Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

 October 9, 2020

     

We are at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

"Prairie stretches to the horizon, uninterrupted by signs of civilization"

Our campsite is small but shaded by trees

Here is our RV with the reflection of the pin oak tree covered in spanish moss.

The view from the inside out

is Palmetto palms, very Floridian.

The back of our campsite

is a combination of the pin oak and palmetto palms.

Did I mention that is a site for horse camping?

You do not have to have a horse to use this site.

Which is good since it is hard to find sites on the weekend and only by going with a horse site did we manage to get a site on our route this weekend.

It was hot and humid but after a car ride I need a walk

We took off on the prairie path 

We've only been here a few hours and we have seen 

two deer, a baby alligator, wild turkeys, hawks and a rabbit.

The sunset was lovely, a preamble to stargazing tonight.

This is a dark sky campground, where you can see the milky way with your bare eyes.

Being in the middle of nearly 54,000 acres of preserve I was not expecting to have cell service or over the air television but we have them both including NBC this time so we will get to watch the ND v FSU football game tomorrow night.  GO IRISH!

October 9, 2020

I woke up this morning and took off on a morning walk by myself.

Here in the back is the hammock, an area of trees that provide shade for animals.

The foreground is the tall grasses of the prairie.

And the center is the marshes.

The day was just starting so it felt like just me and the wildlife

I saw birds, 4 deer, and the wild turkeys

this is what is sounded like

These 2 guys lead the way for me 

toward the rising sun.

This snowy egret did his best to ignore me 

and the 2 tagalongs in the marsh.

Later in the morning Jim and I took off to take the Hammock Trail, it was flooded.  So we ventured over to hike the Five mile Prairie trail, it was flooded.  This prairie is wet.

In an effort to keep our boots dry we will read today.

On a book break I took a lap around our campground and saw a bird sitting on the fence across the marsh.  I looked for the camper who was just out with binoculars knowing he could identify the bird for me, he was no longer out.  I walked along to a spot in the shade in the hope that the bird would take flight.   It was then that I heard another camper tell her husband to look at the bird, so I asked him what it was.  He first pointed and said he is taking off, so I turned and saw the bird in flight.  I then asked again what kind of bird he was and the man said that beautiful bird is an osprey.

no photo by me, I did not have my camera, but here is an osprey

His brown and white coloring was very handsome indeed.

This is also a dark sky area, which means it is good for stargazing. Last night had good stars, several so bright they must have been planets.  We also so the hint of the milky way.  Tonight also has some good stars but also some cloud cover on the horizon.  

Irish win!