Tuesday, February 4, 2014
I forget how many stars there are that we just don’t see in populated areas. We stayed two nights at Midway Campground in Big Cypress National Preserve and will be here at Long Pine Key Campground in the Everglades for one more night. The clear skies are filled with stars at night. At Midway, there are about 30 trailer sites around a pond. When I took Obi out at night, there were a multitude of stars, the sliver of a moon hanging over the horizon and a few trailer lights reflecting in the pond. It was peaceful and serene.
Midway Campground in the daylight
Since we left Dallas, we had been having trouble with the right front trailer jack. Sometimes it wouldn’t go out all the way, sometimes not in all the way. We had some work done on it in Houston, which lasted for a night or two. By the time we reached the villages, Steve had decided that he should be prepared for complete failure. So he and Uncle Eep spent the afternoon at Home Depot and then in Eep’s garage fixing up a substitute. Which turned out to be very wise, as the next morning when we were getting ready to leave, the jack would come up only about 4 inches from the ground. We made it to a local RV dealer, where they removed the jack entirely. The dealership was great. They had a nice waiting room (dogs allowed) with plenty to read. The motor home sitting outside the door was on sale for a half a million dollars and I swear they had 100 of them out back. Way out of my league. But they took good care of us and we were on our way to Bradenton, Fl.
So we are now limping along with a makeshift jack. Steve has an appointment to have hydraulic jacks installed on Feb. 13 by a dealer who specializes in that. Hopefully that will solve the problem. If anyone wants more details, email Steve.
We were late getting into Bradenton (7:30) and it was dark. The lady at the entry kiosk gave us a map to our site and assured us that there were plenty of fifth wheelers around there to help us get backed in. We drive around and find the site is a 90 degree back in with a big metal box on one side and a raised picnic platform on the other. Luckily, two neighbors came out, looked at the site and suggested we call and tell them no way. There was one pull through site on the other side of the park available and we were able to get parked relatively quickly. Did I mention it was raining?
It was still pouring the next morning. We had laundry to do and Steve was taking the truck in for it’s 5000 mile check up. He helped me get the laundry going and took the truck in. The laundry was just finishing when he returned. We were at 4800+ miles and they wouldn’t do the checkup and oil change. GM pays for it the first two years, but not until after you reach 5000 actual miles. So maybe we’ll do it in Orlando.
One of my uncles lives in Cortez, just outside Bradenton, so we called him and had lunch with him and Shelia. They were going to take us to an outdoor fish market, but it’s outdoors and it was still raining. So we went to a restaurant on the beach. It was fun to watch the ocean and catch up with family. We had dinner plans with Ken and Rochelle Burns, so it was on to their place. They have a condo that overlooks a wilderness area and has a launching spot for their kayaks. It’s a great location.
Then we headed for Big Cypress National Preserve and the Midway Campground. Big Cypress is just north of the Everglades and might as well be part of it. It has finally stopped raining. We see lots of birds and alligators along the canals. Various attempts to drain the Everglades have occurred over the years and the canals seem to be remnants of that activity.
While at Big Cypress, we stopped at a photographer’s gallery, Clyde Butcher. He’s the Ansel Adams of his day. He only shoots in black and white. While he takes pictures around the globe, he has focused on the Everglades. He has some beautiful pictures. Check them out on line. This sculpture is out front.
This is supposed to be the dry season, but it has poured buckets. I think that, as well as the higher temperatures, has contributed to fewer wildlife sitings. But we’ve still seen egrets of many kinds, anhingas, white ibis, white pelicans, brown pelicans and the endangered wood stork. We even have a cardinal that was attacking our back window. We saw the white pelican this summer on our road trip. They summer on the lakes in the west and winter at the ocean.
I’m sitting at our picnic table in Long Pine Key Campground. Steve has managed to get us Internet access, although it’s the only utility we have. It’s shaded and there is a nice breeze which is good since it’s 85 degrees. We drove down to Flamingo today, which I think is the furthest south you can take a car in the park. It’s campground has electricity and a reputation for lots of mosquitoes. Some lots also have a distant ocean view. This campground requires a reservation and was booked up when we were looking for a place to stay, so we returned to Long Pine Key, where we stayed last year. It has a picnic table, fire ring and paved spot for a trailer at each site, but nothing else. There are central restrooms and a dump station and potable water available. With the senior discount, it’s $8 a night. We can easily manage dry camping for several nights, although I managed to run our batteries out last night with the vent fan trying to keep cool. Steve will charge them up again today with the generator and we’ll see how long they last tonight. He thinks they probably need replaced.
We have stuff that runs on 12 volts and stuff that runs on 120 and I’m beginning to understand what is what and what I can use when. Oh, and then the stuff that runs on propane or electric - the hot water heater and the refrigerator. And I need to make sure to charge my computer when we have 120 or the generator running. The extra long battery life on my computer will come in very handy I’m sure.
While we were at Flamingo today we had lunch at a shaded picnic table overlooking the ocean. I could have sat there all day. There was a strong breeze coming from the ocean keeping it nice and cool. This was our view at lunch.
If you look at the second picture closely, you might see two canoes out on the water. There is a lot of canoeing and kayaking here. There are even canoe trails through parts of the Everglades. I'm not sure I'm up for canoeing in an area with both alligators and crocodiles. But lots of people do.
The sun has gone down and the generator needs to be shut down soon (quiet hours), so I'll sign off for now.
More adventures later!
Deb
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