Today was a search for Wildflowers and Nature and Happy Birthday Hailey!

Ochopee, FL

Wow, it’s hard to believe 8 years ago today we were where it was cold, spitting snow and our first grand child came into this world.  Hailey is one of the most precious gifts God has blessed us with.  Hailey even though Grandma and Papa are not there with you, you were the first thing on our minds and we will be thinking of you all day.  We love and miss you Princess.  Hope you have a great day .. Happy Birthday Princess!

Wow, this morning the park was one big traffic jam as 13 pulled out.  The row we are on cleared out except for 3 of us.
 
I got up and got my daily chores done and then it was time to walk the dogs before we headed out.  I am in search of finding some turtles.  I’ve seen a couple as we drive along the road but we were no where we could pull off the busy road safely to capture a picture.  Hwy 41 is one very busy road and you have to be really careful walking along it.
 
I did find these flowers .. these beautiful morning glories.

the yellow flowers are some type of wild flower but i have no clue what they are .. do you?
 
I forget what they call these but there some type of rain bush. I just love the color

Later in the morning we got a neighbor but the back side of us is still lonely.  Of course it will not be long and it will fill back up.  It’s amazing how campsites open and by noon they are filled back up.
  
We have wooded area behind our home and this park is really quiet and good for relaxation. 

Look what is out!!  YES .. it’s the first love bug i have seen.  Guess you see why they call them love bugs .. snicker

This morning we took the truck and there are several places to pull off the road on 41 and we decided to brave the traffic as i was a search for a turtle.  I captured this picture of this butterfly who insisted on following us.

I do not know what these berries are but this bush was covered .. i find them interesting.
 
Since the sun was out and it’s another beautiful day .. well if the wind would lay .. it’s very breezy today.  This guy was out basking in the sun
  
these birds were enjoying the sun as well

along our hike we saw several of these fellows out basking
 
We picked a great time to hike along the road as you can see traffic wasn’t bad while we did our hiking.  You have to remember to be careful because you have to look for gators laying on the bank and cars coming at you .. interesting hike huh

more birds and gators
 
we hiked our way down to the visitor center again and i was glad to see it as i needed a potty break and a place to rest.  Hubby walked back to get the truck to pick me up.
 
while he did that i took the opportunity to get a better picture of the Oasis Visitor Center as it was so busy on Saturday and i really didn’t get a good picture.  Much better pic huh?

I just couldn’t resist going to the board walk and look this must be the hang out place of the day as the gators were all hanging out together.

Hubby showed up to get me and so we continued on our journey to find a turtle. 
 
No turtle yet but these 2 sure were just visiting up a storm to each other and

this one was talking back to them.  He/she was hidden and hubby had to climb to get a picture for me .. thanks hubby

as we were on our hike we heard a funny noise.  I’d never heard it before and behold look what we come upon.  this little guy was growling or whatever they do and then
 
this big boy was really showing his authority by flashing his pearly whites
 
Then this one must of gave in because he quieted down and went back to resting 

as we continued on this little guy was looking back and forth and all of sudden the water started making noise and fish were flopping or something
 
The bird didn’t get him a fish and the fish continued to flop and finally the bird gave up and left.

Oh my look what is hiding in this brush .. this fellow was right below our feet ..eeeeh
 
There are several places you can walk along a trail here and not only can you walk, kayak, canoe, boat but you can do this …
 
YES .. you can ride your ATV.  You are required to get a Florida permit but they are free and from what we’ve been told there are hundreds if not thousand of acres you can ride.  Dang we don’t have our ATV with us.

We came home and no i never did find my turtle .. hmmmm after spending the  rest of the afternoon in my lounger just resting and enjoying a good book it was time to get dinner going and on the menu tonight was taco salad.  Oh it was yummy.
  
After dinner we took the dogs on their evening walk.   Here is our home all nestled in across the lake.  We love this campground and our spot.

see all of our new neighbors? Early this morning it was empty and when we returned from our hike it was filled in fact there are no vacancy’s for the night.  This is the 2nd time the park has filled up in the 4 days we’ve been here.  Just a tip if you ever want to come here .. get here early as by noon the park is normally filled up.

