When we arrived at the Walmart in Ft Meyers Beach, Dee and Marty went in to see what kind of fast food they might have in their Deli so we could eat in our campers. We were met at the door by a large man in a dark blue Walmart T-shirt who asked if we were from "those RVs over there." Dee and I politely responded "yes". The man proceeded to tell us that they no longer allowed overnighting at that particular Walmart and that we should consider moving out unless we wanted to have a knock on our door in the middle of the night. The police would tell us to move and if we didn't move we'd probably be towed and fined $600. We were upset because we'd already had two glasses of wine and didn't feel that it would be a good idea to drive. So we didn't buy a thing and headed back to the camper. The men discussed the situation and decided that we would just stay and if there was a knock on the door we wouldn't answer it. There were nearly 10 or more other campers in the lot and so we went to sleep.
There were no knocks on the door in the middle of the night and so in the morning we walked over to Perkins Restaurant and had breakfast and vowed never to return to Ft Meyers Walmart. All the on-line information we had researched told us that overnighting at this particular store was permitted. Maybe we encountered a rogue employee wanting to show his control over us.
Our stop just before Ft. Meyers was with Barbara and Bob (David's sister and her husband) where we caught up, had lunch, received a very welcome gift of a Key Lime Pie before heading back on the road.
From Ft Meyers we headed for the Tamiami Highway and our next overnight which would be in the Big Cypress National Preserve on Monument Lake. This is a campground we had stayed in before and it very basic, no water or electricity, no showers, no laundry, just a place to park and spend the night. It is, however, a very interesting place to stop. We saw Purple Martins and lots of other birds. And at dusk the tree swallows (that is what the campground host called them) came swooping in and flew over the pond in a circle touching down either to drink or to feed. We are not sure which! It was quite a sight though and we certainly enjoyed it.
Back on the Tamiami early Tuesday morning and as we drove along were amazed at how many Anhingas were in the trees drying out their wings along with Kingfishers and Cormorants and the handful of vultures. There were many different egrets feeding along the canal that runs parallel to the highway. Quite a site.
Once in Homestead, we headed for a U-Haul for filling propane tanks followed by a late breakfast at Marios, a Cuban restaurant at which we had eaten several times before. We had a great breakfast/brunch and enjoyed sitting outside.
Now we are in the Flamingo campground in the Everglades. We didn't get our reservation in early enough to get electricity, so we are in a non electric loop in which very few others are camping. The downside is no electricity and water right at our site, the upside is that it will be much quieter here and we most likely won't have to wait to take a shower! We have a red-shouldered hawk or two in the area and they are constantly calling. Pretty neat.
David and Marty rode their bikes over to the Eco Pond where often there are many birds and just before getting there several cars were parked on the road and people were out looking at something....the something turned out to be a Diamondback rattle snake! First big snake we have seen here in the park. It was about 6' long so it was a formatable serpent.
The mosquitos are very hungry here and we are going to use lots and lots of bug dope and will probably not spend much time outside unless we are well protected.
Note: two visits to Eco Pond and only about three birds each visit. One of the rangers has informed us that because the water levels are higher it is harder for the birds to fish there and until the water level goes down there will not be the birds.
Wednesday we had rain. Didn't it rain. We had no way to measure the amount but was easily over 1" and might have been closer to 2". There will be another hatch of mosquitoes in about five or six days....grrrr. We did get over to the Visitor's Center where we hear a great presentation on turtles. It was given by a ranger whom we had heard before. The national parks are good when it comes to providing programs and the rangers are usually very well educated on the topics they present.
We are learning to play cribbage, Paul is a patient teacher and we are having fun! It is our after dinner pre dish washing activity. Currently, the guys' team lead the gals three games to one.
That is our site taken looking toward the road, behind are two large trees.
Thursday morning we managed to get out for a bike ride and stopping at several ponds along the way saw very few birds! As the rangers have been telling us, the water is too high. Did see Ibis in the wetlands and Marty decided to try to get a shot of them. Well, one stops the bike, gets off the bike, takes off the fanny pack, pulls out the camera, walks back to where the birds are, stirs up the mosquitoes and slap, slap, slap try to get the right camera settings, slap, slap, slap. And now the birds are starting to fly away. As she says, at least the head is in focus.
Friday we made it over to the canal for a paddle and went for about 45 minutes up and the same back. A good paddle all-in-all. There are tour boats that come up this canal and fortunately they are very polite and slow way down. A lot of the fishermen don't slow down enough. The only birds we could really get close enough to see were several vultures. The Turkey Vulture does have very interesting eyes.
David backed up his kayak into the mangrove to be able to show you what the shoreline of the canal was.
We saw two alligators in the canal both near the marina. One, however, was on the furthest ramp of about four ramps in the boat launching area. One of the tour boat workers yelled at us that 50' or more was the only safe distance. He also told us that the gators can go from 0-35 mph very quickly and that they can "jump".
We were back in the afternoon for a tour boat ride up the canal to Coot Bay and then further into Bear Lake and on to one other lake (the name escapes us). The captain of the boat was constantly narrating, but we got more from her first mate, a man named Tom who had just turned 70 and was full of information and was not shy about sharing it. We didn't see much for wildlife or birds which is just the way it goes...like the whale watch boat rides in Maine when you come up dry...sometimes that is just the way it is.
Friday night we made the decision to move from the Flamingo region of the park up to the Long Pine Key campground because of the mosquitoes. Fewer there than in Flamingo. But we had one more thing to do on Saturday.
But before we leave this campground, we need to share with you a photo of the two red-shouldered hawks we have been watching and enjoying since we arrived last Tuesday. These birds are magnificent and we have seen them hunting, mating, and flying with great speed into a tree and land with grace. What a privilege we were given to witness these great birds.
Saturday we got up early, ate a quick breakfast and headed Nine Mile Pond where we took a guided canoe trip through the pond there. We did this tour five years ago on our first trip to Florida and the water levels were lower and there were many more birds that we saw up close during our paddle. Yesterday we saw only a few birds and not up close once we were in the canoes. It was still a very interesting paddle and most enjoyable starting with open pond paddling and spotting a large gator gliding across the pond. Most of the paddling was through low growth mangroves in very narrow channels. Our ranger, Tim, said they had been having difficulty with the gators as it is getting to be mating season and alerted us when he saw one right as we exited one of the chanels. But for the most part it was quiet except for type croaking of the frogs! Near the end of our trip we did get to see lots and lots of gators in one of the open areas. We saw one very, very big critter who is reported to be about 13-14 feet long and is known to eat smaller gators of 5-6 feet in length. This big guy was resting on the shore and we did not go close to him...stayed well over 50' feet away. And in the same open area we saw about 8-10 more either close to the shore or drifting across the pond! That was very cool. Then as we exited the open area and went into the last cut through into the largest part of the pond there was one last gator just a few feet from where we would all paddle. His eyes were "on" us to be sure.
Before the paddle, David and Paul sitting in the rising sun's shine. Notice that Paul got a trim, so no longer is accused of being an off-season Santa.
It had been foggy when we made the drive to Nine Mile Pond and as we pulled into the parking lot Marty noticed several Ibis feeding in the shallow water with the sunlight behind them and mist/fog hanging over the water. It was a very peaceful and beautiful scene.
We returned to our campsites and packed up. Goodbye mosquito escape has begun. We are headed to Long Pine Key Campground. The mosquito meter below is/was accurate!
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