04 YoYo

Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Bear Island, Florida, United States
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:

Comments

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.

2025-02-15

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