A Lazy Day on the Hillsborough

During the first six weeks of our winter Florida adventure, due to unseasonably cold weather, we only paddled one time. That was on the Weeki Wachee River and it was the warmest frigid day we had seen. Today, we paddled the Hillsborough River with our friends John and Susan. It has warmed considerably here in sunny Florida and this trip will mark our 11th paddle since we left the Keys in mid-February.

The Hillsborough River is very close to Lazydays. After an omelet breakfast at the Crown Club, We met John and Susan at the put-in at John B Sargeant park only 5 miles from our camp. It was a beautiful day to paddle. The water level was higher than we had every seen it due to recent storms. We put in at the landing, paddled out a short canal and turned right up Flint Creek. In spite of the high water there was little flow on Flint Creek. We paddled about a mile up Flint Creek before it narrowed and we turned around. When we returned to the Hillsborough River we turned right and paddled upstream about a mile. After about an hour of chasing alligators, turtles and herons we turned around and enjoyed a leisurely float. Between the high water and the warm sunshine, we saw dozens of snakes basking in the bushes. We also saw ospreys, hawks and roseate spoonbills. After a wonderful four hours and about eight miles, we arrived at the take-out at Trout Creek Park.

On the shuttle back to the put-in, we visited with our friends Joe and Jean Faulk, who operate a canoe livery service on the Hillsborough called Canoe Escape. We had hoped Joe and Jean would be able to break away and paddle with us one day before we left town, but business is booming now so maybe next year. After completing the shuttle we said goodbye to John and Susan who were excited about their upcoming trip. In two days they are flying to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands for a twenty day adventure. Dorcas and I beat it back to the Crown Club just in time for happy hour.

Coming Home to Lazydays

Wednesday night it was threatening rain, so we packed up most of our outside gear before we went to bed. Thursday we departed Thousand Trails Peace River about 9AM, just as it started to rain for serious. We drove north toward Tampa in intermittent heavy rain, but by the time we set up at Lazydays RV Campground (formerly Rally Park) it had mostly quit.

We bought our Country Coach at Lazydays a little over 3 years ago and have spent many nights here since then. When we bought our coach, they gave us a membership in the Crown Club, an exclusive club for folks who buy high-end coaches here. At the Crown Club we are wined and dined three times a day for free. Our membership expires next month (unless we shell out BIG $$$ for a new coach, which ain't likely) so we like to spend as much time in this area as we can while the gettin' is good. Lazydays is the largest single-site RV dealer in the country. They have thousands of RV's on site that are unlocked so you can look through them without being bothered by a salesperson. It's a wonderful place to hang out.

Staying at Lazydays is kind of like coming home, we usually see people we know having service done, buying a new coach, hanging out or just passing through. This time we saw friends, Dave and Rita in Lazydays RV Campground attending a rally; Jim and Luci in the Crown Club for service; and Rob and Bonnie in the Crown Club trading coaches. Small world.

Today, unsettled weather set in; it was a crappy day outside but a good day to spend in the Crown Club. It rained hard all day with high winds and thunder storms. The news reported tornadoes close by to the north and east. The forecast for tomorrow is excellent and we have a date to paddle the Hillsboro River with friends John and Susan.

Paddle Arbuckle Creek 2X

Arbuckle Creek is fairly close to Thousand Trails Peace River, but we have never paddled it. We have never been here when we were with other paddlers who could help us run a shuttle. Arbuckle Creek is frequently paddled by members of the Florida Sport Paddling Club, usually as an overnight trip. John and Susan had paddled the creek previously, but were very agreeable to paddle it again. On Sunday we decided to paddle the section from East Arbuckle Road to the bridge at Arbuckle Creek Road, a distance of about 12 miles. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. We drove about 30 miles east through Avon Park and unloaded the boats at the put-in. Susan and I ran the shuttle, and then we anxiously put onto the creek.

The creek was gorgeous, but the highlight of the trip was the wildlife. We saw numerous examples of the usual water birds. We saw many raptors including red-shouldered hawks, ospreys and a barred owl. We saw a herd of turkeys. We got a good look at an American bittern, which I'm not sure is rare, but I don't recall seeing one before. We also saw several raccoons on the banks of the river and in the live oak trees. However, the highlight of the trip was a great sighting of a Florida panther! John saw it first; its head was sticking up from behind some brush. At first we thought it was a huge house cat, but it was quickly obvious that it certainly wasn't a house cat. Then we thought it might be a bobcat, but it just didn't have the tufts or the ears or the shape to be a bobcat. Then it ran, and we could see it clearly, and we were sure. It was a panther. It had a full tail and was bigger than I expect a bobcat would be. After some research and after viewing some photos on the internet, we confirmed it was a panther. We believe the cat was not yet mature. He showed a few stripes on his face and some spots on his body, indicative of an immature cat. Dorcas got a pretty nice photo of his head, but she was unable to get another clear shot as he bolted from behind the brush and loped up and over the creek bank. This was a very fortunate and rare sighting. Most visitors and even native Floridians will never see a panther in the wild. After the paddle we returned via Sebring and enjoyed a muy grande dinner at Don Jose Mexican restaurant.

