QC91-08 Monument Lake in Winter

February 2, 2009 (Mon) Englewood, FL to Monument Lake CG, Big Cypress National Preserve (153/1814 miles) - We woke several times during the night and heard water in the downspouts outside. It was raining and we missed being in Q where we could hear it on the roof. We expected we'd have to dodge rain drops as we repacked for the road but the rain had all but stopped by that time. We got off at about 9:35 (61° cloudy) and turned South on SR776. We'll be seeing Bom again in March on our way north but it will be awhile longer till we see Frannie. We look forward to the possibility of her visiting us at home this summer.

A stop at Publix, on US41 in Port Charlotte, replenished the larder. Then it was on south while trying to deal with one of Hildene's shortcomings. We wanted to stay off the limited access highways so we programmed to avoid "highways". Trouble is, she doesn't know the difference between an interstate and a perfectly good two lane road through local environs so she kept trying to put us on really small roads. So we made our own way to SR29, a really pleasant road through southern Florida with Hildene complaining all the way. To her it was either I-75 or some farm road.

It was 76° when we pulled into Monument Lake campground - a welcome change - but cloudy and very windy. After taking on water, we backed into site #16 (the same site we were in last year) between Bob and Pat, and Kaye who had arrived here yesterday.

February 3, 2009 (Tue) Monument Lake CG (2) - It rained hard as we played dominoes last night but very little during the night. The wind has let up too. The forecast has freeze warnings coming up for Wednesday night but it's hard to believe. We didn't think to look at the thermometer when we got up this morning but it wasn't cold enough to consider turning the furnace on. We started our morning walk wearing sweatshirts but they came off before we got home - combination of exercise and the sun. The rest of the day has been beautiful, warm and sunny, just like what we'd expect down here.

This campground has substantial overflow areas for use when the "official" 28 sites are full. They were well used tonight. We counted 12 units parked in wide grassy areas here and there around the lake. There are probably more. Among them is a Chinook Destiny that looks exactly like Q except for the bicycle rack on the front and the storage pod on top (and the dirt). The couple, from Tennessee, was very interested in the bicycle rack and we had a long talk about it - and Chinooks.

February 4, 2009 (Wed) Monument Lake CG (3) 42°@6 - We did turn the furnace on this morning but the sun warmed things up quickly. We have been wondering how Q's solar panel would affect the need to use the engine or generator to recharge the house batteries now that it will be having full sun exposure most of the day. We ended the day yesterday with a disappointing .5 volts more than we started - not enough to replenish what we'd used. This morning we started out lower (11.7v) than yesterday morning.

The bathroom flooded during our showers again. Tank full already? Couldn't be - not enough usage and the gauge reads 1/4 full. Speculative conclusion; clogged drain. Perfunctory cleaning helped but a more thorough job is needed.

We spent the morning catching up on email and snail mail correspondence. The sun was warm but the wind severely limited outside inactivity (reading, knitting, napping etc.) for most of us. It was OK for walking and puttering though.

February 5, 2009 (Thu) Monument Lake CG (4) 33°@6 - They said on the news this morning that last night was the coldest of the season. Not for us. But then we're further south than we were when we endured 26°. That didn't make 33° feel any warmer. But the furnace warmed things up to a tolerable level so we could get up in relative comfort. The sun on the solar panel kept the battery voltage at constant level yesterday (11.6v at bed time) but running the furnace and watching TV did a job on it. We got a low voltage warning when we closed up the bed this morning and had to take corrective action. We turned the engine on to idle for a while.

We can go weeks without seeing another Chinook and seldom ever see one in a campground. But in the last three days two have come to Monument Lake. A Concourse came in this morning and found an open site across the lake. This couple is from Michigan and have been traveling in Florida since before Christmas. They said Long Pine Key campground in the Everglades has been full for several days. We think that's usually the case with that campground but wonder how the Flamingo campground will be - usually not a problem.

Two guys in a pickup truck stopped by while Mark and Bob were playing This Land Is Your Land together and invited them to jam with them later in the evening in their campsite. They tactfully declined. Another couple stopped by later the say how much they enjoyed the music and suggested they might enjoy going to the annual Bluegrass festival in Yee Haw Junction - just finished for this year. Maybe next year

February 6, 2009 (Fri) Monument Lake CG (5) 39°@6 - Big day at the Kirby Storter Roadside Park. There is a half mile boardwalk into the Big Cypress swamp there and a few picnic tables. When we were there several years ago we were rewarded with seeing and watching many forms of wildlife. It seemed like a fun thing to do on our way back from a preventative dump.

There is no holding tank dump station at Monument Lake but the National Park Service does provide facilities some miles away. Rather than worrying if we were going to make it the whole seven days we'd be here, we decided to go on and do it mid-week - a preventative dump, to paraphrase a friend. When we got to the Kirby Storter Roadside Park for our walk, the parking lot was full of National Park vehicles and employees donning what looked like fire fighting garb. What in the world? We couldn't see any fires burning anywhere. It turned out  they were there to do a controlled burn of the prairie. We were not allowed on the boardwalk but we stayed to watch the burn - some of it. The NP folks - there appeared to be about 8 men and 1 woman - started the grass afire next to the parking lot and stood by to watched it spread out into the prairie. They kept it away from the picnic area and boardwalk  - we were surprised at the amount of heat that it put out - but let it burn in other directions. Several times we could see huge flames, a half mile or so away, consuming grass, shrubs and even trees.  We asked the young woman whose job was to keep people from getting too close why there was no concern about the rapid spread, and it was a very rapid spread, of the fire to the southwest. She said there were natural fire breaks out there. She also said that sometimes the fire will jump the break but not often. Hmmm!

Later, as we spent our afternoon in the campground we could see the heavy smoke, sometimes dark and sometimes white against the sky.  It was only a couple of miles away. It was amazing the amount of area the fires covered. In some places it came all the way up to the road.  Since it was west of us, it made a spectacular sunset.

Another Chinook (a red Concourse) came into the campground this afternoon. The third!

Monument Lake CG, Big Cypress NP #16 dry