As February began we headed further south in Florida to Everglades
National Park. Before entering the park, north and east of Homestead we
saw large fields of vegetables, beans, tomatoes, squash, peppers and fruits.
We had heard about a fruit stand in the area that was named after a man
and we stopped when we spotted it - Robert
is Here - Fruit Stand. (Click on the link to Robert to learn more about
him and his business.) In Homestead we spent an afternoon at the Fruit
and Spice Park. In their large garden and orchard they grow fruits and
spices from around the world. We started in the Visitors Center where we
sampled freshly picked fruits. With a list and descriptions of the plants
and trees we walked the yard, but we did not climb over the fence into
the poisonous plants section.
 
Everglades National Park was established in 1947 and contains over 1.5 million acres making it one of our nation's largest parks. Unlike early parks established to protect scenery, Everglades was created to preserve a portion of a vast ecosystem as a wildlife habitat. The park's unique mix of tropical and temperate plants and animals include more than 700 plant and 300 bird species. The winter (dry) season is mostly void of mosquitoes whereas the summer (wet) season has mosquitoes so thick they smother out candles and lanterns with their scorched bodies. Much of the Everglades has been drained and is now farmed and water has been captured and sent to cities by canals. Hopefully the Federal and Florida state governments can save the Everglades. We took a boat tour with Park Rangers and learned much about the park's mission and its' habitat, then we took several nature walks. We saw alligators, American crocodiles, white-tail deer, osprey, turkey vultures, American anhingas, sandpipers, varieties of coots, white ibis, sandhill cranes, wood storks, egrets, great egrets, great white herons, great blue herons, pelicans, many ducks and other fowl. We stayed in the beautiful campground at Flamingo, the southern most
part of the park. The campground is divided into three sections for large
RVs, medium size RVs and tents. Our site was a paved pull-thru about 60
feet long setting on 1/4 acre. There were no hook-ups but fresh water and
a dump station were just feet away. Using our solar panels for electricity
we enjoyed the park setting and the sounds of water fowl. Then our neighbors,
one on each side, fired up their portable generators and drowned out the
sounds of nature. Heck, they were so loud we couldn't even carry on a conversation
inside our motorhome. The National Park Service has a standard for generators
used in their parks. From fifty feet away they can be no louder than a
whispered conversation and they must have a spark arrester to prevent fires.
Our neighbors' generators met neither standard, but the Park Rangers do
not have time to inspect everyone's generators. Too bad campers just don't
care.
Do not attempt to bring a motorhome or large RV to Key West without reservations as the streets are narrow and there are very few places to park. We stayed at Boyd's Key West Campground, a nice friendly park, but a very crowed park. All the campgrounds were full so it was a seller's market and buyer beware. Our site cost $62.44 a night. The most we had paid in 2 1/2 years on the road was $26 so Boyd's was a very expensive park for us. For that amount we got 30 amp electric and water. We had to pay for sewer but our site did not have sewer. They promised to pump out our holding tanks three times a week. We were parked on sand and the site was 37 1/2 feet long. The only problem was our motorhome is 38 feet long so we protruded into the street. After backing into the very tight site three men came over and congratulated Norm on his skillful parking job. They said they never thought a large motorhome could get into our site. Stan and Betty Bober, friends from northern Indiana, stay in Boyd's
Campground every winter. They became our official tour guides and showed
us the Key's attractions and features. Everything in Key West is expensive,
food, gas, shopping and parking. Duval Street has many interesting shops,
bars and restaurants. Mallory Square on the water front fills with people
before sun fall every day and entertainers vie for donations. On a given
night one can find jugglers, one- man bands, human statues, cat acts, tight
rope walkers, escape artist, uni-cyclists and others. There is so much
to see and do in Key West it would take several visits to do it all. Below
are some pictures of the city.
In Winter Garden we met Norm's sister and brother-in-law, Gloria and
Don Martin. It rained during most of our time together, but we found a
day of sunshine and we took them to eat strawberry shortcakes at Plant
City, Florida. We rolled up I-75 to White Springs and the Suwannee Valley
Campground. For a Passport America rate of $8.50 a night we enjoyed the
beautiful campground and friendly people. Our draw to that place was the
beautiful Suwannee River that flows by the campground. We took our inaugural
cruise on the river in our new inflatable boat.
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