Dorcas and I decided to paddle on Arbuckle Creek again today. Unfortunately John and Susan had left Thousand Trails Peace River and moved up to Thousand Trails Orlando, so we were on our own. We decided to put in at the same place we had put in on Sunday, but paddle upstream instead. We would paddle up as far as we could go or until we reached Lake Arbuckle, whichever came first, then turn around and return to our put-in. We found the current was not very swift and we made good time. After about 1.5 hours we arrived at the head of the creek at Lake Arbuckle. We paddled out into the lake and around to the right where we found a very nice paved canoe landing with a dock and a restroom. While Dorcas was in the restroom I walked over to what looked like a ranger station. There I found an armed uniformed guard who informed me that I was on military property and had to leave. He was actually very polite, but we quickly finished walking Matilda and left. We paddled back the way we came enjoying the fact that we did not have to fight the current. We saw a number of alligators on the paddle. Several gators were apparently recent mothers and had many baby gators on their backs. I wanted to pick up one of the babies, but Dorcas thought it was a bad idea and wouldn't let me.

We arrived at the put-in/take-out after a 6.2 mile round trip paddle. The only house on the creek was at the take-out where we saw a man in the yard just as a red-shouldered hawk swooped down towards him. It turns out that a pair of hawks were nesting in a tree in the yard. The man had been feeding them turkey necks, so they kept a close watch whenever he came out into the yard. He went back into the house, got a fresh neck and threw it into the air. The hawk dived for it and caught it in mid air and returned to his nest. Cool!

Paddle Peace River 2X

A few days ago, I struck up a conversation with Dick, our back door neighbor at Thousand Trails. Dick had noticed our boats and wondered if we wanted to paddle on the Peace River. He had met another couple in the park, and they had made a tentative plan to paddle a short section of the river the next day. We had not paddled in a while and were raring to go, although the forecast for the next day was not very good.

It rained in the morning, but the forecast for the afternoon was better. It was still a windy, cool and dreary day. We put in at the public landing in Wauchula and shuttled the cars back to Thousand Trails where we would take out. With us, in addition to Dick, were Bob and Paula, kayakers from Long Island. Dorcas and I had paddled this section of the river several times before, but had always put in at Bowling Green, about 8 miles further upstream. Given the weather it was probably just as well that the paddle was relatively short. It sprinkled a little and we had to work a bit to keep the wind from blowing us off course. When we arrived at the take out at camp we had covered just a little under 4 miles.

Shortly after arriving at camp we were surprised to find our friends John and Susan had arrived at Thousand Trails. We had met John and Susan at another Thousand Trails park several years ago and had run into them several times since then. We found that we have much in common: we all paddle, bike, tent-camp, and we have similar views and philosophies. We also both belong to the Florida Sport Paddling Club and have some common friends. We had paddled with John and Susan last year, and made plans to paddle with them again while here together.

So it was that today we paddled another section of the Peace River with John and Susan. We decided on the section from Fort Meade to Bowling Green, which Dorcas and I had never paddled. It is always fun to paddle a new section of river! We drove to Fort Meade and located the put-in at the Fort Meade Recreational Park off US 98 after a little aimless wandering and after talking to some locals.

The day was much nicer than our previous paddle on the Peace. It was perfect paddling weather, warm and sunny. We saw a few gators and most of the usual wading birds as well as ospreys and red-shouldered hawks.

Our most unusual wildlife sighting was a cow stuck in the mud at the edge of the river. The cow was stuck up to her neck in the soft mud and could not get out. It was obvious she had been there for some time and was quite tired from the struggling. We had heard some shooting and some ATVs a short distance downstream, so we knew some people were close by. John got out and went to find someone that could help. After a few minutes he returned with a man and two young girls. One of the girls said "Oh no! it's Sandy!". It was clear that the man did not know how he was going to get the cow out of the mud, but he thanked us for letting him know about it and left, presumably to get more help. I hope Sandy made it. Before leaving he warned us that folks were shooting skeets across the river around the bend, and he would go let them know we were coming through. Thanks!

It was a wonderful day on the river. We took out at the bridge near Payne's Creek State Historic Site after the 14 mile paddle.

Highlands Hammock State Park

We finally had a nice warm sunny day and decided to visit Highlands Hammock State Park about 20 miles away near Sebring. It was an excellent day to cycle so we packed up the trikes and Matilda and headed towards Sebring.

Highlands Hammock State Park has a very nice paved one-way loop road through a hardwood hammock and an off-road bike trail around the perimeter of the park. We first took Matilda for a brisk trot/ride. We started off on the unpaved bike trail. She was good for a while, but seemed to poop out after less than 1/2 mile. So we turned back to the car to park Matilda in the shade for the remainder of our ride. We then toured the campground, which looked like a very nice place to stay. There we connected again with the perimeter bike loop and biked the eastern portion of that trail. The surface alternated from hard-packed sand and grass, to short stretches of soft sand. We passed the primitive camping and managed to make it back to the parking lot without getting stuck.


