Beauty abounds

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” This one sentence can describe our experience in “the land time forgot”. Every morning, every evening, every day, is so different yet so beautiful. On a warm humid morning the sun’s rays pierce through the fog and dense air, glistening off of the palmetto palms and saw grass. On cooler, drier mornings, the rays cut through the cabbage palms and bounce between the campers displaying a glass-like image on Monument Lake. By noon almost every day, the nonexistent wind has ballooned into a steady breeze gusting sometimes up to 30 mph! If it’s a humid day, the chance of an afternoon shower arises. By sunset, the process reverses and by twilight, the wind disappears… and the only time that mosquitoes show themselves is now! We only had 3 nights that dipped into the 30’s all winter. It is hard to not like the beauty and weather here.

Sunrise through the mist.

Sunset on a crisp clear evening

It is similar with campers. They come for a day or a week then new ones take their place. They come from all parts of North America and Europe. They come with their own story but often very similar ones. Some campers are in a tent or just their car or vehicle, others have half a million dollar rig hauling a vehicle and maybe some expensive toys. Families come as well as single people all looking for an escape or new learning experience. Some are just stopping by for a night as they head to the keys. One thing is for sure though, over the course of the season unintentional funny things happen.

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As our third season in the land of sun and fun comes to an end we have spent this last week reminiscing over the events since December. There was the air-stream that filled his black water tank instead of his fresh water tank and it overflowed in his camper. Or the man rinsing his bucket at the lake just two feet in front of a submerged 10 foot gator! A family left their pet ferret in a cage outside their camper then left for the day; then wondered why a gator was crawling up his driveway to check out “the gator biscuit”. And of course who can forget the scantily clad lassie who left very little to the imagination. Despite all these and other unplanned events, we made it through the season without any major mishaps, arrest, or damage. Even the tornado that scooted by in January gave us a positive test of our emergency plan.

Monument Lake crew

I apologize for being slack on posting our experiences recently. The next few blogs should be weekly and about interesting places on our trip northward. But before we leave the Everglades, I sure hope you all get a chance to experience the huge diversity of the fauna and flora of this largely unspoiled wilderness that can only be described as “the land time forgot”.

Our trip back home includes a stay at Fort Pickens in Pensecola. That will be my next blog. After the panhandle we are headed to Savannah Georgia. If this city is as interesting as everyone says it is, I will blog about that visit. Then we are off to north Georgia to explore the Georgia Guidestones. A third blog will be in order. Finally, we are planning a stay at America’s newest National Park, New River Gorge. And yes, that will be my fourth blog. So yes, I’ve been a little slack on writing but you will see 4 blogs, albeit short ones, over the next month.

Happy camping!!!

Coming soon, more tales from the Campah!

… Next adventure; “Fort Pickens”

STAY TUNED! More “tales from the campah”!

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