THE PARIRIE – LAST CHAPTER 2011

Monday was a semi lost day for us. We awoke about 5:30 to gentle raindrops on the Greystone roof and by 7 it was coming down pretty hard and there were occasional rumbles of thunder and some lightening. Checking the radar at Weather dot com, it showed a large band of rain all across the mid section of the state. About 9:30 it let up some so we decided to walk to the office to see if there was anything there for us to do. Natalie put us both to work with some little projects and it was good to keep busy when we could not paint. We were able to complete putting numbers on all the site electrical boxes.

It rained off and on all day, which is good for the draught index, but not for painting. Hopefully the sky will clear some on Tuesday so we can complete the main gate sign and move on to repainting the front kiosk.

Tuesday was a bit better and the rainfall total amounted to a little less than 2 inches. It did make the ride to the shop a bit hard though. All that rain on the shell/sand road made it difficult to pedal in some area. We did make the five miles and set about to touch up the front gate sign. This is what we painted.

The touch up did not take long so we pulled out the paint for the front kiosk and started that job. Another volunteer had coated the back side and posts with Kilz (a Charlie favorite) so we needed to restore the original colors. We managed to get the green done and were back home about 1. The camp ground is pretty empty as other than the volunteers, only three other sites are occupied by campers.

On Wednesday we took one of the rangers (Polaris 6X6) to the shop rather than riding our bikes. We needed to take our six foot ladder and the four footer from the chase and you can’t carry ladders on a bike. It was a good choice as the winds were out of the south/southeast and the flags at the main gate were standing straight out. There is a lot more water in the ditches along the road and we expect the mom and baby alligators will be back.

While Jon was digging out and stirring the paint, Judy talked to Charlie about our next project as we will need something to do next week when we are the only volunteers here. Not so sure what he wants will work as he likes things nice and square and that will be difficult to do when camping spots are at an angle to the road. Ah well that is a problem for next week.

It did not take long to finish the trim color and paint the 6X6 posts. After we cleaned up all the paint gear, we started to dig out old lengths of conduit for next week’s project. We found eight pieces and used the chop saw to cut off the rusted ends so we now have lengths to attach blue flag tape to. Charlie is trying to find a way to delineate the camp sites as the shell/sand pads for parking are long gone.

Our excitement for the evening was a lack of water. About 6 we turned on our water and it was just a trickle. After checking other sites it was apparent that the entire campground was impacted. After chasing down the lone duty employee he found that a spider had managed to crawl into the space between the contacts on the pump sensor. Well, the sensor sensed and the contacts moved and the spider was caught, but his/her body was just enough to not allow the contacts to contact.

Thursday was sort of a play day as there was a potluck luncheon for the volunteers and staff. It was a beautiful sunrise and you could hear the gobble of turkeys, along with the cawing of crows mingled with the meadowlarks, an occasional bob white and the pecking of a woodpecker.










These are some random shots of the folks gathered for the lunch.

After lunch Judy went back to the office to complete a couple of tasks and when she was done we decided to walk the short nature trail. We came upon a deer lying down and then spotted several other small groups in the prairie grass.

By the time we got back to the Greystone, it started to rain again. It rained fairly steady most of the afternoon and then eased up in time to walk over for game night. But while we were playing the lightening and thunder passed over and it really poured. We did manage to walk home with out getting too wet as we had taken an umbrella. It rained much of the night. It will be interesting to see how much more rain fell.

They are scheduled to burn two sections of the prairie on Saturday and we will probably be needed for traffic control as one burn is right along the roadway to the campground. Friday we are not sure what we will be doing. Oh, and we had nearly 3 more inches of rain fall.

Friday we went to the shop area to do some clean up of the paint/oil storage area, gather materials for our next project and maybe pick-up a Polaris ranger for transport. We did manage to throw out some old paint containers and brush cleaner containers and hang the brushes and roller frames. Judy helped Ruthann cleanup the shop area while Jon checked out the fire markers for Charlie. They will use the markers on posts around the burn to check the progress.

When we got back to the Greystone we had lunch and in the afternoon went to the equestrian area to see just what Charlie is seeking from our next project. He gave us site measurements of 20X60 but doing some preliminary measurements, found that no site is 60 feet deep. We will discuss it with him on Monday. In the evening we joined Ruthann and Cliff for dinner. We grilled red potatoes, made a salad and they cooked Tilapia over the fire.

Due to wind and humidity changes the two burns scheduled for today (Saturday) were postponed. The winds had shifted from out of the NW to out of the NE and that would blow the smoke directly into the “astronomy pad” which, as you can see from the picture was full. This was to be a very dark weekend and nearly every site in both campgrounds is booked by astronomers. As we had planned on the burn for work on Saturday, we instead just took it easy. With all the rain that fell within the last week, the Okeechobee County Fire Chief finally lifted the ban on open fires. In the evening we all (the volunteers) gathered at the camp host site for a campfire, conversation and desert. We have all missed having campfires and it was a nice way to bid farewell to two volunteer couples that are leaving early Sunday morning.

