QC41-12 Resort Living in the Swamp

February 12, 2014 (Wed) Trailtown, FL (8/1674 miles) 59/83° - Why "Resort Living in the Swamp"? There is electricity (but still no water) on side by side pads 20 feet apart and a pool, actually a small lake (with alligators). We're 8 miles down the road from Monument Lake still in Big Cypress (Swamp) National Preserve. There is no hot tub, tennis courts, golf course or club house - or showers for that matter. That's why the price is only $15 a night. We've been here off and on over the years but for one night stands only. We thought we'd give it a try for a week this time.

As I write this, we're in the midst of a thunder storm - a nice change from several days of sun. Earlier the sky was a deep blue with big puffy clouds. The breeze was brisk and cool reducing the heat of the sun and the bite of the mosquitoes and no-see-ums. Our orientation here is such that we get the afternoon sun coming right in under the awning but there is a tree between our site and the next that gives a little shade.

Next door: When we got here a huge fifth wheel sat on the pad next to us. We found out later that its tow vehicle is a big diesel semi tractor. In fact "semi-retired" is printed in script on the side. Instead of an actual fifth-wheel hitch up behind the cab like commercial tractor-trailers, the trailer connects to a ball at the rear of the "bed" leaving a long space for their "toy" - a vintage 1910 (or thereabouts) fire truck. I wish I'd gotten a picture of that before they took it away. Maybe later.

February 13, 2014 (Thu) Trailtown, FL (2) 59/81° - Trailtown, FL? That's where our smartphone location app says we are. Don't bother trying to find it on a map, it's probably the name of nearest tiny Miccosukee Indian village. US-41 (and I-75 for that matter) goes through the Miccosukee and Seminole Indian reservations. Small stockade fenced-in groups of straw roofed buildings are all along the highway. Signs announcing each is a generic "Indian Village". The one nearest to us, may be Trailtown. We're about half way between Naples and Miami,

When we were in Kendall last week we discovered that the cheapest gas in the area was at Costco, 3 miles away from where we were at the time. We didn't need fuel then but after a couple of trips into Everglades City, Lamont developed a good thirst so that was one of our errands in the big city today. While at Costco we had his wheels balanced and rotated (a free service because we bought the tires at Costco) - and, of course, we had to go inside for a few things! We had hoped to scout out a new and wonderful eating establishment too but Lamont was in a queue at Costco longer than we'd planed so we walked over to a nearby 5 Guys for burgers and fries. Always a treat.

And now a word about communication. Last evening we got a phone call from our daughter Jennifer that was dropped almost immediately, as was her second attempt to reach us. When we tried to call her, it didn't go through at all. Since our phones showed we did have service, albeit very weak, we tried a text message to tell her we were going out to find a stronger signal area. Seven miles west on the lonely dark road we found a strong enough signal to make the call. Phone connections are very sketchy here and, therefore, so is any internet connection. Texting seems to work OK, though - maybe because the application is willing to wait for the fleeting signal to show up. Resort living? Not so much!

February 14, 2014 (Fri) Trailtown, FL (3) 591/76° - The fire truck left for good today. And what an operation that was - and interesting to watch. When they moved the other day, it was just a few sites down and so little truck was driven (and immediately covered with a tarp - thus no picture). Today the fellow drove it around to the other side of the lake then hooked his fifth-wheel to the semi-tractor and drove it around. The trailer had to be unhooked again so the fire truck could be winched up onto the back of the tractor. Then, of course, the trailer had to be reattached.

This was all accomplished by one guy! At one point, Mark asked if he might help guide the truck to the hitch socket on the trailer, a precise procedure that required the driver to run from the cab back to the hitch over and over again. "No. I'd appreciate it if you didn't," the fellow said without even looking up. OooK. This was all done on the one lane exit road so by the time he was ready to go there were 5 motor homes and fifth-wheels in line behind him.

February 15, 2014 (Sat) Trailtown, FL (4) 51/76° - It's been a welcomed do-nothing day. Well, for us anyway. The kids from the two large groups in the tenting area have been having a great time. The younger ones ride their bikes and roller blade around and around the loop while the older ones (mostly early teens) play games in the field up by the main road (or bat small stones into the lake).

February 16, 2014 (Sun) Trailtown, FL (5) 49/84° - Sweetwater Strand on Loop Road (a rarely maintained gravel track into the Everglades) is a rich source of bird type wildlife photo-ops. Usually. This morning there were fishermen who were more interested flinging brightly colored fishing lures into wildlife habitat while talking loudly, than looking at birds. And there were twenty something young lades intent on taking pictures of one another with the strand, understandably devoid of wildlife, in the background. There was a great (white) egret and, I think, a white ibis brave enough to hunt in the relative protection of distance cypress trees but that was it. A very slow return along Loop Road yielded a few good photo opportunities. The Night Heron and Wood Stork below are examples. 

February 17, 2014 (Mon) Trailtown, FL (6) 61/85° - "That airplane looks like it's going to land on the highway." It really didn't but it was a fun thing to say about the slowly descending lights in the sky ahead of us. "It's probably a traffic helicopter. They fly low along highways." But it wasn't. And it did land on the highway. It turns out it was a medivac helicopter and we ended up sitting for 45 minutes waiting for it, fire engines, ambulances and police cars to get out of the way so we could move. We were 15 or so cars back but the police were keeping people well away from the scene so we didn't know what was going on until we were able to continue on. From what we saw it looked like the only car at the scene, which had obvious damage to the hood and windshield, may have hit a pedestrian. This is neither surprising nor unusual along US-41 between Miami and Naples. Fishing and wildlife viewing are popular activities along this 60mph road. People cross back and forth all the time and the speed limit is too slow for most motorists.

Shark Valley isn't really a valley. At least not the kind of valley we're use to. When the highest elevation in the Everglades is 3 feet, valleys are hard to distinguish. Never the less, we did Shark Valley on our bikes this morning. It's a 15 mile long paved bike trail into the Everglades that is lush with scenery and wildlife. Our intent was to go as couple of miles in, take some pictures and come back. But once on the trail we kept going. We were really surprised at how well we we did and how well felt (and still feel) having done the whole thing.

Q091489 Big Cypress NP, Midway CG #2 elec $15 A