Ocala National Forest - Feb. 23 - Mar. 3

Leaving Myakka on a Saturday, we knew Ocala National Forest would be our safe haven. This proved to be true after trying two county parks along the way. The Ocala National Forest is located in central FL covering about 385,000 acres. There are four natural springs, many lakes and different habitats. At each of the springs, there are recreational areas that have a variety of things to do such as canoeing, hiking, swimming in the springs, cycling, camping and so forth. There are also many other campgrounds throughout the forest. Aside from the beauty, national forests are appealing because they are more affordable than state parks and half price with the Golden Pass. It is also possible to stay in these campgrounds from 120 to 180 continuous days. What we found were many people wintering over, in some cases from October through March with water, electricity, sewerage and endless supplies of wood from the forest for up to $16/day depending on the campground. Interesting concept! For the last week, we have been working our way north up through the forest.

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Salt Springs Rec. Area – 2/28 – 3/3

The final spring for us, Salt Springs was really pretty. Our campsite backed up to a fishing canal that was groomed with picnic tables. Around the corner was a boat ramp into a section of the St. John River and just a bit further was the spring. There were several manatees, otters, fish and birds. Although my favorite, it was also where I had my worse experience of getting into a nest of nymph size ticks all in my hair! After showers, permethrin and a sleepless night, I won the battle. Steve relayed the story to another camper who had many more horrific stories I won’t repeat but he did have good advice for a remedy – take a shower, lather up with shampoo and let it sit for 5” before rinsing. This suffocates the ticks making it easier to wash them out. Right! Thankfully, the weather turned colder sending the buggers back underground somewhere! The rest of the stay was a series of walks, cycling and a trip to Ocala to charge batteries, restock the refrig and our stomachs with great barbecue at Champion BBQ. Salt Springs has the only campground with full hookup (elect, water and sewer) – land of the snowbirds! The first 3 nights, we stayed in the primitive area but the last night was going to go down to freezing so we moved over to the electric side.

Tomorrow we are headed back to the coast and Little Talbot Island. From there, we will be working our way ever so slowly back through GA and SC. S & E will probably leave us somewhere around the Skidaway area in GA.

Juniper Springs Rec. Area – 2/26 – 27

This park is one of the oldest constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. (CCC) in the 1930s. The spring is contained in a pool area pumping 13 million gallons/day with a water wheel generating electricity. Rain came in the day we arrived but we had a chance to hike out into the Juniper Prairie Wilderness. Birding was very good around the ranger station in the early mornings.

Alexander Springs Rec. Area – 2/24 – 2/25

All these recreational areas are run by concessionaires with varying levels of educational information and trail guides. This spring pumps approximately 70 million gallons/day. The water temperature in all the springs is 72 degrees. This is the only spring we got a chance to swim in while Steve biked for parts and fixed Speedy's starting problem. Yes!

Lake Dorr Campground - Feb. 23

At the south entrance of the forest, Lake Dorr was a convenient overnight after a long drive up from Myakka.

Myakka River State Park - Feb. 19 - 22

Our original plan was to break up the trip to Myakka by staying in Big Cypress for 1-2 days but I had impulsively booked an extra day at Myakka and we stayed an extra day in Coconut Grove. This was all good because compared to Flamingo, Big Cypress really was filled w/swamps and alligators – lots of them! The only thing we lost out on was a trip to Shark Valley. The line getting into the parking lot was just too long given that we had about 235 miles to go. It’s always good to have something bookmarked for another trip.

Myakka River State Park is in the southwestern part of FL. The river connects two shallow lakes bordered by prairies, hammocks and pinelands. There are so many transitions from one habitat to another that were perfect for birding, wildlife as well as biking and hiking. There is close to 40 miles of hiking trails most of which can be cycled. Myakka has 3 campgrounds; Palmetto Ridge (the newest and best facilities) and Old Prairie are close to the entrance while the third, Big Flats is about 3.5 miles down near Upper Myakka Lake. We were rendezvousing with Steve & Ellen but they didn’t know we were arriving a day early and were at the other end of the park so we didn’t catch up until the next day. Our first night was in BF which was a nice, older campground where the lake and Birdwalk were close by. Campsites 23 – 26 were the best. In #25, we found our friends Alan and Ruth and shared a glass of wine and dessert. The next 3 nights, we moved to #49 in Palmetto. This site was in a super end spot and humungous! S & E’s site was not so great (right next to the loo) so they came over and joined us.

