Guess The Picture At The End. 😃

I Made This Wall Hanging For The Pantry Door, Florida SKP Resort, Wauchula, FL 01/24

Kevin said we should go to Walmart as there was a break in the rain. We picked up a few groceries. As we came out, it was pouring hard. We laughed because we were parked the farthest away.

SOAKED! From Nice, Warm Florida Rain, Zolfo Springs, FL 01/24

The rain was warm and felt like a shower! HAHA There was so much rain that even some of the grocery bags had water in the bottom when we got home (footnote 1). And that was only from walking in the parking lot. Crazy. Glad it was 70°.

At 5:30pm I looked at the counter where I had meat setting out and Kevin said, “I know what you are thinking. You are thinking you want Taco Bell.” LOL That isn’t what I was thinking but yes, I do. Love us! Off he went to “cook”.

Off we went to Tampa RV Show. It is said to be the biggest RV show in the country, but Hershey show says they are bigger. Anyway, here are the facts I found online: 26 acres, 1550 RVs and 450 vendors. The country roads took us along fields of all sorts of things growing. We even saw a sod farm, with the finished grown sod rolled up like round hay bales. We saw workers in a few fields. The only plant we could identify is strawberries. 

Perspective, Bowling Green, FL 01/24

At one point, Kevin asked me if I had learned about perspective in art class as a kid. Yes. I looked up and saw what he was talking about – the road has numerous poles for power, all close together, and going to the perspective “point”. It was cool. The clouds added to the dramatic sight.

Kevin With Matt & Will – Star Struck! Tampa, FL 01/24

Kevin had bought our Tampa RV Show tickets online last night so we got in quicker. The first building had the big, fancy motorhomes. We walked past them and to the vendors. A lot of RV campgrounds were there. Nothing grabbed us but it was fun to see things. We went outside and walked a long ways. HA We were trying to find Alliance RVs. We finally found them in the very back corner. We looked to see what was new and didn’t much care for it. Kevin bought the orange “black tank stuff” from the famous Matt and Will. They have YouTube channels, and Kevin is more excited to see the YouTubers than seeing movie stars. He was so excited to see them! Our fitness app on iPhone said we walked almost 4 miles!

Another day was going to be a great day to be outside. The weather was forecasted to be sunny and 70s, with no chance of rain. A bit windy. We decided to check out Payne’s Creek Historic State Park in Bowling Green. It is nice we have the Florida State Park Pass. We pulled up and got a map from the ranger. At the visitor center we were the only vehicle there. We made a bunch of jokes about how “busy” it was today and we weren’t sure if we would be able to see anything. HA Inside they have a video but no closed captions on and we never saw any worker there to ask them to turn it on. We walked through the displays and learned this area was where there were three Seminole Wars. A trading post built in 1849 was attacked and destroyed in July by defector Seminoles. The chief tracked down “3 men and the hand of a 4th” and turned them in to the US government. That wasn’t good enough and the US used this excuse to round them up. Fort Chokonikla was only used from  1849 until July 1850 when Army casualties were high and were almost defeated by disease carrying mosquitoes. 

Site Of Fort Chokonikla, 1849, Payne’s Creek SP, Bowling Green, FL 01/24

There isn’t a building where the fort was, just open spot with lots of sand. I asked Kevin if he liked rebuilt buildings on sites that look like the original or nothing rebuilt. He said he likes to see the replica. I realized I do, too! Ofttimes I would think, “Oh, this is just a replica” but now I realize how much that gives in perspective and really imaging what it was like. There are trails around here and we attempted to walk to the site of the trading post. Good thing we had their map because there were all sorts of intersecting trails but very few markers of names and directions. We got down into the swamp and decided to turn back. Kevin and I were both turned around and it was good to place the map south following the sun. HA! We walked to the Foot Bridge but again, got into some swampy water and my shoes, feet and pants were a mess. We turned around and walked to the visitor center – still no worker there, and then drove around a bit. We saw another parking lot with quite a few vehicles as there were trailheads, picnic tables, and pavilions here.

This Should Be Required Of Every Driver! Highlands Hammock SP, Sebring, FL 01/24

What to do next? We drove south and then west to Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring. This park is wow, great with lots of things going on. There was a short line to get in. We first went to the Civilian Conservation Corp Museum (C.C.C.) there in the park. Outside there was a plaque that said “Dedicated to the memory of Emil Billitz Sr and countless other C.C.C. enrollees who were injured, disabled or lost their lives in performance of their duty. We especially remember the 228 C.C.C. members who perished September 2, 1935 during a hurricane at three camps, upper keys, Florida.”  The volunteer opened the door for us and greeted us friendly. He told us a few things about this C.C.C. museum. I saw this license plate: This driver is required to drive carefully; United States Civilian Conservation Corps. Ha – shouldn’t we all be required to drive carefully. 🙂 

One of the most successful programs of President F.D. Roosevelt’s New Deal was Civilian Conservations Corps. Instead of going on relief, unmarried men between the ages of 18-25 would work. During 9 years in Florida, close to 50,000 young men from poverty stricken families were given wholesome employment and their families were paid $25 per month. Across the country, C.C.C. workers worked in state parks, state and national forests and wildlife refuges to: building trails and roads, construct bridges, preserve historical sites, build picnic tables, shelters, cabins, campgrounds, restrooms and other park facilities,  build reserves and fish ponds and stock them with fish, build dams to stop erosion, dig drainage ditches, and create habitat for wildlife. Of this Highlands Hammocks state park, 18 year old John Puccerella said, “When I was told we were going to build roads, I thought they were crazy. It is nothing but swamp!” HAHA

At C.C.C., after the evening meal, the guys could relax and have fun. “This was also the time when many men attended classes ranging from basic literacy to high school equivalency courses. Throughout the C.C.C., over 40,000 illiterates were taught to read and write. There were even some college courses available by correspondence.” We drove around and saw hammocks – which are where trees make a canopy and the sunlight hardly gets through to the ground. There were quite a few trails around this loop. Oh, on Saturday nights they have a concert outside. We saw a guy setting up two large fire pits. It would have been fun to bring our chairs and listen but it wasn’t for a few hours and the forecast was pretty cool in the evening. Glad to see so much activity available.

What is this picture?

Couple Inches High Mushroom On Sand, Paynes Creek Historic SP, Bowling Green, FL 01/24

I took it from the ground looking up at a mushroom. The ground is covered in Myakka Fine Sand. 😃

1. “Home” is where we park it. Home is our 2022 Alliance Avenue, 36 ft, 5th wheel.