Still Super Bowl Week

Thursday we enjoyed a potluck luncheon for volunteers and park staff. Lots of good food and friendship. The main course was lasagna made by one of the park staff and the park manager’s wife. We enjoyed it all, including all the deserts (carrot cake, cherry pie, dump cake and double rich chocolate cake) but still had to go to work after lunch. We wanted to finish up the outside walls of the shop building, which we did. We’ll take a few days from painting to do trail work before going back to do the trim. At the luncheon, Charlie (Park Manager) gave us a topographical aerial map of where he would like an additional primitive site. He also said that hogs had routed up the area of a site we marked last year and he could not find it. Fortunately we kept the GPS coordinates and will look for it to remark it.

Here is an interesting picture of a wood stork, and endangered species, which appears to have found a home in the park. They are hoping that they will develop a rookery on the preserve.

I know we mentioned the coyotes earlier and we have seen tracks along the road when we ride in the mornings. Here’s a close-up of a pair.

These appear closer to the gator, but they were taken from a safe distance.

These pictures were taken by a couple we met the first week we were here. They come here often and she is really into photography.

It rained part of the night and most of Friday Morning. According to Paul, the park biologist, we got a little over an inch in 12 hours. That’s a lot of rain for now as this is not the rainy season. You could see how it greened things up and there is more standing water. When it cleared in the afternoon we worked on the short nature trail. Relocated several trail markers and put in a couple too as well as trimmed so the markers could be seen. Did break a post hole digger handle trying to cut through the roots of some scraggly brush.

You can comment on the pictures on the blog.

Super Bowl Week

Had a quiet weekend as the campground had a number of astronomers here. There were all sizes of telescopes and some with cameras attached. They generally stay up late so they sleep later in the mornings. Did our usual Sunday church and shopping and returned to handle the ‘blue-boy’ empty job before we had desert. One of the other volunteers had made a sour cream raisin pie so we all gathered for desert and story sharing.

Monday we started putting the paint coat on the maintenance shop. We worked until nearly 2 and by then it was so hot that the paint was drying too fast. The bike ride home was a bit of a challenge after climbing up and down ladders, but we made it. So far we’ve ridden about 120 miles, most of it too and from the shop area for work.

This is a picture of what our site looks like from the prairie behind us.

On Wednesday we made the hour plus drive to Sebring to get the bad tire replaced. We had been emailing the area sales manager for Denman tire and he told us where to get one. Was expecting to pay for it and then get reimbursed, but when the Tire Kingdom manger called the Denman guy, all we had to do was sign and drive away. This was the tire that lost tread on I95 in Georgia. It never blew (was still holding 62 lbs today) but you can see from the picture, the tread did let go.

Anyway had a good day in Sebring and took care of a few errands and it was a different drive than that long run to Okeechobee.

Another week has past

Sunday was a quite day in the park even though all sites were occupied. Think everyone was worn down from the long weekend and the chill of Friday and Saturday nights.

Monday we headed for the shop area to work on the kiosk again. It was a beautiful sunny day and a bit warmer than the past few days. We started working on the base color and finished that in record time and decided to work on the balance of the trim. Worked straight through and finished it all. Already got several complements on how good it looks.

About noon the wind began to kick up so by 2 when we were ready to head home it was pretty strong out of the west/southwest. The 3 miles from the shop to the turn west towards the campground was rough, but that last 1.2 miles was a chore. It was the hardest ride we’ve ever made.

On Tuesday we just drifted around a bit. Judy worked on the drapes for Amy’s music room and Jon did go to the shop for a bit. It was really too cold and windy again to paint and it looks like Wednesday will be a repeat. Just after lunch and the swearing in of the new President, Judy saw a Caracara next to the trailer. The ‘Crested Caracara’ is a rare bird in this area. It’s mainly found in Mexico and some parts of Texas. I got a couple of shots through the window and then went outside to get a few more. Here is a picture of two cleaning a campsite.