Down by the lake, there was lots of activity with airboat tours, canoeing, a café with alligator stew for Harry, ICE CREAM, WiFi and just hanging around the porch meeting up w/friends. Ellen, Alan and I biked quite a distance out into the prairie looking for the Bachman Sparrow. We were certain we heard the call but he never made his appearance. We did see the Meadow Lark, rare for the area, as well as feral pigs and an alligator covered w/babies. After going to Kissimmee and now Myakka, I wonder how many people who go to FL ever take the time to go out into the prairies. They are really beautiful!

S & E had engine problems during this stay that were sorted out (we thought) before we departed for parts unknown as we were unable to get reservations anywhere for Saturday night. Knowing what we now know about how things work in the FL State Parks, we would still be resistant to booking a year ahead and locking ourselves into a schedule. 

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Coconut Grove, South Miami, FL - Feb. 15 - 17

Coconut Grove, the neighborhood in South Miami where Dan and Marcia live, is a unique place with Banyan Trees overhanging the streets, shops, restaurants, the Barnacle Historic State Park and a short walk to the water and marinas. We had a wonderful time starting with a Jazz Concert celebrating Monk & Coltrane at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami the night we arrived. Another couple, Michael and Mallie were also staying with D & M in the condo over the long weekend. M & M share their time between JP and Long Cove at Tenants Harbor. Next time we are fogged in at Tenants, we know where to paddle ashore! 

We were fortunate to be there for the Coconut Grove Arts Festival which is block after block of the finest art I have ever seen in one place. This is a juried festival with artists coming together from across the country. The 6 of us spent most of the day at the festival. Marcia then showed me the art of relaxed, no stress hosting when she pulled together setup and appetizers for a party for 40-50 people within an hour. It was a special treat to meet some of the artists whose pieces D & M have decorated their condo with.

The Miami Boat Show, a visit to the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden and sunset cruise in True South kept us pretty busy over the next couple days. Tuesday, we had reservations at Myakka River State Park so it was time to move on but this was a great visit! 

We had a home issue that came up over the weekend. The new temperature alert that we installed went off. The temperature had gone down to 45. Brian checked the house and found that the furnace was off and could not get it going. They were still dealing with the 2 feet of snow from the last storm w/another 5-10” predicted for Sunday with high winds and temps predicted to drop. Tom walked over (snowed in) and tried to trouble shoot but it became clear the problem required a plumber. We had tried 3 different plumbers before calling Jonathan Hickey’s company. They came during the storm at about 8 p.m. on a Sunday night. At that point the upstairs temp had gotten down to 34 and 38 in the basement!

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Everglades National Park - Flamingo - Feb. 7 - 14

I had this mental image of the Everglades that goes something like this: Haz-mat suit, mosquitoes inches thick, pythons, of course, surrounded by swamp filled with water moccasins and alligators! It may be like that in the summer but not this time of year. 

The Everglades is a totally misunderstood place that is beautiful with endless things to do, and no, we did not see any pythons (or snakes for that matter)! The park service provides ranger talks 5 nights a week under the stars looking out over FL Bay, day programs and hikes, bird walks every morning and canoe trips daily at Nine Mile Pond all for free. There are many ponds and walks such as the Anhinga Trail where you can be guaranteed to see lots of wildlife up close and fishing for Harry. When stopping at a Bass Pro Shop, he decided to get FL license and give it a try.

We stayed 8 days but wished we’d planned for the 2 week maximum. Flamingo campground is all the way down 40 miles from the park entrance surrounded by coastline and mangroves. The campground is in a field w/palms and trees for shade. Pileated woodpeckers were on both sides of our site building nests in the dead palm trunks. Steve and Ellen had arrived several days before us, already knew the lay of the land and had befriended Alan and Ruth setting the stage for my immersion into bird watching!

Bikes were a must for cycling to the amphitheater, different ponds, the marina and Visitor Center. S & E’s campsite was the place to be at dusk when a barn owl predictably made several passes across the field hunting. Next door, Alan, a professional birder, tutored Ellen and I on bird identification and hotspots for seeing rare birds. Almost every morning, the 3 of us went on the bird walk, sometimes followed by a second looking for yet another new bird. We went on an early bike/walk looking for the reclusive Mangrove Cuckoo and found a Hermit Thrush instead. Several nights we dined at the Buttonwood Café by the Marina where dinner was cooked in a 5^th wheel pulled up to the side and you could bring your own wine. The second time around, we brought our own wine glasses as well because the styrofoam cups just didn’t make it. We also found it better to order cheap (sandwich or pizza) after getting 6 small oysters with the fried oyster dinner.

