To Kissimmee Prairie - #61-05

January 28, 2006 (Sat) Monument Lake Campground, Big Cypress NP (4) - In the immortal words of King George III on the day the American Declaration of Independence was signed; Nothing of importance happened today. We didn't even do much in the way of intentional exercise - maybe a couple of miles walking, but that's it. The rest of the day we just sat around reading and watching the other campers come and go.
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January 29, 2006 (Sun) Monument Lake Campground, Big Cypress NP (5) - There are 1144.57 square miles in Big Cypress National Preserve. Throughout the park there are gravel trails maintained for off-road vehicle enthusiasts and swamp buggy tours. A mile long "service road" connects the campground loop with one of these roads. This morning we walked out to the OVR trail and then north on the trail for a couple of miles. It was hard going because most of the way we were walking on limestone chunks ranging from the size of a big toe to a fist. It was a beautiful area to walk in but we had to pay close attention to where we placed our feet so as not to twist an ankle. We may have found some new muscles! Otherwise the day was a repeat of yesterday.

Our bicycle peddling muscles are beginning to accept the rigors of circling the lake several times a day, so longer jaunts will be easier later on. We look forward to being where we can do some.

Monument Lake Campground, Big Cypress NP #5 dry $8:00g B- (x5)
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January 30, 2006 (Mon)
Monument Lake CG to Midway CG, Big Cypress NP (7.7/1688 miles)

We were up at about 6:30 and started out to walk around the lake just as it was getting light. As we approached the rest room facilities, about 1/3 of the way around, it began to sprinkle, the first precipitation of our trip. Rather than go on around as we had intended, we took the shorter route back. It was raining quite heavily by the time we were back in Q but, wouldn't ya know, it stopped just about the time we pulled the door shut. Our clean clothes were now wet clothes. Getting to a laundry had become even more critical!

We decided to move to this Midway Campground, only 8 miles down US41 to the east, because we wanted to check it out (it was closed for complete renovation last year) and because it has electric hookups and a dump station. The campground host at Monument Lake told us it would probably be full and, though he couldn't save us a site, expected to see us back. We thought that if we timed it right, we might get the site of someone leaving this morning. And that's how it worked out. We got here at about 9:30 just as small trailer was pulling out.

This campground is also very small - 26 back-in sites and a few sites for tents around a small man made lake. The road around it is less than a half mile long. Although run by the National Park Service, the atmosphere is very much like a much more expensive resort - without the fancy amenities. We are parked on an asphalt pad facing the lake with a picnic table and grill on a concrete pad beside us. The grounds are nicely manicured and our fellow campers seem very friendly.

Q028916 Midway Campground, Big Cypress NP #6 e $10.00 A
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January 31, 2006 (Tue)
Big Cypress NP to Fort Pierce, FL (190/1878 miles)

Jack is looking forward to this entry with some trepidation but we'll go easy. We got off from Midway campground at 8:00 (68°) after dumping and taking on water. The big city of Miami was ahead, but it was hard to realize it as we drive east on US41 . The road across the Everglades was almost devoid of human life. There were a few Indian villages along the way and an occasional car or RV passed us.

Hitting the outskirts of Miami in commuter hour was environmental shock! We were suddenly reminded of why we like camping in places like Big Cypress. With the help of Henry (for research) and Hildene (for navigation) we found our way into the city (Miami Lakes) to Costco and a laundromat. Lunch was at McDonalds because there was no hope of finding a rest area or uncluttered parking lot to fix our own lunch.

Stuart, FL - It was good to see Jack and Olive again and especially good because we didn't have to rush off to get to a far-off campground as we did last year. We were going to eat dinner at Carrabbas Italian Grill on US1 but even after calling ahead to cut our wait time in half, we waited almost an hour before giving up and walking out. Sonnys Barbecue turned out to be an excellent substitute. Thanks Jack and Olive.