We then biked the paved loop road which was an excellent ride. The loop road passes through a dense hardwood hammock for about 3 miles. Numerous short hiking trails lead from the road. Traffic was light, and we cycled the loop twice. After our ride we returned again to the parking lot near the cafe, lusting for a cup of wild orange ice cream, but no, not today. The cafe was closed this day. Dang. We did tour the adjacent Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) museum. The CCC museum celebrates the CCC in Florida and the US. The CCC was instrumental in developing many public works projects during the 30s and 40s. Finally we retrieved Matilda and hiked some of the short trails. There we saw several armadillos and got a short glimpse of what might have been a wild hog.

A few days later we returned to Highlands Hammock State Park and biked the park with our friends John and Susan. We biked all the routes we had biked previously, except we explored more of the northern section of the perimeter bike trail. The rangers had warned us that this section contained a bit of deep soft sand, but we did it anyway. This was not a particularly wise decision; the rangers were right. We made it though, with just a little bit of dragging our cycles through the soft sand. We ended up at the cafe where we had a long belated cup of wild orange ice cream. Yum yum!.

Thousand Trails Peace River

Thousand Trails Peace River in Wauchula is a unique park. It is in a much more remote locale than its sister park near Clermont, and has only about half the number of sites. The scenic Peace River circles the southern perimeter of the park, which is both a curse and a blessing. Of the 400+ sites in the park, about half are in the flood plain of the Peace River. The river has flooded these lower sites five times in the last 12 months. These sites in the flood plain have no sewer connection. Consequently new arrivals at this park perform an interesting dance I call the "Sewer Site Shuffle". Upon arrival at the park all the sewer sites up on the hill are always taken. New arrivals therefore choose a site in the bottom lands, and their name goes on a list for a sewer site as one becomes available. The next day a list of available sewer sites is posted at noon, and at 1:00 people claim the best sites in the order in which they arrived, and commence to move their rig to that new site on the high ground.

When we arrived yesterday afternoon it was raining hard and 45 degrees. Not unusual weather for Florida this year, but not the greatest conditions in which to set up camp. They put our name on the list for a sewer site, and said it might be several days before our name came up for a better site. Dang. We managed to find a site in the bottom lands that looked hard enough that we would not sink up to our axles, and waited out the rains. By 4:00 the skies cleared and it turned into a beautiful day.

Today dawned sunny and mild. Even though our chances were slim, at noon we went up to check out the list of freshly available sites and began our rendition of the "Sewer Site Shuffle". We walked through the park making notes on the available sites and prioritizing our choices. We ran into dozens of others, notepad in hand, also performing the dance. At 1:00 all the hopeful souls gathered and, as we expected, our favorite sites were claimed by those who arrived ahead of us. Finally, just as we were about to give up all hope, our name came up. There was only one site left that we had deemed moderately acceptable, but we took it. We could have passed on the site and moved up on the list for a better choice tomorrow, but decided to take it, so that we could get settled. We didn't want to spend another day doing the "Shuffle." By 2:00 we were moved and set up on our new site.

What we didn't realize at the time is that the site we chose is directly across from the sewer dump station. All those folks from the lower forty (those who refused to participate in the "Sewer Site Shuffle") were constantly parking their rigs in front of us to dump their waste tanks. Additionally folks were towing their "blue boys" up to empty them and the park's "honey wagon" made twice-daily visits. We got a real education on the various and creative techniques of amateur waste disposal. It wasn't pretty. The worst part is that with large RVs parked in the road at the dump, there was little room for other large RVs to pass. Our row was on the exit route for the park, so there was a fair bit of traffic. We made a point to park our car (the trikes which stick out about a foot on each side) well off the road. Our next door neighbor parked his truck about a foot out into the road. I guess he wants a new truck. Still, it was a bit unnerving watching RVs pass so close by through the windshield. Yet another rendition of the "Sewer Site Shuffle".

Swamp Cabbage Festival, LaBelle FL

Before arriving here we didn't know what a swamp cabbage was, but learned prettly quickly it's a pretty big deal in LaBelle. It turns out that LaBelle's annual Swamp Cabbage Festival started today, our last day at Whisper Creek RV Resort. We checked out of Whisper Creek at 9:00 and parked the coach a little closer to town so we could catch the Swamp Cabbage parade at 10:00. It's a good thing that no police emergency occurred this morning, because every police and emergency vehicle in the whole county was in the parade. And they were all real proud of their sirens and their horns.

We knew we couldn't leave without eating some swamp cabbage. We learned that swamp cabbage is the heart of the trunk of the cabbage palm, aka palmetto palm, sabal palm or swamp cabbage tree, the state tree of Florida. We ordered a fritter combo which included alligator fritters and swamp cabbage fritters. They were hard to tell apart just by looking, and they both tasted like chicken.

As the parade was ending it began to rain, so we made a break for the coach and drove about 75 miles north to our next destination, Thousand Trails Peace River near Wauchula. Our only regret was that we missed the armadillo races. Dang!

Paddle Fisheating Creek

We belong to the Florida Sport Paddling Club. Occasionally we are able to hook up with the club for a paddling trip. Fisheating Creek has been on the FSPC calendar for about six months running, but there has not been any specific date posted. The creek is hard to catch with adequate flow and the trip description says that the trip will run whenever the creek comes up.