Every day was special but the 12^th, my 60^th birthday, was perfect! We picked different days for the canoeing trip so S & E could stay with Nina. The 12^th was our day so for 4-5 hours we were canoeing across ponds, through mangrove tunnels and old airboat trails. I told Harry to avoid using the J stroke so we wouldn’t get picked as the chase boat at the end of the line but he did it anyway and back we went! Alligators were so close, we had to switch sides to paddle to avoid hitting them in the head. Waiting in the back while everyone went single file through the tunnels, alligators were bellowing a couple yards away in the mangroves. The day before on S & E’s trip, their group came across an alligator with a PFD in his mouth! What were the chances of being born and dying on the same day of the year! The day ended with a special dinner of grilled lamb, Alan and Ruth singing Happy Birthday, and we all enjoyed ice cream, Lacy cookies (thanks to Ellen) and another bottle of wine.

Reluctantly, we said our goodbyes on the 15^th and left leaving time for a final stop at the Anhinga Trail in search of the Purple Gallinule. The parking lot had signs warning of Turkey Vultures tearing windshield wipers and rubber trim off cars. It’s pretty serious and tarps are provided for those who want them. In fact this is a problem throughout the parking lots in the park. Take a look at the photos! One more stop just outside the park by Canal 111 in search of the Vermillion Flycatcher who was sitting right there waiting for me and on to a Laundromat before joining Dan and Marcia in South Miami.

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Kissimmee Prairie Reserve State Park - Feb. 5 - 6

Kissimmee was a wonderful park that was totally different than places we have stayed thus far. Definitely a "10"! Forget the GPS getting there! There were many “roads” laid out and cleared for development that never happened. The GPS seemed to think they still exist and are passable – not!  

The park covers about 54,000 acres of “dry prairie in central FL. Dry prairie may be a bit of a misnomer as we encountered ankle deep water in several places while hiking the Kilpatrick Homestead Trail. Following a half step behind in Harry’s footprints, I was a little concerned about alligators and snakes. There was an abundance of birds much of which I couldn’t identify because I had not yet gone to “bird camp” in the Everglades. I now know this is one of the few places to see rare birds. I did see a Crested Caracara and Meadow Lark. The park is also known for many different butterflies but there weren’t a lot of flowers out when we were there.

A couple campground notes: Stay longer!; Plan a visit over a weekend for their buggy tour; Great rocking chairs at the Visitors Office for stargazing, birding and relaxing; Internet service was sketchy; dog friendly (only one small trail excludes dogs); Equestrian sites can be booked but the family side has better sites and facilities. 

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Blue Springs State Park - February 3 - 4

Poking from Little Talbot to Blue Springs SP, we stopped at a fish market recommended by Jan and Dean just after the ferry trip over to Mayport and picked up some shrimp for dinner. Next a second stop in St. Augustine for lunch again recommended by J & D and on to Blue Spring just in time for a very quick walk to see the manatees before grilling up the shrimp for another fine dinner.

The manatee run is from November to April. They come up into the inlet by the spring to get warm and go out into the river to feed. The water here is a constant 72 degrees where the St. John River can fluctuate between 50 and 70+ degrees. Each morning they do a count in the inlet. This morning's count was 162. We went to a lecture and hiked and biked around. 

Tomorrow we are off to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park for a couple days and then on to the Everglades. Cell phone/internet connection in both places may be questionable.

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Little Talbot Island - Feb 1 - 2

Oh, bet there are bugs in that beard! Parks in FL fill up quickly (about a year ahead) on weekends so we grabbed a spot just 10-15 miles down the road at Little Talbot Island State Park.This park is smaller, more low key and dog friendly. All State Parks don't allow dogs on the beach. Ft. Clinch would only allow them on paved roads but on Little Talbot all hiking trails are fine. They also told us dogs were fine on Fernandina Beach at any of the public accessways which we had discovered on our way to the park.

Campers at Ft. Clinch talked about a rat problem on Talbot but the good news was lots of owls! Truth be told, I'm sure what is at Little Talbot is at Ft. Clinch and vice versa. No critter sightings other than a couple armadillos buts lots of great birds including Wood Storks. Rumors like that keep the riff raft out!

Our first night, new neighbors showed up in the evening with a beautiful Airstream to die for - Jan and Dean and their two pups, Missy and Gracie. The next evening, they invited us for a wonderful grilled shrimp and snapper dinner with their friend, Terry. A fun night and a campground definitely bookmarked for a return visit. Campsites 16, 39, 38 and 34 were the best especially 16. We walked the Dune Trail, a 4 mile beautiful hike but there are many,many miles of biking trails we didn't get to.

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