The next is of a turkey vulture. Did you know that the turkey vulture is an endangered species? It is and for a very round-about reason. Here is one sitting on a dead cabbage palm across from our site.










On Wednesday we took it easy as it was too cold to paint so we surveyed a nature trail that Charlie (park manager) wants us to clean up. Need to repaint some markers, move a couple and put in some too. We will also have to trim the prairie grass growing up around some marker posts. Then we headed Fort Pierce for some shopping and late lunch. Didn’t get back home until nearly sunset.

Thursday - BRRRRRRRRRRRRR it has been very cold here for four days. We were to start painting on the maintenance shop (finishing the priming before painting the back and one side) but it was too cold to start in the morning. We did ride over about 10:30 and managed to complete the priming of the east end and then rode home about 3. We did have a treat for lunch today. With the fresh oranges we picked on Monday, Judy made a half batch of the Smithfield Inn orange cookies. Boy were they good more body and hunks of orange than the ‘mixed’ ones. She had to mix them with a fork as we don’t carry a mixer.

Couple of astronomers moved in for the weekend, even though there is still a crescent moon. We’ve had some beautiful sunrises but it has been too cold to go out and try to get a picture.

Friday we finished priming the maintenance shop with Kilz. Now we have to ‘paint’ the east and south sides and do the trim too. May not get it all done before time to head on.

This is Jon dong some prime work. A community service worker had started the job but his hours were completed before he finished. He left the hardest part, the trim priming and the indentations in the T-111 siding. The siding was very dry and really absorbed the paint.

On the way home we rode our bikes up to 7-mile slough to see if any ‘gators were out. This is a sign at the slough.

We found 14 of various lengths resting in the afternoon sun. Guess that they too were glad to see the sun and some heat.


Can you count them? Could not get all of them in one picture.

Next week will try to add comments a couple of times so the blog wont be so long. And oh yes, you can comment on the blog if you want and if the pictures are small, just double click on them to make them larger.

Another Good Week in Okeechobee County

Boy has it been cold here – but not as cold as up home. When I checked the computer at 7AM on Friday it said it was -11 in Akron. It was 45 here when we drove to do a little painting this morning.

We started priming the kiosk on Tuesday and it was windy and cold, but at least the sun was out – for a bit. It got very cloudy and the winds got stronger so we knocked off a noon. That afternoon and evening we got lots of rain.

Wednesday Jon spent the day working with the rangers moving a pedestrian bridge on one of the trails. It had gotten moved off the pilings and pushed about 20 feet by the rains from Fay this past summer. That meant a sewing day for Judy.

This is the kiosk at the front gate we are painting. Judy had on a long sleeved shirt, sweatshirt and another long sleeved shirt on as we painted this morning. The wind was so strong out of the North that the flags were straight out.

Thursday we rode our bikes to paint and it was soooooooo cold we knocked off a bit early. The wind and chill really takes a lot out of you. We finished putting the Kilz primer on all but the display areas so that we can start the real color painting soon. On Friday we drove over and primed the display cases and also painted them. It was fun getting the Plexiglas out and in, especially the 8 foot piece in all the wind. Boy, does it get wendy here? Nothing to block, cut or slowdown the wind. We finished that job at noon and headed to town for lunch and some shopping. By the time we got back the campground was nearly full – and will be until Monday as this is MLK weekend.

Oh yes, the difference between a Tortoise and a Turtle – the Turtle lives in water while a Tortoise is a land dweller.

Saturday we had Amy stop by on her way home from Vero Beach. We had a good visit and she said she had no idea of what this area was like. We had a good meal including fresh corn on the cob and Brumbaugh Beans. She promised to come back and spend a night to enjoy the quiet and the stars.

And oh yes, football season has ended here. Can’t get CBS or FOX on the TV so will depend on local sports highlight shows.

Moon Rise on the Prairie

Start of another week on the prairie. This is a gofer tortoise we saw on one of our rides. Know the difference between a turtle and a tortoise??

