QC91-09 On to the Everglades

February 7, 2009 (Sat) Monument Lake CG (6) 53/70° - The big event of today was the wind. It blew all day long (again) making relaxed outside activities like reading unpleasant. 70° should have been marginally comfortable but it was not unless the sun was out. And it was mostly cloudy. The wind did let up some in the late afternoon, though, allowing us to enjoy a shrimp hors d'oeuvre prelude to Bob and Pat's barbecued chicken and pork with squash risotto.

Snakes aren't the form of wildlife we would choose as guests at our campsite but a Black Racer chose to stop by from time to time anyway. He's really quite pretty, a solid dark charcoal color about 4 feet long. Not poisonous, they say, so he's welcome to share our sun as long as he doesn't come too close.

February 8, 2009 (Sun) Monument Lake CG (7) 55/74° - After an in-(motor)home Eucharist, Kaye again treated us to her "Kit Carson Bran Pancakes" - named for her father not the Kit Carson. Although the temperature was a little on the cool side, we sat around the picnic table determined to make it the kind of camping experience it should be. It turned out wonderfully. After brunch, we reluctantly watched Kaye leave for parts east and eventually home. The rest of us enjoyed a day in the sun (albeit a windy one).

In mid afternoon a Prevost motor home (typical price tag approaches $1 million) backed into the site next to Bob and Pat. The young couple (maybe in their late 40s or early 50s) are from Houston and have been full-time (no conventional home to return to) since October. Surprisingly they have no towed vehicle and don't feel they need one. They have bicycles and a motor scooter for auxiliary transportation. Interesting. They have yet to learn about dry camping etiquette, though. They ran their generator, as quiet as it was, all afternoon and evening.

Q047797 Monument Lake CG, Big Cypress NP #16 dry $8.00 B- (x7)
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February 9, 2009 (Mon) Monument Lake CG to Flamingo CG, Everglades National Park (150/1964 miles) - Moving/laundry/shopping day. We got up early so we'd have time to take showers and pulled out of our campsite at 8:00. The nearest dump station, run by the National Park Service, to the east on US41 is at Midway campground. We stopped there then went on to the Miccosukee Indian gas station (across from their casino at the junction with SR997). The cost was a little high ($2.09/g) but we were on fumes at that point. It turns out that we could have made it to a less expensive place in the outskirts of Miami but with the gauge on "E" we didn't want to take the chance. We did a huge laundry and made an unsuccessful quick stop at the Walmart (not a supercenter) across the street. At a Publix supermarket we stocked up for 2 weeks deep in the Everglades - although we may not stay that long.

Jennifer, our daughter, has been to what is considered the best Mexican restaurant in the area - El Toro Taco in Homestead - and highly recommended it to us. It was closed on Monday! We ended up going to nearby Casita Tejas Mexican - good but probably not as good. At Robert is Here farm market, we stopped for their famous, and delicious, Key lime milkshake - so thick it's more like soft ice cream than a milk shake.

Finding a campsite is an adventure of varying degrees. The "B" loop in Flamingo campground, at the very southern tip of Florida, was sparsely populated allowing us to find the "perfect" spot. It turned out to be already taken by a couple who returned as we (actually Bob and Pat) were getting ready to settle in. We ended up taking the sites we were in last year.

February 10, 2009 (Tue) Flamingo CG (2) 62/76° - Very comfortable sleeping last night - well appreciated after yesterday's fun filled day. After catching up on some computer work and other chores around the camp that we didn't take the time to do yesterday we struck out for a walk around the campground. We found that by circumventing the whole campground and going out the path to the "marina" (where the camp store is) we'd walked about 4 1/4 miles. This was a bit further than we had intended, especially in the hot mid-day sun, and a bit further than we are used to in these sedentary times but it felt good. And we were able to spend the rest of the day doing nothing guilt free.

Q's orientation to the sun in site B16 gave us very little shade - none on the "living" side even with the awning out. Mark had to follow the shadow pressed up against the "back" side as he practiced his guitar in the afternoon. We moved when a better space became available. Now we should have shade in the morning and most of the afternoon.

Although it was a bit breezy, has been all day, we enjoyed a campfire in the late afternoon.

February 11, 2009 (Wed) Flamingo CG (3) 68/79° - We took showers this morning without the need to turn the heat on, or even to close the windows to keep the breeze out. A change we can live with!

The westerly orientation for Q in site B9 works very well. We were able to enjoy the shade of the awning most of the afternoon. At about the time it was gone the shadow of a nearby tree took over.

This morning, or maybe it was yesterday, we watched a flight of pelicans fly over the trees and out toward Florida Bay. Two red tail hawks visited a tree across the road this afternoon and provided entertainment for nearly an hour - looking for prey, scratching in the dirt near the fire ring, and flying here and there. About the time they left for better pickings, a Roseate Spoonbill flew over. What a beautiful bright pink bird - much brighter in flight than on the ground.

Joy fixed a big dish of spaghetti to share and we ate out on the picnic table - only about the third time we've been able to do that. Yellow Jackets are prevalent here - they particularly like splenda sweetened coffee and soda - but they left us pretty much alone.

February 12, 2009 (Thur) Flamingo CG (4) 69/80° - Joy had an interesting experience this morning. When she went to the public restroom, she found the ladies room door locked. After several attempts to get it open, interrupted by checks around to determine whether there might be a reason for the door to be locked, a woman unlocked the door from the inside and told her that she may as well come in, there is plenty of space. Strange!! Might she have wondered what the extra stalls and sinks in her private bathroom were for?

The Snake Bright Trail is 1.6 miles long (3.2 round trip - it seemed longer), flat (a foot or two above sea level) and almost dead straight (but for the overhanging trees one could almost see from on end to the other) through typical Everglades environs (beautiful). The Snake Bright Canal that runs along side the trail was a rusty brown at the beginning but cleared as we approached the bay. There wasn't much to see in the way of animal wildlife (we expected to see some alligators at least) but birds were plentiful - mostly in the form of turkey vultures. At one point we flushed a couple of Roseate Spoonbills, their bright color contrasting sharply with the drab clutter of jungle foliage. A four foot long dark gray snake (not a Black Racer, we think) sat trailside and watched us pass. He had something in his mouth. We saw only what looked like a tail sticking out waving back and forth. In the bay, sand crabs scurried to and fro on the low tide mud and off in the distance a fleet of fishing boats shimmered in the sun.

Flamingo CG, Everglades National Park #B9 dry