Fisheating Creek is pretty close to our camp in LaBelle, so we thought we would check it out. The creek and the surrounding lands are owned and managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. A concessionaire operates a campground and livery service at US 27 in Palmdale. The water level was so low that they were not shuttling canoes up the creek. A check of the gauge showed the level was 1.57 feet and dropping. Other paddlers have suggested the minimum acceptable level is 3 feet or higher. We decided to put in at the campground and paddle upstream and/or downstream as far as we could.

The ramp is at Picnic Lake and there appeared to be plenty of water there. We started out upstream and soon came to the head of the lake and ran out of water. After a short drag over a gravel bar we continued paddling up the shallow meandering stream. While the water was very shallow we did not have to the exit the boat again. It was a rare beautiful day, warm and sunny. After about a mile we stopped for lunch. While sitting on the creek bank Matilda wandered away and started barking. We investigated and found her barking at a river otter. The funny thing is that the river otter was not retreating; he was barking back at Matilda and approaching. This is not normal behavior for a river otter. Usually they pop up for a look see and then disappear. We had recently watched a TV news report about a man who was walking in a suburban area and was attacked and seriously injured by an otter. It was later determined that the otter was rabid. So, we were suspicious and not a little afraid of this otter. We reined in Matilda, while the otter watched us eat the rest of our lunch and posed for a few nice photos. We continued upstream for about another mile and then turned around. Our otter had disappeared. Shortly before reaching our put-in we saw the first alligator. We continued past the put-in and explored the area downstream from the campground. We passed under the railroad bridge and the US 27 bridge and into Principal Lake. At the end of the lake the creek narrowed down again, and we entered the best 'gator hole I have ever seen. We saw about about 30 alligators in a 100 yard section of creek. A few were of pretty fair size. Many were moving around and swimming back and forth in front of and behind the boat. It was exciting and a little scary. We made sure Matilda was well down inside the boat and continued through the hole. After about a mile the creek became very shallow again, and we returned past the Gator Hole and back to the put-in.

It was a wonderful day to paddle, and we had a great time. We ended up paddling about 6 miles. We are looking forward to coming back to Fisheating Creek when the water is up and paddling some longer sections. Maybe a camping trip?

Going LOST

We are parked at Whisper Creek RV Resort near LaBelle. We had never heard of Whisper Creek until we stumbled into their booth at the Florida RV Supershow in January. They gave us a three-night coupon, and it is conveniently located between Naples and Wauchula, two of our planned stops, so here we are. Whisper Creek is an established park, primarily consisting of permanent residences, but they are currently marketing some modestly priced (<$50K) deeded lots in a new section. I figured that since they were giving out coupons they wanted to show off their deeded lots, and that we would be parked in that section. But no ..... we were parked in a tiny strip of soft sand between two manufactured homes. After we parked we talked to a permanent resident who had previously rented this site. He helped us find the power outlet, which was conspicuously absent, and told us it was the smallest site in the park. Besides that, they had recently used a tractor to clear some brush at the rear of the site and the ground was rutted and the grass torn up. It was a mess. But we were there on a complimentary stay, so I didn't want to complain. When we saw the new deeded sites, they looked quite nice and that area was practically deserted. I can't understand why they put us on such a terrible site. It was not necessary and certainly did give us a poor impression of the park.

Since buying my trike I have been much more excited about cycling, so we have been on the lookout for good cycling trails. LaBelle is very close to Lake Okeechobee and the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST). The LOST is a 110-mile trail that circles Lake Okeechobee, reportedly the second largest freshwater lake in the lower 48 (I assume Lake Michigan is the largest, and Lakes Superior, Huron, Ontario and Erie don't count, since they are bordered by Canada???) Today we drove to Moore Haven which is the closest trail head to our camp. Our research had indicated the trail was unpaved. We discovered that the section north from Moore Haven was indeed grass/gravel, but the section south was paved. Cool! We headed south. As we headed counter-clockwise towards Clewiston we enjoyed a brisk tail wind.

The trail is located on top of the Herbert Hoover Dike, the impoundment structure built by the US Army Corps of Engineers that circles the lake. The dike is an impressive structure about 30 feet tall and provides good views of the lake and neighboring farmland. Well, in truth we never actually saw Lake Okeechobee. All we saw inside the dike was the borrow canal created during the construction of the dike and an endless sea of grass. I guess there is a big lake out there somewhere, it's on the map, but during the dry season it's hard to find. We biked 10 miles south almost to Clewiston before we turned around. That's when we remembered that brisk former tail wind. The 10 miles back to Moore Haven must have been at least 20 miles. I'm sure Dorcas' odometer must have malfunctioned.

We finally arrived back at the trail head and loaded up the trikes. From there we visited the Ortona Lock and Dam, located about 15 miles west of Lake Okeechobee on the Caloosahatchee River. We watched a few large recreational vessels lock through. The Corps of Engineers also operates a campground here that I have wanted to check out. The campground was very nice and clean with large level sites. From the campsites you could watch boats lock through up and down the river. As is often the case, we ran into some friends camped there (small world again!). I expect that we may spend some time in this park next year.

Knocking Around Naples

Our first full day at Signature Resorts was spent enjoying the luxuries we have been without for the last three weeks and basically doing essentially nothing. We explored the resort, and Matilda sniffed all the pups. The park is bordered by Henderson Creek, which provides direct water access to the Gulf of Mexico. The more exclusive sites are creek side and designed so that your coach faces the water.