As usual the campground fills up on the weekends and this was no exception. There was a large group of “Dads and Daughters” from what appeared to be a church. They took over 4 campsites and there must have been 12 little girls ranging from maybe 4 to pre-teen. The hiked, made banners and seemed to have a good time. But there were more kids! Another group must have been three families with 10-12 pre-teen to teen aged boys and girls. They had separate boys and girls tents and you can imagine how occupied the ladies bath room was all weekend.

Saturday Judy made an apple pie and we had a couple of the other volunteers over for pie and coffee. We sat around curing all the ills of the campground – and the world.

When we went into town last Friday we bought a fruit picker so we can get to the oranges which are higher up in the trees. In the hammock by the equestrian sites there are three or four ‘wild’ citrus. They must be 35 foot high in among the cabbage palms and live oaks. The oranges down low have all been picked, but there are lots of them up higher. Judy has fresh juice nearly every morning.

Monday we started the first painting project. Because of the dampness/mold issues and the hot sun, we first are coating the entire kiosk with KILZ as a primer. But before we could begin that step, Charlie wanted us to wash it down with a weak bleach mixture. After completing that we both smelled like swimming pool. We did get started on the Kilz on Tuesday, but had to knock off about noon. The winds were up and some rain was on its way. That meant that the afternoon was spent doing whatever – and that meant more sewing and nap time.

Here is one of the burros in with the cattle on the ranch next to the park. There are three and they are to keep the coyotes at bay. Remember seeing lots of them on the ranches out west. Not sure how or why they keep the coyotes away, but it must work as there is a burro ranch on the way into town.

We arrived on New Years Eve and got to meet with folks we had worked with before. The campground was full, but things were pretty quiet at midnight, even though we had two large groups with lots of kids. Spent New Years Day getting things in order and we had sauerkraut and sausage for dinner. Did not really get to watch any football as the local channels we can get are mostly independent or show old programs - watched an old Adam-12 the other evening.

Charlie (Park Manager) told us our first job would be to remark the long trail intersections (last year we ‘marked’ them) as some of the posts were down and some of the medallion markers had disappeared. They use mowed lines/roads to separate the areas of the park and it is along these that hikers can travel. Some of the intersections are 4 plus miles apart.

We got started on that task Friday morning, after riding the nearly 5 miles to the maintenance area on our bikes. Managed to get to all but one marker but the water was just too deep. We are using a Polaris 6X6 Ranger off road vehicle. We started into the water covered road, but had only gone 20 feet when the water lapping at our feet. Even though there is a ‘hard bottom’ to this road, the water was just too deep for the 6X6. Maybe we will use the swamp buggy to get to it, but with the water that deep no hiker will be going there either. While out we saw deer, 5 wild hogs and a gofer tortoise and oh yes some turkeys too.

By Friday we had finished re tagging all but two of the trail markers. Both locations we tried to reach from different directions, but the water was too deep. We will catch the one to the northeast (it’s about 4 miles the way the crow files, but maybe 8 driving) when we take a break from our next task, which will be painting. Charlie’s list for us includes painting the kiosk at the main gate as well as ‘bunk house’ building near the shop. It’s an old trailer that has been sided and roofed and is used by the Americorp volunteer and biology intern for housing.

As we continued our trail work this week, we are amazed at the number of alligators we are seeing. Have seen all sizes of ‘gators, from 3 foot ‘babies’ to some monsters that look to be 10 foot long. The south west and central areas are extremely wet so there are lots of places for the gators to ‘lounge’ and soak up the sun. They are working on reclaiming the Kissimmee River so the water can’t flow to the river area as easily because of a construction roadwa.

Found our way back to Okeechobee for church and shopping. Not much has changed there except that the Home Depot is now open….

The pictures are of Judy driving the ranger through a sough (pronounced slew) and a spider web. When we ride to the shop in the mornings the grasses along the way are full of all sorts of webs. For those with a faster connection, if you click on the picture it will get bigger.