Tuesday April 5th 2022

There was a strong wind out of the south today. It helped keep the outside temperature a little more comfortable than Monday. Overall the high temperature was near ninety with plenty of humidity.

Today I drove deeper into the park in search of the elusive wading birds. At the boardwalk designed to aid bird watching near the north end of the lake all I found were tourists. The birds were nowhere to be found. In the past there have been many varieties of birds out in the lake. I walked out to the end of the boardwalk looked around for birds and walked back in just like all the tourists.

My other stop was at the concessionaire area in the park. The boat rides into the lake are not running because of the low water level and the tram ride only runs on the weekend. They were doing some business renting bicycles, but I didn’t see anyone renting kayaks or canoes. The low water level is also an obstacle to paddling.

Since I was here in December a major watershed restoration project has been completed. They removed the weir at the entrance to the Myakka River that attempted to keep the water level constant in the lake. It had been mostly bypassed in recent years, but a major project during the first part of this year removed all of the old weir, regraded the river banks in the area and allowed for the free flow of water into the river. The alligators that used to congregate in the area have moved to other areas. They may return with higher water levels. The wildlife that hasn’t moved is all the Rosetta Spoonbills that hang out in a set of trees on the far side of the river close to the location of the old weir. The trees were full of the pink and white birds.

Later in the day walking to the river from my campsite I found a few more birds. A Great Blue Heron seemed to be posing for my camera. One minute it was looking right at me from the far bank and the next it was giving me a left profile picture followed by a right. Near the bridge over the river on the main park road a pair of Limpkins were busy foraging for food between pauses to squawk at each other. Alligators continue to be everywhere along the river.

Saturday April 2nd 2022

I woke this morning to a campground shrouded in a thick fog. Yesterday’s humidity was still very present. It was after nine before the fog gave way to a bright sunny day.

Today was a travel day. I prefer not to travel on Saturday’s, but that was how the reservation search worked out last May when the booking window opened. My attempts to get a reservation from the twenty ninth on finally resulted in success on the 2nd. As a consequence my next two moves are also on a Saturday.

I was ready to travel long before I needed to depart. It is always a timing challenge to make sure you don’t arrive before the previous occupants of the site have departed. I departed the Midway Campground in Big Cypress National Preserve shortly after 11AM and arrived around 2PM at Myakka River State Park.

Traffic was heavy on Interstate 75. The stretch from Naples to Fort Meyers was filled with lots of entering and exiting traffic and a few impatient drivers weaving in and out of traffic in an attempt to get to their destination a few seconds before the rest of the traffic. Even the stretch of road from Fort Meyers to Sarasota had plenty of traffic, but with fewer exits the volume was a little better behaved.

I made one stop in Fort Meyers for gas. Two hundred plus dollars later, I had added a little more than fifty gallons to fill the tank. The price per gallon was reasonable compared to what I paid in the Miami suburbs on Monday, but compared to last year gas prices are crazy.

As I traveled north the bright sun gave way to hazy sunshine and eventually full cloud cover. The latest cold front to pass over Florida has been fixed over the middle of the state. The Tampa area across through Orlando and on to the east coast has had severe weather all day. As I’m writing this blog entry the rain has started here. It isn’t forecast to be severe, but is forecast to last off and on all night.

I’m at Myakka River State Park east of Sarasota for the next two weeks. I’m on the same campsite I had in December. A quick wander around the park indicates that the water level is a lot lower than December. This is the near the end of the dry period in Florida. The park also seems to be less busy. I didn’t find a line at the entrance station and I think there are a few empty sites in the campground. I’ll explore more over the next couple of weeks.

Friday April 1st 2022

The weather trend toward more hot and humid weather continues in this area. The temperature peaked around 90 degrees. Outside there was enough wind that it was tolerable, but the temperature inside my RV home, even with the windows open and the fans blowing was very uncomfortable.

This is my last day in South Florida this winter. I’ve been in the Big Cypress Preserve or Everglades National Park since the fourteenth of the month. I’ve seen plenty of alligators and birds. Tomorrow I’m moving north about one hundred and seventy miles to the Sarasota area. I’ll be at Myakka River State Park for the next two weeks. There should be plenty of alligators and birds there as well.