A phone call to the Stuart Walmart had revealed that it was OK to spend the night in their parking lot (not a given in coastal Florida counties) but a sign as we drove into the lot read "No overnight parking, violators will be towed". We checked inside and found out that it was a new Martin County regulation. Not wanting to wake up in the clutches of a moving tow truck, we went on to the Fort Pierce Walmart where overnight parking was allowed. 15 or 20 RVs were corralled into a small section of the lot making it impossible to get away from a motor home with a very loud generator. At 9:30 the security man, whose job it was to ensure that no one strayed - as we did - from the designated "campground", said that the rig had been there with its generator running all afternoon and suggested that if enough of us complained he might turn it off.

Q029106 Camp Walmart C
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February 1, 2006 (Wed)
Fort Pierce, FL to Okeechobee, FL (55/1933 miles)

Sometime well after the end President Bush's State of the Union speech last night we heard loud talking over by the noisy motor home. Soon after that the generator shut down and the night turned quiet.

It was chilly when we got up this morning (50°) but we didn't turn the furnace on because we were running low on propane. As it turned out there was a Flying J truck stop on the way where we replenished our supply.

We were at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park last year and decided to come back again this year. Our plan is to stay 5 nights but we could only get three. There are no available sites for Sunday night but there are one or two for Monday night. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned.

Q029161 Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park #19 w/e $13.20 B+
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February 2, 2006 (Thu) Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park (2) - This park is out in the middle of nowhere, north of Lake Okeechobee. Flat Florida landscape stretches out forever in every direction. There are trees (mostly palms) and hammocks (groupings of trees) here and there but grass field and swamp best describes the terrain. This morning we walked 3 miles out a trail into the prairie. On the way we saw hawks, herons, egrets, vultures, and other birds we didn't have time to identify. There were also several young (small antler racks) white tail deer. But the most fascinating were the spider webs. Yes spider webs. There were hundreds of them sparkling in the sun along the trail as we returned. Those little guys are amazing engineers. With only a stalk or two of grass for support they are able to construct a web that is almost perfectly round with each segment drawn as if by compass and straight-edge.

Our entertainment this afternoon started by watching a young couple, papers and maps in hand, look over the pull through site across the road from us. Over the next half hour or so they pointed, gestured and swept their arms around. They pointed at the trees, the sides of the road, the campsites next to them and across the road (ours included). They even got the campers from the next site involved. We came to the conclusion that they were the advance party for a large group. After a couple of false starts, they finally left.

Five minutes later a large white Volvo diesel tractor - the kind normally seen on the interstates hauling big box trailers (18 wheelers) - came growling into the site. Instead of a box, it was hauling a huge Teton Homes 5th wheel. It stopped half way into the site so the driver, the neighbor, and the campground host, on ladders and from the top of the 5th wheel, could trim back tree branches. Once the site was big enough they pulled the rest of the way in and unhooked.

With the 3 slides out the living quarters is only slightly smaller than a standard double wide home. When someone asked them why they needed something so big, the woman said "It's our home". Maybe so but we wonder if it's really worth it. How many campground managers are willing to allow their trees to be pruned like that? We can't help but wonder if they have a cherry picker and chain saw stowed away somewhere for emergencies. And we can't imagine running out the supermarket, or the local deli, or a restaurant in that big semi.
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February 3, 2006 Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park (3) - We walked 3 miles out into the prairie again this morning, but in the other direction. It was warm but mostly overcast, although the sun did come out once for a short time. When we got back, the campground host told us that Okeechobee county, among others, were under a tornado watch until 3:00pm and gave us some tips as to what we should do if it began to get windy. Oh Good!

The winds came but no tornado. We stowed our chairs, rugs, bicycles and awning then went next door did the same for our neighbors because they were out in the prairie on their bicycles. They got back as we were trying to figure out how to stow their awning and just as it began to rain. And did it ever rain! There are big puddles everywhere in the campground. Luckily we have none of them in our site. Looks like it is going to rain all night, and tomorrow too!!