Big Cypress National Preserve

While exploring Everglades National Park, we drove through a portion of Big Cypress National Preserve, north of Everglades, checked out its two visitor centers, had a picnic lunch, and a stroll along some boardwalks.

Jenn collected her passport stamps at both visitor centers:

Passport stamps

Exhibits at the Oasis Visitor Center:

Exhibits

A short boardwalk in front of the visitor center:

Boardwalk in front of visitor center

There were several alligators hanging out below the boardwalk; clearly on the park staff:

Alligator

Alligator

Alligator

Alligator

Alligator

A bunch of birds, too:

Bird

Bird

Bird

Continuing on, we stopped for a picnic lunch at Kirby Storter Roadside Park:

Picnic at Kirby Storter Roadside Park

There was also a boardwalk there through the swamp, a little less than a mile roundtrip:

Boardwalk

Boardwalk view

Info shelter

Swamp

Swamp

Swamp

Swamp

Swamp

Swamp

Swamp

Finally, Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center:

Nathaniel P. Reed Visitor Center

Also with a short boardwalk:

Boardwalk

A bit different kind of swamp from what we saw in Everglades.

Biscayne National Park

Biscayne National Park is one of the rare national parks that is mostly water, on the coast south of Miami, Florida.

We visited for a sail, paddle, and snorkel trip.

Entrance sign

Our boat:

Our boat

Heading out:

Heading out

Birds:

Birds

Map; we sailed out to Coon Point on Elliot Key:

Map

Sailboat

Snorkeling; I used my 360 camera, but had some technical difficulties, so didn’t get many pictures:

Snorkeling

Snorkeling

Snorkeling

Water

Other boats:

Other boats

Other boats

Raising our sail:

Sail

Sailing

Sailing

Sailing

Other boats

Other boats

Sailing

Below

Some paddling into the mangroves:

Paddle

Sitting up front on the way back:

Sitting up front

Sitting up front

Lighthouse:

Lighthouse

Sailing

Sailing

Sailing

Sailing

Sailing

A fun excursion.

Everglades National Park

We explored several areas of Everglades National Park in Florida.

A map of the park:

Map

A map in a visitor center:

Map

Entrance sign:

Entrance sign

The Royal Palm area of the park was closest to our campsite, with some nice walks:

Bird

Water lillies

Water lillies

Can you spot a turtle?

Turtle

Here it is:

Turtle

Turtle

Tree

Also nearby is a relic of the Cold War: the HM69 Nike missile base:

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center:

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center

Gulf Coast Visitor Center was under construction, so they used a modular building:

Gulf Coast Visitor Center

Gulf Coast Visitor Center

Gulf Coast Visitor Center

West Lake:

West Lake

West Lake

West Lake

Tree

Guy Bradley Visitor Center:

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

We were amused by Rock Reef Pass, elevation 3 feet:

Rock Reef Pass

Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort

We stayed at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in Clermont, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

TTO (as it’s commonly called) is the flagship Thousand Trails park, with over a thousand sites.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-01-07
  • Check out: 2024-01-21
  • 14 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly cloudy, some rain, mostly drizzle
  • High temps ranging between 63-80°F, lows around 35-65°F
  • A little wind, gusts to 38 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train noise
  • Some neighbor noise, dogs and kids
  • Distant fireworks from Disney some evenings

Site:

  • #178, back in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
  • Rather unlevel, high on right and front; used hydraulic leveling
  • Asphalt driveway about 50 feet long by about 18 feet wide
  • Passenger side to next site’s driveway about 10 feet
  • Driver side to next site’s driveway about 20 feet
  • No picnic table (but apparently available upon request)
  • No fire pit
  • Steep drop-off next to rear of site
  • Mostly clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, very inconveniently located; needed to use my extension cord
  • 75 PSI water, inconveniently located
  • Loose sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 47 Mbps down, 6-14 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 24-30 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • AT&T: 1 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
  • Verizon: 2 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters only in a central location
  • Package delivery to office, for $5 per package (we got a local mailbox)

Our review on Campground Reviews:

The flagship Thousand Trails park

It’s good to know what’s what before showing up at TTO. Half the park is older, with rundown pads and a kind of state park feel, and half the park is newer, like a perfectly manicured RV resort. And if you’re used to the usual Thousand Trails “first come first served” rigamarole, you might be confused by how they do things here. I prefer the orderly check-in process with the rangers knowing what sites are available and guiding you to what’s there. This place is so huge, that you’d be crawling the lanes for hours before finding one on your own. I hate having to find a place at other TT parks. Our site was on the “older” side of the park, backed up to some trees, which was nice. There was a bit of a drop-off at the end of our pad, but it was long enough for our 40′ coach, and we were able to park our truck on the grass alongside it. It was kind of downhill in a hollow, so cell reception was not great but Starlink was just fine. We camped at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

A rather steep drop-off:

Our site

I needed to use my power extension cord for the first time ever (other than at Mom’s):

Power extension cord

I had fun tossing a ball for this very good boy whenever I went to top up our water tank or dump our waste tanks:

Dog

The nearby bathrooms were closed the entire time, but they had portapotties for the few people who needed them (and I did use one once, as we sanitized our fresh water tank while here):

Bathrooms

There were a few big storms that rolled through; here are a couple of screenshots of one (with a potential tornado southwest of us!):

Storm screenshot

Storm screenshot

Big checkers board:

Big checkers board

Rec center:

Rec center

Rec center

Mail info; they charge $5 per package, and suggest alternatives:

Mail info

Group fire pit:

Group fire pit

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Pickleball courts:

Pickleball courts

Boat launch:

Boat launch

Hibiscus flower:

Flower

Tortoise:

Tortoise

Grasshopper:

Grasshopper

A large crane-like bird:

Bird

There were several that roamed the grounds:

Birds

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Bathrooms

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

One section has buddy sites:

Buddy sites

A massive campground. We’ve already been back again since this, and no doubt will be back more times in the future.

