at kneehigh level . Scary , add the traffic to that and you can almost spell disaster . The little curb I had to walk on was only 12" wide . But , we're here and one more day we are safe (positive note?) We can relax for a while , at least for the next 30 miles or so .
5:00pm - I had to buy 2 more cans of dog food at a buck apiece at a Race-Trak store , man , that hurts . I have to figure out some way to feed him cheaper , but I am just about as broke as I can get now . It seems that I am in the black section of Palmetto , but then , it's probably all black . I don't intend to stay here for the night , the poison ivy is running wild here . There must be something better up the road . I have to make something happen soon . It is 38 miles to Tampa and then the hair-raising experiences start all over again .
6:40pm - We are stopping for the night at the intersection of I-275 and US41 in the island between the ramp and the bridge . I have for company a bunch of bee-hives and the ever gathering swarm of skeeters . I could stand for some colder weather now to ease the bug problem .
Skillet is being such a good boy on this adventure . I sure do love that little guy . Its just so hard on him and I can't carry enough water . I'll start looking for a gallon jug to tote along with us . We still haven't passed a grocery store . Have no clue as what tomorrow might bring , hell , don't even know what town is next . But , we are making forward progress . "Get-Ur-Done"