Saturday October 7th 2023

Not surprisingly I slept late this morning after an activity full travel day yesterday. Once I was awake and active it was a lazy day focused on settling in at the Ortona Lock South COE Campground. The weather was cooperative most of the day. It was a partly cloudy day with thunderstorms in the area. Only one storm got near enough to drop a few sprinkles of rain, but the area is flat and open enough that the storms on the horizon are very visible. The temperature peaked in the mid to upper eighties.

The campground is not full. For someone that usually visits in the winter months that is very confusing. On previous visits the park has been full with very low turnover. Most people that come during the winter come for the two week max stay and even try to get around the rules and stay longer. This current park visitors are mostly weekenders. The park is probably two thirds full.

The environment is also different from a winter visit. The Caloosahatchee canal is less active. I think there was only one boat passing through the lock today. The fishing areas along the canal had fewer people fishing and most of them were campers rather than people from the area. The water in the drainage channel that empties into the canal in the middle of the campground was also much more active. In the winter the birds wade in the water to find their lunch. Today, the few birds I saw were hugging the bank and being very careful of the strong current.