Christmas Getaway in the Pineapple

This fall has been busy with our daughter's school, my work, and the circus school.   There was a Christmas Parade in early December, but that one should show up soon under separate cover....

Realizing the coach was not being used much, about a month ago I looked into the pre Christmas weekend for a quick trip to the Prairie (KPSPP) that we love so much.    I looked and both Friday and Sat nights, the park was sold out.    Having off the days before the holiday, I looked at Sunday and Monday nights and they were wide open so I booked them.   I put the word out to my friends and Mike with the other yellow 23' was interested (but I didn't know he booked it until the day before we arrived).   

Work went on and Thanksgiving passed.   I had so upheaval at work and just wasn't feeling in the 'holiday spirit' this year.    Last week decided I wanted to bail out of town with the 6 days I had off in a row and just decompress.   I looked at the Prairie and it was not only sold out for Fri&Sat, but also now for Sun and Mon! I looked at Johnathan Dickinson too, and there was one spot left!   I tried to call Lucy, she didn't pick up, thought screw it and tried to book, but bam it was gone.  Local knowledge being the key to success, I looked at Phipps Park in Martin County.   Much lesser known, but also fewer spots with power.   Magically, they had several available for Friday and Sat, so I booked in right away.

Last time we were there was also last minute a few years ago for my birthday.

We arrived around 3:30 on Friday afternoon and had a nice chat with the ranger, who asked alot of questions about the coach.   At first our spot seemed pretty tight on the driver's side as the neighbor was tight up against the power pedestal.  This really was a non-issue as they didn't seem to be staying in the coach at all.   Never saw a person go in or come out the whole two days we were there, although I did see a couple of cars in front of it for a couple hours on Sat.   Friday night the other side was open.

Last time we were here, we were in roughly the same spot.   The water was of course there (waterway was built in the early 1920s), but there was a steep bank and lots of trees/bushes, so you couldn't even see the water from the site.   They have been busy with this nice promenade and wall.

Shot from the dock on the waterway.  Plenty of room to tie up a few boats if you brought one along with your RV.

. Shot of the dock from the previous pic up from the campsite.  It was nice to sit by the edge and enjoy the view.   Weather was iffy, so not alot of boat traffic this time.

First fire of the trip, looking over at the lock.

We were the only site with Christmas lights up. 

Hugo, Freddy, Orange Bird, and Tommy were bored with the girls playing card games, so we had a rum tasting.   Organge Bird liked the Bumbu a little too much and got a bit sloppy later....

On the quest to improve the camping experience, this was the first of the permanent tents they are erecting. They had decks for about 15-20 of them.   Biggest issue I see is having to haul your stuff out to them from the car, but for beginners it's a great idea.   Tent, table and grille all set up for you.

 Hard to see here but the next morning had rainbows on tap for a few hours.  The girls slept right through them.

Shot of the lineup with a zoom from the lock.  Man the coach looks small.  you can see the passenger side neighbor has already arrived.  They were right next door at the Army Corp Campground at the lock (8 spots).

 The lock in action.   Funny I saw a mullet get pulled through and jump around alot...

 Boat traversing the lock.   This kid and his Dad were nice and I learned from them that they finished the updates to the park recently with the wall and walkway.

 If you squint, you can see the yellow coach back there.   Shot from the top of the lock gate looking back east toward out campground.

 North side looking back toward the lock.  These flood control gates help regulate the level in Lake Okeechobee.

 On the north side there is a nature trail that is part of the Army Corp land.   It's an easy 30-45 min walk.

 DIrectly across from our campsite on the nature trail.

 Gopher Tortoise den.

 This sign made me laugh out loud.

 Apparently the wood has been there awhile.

I guess the firepit is all for show here.   I guess they only allow supervised fires here....(part of the Corp property)

 Random Heron

 Lucy is an avid Geo Cacher.  I'm only moderately interested.  After digging around for 20 min (and seeing a bunny), I found this one.

 5 min and about 50 yards away I found another one.  This was a micro cache.   It was a 35mm film canister.   I was the first to sign it.

 Time to roast up the fire for some dinner!

 After dinner entertainment was Fantasia.  I wanted to watch Rudolph but the DVD wouldn't play on my laptop :( 

 Tried to get a flash pic, but it's washed out....

 You can see the coach stripes in the pics...the movie is in the older 4;3 format.  the newere 16:9 works better on the available space.

Discussing the finer points of the animation...  Soon it was bedtime...