February 21-24 Headed down to Lake Okeechobee to camp. Could not find campground I had located online so researched again and found a boat landing called Indian Prairie Canal. The sight said there were 5 free campsites-no water or electricity. We decided to check it out. It was lovely, but in the middle of nowhere on canals that led to the lake. The Corps of Engineers used to manage this site which borders the Seminole Indian Reservation.There were 4 other rvs there so we found a great spot on canal and set up camp. Did a lot of hiking on the Florida Trail which was located on canals. Hiked all the way to lake (8 miles). Discovered wild papaya trees loaded with fresh fruit. We sure enjoyed these for breakfast! Serious bass fishermen at this landing going out all times of day and night! Sandy had no luck fishing so he and Chelsea went for a swim in the canal while I was the "gator spotter" for them. There was one big downside though about this place. At about 5 pm the mosquitos and little roach like bugs came out. The first night we were not aware of this and left screen open for a few minutes. When we walked in the rv the ceiling was black with mosquitos . Sandy and I spent 45 minutes trying to kill all of them and then clean the ceiling. We tried to get all the little roach like buggies,but we came finding them around for days even after we left. I guess they wanted to go traveling with us. We did not want any extra baggage especially them! Interesting group of campers here-most had been there since Nov! They were from all over-Ut, Il, Pa, Mi, SD.
Feb. 24-26-Headed south to Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades. Rode through miles and miles of fields of maidencane. All of a sudden we were hit by a swarm of bees in Big Cypress -like a black cloud hitting our windshield. Then we realized there were dead bees all over our hood and windshield. We had to stop and clean as much off as we could until we got to a campsite. We think they were honeybees, but not sure maybe they were killer bees. We spent the night at a "retro" CG straight out of the '50's! It was called Trail Lakes, but better known as "Skunk Ape Research Center" (I am not sure about what king of research is done here) Had an ancient exhibit of pythons, alligators, turtles and birds-crazy. We visited Everglades City and a wonderful little island called Chokoloskee. The island was very quaint able to cover the entire town by foot. It was lovely, tropical and very quiet. We ended up having lunch at the Havana Cafe (our first meal out since we have been on the road-amazing for us!!). The fresh seafood was delicious!! However, we are anxious to get out of south FL-too many people, too much traffic and development.
Chelsea-Really enjoyed swimming in the canal. Glad someone was watching for the gators though. I also really enjoyed not having to be on a leash for a change. However, I was not so crazy about the Everglades-had to stay on a very short leash because there were gators and snakes everywhere and also it was hot and buggy. When are we leaving here?
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