Meaher State Park

We stayed at Meaher State Park in Spanish Fort, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A delightful state park with spacious sites and lots of wildlife. The I-10 freeway across the water isn’t ideal, but not too bad.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-12-03
  • Check out: 2023-12-17
  • 14 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy, some rain
  • High temps ranging between 57-72°F, lows around 39-59°F
  • A little wind, gusts to 28 MPH

Noise:

  • Freeway noise across the bay
  • No train noise
  • Negligible neighbor noise, other than kids on weekends

Site:

  • #54, back in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Fairly level; used hydraulic leveling
  • Asphalt driveway about 55 feet long by about 12 feet wide
  • Grass between sites about 52 feet wide
  • Picnic table on asphalt patio about 18 by 14 feet
  • No fire pit
  • Clean site
  • Waterfront, though with the back of our coach facing the water

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 25 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 4-9 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • AT&T: 180-395 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 22 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 9-12 Mbps up, 120 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • Waterfront (bay)
  • Walking paths

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Gorgeous sunsets, distant hum of I-10

This is a lovely state park along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Gorgeous views of the water, and various shorebirds. I-10 is visible, but the hum is distant and pretty much just background white noise. There are many nice walking trails in the park, including a boardwalk through the wetlands. Sites were large and nicely spread out. We’d definitely stay here again. We camped at Meaher State Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site, backing onto the water:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Shortly before we left, I got out my telescoping ladder to clear off a bunch of large pinecones that had fallen on our coach:

Ladder on our coach

Pinecones

Not too bad, though (a rare look at our roof; I’ve still never been on it, and this was only the second time I’ve used the ladder to clear stuff off it):

Roof

Behind our site:

Behind our site

Behind our site

“Do not feed or harass the alligators” — we didn’t see any, but they’re probably all brumating by this time:

Behind our site

We were warned that there were invasive ants in the area, and advised to sprinkle borax around the coach (which we did). We saw some ants, but none near our coach:

Ants

Ants

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Cabins:

Cabins

Tents:

Tents

The entrance station:

Entrance

Baby turtle crossing:

Baby turtle crossing

Fungus:

Mushrooms

Fungus

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Other bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Bathrooms

Picnic shelter:

Picnic shelter

Boat ramp area:

Boat ramp area

Kayaks etc:

Kayaks etc

Boat ramps and dock:

Boat ramps and dock

Dock

Kayak dock:

Kayak dock

Kayak dock

There were lots of birds in the area:

Bird

Birds

Birds

Birds

Birds

Birds

Birds

Some bees:

Bees

Bees

A small beach, popular for fishing:

Beach

Beach

A nice delta boardwalk:

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

Delta boardwalk

A fishing pier:

Fishing pier

Fishing pier

Fishing pier

Fishing pier

Fishing pier

Fishing pier

One evening I went for a walk to the fishing pier shortly before the sun set, and enjoyed watching the sunset and hundreds of birds:

Sunset from fishing pier

Sunset from fishing pier

Sunset from fishing pier

Sunset from fishing pier

Sunset from fishing pier

Sunset from fishing pier

Back to our coach:

Sunset from fishing pier

Another day, another sunset behind our site:

Sunset behind our site

Sunset behind our site

Sunset behind our site

Sunset behind our site

Sunset behind our site

A very nice state park. We’d definitely stay here again.

Iron Mountain Road

Another very scenic and curvy road is Iron Mountain Road, that connects the Mount Rushmore area and Custer State Park.

An interactive map:

Bison:

Bison

Bison

Bison

Bison

Bison

Bison

Bison

There are three narrow tunnels on this road:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

One-way road:

One-way road

Another tunnel:

Tunnel

Tunnels

Tunnel

Pigtail loop road:

Pigtail loop road

Low narrow tunnel:

Low narrow tunnel

The third tunnel:

Tunnel

This tunnel has a view of Mount Rushmore:

Tunnel with view of Mount Rushmore

Pigtail loop road:

Pigtail loop road

Pigtail loop road

Pigtail loop road

Peeks

Pigtail loop road

Pigtail loop road

Pigtail loop road

One-way roads:

One-way roads

Mount Rushmore view:

Mount Rushmore view

Mount Rushmore view

Mount Rushmore view

A fun drive.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit

We also visited the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

The South Unit is easier to get to, and thus more popular, but in our opinion not quite as interesting. Still scenic, though. This post is about the South Unit; see yesterday’s post for the North Unit.

Here’s a map:

Map

An interactive map:

Entrance:

Entrance

Info signs:

Info signs

Info signs:

Info signs

Display:

Display

Gift store:

Gift store

Exhibits:

Exhibits

Exhibits

Cabin

Cabin

Cabin

Cabin

Cabin

Cabin

Jenn and David:

Jenn and David

View

View

Prairie dog town:

Prairie dog town

Prairie dog town

Prairie dog town

Scenery

Wild horses:

Wild horses

Scenery

Bison:

Bison

Scenery

Bison

Scenery

Wild horses:

Wild horses

Wild horses

Wild horses

Wild horses

Scenery

Scenery

Hike:

Hike

Hike

Hike

Hike

Hike

Hike

Hike

Hike

Hike

Scenery

Scenery

Bison