Oh DEER!!!

As much as I love watching squirrels, seeing as many deer as we did at Lake Kissimmee State Park was truly something special. Having many of them visit our campsite was REALLY different. Gary was able to capture some good pictures of them, and I've posted some of my favorites for you to enjoy. Deer are awesome, unless of course they are jumping out in front of your car as you're speeding down the interstate. Luckily, we have not had that misfortune. I REALLY gained a new fondness for them during our stay. They are such sweet and tranquil creatures. I hope you'll like the pics as much as I liked posting them.

Wildlife In The Campground

There was lots and lots of wildlife in the campground at Lake Kissimmee to keep me amused. Even though we had good TV reception, I was so busy watching all the animals, that I totally forgot about People's Court and Judge Judy. I know that it isn't like me to miss watching my favorite shows, but it's not often that there was this many critters so close to me. There were lots of big black birds in the trees during most of our stay, and one day in particular. A family in a neighboring campsite went boating for the day, and left a considerable amount of food out in the open around their picnic table. Those big birds had a party over there. It was fun to watch. A couple of seabirds even showed up for some snacks. Armadillos were everywhere. I didn't realize how creepy looking they are until they were digging in the dirt within a foot of me. They are just plain freaky. There were lots of squirrels too, and you all know how much I love them. Something I had never seen before was wild turkeys. They were constantly in our campsite. Raccoons showed up at night, but Gary never got any pictures of them. But my favorite things to see this time were deer, and not just in the early mornings or late evenings. At any point during the day they would show up and hang around. I guess they are used to being around the campers, since they weren't nearly as skiddish as most deer I've seen before. Gary took a LOT of pictures of the deer at my request. There were so many pictures that I decided to create a separate post just for them. That's coming up next, so stay tuned!

Sightseeing At Lake Kissimmee

While I spent my days being my lazy self at Lake Kissimmee State Park, Gary walked for miles and miles through the place. He was pretty tired a couple of times when he returned from exceptionally long hikes. It doesn't help that he is highly out of shape at the moment, but don't tell him that I said that. There is lots to see and do at the park. Fishing and boating are popular. There is a beautiful little marina behind the park store, and the views around there are very pretty. From there, you can launch your boat and go down the canal into Lake Kissimmee. It's the third largest lake in Florida. Other than by boat, there is no really good place in the park to see the lake from. A long trail gets you closest to it, but views are limited due to the tall sawgrass. I was kind of bummed because Gary didn't come back with lots of cool pictures of the lake, but at least he tried to take some. I don't think he would have spent all that time walking the trail if he knew he couldn't get to the lake once he reached the end of it. A tall observation tower near the marina and picnic area provides a good overall view of the prairie. You can see the lake in the distance. If you don't feel like walking the long trail towards the lake, a guided Segway tour is available. The camp store is stocked with all the essentials, and Jeff the owner is VERY knowledgeable about all aspects of the park. He is also the Segway tour guide. One of the coolest and most fun looking parts of the park is something called "Cow Camp". On certain occasions (see the picture of the sign with the dates and times), a recreation of an 1870's cow camp can be seen. A retired park ranger hosts the cow camp, and Gary says that he is never out of character. To the host, the year is 1870, and he never strays from sticking within that time period. Cow camps were located throughout Florida, and they were places to gather cows as they were moved from one area to another. Eventually, the cows were sold to the Spaniards for gold. There are several live cows, a horse, and a reproduction hut that the cow camp workers lived in. If you visit the park, Gary says that experiencing the cow camp is a must. Next up: a look at some of the animals in the park. They were AWESOME!!!

Lake Kissimmee State Park: Our First Visit

Hey, Y'all. Sorry for the delay in posting, but internet connections have been a big problem on this trip. Atmospheric conditions must be good at the moment. This is the first time I've been able to get online and download pictures since we've been on the road. A lot has happened, all fun of course, and I have a bunch of things to tell you about. We are currently at Sebastian Inlet State Park. I'll eventually get to that part of our journey, but for now, I need to start at the beginning. We arrived at Lake Kissimmee State Park near Lake Wales, FL. last Thursday. That was December 11th, 2014 if you're keeping track. It was our first visit to that beautiful park, and we were quite impressed. Not knowing how the campsites actually looked in person, Gary picked out campsite #56 for us via the Florida State Parks website. It wasn't the best campsite we ever had, but it was more than suitable for our three night stay. I was mainly in the shade, and had a good view of the campground road. Several nice people stopped by to look me over. I don't look my best right now since Gary hasn't had a chance to polish me up and replace my dented entry door, but I still look decent for a 42 year old trailer. All of the state parks are different, and that's why it's so much fun to go to them. Lake Kissimmee reminded Gary and I of our favorite Florida park, Paynes Prairie. It had the same feel to it. Just like at Fort Clinch State Park where we recently stayed, it was a three mile ride from the ranger station to the campground. The long and winding road (no intentional reference to The Beatles song), took us through a forest of saw palmettos and pine trees. That's pretty typical scenery through a lot of Florida. Wildlife was abundant, and we saw all kinds of animals while we were there. It's unusual that animals, other than squirrels and raccoons, are brave or tame enough to walk right through the campsites, but that was common at Lake Kissimmee. I was amazed. Gary thoroughly explored the park, and spent one day antique shopping in Lake Wales and Winter Haven. He had a great time doing both. I will show you more of the park and all the cool animals in my next posts. I'm going to keep writing while the internet is working. Back soon!

Bad Faucet, Good Faucet

On our last day of camping at Ft. Clinch, Gary found a leak inside my kitchen cabinet. Following the trail of slowly dripping water, he determined that the leak was coming from one of the two supply lines for my sink faucet. Now that we're home for a couple of days, getting the leak fixed was a priority. He removed the old faucet today, and found that there's actually a crack around the fitting that the supply line attaches to. The fitting is actually a structural part of the faucet, and nothing that can be replaced. Gary has never been too fond of the old faucet. He thought it looked too bulky for my small kitchen. In addition, it was set up with two supply lines, one for hot water and one for cold. I only have a cold water line, so the faucet required extra fittings to make it work. Foreseeing that the faucet would eventually have to be replaced, Gary had bought a single supply line American Standard faucet on sale about a year ago. The new faucet is smaller in size, and looks much better. The single supply line design eliminates all of those extra fittings that the old faucet had. I REALLY like it. The replacement process was much more complicated than I thought it would be. Besides having to remove the front of my kitchen cabinet, my sink and drain also had to be removed to gain access to the large nut that held the faucet in place. Once the new faucet was installed, Gary drug the hose into the garage from outside, and hooked it up to me to test for leaks. No leaks anywhere. Everything is now back in place, and I am almost ready (I still need cleaning) for our next camping trip. I can't wait! More soon. Thanks for stopping by.