Category: Florida
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The Great Migration
Birds fly south to escape the harsh winter. V-shaped formations and the cacophony of squawking is the sign. And when they arrive, they join the droves of Florida wildlife who bask, eat and recreate, causing the native species much dismay. And after the winter’s sun bath, when the scent of spring wafts in from the…
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On the Road Again
Quest for Yes is a mindset. It’s a recipe of optimism, gratitude and naivety cooked up when events inspire neither. When Covid hit big in March 2020, we were 1000 miles away from home with no control over campground closures. One minute we were holding tickets for a tour of Mammoth caves, the next minute…
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Tampa RV Supershow & Tell
26 acres, 1500 RVs, hundreds of product vendors, 12k steps over 8 hours. Welcome to a day at the Tampa RV Supershow. Some go to buy, most go to look, dealers are there to tell and sell. We go to climb in and out of all classes, sizes and shapes. In our heads, we try-on…
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Find Your Porpoise in the Everglades
After eight nights deep in the Florida Everglades we broke camp for the last time. Dabbing calamine lotion on our Poison Wood rash and brushing tiny ants off our arms and face that had set up a home base somewhere in the cab of the truck, we sped westward above the slough on the Tamiami…
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ForEverglades
It’s a 20 mile commute from LPK to Nine Mile Pond. We needed to be there by 7:45 or our spots would be given up to the waitlist. After an all night fight with intermittent rain and an uncooperative tarp, a 7am we-gotta-go scramble ensued. Canoe Excursion Ranger led excursions require reservations. The window opens…
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Living Large at Long Pine Key
Our National Parks are our National Treasures. We truly believe that. The parks host informational, out-in-nature, hike-bike-kayak, explore programs. Programs are free to the public. Many are run by volunteer rangers who feel more strongly about our national parks than we do. In a cynical world, that is a good thing. Bike-n-Hike We enrolled in…
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Surviving Flamingo
The southernmost outpost of Everglades National Park is Flamingo, where marine, marsh, mangrove and coastal prairie ecosystems collide. It’s a place where eyes see wild, ears hear menace and the hardiest explorer’s physical and mental wits are put to test. About half of the campground never recovered from Hurricane Irma. The other half is hanging…
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Biscayne National Park Drive-by
An All-Water National Park Biscayne National Park is 95% water and 5% Visitor Center. Taking a break from the forEverglades, we detoured about 20 miles to find out what was going on in the Keys above Largo. Top of the American Keys It was a fairly solitary place on Monday noon. Avoiding the third grade…
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Shark Valley Oasis
Technically, Midway Campground sits in Big Cypress National Preserve, a slice cut into the northern section of Everglades National Park. In reality, it is all one big eco-system. The National Preserve status of Big Cypress allows for greater recreational use of the land including ORV trails and hunting. It’s the closest campground to Shark Valley…
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Big Adventure in Big Cypress
Between Miami on the Atlantic and Naples on the Gulf lies the vast expanse of the Florida Everglades. Interstate 75 picks up its moniker, Alligator Alley, for its 100 mile east-west span across the northern boundary of the region. 26 miles further south, the older Tamiami Trail, highway 41, cuts two lanes directly through heart…