While in Key Largo, Cindy had her wrist
Xrayed and found out that it was broken during the Thanksgiving Day
family soccer game a month previously rather than just a bad sprain.
After scheduling a surgeons visit in early January, we continued on
with our plans to try and connect with Bridget & Kristy plus
their other halves in New Smyrna. We left The Everglades National
Park (NP) early after overstaying our welcome (i.e. too many days)
and decided to head to Mitchell's Landing in the Big Cypress National
Preserve (NP) where the camping is currently free and the Mosquitoes
are tolerable. This is a great place to have coffee in the morning at
the air-boat landing. Both the trailer and Cindy's car were left with
our friends Louie & Alice in Flamingo so we can travel lightly
and faster.
Headed to Wendy & Rich's place in
north Miami where we were wined and dined with Salmon then went to a
fantastic AfriCobra art display and outdoor jazz concert. The next
morning before heading north, we walked around their neighbourhood
surrounded by waterways and mansions.
Now headed towards New Smyrna Beach to
connect with Bridget and Kristy; stopped at a sports bar to watch the
University of Michigan get blown away by Ohio State – not a good
omen. With no contact made, we settled in for a couple of nights at
Hopkin's Prairie in the Ocala National Forest where we setup camp
while a Black Bear along with her cub wandered around our site. Tried
to connect again by driving to New Smyrna Beach to no avail. Since
Cindy had to see the Surgeon on January second, we needed to start
heading south and ended up having Champagne for New Year's at
Mitchell's Landing.
After coffee at the Landing, we headed
again towards The Everglades NP so we would be close to Key Largo for
Cindy's Doctor's appointment. Had a short visit with Louie and Alice
while we reclaimed Connor the trailer and Cindy's car Orion before
heading to Long Pine Key (LPK) Campground to setup base-camp for a
week. The Surgeon confiscated Cindy's brace and recommended
Physiotherapy to rebuild her left arm's strength; this was much
better verdict than re-breaking the arm and applying a cast. The
other great advantage when visiting Key Largo was picking up fresh
fish which I cook using Blacken seasoning.
After Cindy started her Physio, we
decided to head to the Big Cypress National Preserve (NP) Bear Island
where the camping is still free during the Government shutdown. The
other big advantage is the better TV reception allows us to watch the
pre-games to the SuperBowl; my favourite teams, Green Bay and New
Orleans were knocked out of the running (one early in the season and
one by a bad call).
We have been doing lots of walking around Bear
Island trails and decided to load up our backpacks for a fifteen plus
mile excursion. This was a great trip with the first night spent at
Pink Jeep serenaded by nighttime Barred Owls and Gators bellowing.
The second stage of the trip took us to Gator Head campground where
some Off-Road-Vehicles (ORVs) awaited us. They partied on this Martin
Luther King (MLK) weekend until 04:00 with their music system blaring
with mainly Spanish renditions. A big storm struck early in the
morning before we could break camp but we still arrived back at Bear
Island for lunch. After a couple of recovery days, we had to leave so
Cindy could visit her Physiotherapist again although her constant
daily exercises have made a great difference, pain-wise.
Back at LPK, more fish is on the menu
after Cindy's Physio, plus we had a great lunch at Key Largo
Fisheries Backyard patio. Cindy is also visiting various other
specialists while in Miami, including her skin Doctor. After this six
day excursion, we will shop then head out for SuperBowl LIII.
Bear Island in the Big Cypress is still
nearly empty which is a surprise when it only costs US$5 a night with
my Dad's (and Cindy's) GoldenAge Pass. The John Turner dirt-road has
been pretty good with only a couple sections of the twenty-four miles
where we had to slow to thirty miles per hour. As per normal this
year, trying to support any team playing against New England
Patriots, I cheered for the Los Angles Rams to no avail but the
Superbowl is always fun to watch, especially in the middle of
nowhere. Later during the week we drove the hundred mile return trip
to Naples to pickup supplies for our next forage into the wild plus
also stopped in Everglades City to pickup two nights worth of fish at
Grimm's Fish Plant including a few more jumbo Stone Crab claws.
