Kissimmee Prairie Preserve

Wednesday-Friday  January 2-January 4, 2013
Site 30 Kissimmee Prairie Preserve
Okeechobee, Florida
Hi 67  Lo 60

 

Wednesday January 2

 

Those little devils….grrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

 

When we come out in the morning to pack up to leave Oscar Scherer we find 4 or 5 holes have been chewed in our patio mat.  I love our patio mat.  We’ve had it for about 2 years and it is starting to show some wear but should have been good for at least another year or so until this.  I’m not positive it was squirrels but they were the only ones around the site.  I can’t imagine what they were chewing it to get to.  There aren’t any oaks with acorns on this site but whatever, they have made me think about buying both a foldable rake to get all debris out of the way before I put down my mat and buying a new mat.

 

 

If you have suggestions about where to get such a foldable rake and/or a longer lasting patio mat, please let me know.  

 

I don’t really want something that just has geometric designs.  I love my evergreen tree and would buy this mat again even though it doesn’t seem all that long lived for the cost.  But I must have thrown away the information that came with it so I have no idea who made it.

 

Foot provided for scale.

Another question, how long has your patio mat lasted??  

 

 

 

On to Kissimmee Prairie. 

 

We take I 75 about 5 miles north from Osprey and get off at FL 72.  Our route takes us right by Myakka River and I wish we could pull in but I really want to see the prairie.   The rest of the trip is on smaller roads and is fine.  The 119 mile trip is just the right length for me. 

 

 

 

 

 

Kissimmee Prairie is WAY out in the boonies.  Just my kind of place.  It has a 5 mile unpaved entrance road to get to the campground.  It’s pretty washboardy right now.   We take it very slowly, even slower than the the 25 mph speed limit.  It takes nearly 30 minutes to get to the campground.   BUT nothing was jarred around,  so that is fine by me.

 

 

 

 

 

First sights of the Prairie.

 

 

 

It is really hard to pick a site, sight unseen.

I originally booked site 9 since it was the only site available for the 6 days I want to be here.   But it is a very narrow site and has very close neighbors on both sides.   I ask if there is another choice and they suggest the Equine Loop.  We had horses for years and having them around is really a plus in my mind.  We are in Site 30 now and happy about it.   See “Where is Winnona Now” and the “Duckie view” on the upper side bar for a picture of the whole site.

 

 

There are two loops at Kissimmee Prairie campground.  One is called the Family Camping Loop and has the restroom and laundry facilities in it.   The Equine Loop has only a composting toilet, no showers.  But since we are self contained and only going to be here 6 nights, that doesn’t matter to us.  Note that it is over half a mile from one loop to the other.  So it’s not a quick few steps to the flush privy from the Equine Loop.

 

 

We get mostly set up, fix some dinner and by then it is dark.  The days sure are lengthening SLOWLY.  Clouds in the sky block the stars for which this park is famous.  So we don’t go over to the astronomer’s site and look through his telescope at 7pm.  Darn!

 

 

THURSDAY January 3

 

This morning we are fogged in. 

And I mean really fogged in.  Fine weather for running since I don’t need to see more than 10’ in front of me.  But all the critters seemed to be elsewhere.   Kissimmee is unique in that it is both a wet and a dry prairie so you have to be prepared for wet spots as well as very dry.   I run by some of the sloughs but the birds there high tail it when they see me coming.  I want to go back to that trail and walk it so perhaps I can be more stealthy. 

What I do see is millions – literally – of gorgeous spider webs.  With the moisture in the air they are brilliant.   But I don’t carry my camera when I run unfortunately,

 

Can’t put the laundry off any more.

It is a lovely day on the prairie but we have some chores that have to be taken care of after the morning exercise.   I have three loads of laundry to do at the one washer/one dryer laundry facility in the Family Loop.  Nice machines but it does take nearly 3 hours to do.   Luckily there are several interesting folks to chat with while I wait.  As I mentioned earlier, the laundry is at the other loop so I can’t just go back and forth to the coach putting laundry in and switching it to the dryers.

 

And what is David doing?

While I am gone David takes care of some chores he has on his list including putting some serious hinges on the tow dolly box.   This is the worst designed lid I have ever seen.   The first one just ripped off and flew down the highway.  So $60 later we had another one and it too is tearing along the seam.  Clearly it is a design flaw but when we called the company they just said “yeah” well you can buy another lid.”   Yesterday as we prepared to put it back on the RV, I noticed it had torn some more and I’m not about to spend another $60 in less than 2 years on a lid for that box.  So I got out the handy dandy duct tape and put it all along the seam on both sides.   I guess that “fix” propelled David to actually get out the hinges he had bought and install them.  Apparently there is yet to be a strap hinge in the middle.  That top is not going to disappear down the highway again that seems certain.

 

Friday January 4

 

Let’s meet the neighbors.

 

 

I am awakened by a whiney for the first time in 3 years.  It puts a huge grin on my face and propels me out the door to find the spokesman.
Our campsite is on the “Equine Loop” and the paddocks are directly across the road from the sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off I go on my first hike at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve.

 

Weatherman says “great day, high of 71”.  In spite of how it looks, based on this forecast,  after saying good morning to my equine neighbors, I head out on the Prairie Loop Trail to see who I might meet.  It is getting even more overcast, heavily overcast.  But I say to myself,  it’s early, the sun will burn it off. 

You know what’s coming next.   I’m a mile and a half down the trail when it starts spitting rain. Not to worry it is just spitting.   But clearly everyone I had hoped to meet is at home where I should have been when it really starts raining.  Wish I could have checked with them rather than the weatherman before I started out.

Forget the 4.5 mile hike, I turn around and hot foot it back.  I’m a pretty sad sight by the time I return.  A change of clothes, hot chocolate and pecan pancakes for breakfast warm me right up. 

 

 

We set out on another ‘see the Prairie’ attempt.

 

 

It looks like the weather is improving so we take the bikes out intending to bike and hike some other trails.  David later remarks that “the sun was out for 4 minutes and 30 seconds.”

 

 

 

 

 

Gray, cloudy winter day but success!

Here is what a gray, cloudy day in winter looks like on the prairie in Florida. Not too shabby. 

 

 

 

We see lots of birds all of whom are too fast for my camera except the fabulous caracaras who politely sit and preen and pace back and forth for the camera albeit at a distance.

 

 

 

Does it look like a beret?  Or a toupee??

 

Aren’t they magnificent?

 

 

The gray cloudy winter day lunch spot.

 

 

 

 

There are a lot of things to learn from the Prairie.

 

We bike until nearly sundown and cover just over 10 miles with lots of stops.  The prairie is unlike any other place in Florida I have been and it takes some time to get into its groove and live at its pace but it’s definitely worth doing.  It’s amazing how varied the habitat.  My vision seems to change as I look closer and closer, stand more and more still to look out over the vast expanse with a sky so big the camera cannot capture it.

 

 

 

We’re home before dark. 
It’s been an excellent afternoon.

I top it off by making hot soup for dinner.  With garlic toast and a salad, it’s the perfect thing to warm us after a fine cloudy gray winter day on the prairie.