Leaving Key West

 Wow, has it been a busy 10 days or so since we left Key West!!! After Sheryl got the all clear from her new doctor, we headed north towards the mainland. Our first order of business was to see our newest grand daughter in Miami. However, a campsite at Markham Park would not be available for a couple days. We could have stayed in Key West for those couple days, but decided to spend them at Everglades National Park and the Long Pine Campground.

 Our couple of days there were spent exploring the northern end of the park (we took in the southern end last year). One of the more interesting areas we found was the Nike Army Missile site. This was one of many missile sites constructed during the Cuban Missile Crisis to guard against Russian air attacks. This was a cool piece of history to see and really brings home just how close to war we were at the time.

 After those couple days, we finally made it into Miami and our new little grand daughter!!! She's such a cutie. Of course we also got to spend time and catch up with mom, dad and our other little ones.

 It was great getting to see everyone again and spend time visiting. Funny how you can not see a family member for a year or so and then when you do, it's like it was yesterday.

 After our visit with the kids, it was time to strike out on our adventure again, next stop Big Cypress National Preserve and the Midway Campground. Here we stayed three nights giving us time to see the area a bit.

 Unlike Everglades National Park, where the wildlife seems to be concentrated in a couple of areas for visitor connivance, in Big Cypress you have to go out and find it. One of ways is to drive the 24 mile loop road which takes you deep into the preserve. All along the road there are culverts to allow the water to flow freely from north to south. It is along this road you seem to find the most wildlife, as they like the pools created by the culverts, so a stop every 1/4 mile or so will net you some pretty great views.
 

 Another, item on my bucket list was to try and capture some of those epic everglades landscape shots. However, Mother Nature had other plans and blessed us with no clouds and beautiful weather our whole stay (no clouds equal no dramatic sky's) I believe I came away with a few though.
 

 Once our time was up there, we continued our trek northward. This time to a county park north west of Ocala FL. Hart Springs Park is one of many natural springs which feed the Suwannee River in this very rural part of the state and not well visited, just our type of place.
 

 Besides doing a whole lot of relaxing, we also got out for some fun and another check off the ole bucket list.

 Putting in at Manatee Springs State Park, we were able to kayak along the spring run and out into the Suwannee river for a while. It's amazing how much wildlife and be seen in this part of Florida.

 Found this little guy and some of his friends sunning themselves.

 Sheryl also found a little friend, right after this shot, he turned and went right in front of the kayak and then submerged just a couple of feet away from Sheryl. Needless to say, she was quite nervous about the whole thing......lol

The crystal clear water from the springs made for a nice return to the launching point.

That's been our last 10 days or so in a nutshell. I wanted to get this out before we leave here in the morning. Next stop, the Florida Panhandle to visit one of our daughter there................so, until next time........................

Animal Life in Everglades National Park

 Now, Everglades National Park is well known for it's abundant animal life, however finding that life and photographing it can be easier said then done. Luck seemed to play a big part in being able to find what I did, I could go back to the same area every day and only see a certain animal once the entire week. I was pretty happy with what I did capture and since pictures speak louder than words...........hope you enjoy the shots.

 American Crocodile

 Manatee Feeding

 Found this little guy in a seed pod.

 Colorful Bird

 Alligator

 Crazy eyed bird

 Sneaking under the boardwalk

 Birds in love nesting together

 Owl

 Dragonfly, kept coming back to this one stick for me

The only good sunset in six days

Now I'm all caught up from the Everglades. We headed out to spend some time with our son and his family in the Miami area. We had a great visit and fulltiming has sure allowed us to see them more than we would have, had we retired to a normal home. It's a great life, but family emergencies still happen and Sheryl had to fly back to OKC to help out her daughter as she was having emergency back surgery. So, that leaves me flying solo and making my way back to OKC, however I won't be rushing right back as there is not much I can do. So until next time................................... 

Everglades Back Country Boat Tour

 While at Everglades National Park, we thought the Back Country Boat Tour would be a good way to get back into areas otherwise only accessible by canoe/kayak. Now while we did bring our inflatable kayak, the ranger advised us, it was spring mating season and the alligators were being very territorial and it may not be the best idea to go out in it. Well, being one to not tempt fate too much and listened to the rangers advise, the boat ride it was.
  

 We also chose to take a early tour as most of the tourist that come in from Miami don't make it till later in the day. I'm glad we chose the early one, as there were only us and two other couples on the boat, normally they can have 30 plus, so it was nice having room to wander around.

 The main attraction of the ride is hopefully spotting the American Crocodile and we were lucky this day. There are several that inhabit the canal during the first part of the tour, but they (like any wide animal) can be elusive. We spotted this large 13 footer and a few baby ones like the shot below. The Flamingo area of the Everglades is the northern most habitat of the Crocodile and one of the few places in the United States that you are able to see them. We feel privileged to have seen and been able to capture a few shots of them.

 Baby Croc Chillin

 Bird life and tropical plants abound in this area and our guide was very informative about them.

The waterways are lined with Red Mangroves, it's really interesting to see their long root systems reaching down into the waters. The tour consist of the man made canal which leaves the marina area, through Coots Bay, through a natural canal and out into the second largest lake in the state before turning around and heading back. the whole tour is approx 2 hours.
There are several tours in the park, both guided and self guided. from hiking to canoeing however, this being the end of the busy season, most all were not being givin. We can highly recommend this tour and at 35.00 per person we thought it was a bargain.
Ok, that's it for this entry, we leave from the Miami area tomorrow and I'll post the last entry I had planned of the Everglades next time We have WiFi. So, until then.......................................

Goodbye Key West, Hello Everglades National Park

 Wow, our 4 month stay in Key West was over, we had a great time, met and made a lot of good friends. However, it was time to leave and see different sights, We'll miss it here, but will be back again one day.

 The first stop on our trek northward was Everglades National Park and the Flamingo Campground. Even though I was brought up in Florida, I never was able to visit the Everglades themselves so I didn't want to miss this chance since we were so close. Now growing up in the Central Florida area (when it was still pretty rural and wild) there were and still are areas similar to the Everglades, but not as expansive, so this was a place I just had to see.

 We made reservations at the Flamingo Campground 40 miles inside the park for 6 days. We were able to get an electric only site (it's either elec only or dry camp) for our stay, so water conservation was still going to be needed. Luckily, with our vast dry camping experience in Key West, it was a piece of cake doing 6 days.

We camped in the "T Loop" the sites are very large, level and paved, each come with a picnic table and fire ring. The only down side was the shower house, while very clean, they are cold showers only, burrrrr. I tried one day and just couldn't do it, call me a wimp, but  the ice cold water was just too much!!! Now the other other loops A, B, and C have solar heated showers, but we just did good ole Navy showers and baby wipes to stay clean, which worked out very well. Now, there is a small store here in the Flamingo area but it is very expensive and not well stocked so make sure you stock up before heading down to spend any time at all here. We also found mosquito spray and lots of it is a life saver! With the mild winter down in south Florida this year, they were out in force earlier than normal and especially down here at the end of the world. All in all we enjoyed our stay here, Sheryl stayed inside most of the time, as she seems to be a mosquito magnet!!! I, on the other hand, don't seem to be bothered as much by the little critters, of course a good dosing of repellent helps. One of my main reasons for wanting to come to the park, was to photograph the wildlife and try and capture the expansiveness of the place, which I found difficult as you really have to experience it to understand.
That will do it for this post, I'll save some of our outing for the next one, just wanted to give you an idea of the RV Park and our trip here. So until next time...............................