On Saturday we drove into Naples for biking and lunch. We went to a local bike shop to see if there were any good bike trails in the area. It turns out that there aren't. The bike shop guy said that the "Orange Blossom Special" a famous passenger train that went from New York to Miami and inspired the song by the same name, once ran down the main street in front of the shop. When they abandoned the tracks, instead of building a rail-trail, as many other communities have done, they 6-laned Main Street. Bummer. Naples, like many Florida cities, is fairly bike friendly, with a number of dedicated bike ways, or more commonly, wide bike lanes on the road. He pointed us to a few routes that are popular with the locals. We chose to ride an area along Gulf Shore Boulevard. On our 10-mile ride we had expected nice views of the Gulf of Mexico, but all we really saw were the fronts of luxury condominiums. It was still a very nice ride.

Sunday was another lazy day; we hung around camp and enjoyed some rare warm weather. On Sunday evening the resort hosted a Jimmy Buffett beach party featuring a very entertaining singer who impersonated Buffett, Elvis, Johnny Cash and dozens of other singers. He used many wild costumes and zany props. At the show we ran into some friends from NC who are in our Country Coach club. They are staying at another resort nearby and came over for the show. Small world!

On Monday we spent the day at Collier-Seminole State Park, a few miles down the road. We had hoped to do some triking, but the only dedicated bike trail was fairly sandy and soft, not a good choice for our trikes. We did enjoy triking around the park roads and through the campground, however. We also had planned to paddle the Black Water River canoe trail through the mangrove forest in the park, but it was an extremely windy day, so we passed on that trip. We had a very enjoyable day wandering around the park. As we were leaving I saw a yellow rat snake crossing the road. There were cars coming from both directions, so I blocked traffic with my trike so the snake could safely cross the road. I probably saved its life, although I'm sure I irritated a few drivers. Hopefully this good deed will bring me good karma in the future.

Tuesday was our last full day in Naples and paddling was in order. We backtracked to Everglades City and the Everglades National Park. We had a choice whether to paddle in the bay or on a creek. We chose a bit of both. It was a calm day, so we first paddled out into the bay towards the islands between Everglades City and the Gulf of Mexico. We paddled over a mile to Sandfly Island and through Sandfly Pass, a route motorboats use to reach the Gulf. We circled the island and headed back to the mainland. On our way back from the islands two dolphins passed very close to the boat. Instead of paddling directly back to our put-in, we paddled up Halfway Creek for several miles. After a few miles we turned around and returned to the ramp. It was a very enjoyable paddle of about 10 miles across open bays and mangrove forests.

After our paddle we stopped in at Everglades Isle, a luxury RV resort on the Barron River. Last February we talked to Country Coach friends that had been wined and dined by this resort for weeks at a time. They said we really need to get down there, but, by the time we found out, they were no longer offering all the freebies. We knew it was the fanciest RV resort we had ever been to. When it opened last year it was offering RV lots at up to $850,000, but I was told they had slashed prices to just over $500,000. Still a little out of our price range. When we walked through the resort we saw a Country Coach. Next to that one was another one, then another one. It turns out there were almost 20 of them and we recognized about half. No one seemed to be at home, so we headed over to the clubhouse where we figured they were enjoying happy hour. We know our Country Coachers; we figured right. There we found a number of friends who had been holding an informal rally. We stayed for a little while and were invited to dinner, but had to decline since we had to get home to Matilda. Small world strikes again.

Today we leisurely packed up and prepared to drive 73 miles north to LaBelle, our next destination.

Back into Civilization: Naples FL

We pulled out early Friday morning because we knew we would have a long day. We had about a 4-hour drive to our next camp just south of Naples, but we had several stops we wanted to make along the way. Our first stop was the Royal Palm area of Everglades National Park near the Homestead entrance. When we pulled into the parking lot at Royal Palm, the first thing we saw was a dead buzzard hanging from a tall pole. At the base of the pole was a sign indicating US property and no trespassing. We learned that buzzards are a nuisance in the parking lot, often damaging vehicles. Healthy buzzards will shun and avoid ill or distressed buzzards, so it is believed that this practice repels buzzards. It didn't appear to be working. There were black vultures all over the place. You basically had to shoo them away as you walked down the sidewalk. The lady in the gift shop was excited because a ranger was bringing in a fresh buzzard, which is thought to be a more effective repellent than a less-fresh buzzard. The main attraction at Royal Palm is the Anhinga Trail, a short boardwalk trail through a sawgrass marsh and over a winter water hole. I have never seen so many birds and alligators at one time! The birds were particularly photogenic because they were so used to people and were not at all bashful. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the trail, taking photos and dodging all the folks with their tripods and monster lenses.

Our next stop was at Shark Valley in the northern part of Everglades National Park just south of the Tamiami Trail. Shark Valley features a 15-mile loop road through the sawgrass prairie that leads to an observation tower. The NPS operates a tourist tram to take visitors around the loop, but the loop road is also an excellent bike route. The western half of the loop is arrow-straight and follows a canal that was dredged to provide fill when building the road. The canal is teeming with alligators and birds. The eastern half is more natural as it meanders through the sawgrass. This ride was the most enjoyable ride we have done since getting the trikes. I really can't describe the sensation as you trike past a 10-foot alligator, sunning on the paved trail, at eye level only a few feet away. Some idiot tourists approached to within a few feet of the gators to have their pictures taken. Good candidates for the Darwin award.