We decided to hike into Pink Jeep for a
three night stay. The trip was much easier the second time – doing
over ten thousand steps a day with a load has whipped us into pretty
good shape. No Gator bellowing this trip but it was fascinating to
watch Limpkins plucking Apple Snails from the slough and taking a
refreshing bath.
The numerous torrential downpours in the past couple
of weeks has refreshed the sloughs with lots of water. As an aside, I
also found out that the whine in my drivetrain meant that the four
wheel drive doesn't work and I needed to rescue Storm using the
levelling Lego under the rear tires. I took a ten mile morning hike
out to Highway 29 to see what this access point looks like. The
following day we hiked a couple of miles to a wild GrapeFruit orchard
to pick half-a-dozen delicious fruit; there are also wild Orange
trees but this fruit is more bitter than eating Lemons. Saw an
interesting stag Deer on the five mile hike back to Bear Island which
had a great rack and both ears tagged.
After three more days at Bear Island,
we packed up our bags after more huge showers and luckily reconnected
the trailer using Lego under Storm's tires then fled. On the
downside, Slider still leaks when driving in the rain – buy 4-Wheel
not Outfitter Manufacturing.
Headed for the Everglades LPK for four
days of busy events. First, Cindy went to her final Physio treatment
but must still continue the exercises for the foreseeable future.
This was followed by a wonderful Valentine's dinner at Buzzard's
Roost – many thanks to Art, Sue and Harley, their dog. The next
night we revisited the Spanish Marie Brewery for some tasty sips of
Imperial IPA. The next day was a memorial for Cheri Olen with the
highlight being her granddaughter dancing in her memory; I hope
Randy, her husband, keeps on being busy.
Left early the next day headed for the
Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest (SF) where we camped in the open
using Live Oak and Cabbage Palms for shade. Our attempt to get into
Myakka River State Park (SP) failed – these parks get booked a year
in advance. Ergo, we stayed in the Slough for three nights where the
temperatures were 32+C/86+F during the day which made it Scrabble
type days.
Heading to Tampa to kid-sit while
Cindy's daughter goes on a cruise then do a visit to Brooklyn to see
her son and family... Stay tuned for that hair-raising update...
Tidbits:
- With US Government shutdown, camping in Big Cypress is free :).
- Check out Canadian winter escapee and painter: www.claudeleblanc.com
- Lots of Big Cypress dead Pines caused by last year's wildfire. Not enough prescribed burns?
- LPK has Great Horned Owls hooting at night, Big Cypress has Barred Owls.
- Brazilian Pepper (aka Shinus) taking over disturbed land in Big Cypress and Everglades.
- Bridget's presents of homegrown Garlic and Llama socks are wonderful.
SPOT:
- Big Cypress NP Mitchell's Landing 2018 12 27&31: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=25.75441,-80.92624&ll=25.75441,-80.92624&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- Wendy & Rich NE Miami FL 33138, 2018 12 28: https://goo.gl/maps/KdVVq7aEKXK2
- Ocala NF Hopkins Prairie 2018 12 29&30: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=29.27536,-81.69440&ll=29.27536,-81.69440&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- Everglades NP LPK 2019 01 01-08,23-29& 02 13-16: http://maps. google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=25.39755,-80.65515&ll=25.39755,-80.65515&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- Big Cypress NP Bear Island 2019 01 09-17,20-22,30&31,02 01-06&10-12: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=26.18106,-81.23956&ll=26.18106,-81.23956&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- Big Cypress NP Pink Jeep 2019 01 18&02 07-09: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=26.21630,-81.29413&ll=26.21630,-81.29413&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
- Big Cypress NP Gator Head 2019 01 19: https://goo.gl/maps/SjZ1FKUtXPx
- Okaloacoochee Slough SF 2019 02 17-19: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=26.54260,-81.29337&ll=26.54260,-81.29337&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Deb
2019-02-21
Thanks for the update on your winter adventures! Loads of snow here this year! Hope Cindy’s arm heals up quickly! Love all your pictures too!
tracy
2019-02-23
Sure enjoyed reading of your adventures. Love the pictures too. Have fun you guys.