Houston we have a problem.  Lucy thought she had made it home and flopped down and would not get up.  So after letting her rest a few minutes she was finally back up and going again .. we spent the evening inside just resting and we called our grand daughter Hailey to wish her a Happy Birthday.

Midway Campground

Ochopee, FL

Today was a day to sleep in.  My busy days have caught up with me and i was literally exhausted.  After i got up late i got dressed and we walked the dogs around campground for their morning business. 

Were in Big Cypress National Preserve in the Midway Campground.  We have 50 amp electric only at our site. 

This is the driveway entering the campground.  The road is paved and so are the sites with concrete pads for picnic tables and grills.  It’s a really nice park and the host are so friendly.

 
These Mangrove trees are all over .. neat how they grow in the rocks huh? 
 
The dump station and where you take on water is on the exit way out of the park.  There is also a water hydrate at the restrooms.  They have toilets but no showers.
 
This is the side of the park where we are parked.  2nd from the last campsite on this side of road.  see the front of our black truck at the end?

It was another beautiful day with temps in the low 80’s.  It wasn’t hot or humid, at least you didn’t feel it as there was a nice cool breeze.  Since i was still exhausted this how i spent my entire day .. Yep just relaxing, enjoying the warmth and a good book.  Retirement life is really ruff.

Hubby got the grill out and setup and i seasoned up a chicken and we roasted it in the grill .. it turned out very yummy

Look at my flowers .. they are enjoying this warmth
 
I sat outside until almost dark and then it was time to retire inside before the skeeters came out.
 
We are really enjoying our winter this year.  I have to admit i never want to be where it’s cold again.  This is how winter is suppose to be .. Life is good when i can be outside in my favorite clothing.  They are saying were going to have a bit of a cool spell .. temps are suppose to drop to 59 tonight and daytime high of high 70’s … i will take that and be happy :)

Oasis Visitor Center and Monument Campground

Ochopee, FL

Once we got to moving we headed to the Oasis Visitor Center to check it out. 
 
We started toward the direction we came in yesterday. 
 
A few miles down the road we arrived
 
The gators were out and basking in the sun .. some were even swimming

the birds and fish were out and about as well
             
this bird was putting on show for everyone.  It would come up and then go back down and drive under the water.

The visitor center is right along 41

Look at this big boy’s feet …
 
there is a long board walk that goes both directions and anywhere you walk along it you will see lots of gators, birds and fish.
 
this bush was in the garden area and i thought it neat .. look at the berries.  I have no clue what it is but i found it interesting.
 
The visitor center was very busy so we didn’t stay long plus i’m tired and so we decided not to do any of the tours today and will come back when it’s not so busy and i feel better.  Lots of ATV’s were registering for their ride.  You can get a free ATV permit and ride out in certain areas .. nice huh .. i didn’t take any pictures of the ATV’s.

Next it was on to Monument Campground to check it out

it’s setup pretty similar to Midway just that you can right up next to the pond at this one.  It’s actually pretty neat and if the weather were a bit cooler i wouldn’t have minded staying here and boon docking.
   
the road is not blacktop like it is in Midway.  I have to admit i love the blacktop as we do not have the dusk you have here.
  
Next and last on the list for the day was the Big Cypress Art Gallary and gift shop
 
We didn’t see anything in the swamp here
 
I did find another interesting plant .. not sure what it is but i sure liked it

they had a nice shady place you could sit and rest
  
I found these pieces of Art interesting but look at the prices .. YIKES!!

they had some nice things inside and no photo’s were allowed to be taken.  It was nice to look around but a bit on the pricey side in my opinion.

We came back to the camper and i sat outside and visited with my neighbors again from Nova Scotia.  We had another beautiful day with temps in the low 80’s.  I am so enjoying this southern Florida weather.  Dinner tonight was some stir fry veggies and rice.
It’s another early to bed for me as I'm exhausted from too much fun.