We took several hours to bike the loop. It was dusk by the time we arrived at Signature Resorts in Naples. Signature Resorts is another of those ritzy places that sell RV lots ranging from $150K to $360K. Overnight rates run from $80 to $100. The resort is brand new, and they had their grand opening only a week before. We would not normally pay to stay at a place this expensive, but we got in on a coupon special and were able to stay 5 nights for less than the usual price for one night. Sweet! After coming from a place where we had no TV, no phone, no internet and no external power, it was a bit of a shock to now have cable TV, wi-fi, water, sewer, 50A electric, heated pool, hot tub spa, exercise room, game room, clubhouse and free continental breakfast. This is the life. We are watching TV for the first time in almost 3 weeks. Wow! There are Olympic games going on! On Saturday we endured a brief low-pressure sales tour, and are now free to explore the Naples area, an area we have never previously visited. Now back to Alex Trebek ....

Photo of the Week

Who says the Everglades are flat?

We had to stop halfway up the hill to the pass in order to acclimate to the altitude, but we took it easy and made it without too much difficulty.

Flamingo Area Paddling; Canoe Heaven

Paddling rules in Flamingo. We paddled a different creek every day each of our four full days in Flamingo. Monday was a beautiful day; 75 degrees and sunny. We biked to the Visitor's Center and Marina and attended a "Croc Talk" led by a volunteer naturalist. We saw several crocodiles on the bank across the canal. During the talk a manatee appeared in the canal, and the talk morphed into a manatee talk. We put-in late in the afternoon at the Noble Hammock Canoe Trail. Noble Hammock Trail is a 2-mile loop paddle through a red mangrove forest. It meanders primarily through mangrove islands and tunnels, but also had a few open places. The trail featured very sharp bends and required strong turning skills. Dorcas got to show off her superb bow draw many times. We finished shortly before dusk, and it was a perfect way to end our first full day in the Everglades. We had our only serious bug encounter this evening. Shortly after dark, I was outside grilling dinner. All of a sudden I was swarmed with mosquitoes. I grabbed the meat and quickly retreated to the safety of the coach. But they were inside too! The door and all the windows were closed, but there were tons of mosquitoes in the house. We quickly swatted them and mashed them against the ceiling of the coach, but there were more every minute. Where were they coming from??? We soon realized they were thicker near the edges of the slide room openings, so it appeared like they were coming in there, although the slide seals should prevent this. I sprayed DEET all around the edges of the slides, and this seemed to be effective. After about an hour all the mosquitoes had been executed. I figure we murdered over 500 mosquitoes during that assault, and the white ceiling of the coach looked like a bloody battlefield. Amazingly, that was the only time we really experienced any bugs during our 5 nights in Flamingo. Perhaps they were so thoroughly devastated that night, that they had no further will to attack.

On Tuesday we participated in a ranger-led paddle on the Mud Lake Loop Trail. Flamingo has a ranger-led paddle every morning to a different venue in the area. It is a great program, because they provide the boats and it's free. It's a great opportunity for folks to paddle who don't have a boat of their own. We chose this particular trip because the paddle was being led by Ranger Daniel. We had attended an evening ranger program by Daniel on Sunday, and he was very entertaining and funny. We knew he would be fun to paddle with. We met the group at 7:45 am at Coot Bay Pond, only to find that Daniel had slightly changed the route due to high winds from the north. The paddle across Coot Bay would be difficult with a strong north wind, so Daniel eliminated that leg of the paddle. We ended up putting in on the Homestead Canal, a foul, stagnant, sulphurous and seldom-paddled water course. We paddled this canal for almost an hour before bumping out into Bear Lake, where we briefly experienced the strong winds. We then ducked back into a red mangrove tunnel and paddled into Mud Lake. Another mangrove tunnel led us into Coot Bay, where we again experienced the fierce north wind. Finally we took another mangrove tunnel into the Buttonwood Canal which returned us to our starting point. As expected Daniel was very entertaining and a fountain of knowledge on flora, fauna and local lore. We saw many bromeliads, different varieties of air plants, perched in the mangrove branches. We also saw the infamous Manchineel tree, one of the most toxic plants known. Early natives tied victims to the trunk of this tree to torture them and assure an excruciating and painful death. Explorer Ponce de Leon was killed with an arrow poisoned with Manchineel sap. Dang! Just when we learned to avoid the Poisonwood tree, so common in the Keys, now we have to worry about the Manchineel. I'm starting to miss plain ol' poison ivy.

On Wednesday we paddled the Nine Mile Pond Trail. Nine Mile Pond is particularly interesting because it is at the boundary between fresh water flowing in from the north and the brackish water from Florida Bay to the south. The paddle started with a series of small ponds and mangrove islands and the water was much clearer than other paddles we did. As we paddled further from the road the route became more open and entered a prairie. We encountered one other party who couldn't find the next trail marker and were lost. I think they were glad to see us. This was the only other party we saw all day. Maybe all the others were hopelessly lost, never to be seen again. When we started we were paddling downwind and enjoyed an easy ride. When we made the turn back to the road we paid the price and fought a fierce head wind back to the car. It was a 5-mile paddle, but felt much longer. This is the only paddle where we saw alligators, probably because it was our only paddle in predominantly fresh water.

