It’s January 31st and I’m just now getting around to updating out blog. We left the Keys last Monday and spent four nights in the Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve. We have been traveling with B&H and they also have a blog at: http://havetrailerwilltravel.blogspot.com/ so you might want to check out their blog, and get a different (and probably better) account of our travels.
The first night we were in Big Pine Key campground---south of Homestead. Nice location with lots of birds and wildlife. We stopped and stocked up on groceries before we got to the campsite because it was a long ways back to stores. The park rangers do a lot of activities for the campers. R&N got to attend a lecture (called One Minute to Midnight) on Monday night. It was about the Cuban Missile Crisis. The next day they toured a Nike Missile site in the park. It was installed during crisis and was active until the mid 70s. Very top secret.
Next day we drove down to Flamingo campground further south. Nice setting, but the campground was not as well kept as the first one. It had showers but still no electricity. We checked out the area in the morning on the way out. They had a nice welcome center, which is being fixed up to look like it did in the 1950s. It had a lot of damage in the last hurricane that hit the area several years ago.
Wednesday we were on the Tamami Trail heading east. We stopped outside Miami at the Indian Casino for breadfast. I stayed in the car in the parking lot and guarded the car. Next we went to the Miami-Dade skeet range, which was near the casino, so the guys could shoot a couple rounds of skeet. I don’t like the gun shots, so I spent most of the time there under the seat of the car!
We spent the night at Monument Lake. Another “dry” campground (no electricity or water). This one was a little more interesting. All the campsites surrounded a big pond. There was an alligator in the pond that we could see from the camper ( and some really dumb ducks swimming around it). H&B went on ahead of us to our next stop and we went to Everglades City. While there R&N went to a museum about local history and a neat old trading post. The trading post
was used to trade with the Seminole Indians and locals that lived in the Ten thousand Islands area. It was about 5 miles outside of Everglades city and there wasn’t a road to it until the mid 50s.
Thursday we had reservations at Seminole Collier State Park. The park was not too far from Marco Island. We checked out the island on Friday morning before heading out again. At the park they have one of the walking dredges that were used to build the Tamani trail. Really neat and huge. They would use it to dig ditches and use the dirt for the road bed then through a system of pulleys the legs would retract and the whole thing would move forward a few feet and the process would start all over again. The huge machine was made in Bay City Michigan in 1924 and shipped down here. Click on the slide show and enlarge the pictures of the explanation of the dredge, if you want more info.
Friday we drove through lots of farmland to LaBelle and the Whisper Creek campground. We stayed here last year for a few days. This year we got a really good deal (they sent us a postcard offering the deal just before we left!) Four nights, two free breakfasts, a free lunch and a boat ride on the Caloosahatchee River for $99.00! Of course, they would like us to buy a camp spot, but I’m guessing we won’t. It is a really nice place and it really wouldn’t be a bad place to put down roots in the future. It is far enough south to be warm and the pool is really nice. We drove into Ft. Myers to the flea market on Saturday and spent Sunday and Monday at the pool.
The first night we were in Big Pine Key campground---south of Homestead. Nice location with lots of birds and wildlife. We stopped and stocked up on groceries before we got to the campsite because it was a long ways back to stores. The park rangers do a lot of activities for the campers. R&N got to attend a lecture (called One Minute to Midnight) on Monday night. It was about the Cuban Missile Crisis. The next day they toured a Nike Missile site in the park. It was installed during crisis and was active until the mid 70s. Very top secret.
Next day we drove down to Flamingo campground further south. Nice setting, but the campground was not as well kept as the first one. It had showers but still no electricity. We checked out the area in the morning on the way out. They had a nice welcome center, which is being fixed up to look like it did in the 1950s. It had a lot of damage in the last hurricane that hit the area several years ago.Wednesday we were on the Tamami Trail heading east. We stopped outside Miami at the Indian Casino for breadfast. I stayed in the car in the parking lot and guarded the car. Next we went to the Miami-Dade skeet range, which was near the casino, so the guys could shoot a couple rounds of skeet. I don’t like the gun shots, so I spent most of the time there under the seat of the car!
We spent the night at Monument Lake. Another “dry” campground (no electricity or water). This one was a little more interesting. All the campsites surrounded a big pond. There was an alligator in the pond that we could see from the camper ( and some really dumb ducks swimming around it). H&B went on ahead of us to our next stop and we went to Everglades City. While there R&N went to a museum about local history and a neat old trading post. The trading post
was used to trade with the Seminole Indians and locals that lived in the Ten thousand Islands area. It was about 5 miles outside of Everglades city and there wasn’t a road to it until the mid 50s.Thursday we had reservations at Seminole Collier State Park. The park was not too far from Marco Island. We checked out the island on Friday morning before heading out again. At the park they have one of the walking dredges that were used to build the Tamani trail. Really neat and huge. They would use it to dig ditches and use the dirt for the road bed then through a system of pulleys the legs would retract and the whole thing would move forward a few feet and the process would start all over again. The huge machine was made in Bay City Michigan in 1924 and shipped down here. Click on the slide show and enlarge the pictures of the explanation of the dredge, if you want more info.
Friday we drove through lots of farmland to LaBelle and the Whisper Creek campground. We stayed here last year for a few days. This year we got a really good deal (they sent us a postcard offering the deal just before we left!) Four nights, two free breakfasts, a free lunch and a boat ride on the Caloosahatchee River for $99.00! Of course, they would like us to buy a camp spot, but I’m guessing we won’t. It is a really nice place and it really wouldn’t be a bad place to put down roots in the future. It is far enough south to be warm and the pool is really nice. We drove into Ft. Myers to the flea market on Saturday and spent Sunday and Monday at the pool.