The weather conditions in the central and northern part of the state haven’t been as nice as I’ve experienced in South Florida. The various cold fronts that have passed west to east have dropped a lot more rain from central Florida north. There was a tornado warning this morning in the greater Orlando area and a tornado touched down the day before in the panhandle. I hope things have cleared out a little as I move into those areas.

I’ll be back in this area again next winter. That wasn’t part of my original plan, but as I struggled to find reservations in Florida State Parks, I found more success as I moved further south. This area has a lot to offer in the way of interesting terrain and wildlife. The only down side is the need to drive to the different areas. Not a lot is in walking distance of any of the places to stay.

Today I drove back to the Oasis Visitors Center. There are a very large number of alligators in the canal in front of the visitors center. I don’t think they stocked the canal with gators, but they did make the habitat very attractive. There is a combination of deep water, shallow water and side banks for taking in the sun. I counted more than twenty alligators this afternoon, but some were moving so my count might be off.

I plan to get on the road around 11AM, so I don’t get to my destination before checkout time for the current occupants. The expected challenges along the way include finding a stop for gas and the possibility of running into a thunderstorm or two. I need to do my Google Maps investigation on gas station access before I got to bed tonight.

Monday March 28th 2022

Today was a good day to travel. The temperature stayed in the seventies while I got packed and ready to travel. The wind was also much calmer than the last couple of days.

I left my site right at the early 10AM checkout time. With no competition for the dump station, I took my time dumping and even flushing the tanks. It was about 10:20AM when I pulled out of the campground. I drove the thirty eight miles back to the park entrance at 50MPH, five miles below the speed limit. Killing time was the operative word for the day. I only had one hundred miles to travel and needed to give the site I was destine for to empty out.

My one stop was for gas in the Miami suburbs. The only station I could get in and out of easily was expensive. I paid $4.70 a gallon for gas. The average in the area is $4.20 and closer to $4.00 on the next leg of my journey. I didn’t fill the tank, but put in enough to give me options when I leave here on Saturday.

I arrived at the Big Cypress Preserve Midway campground just before 1PM. The camp hosts were not around to check me in. The official check in time is 2PM. This is the same campground I stayed at on my way to the Everglades. I am on the same exact site for this stay, so I continued to my site and got setup. About 3PM I went back to the front of the campground and checked in.

The cell service isn’t very good here. During my stay ten days ago I had very limited Verizon service and no AT&T data service. This time around I don’t seem to have any Verizon service and I have limited AT&T data service for internet access. What’s different? I’m parked within 2 feet of my location ten days ago.

Sunday March 27th 2022

My last full day in Everglades national park was another great weather day. The breeze out of the north kept the humidity in check and the temperature in the mid eighties. I was able to get in an extensive amount of walking today.

I have enjoyed my stay in the Flamingo area of Everglades National Park. It has a lot of trails and opportunities in a concentrated area along Florida Bay. There is also a lot of areas closed or abandon because of previous hurricanes and significant areas like the visitors center and lodge under reconstruction. That tends to make the atmosphere a little depressing.

The volume of visitors in the area never comes close to filling all of the parking spaces in the area. During the week the visitor level is very low. The marina isn’t very active and the tent camping area is only partially full. The “B” and “C” tent camping loops have been abandon since one of the past hurricanes. The roads and sites are filled with weeds and the restrooms are abandoned. The trailer area I’m in averaged nine campers most nights. The road construction in this camping area is a valid excuse for the low numbers. The concessionaire has been actively discouraging and even canceling some reservations to make room for the road work.

The reasons for the low number of visitors in the rest of the Flamingo area are more complicated. The eastern area of the park, near Miami, is very busy. The parking lots at the Royal Palm area and the Long Pine Key area were close to full. Most of those people don’t travel the extra thirty plus miles to the Flamingo area. Does a low visitor count to the Flamingo area lower the priority on funding to complete the maintenance? Do the people stay away because of the low maintenance? What is the priority for maintenance and repair at this National Park?

The wildlife doesn’t care about the state of the national park. It is readily available for viewing. I’ve had fun wandering around taking pictures of birds and crocodiles. I will be back again, but it will not be a regular winter stop. It is at the end of a long road from civilization.

Tomorrow I’m reversing the route I took ten days ago to get here. I’m returning to the Midway campground in the Big Cypress National Preserve. Tomorrow’s complication is the early checkout time here. They want you off the site by 10AM.