Well, we are back.
We had a great time and have planned another trip for a full moon visit. We got to the park at noon and were able to go ahead and pick a shelter early. We stayed at shelter #14 for the close proximity to the restroom and showers. Close enough but not too close. We like the #14 shelter for the shade but took a little time to compare some of the other shelters and we will try another one next time. The weather was great. As the afternoon wore on, more people filed in and claimed the other shelters. The only bad thing was one woman came in alone and set up, then WELL after bedtime her companions joined her. They felt compelled to visit until about 1 AM, that kept us awake along with some loud music from another shelter. It did not dampen our spirits. We had picked everything up to not encourage the raccoons but forgot our garbage bag hanging about six feet of the ground. They got in that but didn't really make a mess. Night #2 brought better planning. The great weather gave us some perfect bike riding times. We rode several times during the day and evening on both days. The deer were very active even during the day. The was a group of seven that ran through the park several times. One was a six point buck. Impressive. We really planned this to just be a get away from the phone/TV trip and it was. Did some undisturbed reading. We did not see any gators on this trip which was strange. We cooked simply this trip just to make it easy but I was watching the woman next door make her dutch oven biscuits and we decided next time to try that. Just for the heck of it. The daytime weather was great and thank goodness for blankets for night time. It got pretty chilly both nights although it felt really good. We saw a little bike trailer someone had that we might check into. Something for the dogs to ride in. When they ride in the basket it kinda puts my balance off. Not good while riding around gators. Another thing I saw was a group playing a game called Ladder Ball.
You will need to look that up on the Net, it would take too long to explain it but it looks like a good camping game/toy. I didn't see as many birds as I was expecting (more in my back yard/pasture) but there is always next time. As we were packing up for our long trip home (30 minutes) we said how few animals we had seen but sometimes that happens. As we were headed out to turn the key in to leave a HUGE turtle was about to cross the road in front of us. We laughed and said, OK we saw deer, crows and one large, really large turtle. Once again, wild life abounds. Until next time. (No good pictures this time)
Sandy