On Thursday we paddled the route to Hell's Bay our most ambitious paddle in Flamingo. Hell's Bay is so-named because it is "Hell to get into and Hell to get out of." The first mile of the route involves tight and winding mangrove tunnels, reminiscent of the Noble Hammock Loop. Eventually the route opened up into a series of mangrove islands and large ponds. We passed the Lard Can campsite and eventually reached the Pearl Bay Chickee, where we lunched. Pearl Bay Chickee consists of two covered camping platforms connected by a walkway that had an outhouse in the center. Strangely, the left hand platform was designated as a handicapped site, although I could see no difference between the two. After lunch we reversed our route and completed our 11 mile paddle back to our put-in.

While in Flamingo we paddled only interior creeks and ponds. We did not paddle the open waters of Florida Bay. There are certainly good paddles in the bay, but it was fairly windy most days we were there, and we don't particularly enjoy large open waters. Maybe next time we will find a nice calm day and explore Florida Bay.

Everglades National Park: River of Grass

We stretched out our stay at Bahia Honda as long as possible. We checked out at 12:59, while an irate arriving camper hovered over his future site. Our drive up from the lower Keys was pleasant and uneventful. We stopped for groceries in Florida City, then turned west and south down the 40-mile dead-end road to Flamingo. We passed Long Pine Key Campground, which was full. We arrived at Flamingo, at the southern end of the Everglades National Park, just before dusk and checked into the campground. They put us in T-loop which features extremely large pull-through sites. There are no hookups in the campground, however, we fared very well without shore power. There is also no broadcast TV and no Verizon cell service, meaning no internet service. This is tough for internet junkies like Dorcas and me. I read a lot. The sun shown brightly every day and our solar array performed brilliantly. I guess it helped that we couldn't watch TV all night long. We only ran the generator once, mainly so we would fit in with our neighbors.

There are no flamingos in Flamingo. The early settlers ate them all many years ago. In the early 1900s Flamingo was somewhat of a hole-in-the-wall. There was no road to the area, and the population was only about 100 people, mostly wildlife poachers, moonshiners and outlaws hiding from authorities. It was a miserable place; hot, humid and infested with mosquitoes. About that time a deranged real estate developer thought the area would make a fine vacation destination and built a road. After the road was built, the population dropped to about thirty people. Most folks said, "Hey, look, there's a road. Let's get outta here!"

Flamingo was a much more happenin' place than I expected. It was hit very hard by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, when an eight-foot storm surge washed over the area. The lodge and restaurant were destroyed, but there are plans to rebuild using more eco-friendly designs. The marina and store were damaged but have since reopened. The campground has been repaired and has reopened. While we were there they were installing electrical service in T-loop, where the RVs are parked. I guess this will allow idiots crazy enough to visit in the summer to run their air conditioners. More power to them.

Biking and hiking opportunities were very limited in this area. There was only one designated bike trail. The Snake Bight Trail (honestly!) runs from the park road about 2 miles to Snake Bight on Florida Bay along a railroad grade. We biked this trail late one afternoon, just before the bugs came out. Otherwise we biked on the road. It is about a mile from the campground to the marina area, and we biked this stretch a number of times. The primary activity, as far a we were concerned, was the canoeing. We had not paddled during the two weeks we were in the Keys, so we were stoked to paddle the first chance we get.

North to the Everglades

Against our better judgment we are heading north. We have been at Bahia Honda 14 nights, the limit for a Florida state park, and they are throwing us out. This afternoon we depart the Keys and move to Flamingo in the southern corner of the Everglades National Park. Flamingo is about 135 miles away by road, but only 35 miles across Florida Bay, as the pelican flies. We will stay five nights in the park and will be "dry camping" there, meaning we will have no water or power hookups. No problem. We have a full tank of fresh water, empty waste tanks, a capable solar array and a generator with plenty of fuel. If the weather is good we plan to canoe or trike about every day.

According to the Verizon service coverage map we will be well out of Verizon's coverage area. This means no cell service and no internet service at camp. With luck, we may find a wi-fi hotspot in the village, but I'm not counting on it. We also have an external cellular antenna and amp, but we may be too far out to pull in a usable signal.

There Be TRIKES Here!

"Admiral, there be TRIKES here!" With apologies to Scotty in StarTrek IV: The Voyage Home.

