~Monday, February 27, 2023~
Day 989
Wow, what a difference being at a wide open camp space. Seriously, it’s like our own ¼ acre of paradise that virtually costs nothing, that gives us the peace, tranquility and privacy we prefer. The morning is a perfect time to enjoy the outside…..still cool enough and no bugs. Though the campground seems to be void of mosquitos, there’s plenty of flora-and-fauna. This morning when I first came outside, I discovered a struggling bird who seemed to have gotten inside our bug tent. Hopefully he hadn’t been in there too long, as his partner was chirping away encouraging him to find a way out. A little lift of the tent, and they were reunited and on their way.
As I do my early morning writing in the great outdoors, I’m enjoying the music of the forest with not a hint of road noise, and the views of the tall, slender Slash Pines that surround us. We are at the highest elevation in the Everglades (like a blip of a hill a few feet higher than sea level), that allows these pine trees to grow. The slight breeze is oh so welcome! Sadie’s enjoying the space too as she rotates shady spots, entertained by the birds that flit around her, seeking a crumb or two on the grass. We’re enjoying the slightly cooler temps here as well, though not to say we don’t need a little air conditioner for a little extra cool-down. I guess we’ll be slightly drowning out the chatter in the forest a few hours a day with our trusty generator.
As the day wore on, the heat increased, but thankfully the scattered clouds offered some relief. It was nice to spend the majority of the day playing it low, that is until we had to go into town to take care of a few things……propane, gas can fill up (since we plan on running the generator more for the A/C), and groceries. We brought Sadie with us on these errands thinking the trailer would be too hot for her (the downside of not having hookups and not being able to run the A/C while we’re gone). It will definitely affect what we do here. Since we’ve been here twice before, we’ve already seen a lot, so won’t be too disappointed if we’re more limited this time around. What a difference being here a month later makes. Plus, as I’ve mentioned before, Florida is experiencing record heat for this time of year. While I was in the grocery store, Jeff and Sadie stayed with the car. He got a Facetime call from our daughter Hannah, who said they were under another tornado watch. Evidently her partner Devin said the sirens were going off in Urbana (where he works). I’m not sure what they do in instances like that, but sure hope they have SOME plan. I didn’t know that when a siren goes off, it means a tornado has definitely touched down in the area. While we kept in close contact with them throughout the day, they ended up being fine. Still scary to say the least. Hopefully they’re not in for too many of these with Spring around the corner (peak tornado season). The weather is crazy everywhere isn’t it? So happy to hear the Sierras have up to 450 feet of snow with still plenty to go in March. Who knows….maybe they’ll break 500! Wouldn’t it be great to see those reservoirs filled up again?