This is some of the astronomy gear set up on what they call the "Astronomy Pad" in an area away from all ambient light.

Sunday was are usual church and shopping. The church we go to in Okeechobee did have plans for a large new church when we were here two years ago. Things have changed and now they are looking only at doing some remodeling. The church does not seem nearly as crowded as in past years, but the priest is still the same Irish Fr Duffy.

After lunch we made our last trek to Wal-Mart and headed back to the prairie. We took the long way home, going up 441 out of Okeechobee before heading west on highway 724. Now that volunteers are departing we will have a Polaris ranger 6X6 to use. We will need it to haul posts for the last project we have for this year.

Monday we had a session with Charlie to see exactly what he wants us to mark and what measurements to use to mark the first two sites in the equestrian area. After lunch we worked on marking out our first site location and soon discovered that we needed a measuring rod rather than the tape measure to mark our 3X4X5 triangle for right angles. So we went back to the shop and made ourselves a measuring stick and then went back to square-up our first site boundaries. We managed to get the second one marked and now need to talk to Charlie to see if this is what he had in mind. This is one of the markers and Judy pointing to another in the ground.

Tuesday morning we meet with Charlie and went over what we had marked and made some adjustments. He agreed that some of the site markers (posts with site number on them) need to me relocated. After another trip to the shop to cut 12 inch posts and pickup the other tools and items needed we were ready to put the reflectors in the ground. Judy put in several hours helping in the office, so we are getting both inside and outside jobs.

Bob and Janice, the camp hosts are leaving tomorrow so that leaves us as the only volunteers. In the evening we decided to make one more trip into Okeechobee for dinner. We went to a sports bar called Lunkers (no idea where the name came from) and had a nice dinner. Judy ordered ‘Garbage Nachos’ and she ended up bringing about half home for lunch on Wednesday.

Threat of rain on Wednesday but we made it out to the equestrian and managed to get four of the posts planted before the sky darkened. We made it back to the Greystone just in time as the sky opened and it poured. It was still wet after lunch so Judy headed to the office and Jon took a short nap. We did manage to get both sites marked with posts and reflectors and have new site measurements – we made the sites a bit smaller than before to avoid getting too close to trees and palmettos.

Thursday Judy went to the office for a few hours and Jon headed to the shop to cut a piece of 2X4 to replace a railing section on the ram to the bath house. It took a bit longer than expected as the park staff and rangers from several other parks were getting a pre-fire briefing. They plan to burn about 1600 acres today if the weather holds. They got started on the burn about 10. After the rail was replaced we made a pass though the both campgrounds to check the bath house and Clivus as we are the only volunteers here. Okay, this is the Clivus – or as park staff calls it “the house on the hill.”

Once we had checked the equestrian area, we headed out on the Prairie Loop Trail, the five plus mile trail we had marked three years ago. It was something to see all the vegetation and growth. There were some areas where the broom grass and palmettos are really encroaching on the path. We did a little trimming but did not see much wildlife as the vegetation is so dense and high. In the evening we walked to the office to rock in the rockers on the porch and watch nature. Lilly alerts on the turkeys walking by, (Lilly alerting)

The ‘tom’ turkey strutting his stuff for the hens in the area.

Pack up day has arrived. We slept in a bit and did our last load of laundry here. About 10 we loaded up all the tools in the 4X4 Ranger and headed to the shop to return things and fill the gas tank. We were just about to leave when Paul called on the radio about getting additional fire markers. Yes they were burning again. This is the burn from about 3 miles away.

This time it is about 1200 acres adjacent to what was burned on Thursday. He was going to send one of the burn team back to the shop when we responded that we were at the shop and could bring them out. So off we went on a 4 mile ride across the scrub. We got to within 20 yards of where the fire was when we met Paul. It was a sight and no we did not have a camera. We both got pretty black from the soot in the air. Judy really got covered as she had put suntan lotion on before we headed out in the morning. Not too long after an area is burned, wild flowers and grass pop out of the blackened soil.

After lunch we began the packing process. Thursday afternoon we had tried as best we could to give the truck a bath and remove as much sand and shell as we could so that job was done. But it certainly was hot folding up the mat and loading the bikes. About 3 Charlie stopped to day farewell. We told him that we planned on retuning next year for 6 weeks and what we would like to do. About 8:30 Jen, a Ranger, stopped by to say goodbye. She had been on the burn today and was burn boss on the one yesterday. She’s from Paw Paw West Virginia and may weigh 90 pounds soaking wet. It was good to see her, even if she did smell a bit smokey.

Well as the trailer is pretty much loaded and we will be heading to Patrick AFB in the morning this seems like a good place to end the installment. Our plans are three nights at Patrick (it is about a two and a half hour drive) and then five at Kings Bay at St Mary’s, Georgia. That should put us into Charlotte by the time the races are over on Sunday afternoon the 17th.