Dorcas bought a Catrike Villager in the spring 2009. I tried to talk her out of it, but I failed miserably. First, I felt that she wouldn't use it, and that it would be a waste of money and just take up space in the basement. Second, how the hell would we transport it? Over time, I have perfected a system to haul all our toys when we travel. We can put a canoe and two bicycles on top of the Element. While still keeping the rear seats up, we can put all the support gear (i.e. paddling gear, hiking gear, biking gear, dog stuff, gravity chairs, folding chairs, etc.) behind the seats. No problem. Until now. There was no way to put the trike on the top with the boat and a bike. I had no choice but to put the trike inside the Element. I put the rear seats in the storage position against the side walls, and the trike took up the entire rear portion of the Element. All the miscellaneous support gear was now piled up around and on top of the trike. If we wanted to unload the trike, we had to unload all the other crap and set it on the ground first. We couldn't take any friends out to eat, because the back seat was gone. Matilda had to ride in Dorcas' lap. Not an ideal situation. But Dorcas wanted her trike, and I had to live with it.

Well, it turns out that Dorcas really enjoyed her Catrike, and perhaps it wasn't just a passing fancy after all. I found that I enjoyed riding it too and began to envy her and the comfort and ease with which she was riding. Should I eat crow and get a trike too? If we had trouble hauling one trike, how the heck would we ever manage with two?

Well, I guess there is always a solution to every problem. You just have t0 think it through and do your homework. Also, it doesn't hurt if you throw some $$$ at it. While at Thousand Trails last month we saw some folks with a unique rack designed to haul two trikes, made by Hitch Rider. The rack mounted to a receiver hitch and carried two trikes, one on top of the other. Cool, but we had no receiver hitch on the Element. A little research revealed that most receiver hitches manufactured for the Element had a 1 1/4" receiver, and were not stout enough for the double trike rack. Bummer. Further research revealed that U-Haul made a 2" 2000 lb hitch for the Element, which would be perfect. While on our way to Sam's Club in Tampa, we stumbled upon a U-Haul service center and decided to stop in for a look-see. It turns out that they had our hitch in stock. 30 minutes and $175 later we were on our way with a 2" receiver hitch.

Shortly after arriving at Bahia Honda State Park I pulled the trigger and ordered the Hitch Rider double decked rack and a used Catrike Expedition I found on-line. The rack was scheduled to be delivered this past Monday via FedEx. I had previously alerted the folks at the park entrance station to expect two heavy packages for me. When I went up there early on Monday morning to remind them, the Hitch Rider had already arrived. I spent the next few hours putting it together and adjusting it for the Element and Dorcas' Villager. The Expedition was scheduled to be delivered via UPS on Wednesday. Again I alerted the folks at the entrance station that I had an EXTREMELY LARGE package coming today. No problem, they said. I asked them if they would call me when it arrived, but they said I would need to call them to check on it. OK. I waited on pins and needles all day, checking its progress on the UPS tracking page. Finally, about 2:00, Dorcas looked up and saw the UPS truck coming across the bridge. Five minutes later I got a call from an angry ranger at the gate. She said I had a package, and that it was "too big, and don't ever ship anything that big here again". Fine. She said they were bringing it to my campsite as we spoke. I guess it was so big they didn't want it in the gate house or in the road or wherever it was that the driver left it, any longer than possible.

When the trike arrived I anxiously began unpacking and assembling it. The trike had to be disassembled to be shipped, and the bike shop did an extremely thorough, perhaps excessive, job of taking it apart. It was basically a naked frame with all the various parts in a bag. I am a fair jack-legged bike mechanic, but some trike parts look nothing like bike parts, and the task looked a bit overwhelming. Thankfully I had Dorcas' trike to look at when I got befuddled. With my engineering background, a stout picnic table and my trusty Swiss army knife, I had it all put together in about three hours. By that time it was too late to ride it and to make the fine adjustments. Also one tube had a puncture and would need to be repaired.

On Thursday we spent the day in Key West. Key West has perhaps more bikes and scooters than people, and there are many bike shops. I went to three of the biggest shops with the best parts selections and found exactly one 20" x 1/8 presta style tube. Not exactly a common size where most bikes are fat-tired beach cruisers. They all thought I was crazy wanting such a small skinny tube. When we returned to camp I patched the punctured tube and set aside the new one as a spare, for when the patches failed.

Today we were ready to ride. I made all the final adjustments and the Expedition rode great! I zoomed around the circle in back of our campsite while Dorcas tried not to get run over. We drove to Big Pine Key, the center of the National Key Deer Refuge for a long ride. The Hitch Rider performed flawlessly, and we explored the north end of Big Pine Key. We had a great ride and saw a number of Key deer. We ended up at No Name Pub and had a few brews and split a burrito. By the time we returned to the car we had put in a little more than 15 miles. It was the easiest 15 miles I ever can remember pedaling.



It was great day, but we had a little excitement on the way home. I let a car out onto the highway in front of me. About 15 seconds later a deer bounded into the road and hit that car broadside. The deer bounced off and ran back into the woods, apparently unharmed. The car was not so lucky. The driver's side mirror was smashed and was dangling by its remote cable on the side of the car. I guess it might have been us if I had not been a courteous driver???

We arrived at camp shortly before a significant storm hit with 30-40 mph winds. We were able to bring in the awnings and stow the chairs and tables before the storm hit. The winds were strong, but short lived; it was over in about 20 minutes. I was amazed that my portable satellite dish, which was sitting on the ground un-anchored, never moved.

Our stay at Bahia Honda is winding down, and we will be leaving on Sunday. Tomorrow will be much cooler than it was today, with a high in only the low 60s. Hopefully we can get one more good ride in tomorrow.