To the Everglades - #31-02

February 24, 2003 (Mon)
Englewood, FL to Flamingo, FL (297/1724 miles)

Well here we are at the very southern tip of Florida (except for the Keys) deep in the Everglades. It's hard to believe as we sit here barefoot and in shorts, with the temperature at 78 degrees, that back home there are still several feet of snow on the ground and an ice storm expected tonight (so we hear). It was a longer trip than we expected so we haven't had much chance to see the everglades except what passed by our windows along the way. We'll do some exploring tomorrow.

We had a peaceful and relaxing 6 days with Joy's mother and sister Frannie. It was hard to say good bye this morning. We had a great time visiting, playing cards, reading, doing crossword puzzles, and playing the guitar. Friday morning Joy taught a quilting class to the Quail's Run Craft Group. She had a good turnout and they seemed to appreciate her being there for them. We ate more than we should have but a couple of long bicycle rides helped burn up some of the extra calories. Joy also went swimming with her mother most mornings. Even so it's got to be slim pickings for the rest of the trip if Mark's weight is to be low enough to keep the doctor from commenting on it when we get back.

We got off this morning at about 9:30. We stopped at the grocery store to replenish the cupboard, at a gas station to fill up that tank ($1.63/gal), and a hardware store to get propane. We're now ready for a few days in the sticks. After getting our fill of the stop and go traffic on The Tamiami Trail (US41) southbound, we jumped onto I-75 to make a little time around Fort Myers and Naples.

Back on US41 we found the road completely shut down about 25 miles across Florida with a very serious accident somewhere up ahead. We had to take a 75 mile detour around it - back up to I-75 across and down. There are very few roads in this part of Florida! But on the detour we went through what was called a "Panther Habitat" - 13 miles of it - complete with road signs with the warning "Caution Panther Crossing next x miles" WOW! We looked but didn't see any panthers.

This is quite a nice campground even with no hook-ups. Some of the sites look out over an expansive lawn and to the sparkling Bay of Florida. Those sites were all taken, of course, but it's only a short walk for us.

Q047619 Everglades National Park Flamingo Campground #41 $7.00s dry B+
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February 25, 2003 (Tue) Flamingo, FL (2) - Woke this morning to a colorful sunrise out our bedroom window. It promised a beautiful day ahead and it was. After breakfast we set out on our bicycles to explore the campground and the facilities here. There is no village per se (we don't think) but there is a grocery store, gas station, motel, cabins and a sizable marina. There is plenty of wildlife too - osprey, hawks, herons, egrets, grebes, storks, ducks and anhingas and many other exotic species as well as the normal assortment of flying folk. We even saw a large flight of the reclusive white pelicans pass overhead in a very geese-like "V" formation.

Our area of the campground seems to be the hangout of choice for about a dozen turkey vultures. They circle above, gather in groups on the ground or just wander around. We can't imagine there being enough carrion around to support such a large flock.

The mosquitos can be very bad here at other times of year but are not bad now. A sign at the ranger station announces the misquote rating as "Tolerable". We agree. That was one down from the highest -"Care Free". "Total Mayhem" the worst. The gnats are a different story though. There is no way to keep them out of Q short of closing up completely, and it's far too warm to do that. They are so small they come right through the screens.