Back to Penny Farms - #31-03

February 26, 2003 (Wed)
Flamingo, FL to Okeechobee, FL (218/1942 miles)

It got down to 70 degrees last night. It was so cold that we had to put on a light blanket :-) Actually getting up in the middle of the night let us figure out what the noise we've been hearing in the night was - birds. There must hundreds, if not thousands, fussing and complaining over on Eco Pond. The sound was not unlike a waterfall off in the distance. Joy found the night difficult because of the gnats, Mark because of his sunburn. It was good to see morning even though it was too foggy for the bike ride we had planned.

On the way out of the park we took a side trip to the Pa-hay-okee (River of grass) Overlook. More wildlife (bird) sightings. Mark was able to get within 5 feet of a Turkey Vulture - close enough to get a nice glamor shot. We also checked out the other campground in the park - Longboat Key - for future reference.

After leaving the park we made our way almost due north to the Claude Pepper Memorial Highway (US27). This and route US98/441 along the east side of Lake Okeechobee took us through many of Florida's sugar cane fields. We were surprised how unlike "Florida" this area is. It seems much more like rural Alabama and Mississippi - very depressed. But there was beauty too. The streets of Pahokee are lined with giant royal palms. Wonderful!

The campgrounds along the road as we approached Okeechobee were plentiful, small, crowded, rundown and expensive. The Zachary Taylor Camping Resort just south of town is one of the better ones. It's expensive, probably over $30 without our Passport America discount, and tightly packed, but clean and apparently very well run. The help (owners?) is very friendly and helpful as are the residents. A nice place! After setting up we walked over to the lake where a lock was helping boaters move between the canal and the lake. Another lock to add to our growing list.

Q047837 Zachary Taylor Camping Resort #75 $15.95p e/w/s B
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February 27, 2003 (Thur)
Okeechobee, FL to Penney Farms, FL (275/2217 miles)

Since we did some climbing yesterday (up onto the levee surrounding Lake Okeechobee) a couple of times and worked up a sweat (Temperature was in the mid to upper 80s) we decided to take showers this morning - warm ones this time. The showers in the Everglades had no hot water! During and after breakfast we took care of some housekeeping chores - Joy did the laundry (beautiful campground Laundromat), Mark got the messages from our home answering machine and "did" the email (sent and received). And we dumped and flushed the holding tanks and took on water. It was 75 degrees when we got off at 10:05 under partly sunny skies headed for northern Florida - where there was a tornado watch in effect.

Since the last time we got gas we haven't seen the price under $1.74 at any station we passed. So when we saw it at $1.67, we stopped even though we didn't really need it. Well, a few more miles up US441 we could have gotten it for $1.61 and later we saw it for $1.55. Sometimes we make bad decisions!

Yeehaw Junction couldn't have had a population of more than 3 or 4. It was a four way stop crossroad - thus "junction" in its name, I guess - in the middle of flat grasslands - with the Desert Inn on one corner. There must have been ranches out there somewhere because every so often we saw herds of cattle standing or sitting around under what looked like large dining flys. (We didn't see any sitting and waving though, Jennifer.) Actually this part of Florida is a lot like the West - great expanses of flat for as far as the eye can see. The road was two lanes dead flat and as straight as an arrow with very little traffic and that was mostly 18 wheelers. It's greener though and there are groupings of trees to break the immensity.

At Holopaw we turned East on US192 and headed for I-95 aiming to avoid the congestion in the Orlando/Kissimmee area. We lunched in a KFC parking lot on US1 south of Titusville, then passed a beautiful little park overlooking the Banana River and the Kennedy Space Center just a mile up the road where we could have taken our Triple Zinger chicken sandwiches. Next time!

Back on I-95 the traffic got heavier and heavier and construction made matters worse. We celebrated making it to St. Augustine without mishap by stopping at the huge discount mall (96 stores) - at least Joy celebrated. We bought 2 cereal bowls for Q.

A billboard on I-95 read "Thank the Lord for George and Jeb Bush"

Dorcas (Mark's sister) and Mike were in the PRC RV area to greet us when we got there. They had just been in to see MotherB and found her so groggy that she was hardly aware she had visitors and didn't recognize them. Apparently she'd been awake a lot the last couple of nights and was sleeping so soundly when they got there that she couldn't wake up. We decided not to see her until tomorrow, but had a good visit with Dorcas and Mike.

Q048112 Penny Retirement Community RV area #1 $7.50 e/w C
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February 28, 2003 (Fri) Penney Farms, FL (2) - We got a severe thunderstorm this morning about 5:00. Luckily it had passed by the time we were ready to walk up the Pavilion to visit MotherB. And what a surprise. We found her up, dressed and sitting in a wheelchair. She had apparently recently come from her weekly shower - her hair was still wet - and the staff fixed her up for our visit.

After feeding her and having a short visit, we took off to meet Dorcas and Mike for lunch. We went to a new barbecue place they'd found in Orange Park. We had a good lunch and another good visit. Back here at PRC we went to the community rummage shop, famous in these parts, and looked for some bargains. We bought a book and a ball of yarn. We had another visit with MotherB then came back to Q for a quiet evening. Tomorrow we are back on the road.