Holiday camping with the family

My dad was in town, so we got him, his sister and her son and grandchildren to all go to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve state park for a weekend of camping. Here I thought I would let the elders have the coach beds, but they both chose to sleep in the tents. Our tent is the bigger one on the left. This is the equestrian loop, so there's only a composting toilet and no showers. They were not impressed until we told them to go to the main bathhouse. We used the bikes to get there. Nobody seemed to even want to set foot in our coach. But the sky was nice and clear, and we all spent time laying on the ground looking at the stars. We actually were in the road, the campsites had so much tree cover that we had to walk to the other side and laid tarps down. My cousin brought a bottle of wine, the kids had blankets and saw fireflies and so many stars.

This time of year is nice with the windows open.

Coach is full of wood for burning...

Pyroman - can't camp without a fire!

Kids in trees at night

Kids in trees in daytime

Sunset over the trees

My outdoor washing station had a visitor. I'm not sure how I'm even going to be able the wash that cutting board inside, I guess I'll have to use the tub.


We were able to go on the buggy ride, which gives you a tour of the preserve. The ground was wet, the buggy had some deep puddles to go through, but it was interesting. Especially considering there was a part of a Military Trail there, thinking about the poor men slogging through the wet marshes in the late 1800s. If you want to see a bit of old Florida, there's also land for sale nearby, reminding us of the old Florida swamp land sales. Still going on. Anyway, this park is also the only Florida habitat for the Crested Caracara bird, which normally is more in S and Central America. Definitely a cool bird.

Pair of Crested Caracara birds

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

 

One of our favorite state parks, not too far from home, but a completely different feel, with wide open spaces and dark skies. It's a favorite spot for local Astronomers, far enough away from city lights for sky watching. There is a special pad for setting up your astronomy gear and exterior bathroom lights are all red to keep from destroying your night vision and reduce light pollution. There's two loops, one for equestrians with horse paddocks in front. We're in the main loop right now. The campsites are pretty well shaded, but the rest of the place is prairie. Last night there was a big storm and the power was out for over 3 hours. So we don't have a generator, we haven't tried out the toilet yet, we think the tanks may have a crack. We can use the bathroom sink, but somewhere there is water dripping from one of the tanks, probably grey.

There is a big scratch on the passenger side.

Fridge Compartment - a mouse nibbled everywhere

Mud on the tires, the ground was wet coming into the park

Happy in bed

Cool beetle we found - Rainbow Scarab

Somewhat better pictures of the poems on the side windows.