Turkey Trot!

 I swear this weekend, I saw more turkeys than I did on the last couple of trips combined.   They seemed to be everywhere.

With the rain I slept very well and it was around 8:30 when I rolled down to the shower.  When I got back Ian was up and we proceeded to have coffee and pastries for breakfast.   We sat in the coach as the chairs were wet from the rain and watched turkeys and small children run around.

After breakfast we pedaled over to the ranger station and officially checked in.   We then did the hammock loop trail behind the ranger station.  Ian was using my extra bike and we did the trail and then the family camp loop and headed back to camp as it was already lunch time.

After some delish Sammies in the AC of the coach (low 80s and kinda steamy after the rain), we hopped in in his truck and rolled up to the gator hole.    We could hear bellowing before we could see.   Apparently mating season is starting and there was one big boy declaring his wonton lust for the ladies.   He was prob around 11-12 foot and about 60 yards off in front of us   

That said, there were about half a dozed MUCH closer ones including a 9-10 footer who seemed to be paying us close mind.   As it had recently been cold and drought stricken, the wildlife was concentrated in this area that always has water.

The winds were SW and looking that way I saw a curtain approaching and we had about 150 yards back to the truck so we cut short our gator visitation and hoofed it back the truck.   That one kinda slid by and we plunked down in our semi wet chairs.   Then the rain came and we jumped into Ian's tent that I think is larger than the inside of my RV.

You can see his portable suburban home to the left of the coach lol.   Anyway we chilled out in there until the rain let up and I realized our T-Bone was still in the freezer as well as all the cold drinks so we moved over to the coach and started the defrost cycle.

Shortly after that I headed over to the restroom and Ian bailed for a nap.   I figured that was a good idea and napped as well as more rain rolled through.

Rain finally moved off and the sun poked out for a bit.

I took a short stroll around looking for Cara Caras.   This is the second trip in a row I did NOT see one in the park.   Ian said he saw one in Lorida on the way home.

Did I mention the turkeys?    It seemed a rafter of turkeys were rolling through every 15 minutes.  This guy was only about 4-5  feet away.   In the past I have had them attack their reflection in my wheels.

With the burn ban, we used hardwood charcoal and roasted mini taters (wrapped in foil) and grilled the T-bone and cast iron panned a pound of shrimp in butter and garlic.    Super delish.

More drinks were had the low and behold about 20% of the sky opened up for about 15 minutes so Ian got a taste of what is on tap our there in the darkness.

Unfortunately, the moon was near full (4 days before) and even more unfortunately, Ian had the misfortune of parking his flip flopped foot on top of a fire ant hill. They lit him up pretty good and we retreated to the campsite.

Lucy was supposed to join us, but car issues prevented it.   We called the eve a little earlier than the night before as I wanted to be out by 10AM to get back and address the car issue

Birthday Shenanigans

 This year my birthday was on a Thursday but I was able to snag Fri/Sat night at the prairie .   As you know it's one of my top three parks in FL as it is a chance to really disconnect from that hectic grind.

This trip made it a little difficult as my real world issues dogged me all weekend, but more on that as we go.

I started my birthday week last Saturday by smoking a brisket.    It was delish and I followed on the next day by smoking a bunch of sausage.    My daughter and her boyfriend came over on Tuesday and we had meat fest.   It was nice.....   Thursday (my BD) I spent prepping the coach, test drive, and packing so I could bolt quickly on Friday.

I knew FL was under drought conditions and a quick call to the park confirmed the obvious.   NO CAMPFIRES..   But they said we could use charcoal or propane to cook.   So we opted for Hardwood Charcoal, which worked out pretty well.

I rolled !4K on the way out.   Not sure if it is 114Kor 214K as I am the 6th owner of the coach.    I ended up getting to work a little later than I wanted, so I decided to burn 2 hrs of vacation time to get out early.    All good plans......   Left work at 1:15 and hoped to leave by 2.    Ended up rolling out at 3PM.   Used a half hour going to the auto parts store for more power steering fluid....

Friday afternoon leaving the metroplex at 3 is usually the last minute you can avoid the madness.  Not today, 2 accidents with lane closures made it a crawl to West Palm.   Construction at the Beeline and Blue Heron added another 10-15 min  ugh.   Stopped at Sirum's GMC on the way our to say hi to my buddy Mike.    Typical, he asked the question, 'How is she running?'   Purring like a kitten, best running vehicle in my fleet!    15 min later leaving town I have an unwelcome vibration.    It goes away mostly at certain speeds, so I keep on as I'm 30 min from the park entrance.   Above is a pic of the backside of rain as the storm pulled out of the park.

But wait, I mentioned drought!  Yep, first rain in almost 2 months or more.   Didn't last long, but all the critters were HAPPY.   Tons of birds and deer feasting on the puddles as I drove in.  Road was wash boarded so it was idle speed to the campground.    I made it, got set up and called my buddy Ian who was on the way down from Winter Haven to meet me.   To my delight he was already in the park and was there about 6 min later.

I helped him put up his tent and we got going with cocktails and shortly thereafter lit the coals and cooked a wonderful shrimp dinner.   For dessert we had cigars and Cafecito Rum.  Excellent pairing.    We went off to bed shortly before midnight.   I was in bed less than 5 minutes and it POURED rain.   How long, I do not know as it was the perfect lullaby.