The Two "John" Parks: SE FL

Aside from the two historical FL state parks close to Peace River, we visited 2 Florida State Parks in the SE region: Jonathan Dickinson and John MacArthur Beach. They both have a visitor center and trails. We enjoyed both.

Jonathan Dickinson is along a river near the bay. JD had a self-guided auto tour, which included a climb to the top of a lookout tower. The sign said you could see the Atlantic Ocean from the top but we couldn't see that far on this day. JD also provides camping, but we didn't camp there, and children's activities on Saturdays.

John MacArthur includes a barrier island beach along the Atlantic. The kiddos took notes and drew pictures in the visitor centers and played nature hunt bingo at the MacArthur visitor center.

We learned about the bay and barrier island habitats and various plants and animals that live at both parks, as well as nonnative invasive species.

Florida Winters at Peace River TT

Our winter is almost over here in Florida. We've been full-timing for exactly 3 months now, spending most of our time at Peace River Thousand Trails and Thousand Trails Orlando.
I love Peace River. It is woodsy and there are lots of free and cheap things to do nearby. There is a sewer hook-up lottery during the busy season, so you really need to be aware of your water use if you don't get a sewer site, but there is a river you can fish or boat in or you can search for shark teeth and fossils. Bring your own supplies or rent theirs.

 

 

We celebrated Arthur's 16th birthday, our first birthday on the road. I'm glad.

Of all the kids, he was the most excited and is loving this life more than anyone else.

Peace River hosted ice cream socials every Thursday afternoon and pot lucks. They also had a billiards tournament for St. Patrick's day, which my four oldest boys loved.

There was a week or two we had to stay in our tents while the RV was waiting for parts to be repaired.

We also like to visit the Everglades and the Keys while we're down here.

Since this was our last stay at Peace River this year, last week was our last bible study/youth group at First Baptist Church of Bowling Green. We really enjoyed being a part of this church. My youngest four brought home the following along with some jelly beans and some plastic eggs stuffed with bible verses to hand out to others.

We also visited a few state parks in the area:
Paynes Creek is a historical park where we learned about Seminole Indians and how the settlers were nearly defeated by mosquitoes. Boy, I can see how that could happen! We've been getting bit quite a lot lately.

Highlands Hammock is a historical park that has a campground and a nice playground/picnic area, altho we did not camp there. We learned about the Great Depression Era and FDR and his New Deal programs. Both have an educational visitor center and trails.

Okeechobee Battlefield isn't really a park. There's nothing there except some battle-type vehicles in town but they do have a re-enactment in Feb. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted the pics of the battle vehicles off my cell phone. =[

We also visited 2 other SE FL state parks that were more science-related.

Florida Keys

One of our favorite places to visit. We have stayed at both Bahia Honda and  Pennekamp State Parks. Well, we actually did stay over night at Bahia Honda but, after our experience that first time, when we arrived at Pennekamp and saw we'd have the same bug problem we had had at Bahia Honda, we packed up and left shortly after we arrived and set up! I will probably never sleep on the Keys again. On our first trip our vehicles became infested with the "no-see-ums" and we were getting eaten alive. DEET does nothing to keep them from biting. We had to fog them out once we left the Keys. However, we do still love to visit. We just sleep in the Everglades or at Midway Campground near the Everglades where we won't have to deal with them and make day trips onto the Keys. Peace River is the closest Thousand Trails campground, although there is one on the Keys, as well. We've just never been to it.
At Bahia Honda, we did the state park version of the junior ranger booklet (which I had to purchase and it comes with the badges). We also did some snorkeling on the coral reefs there on the beach. The boys got to see some neat fish.
We splurged and ate at Whale Harbor Inn seafood buffet and challenged ourselves to try at least one food item we've never had before. A bit pricey (for us, anyway) but delicious. We also drove to Key West, saw some entertainers and learned about Fort Jefferson but we didn't go to visit it, as you have to plan ahead and take a ferry out to it so we just learned about it and that was fine with us. We left Key West as it got dark, as the night-time entertainment is not family-friendly.
We took a tour at the Turtle Hospital on Marathon Key. It did cost money to get in but we found a coupon in a booklet we got from the Keys visitor center. We got a "behind the scenes" look at the operations there and met some of the patients. It was very educational.

We took a glass bottom boat tour from Pennekamp. That was very educational and fun. Again, a bit pricey (for us) but not as expensive as I would've expected.

                     

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:9-10

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Psalm 139:17-18

Fun in Everglades National Park, FL

We love to visit the Everglades each year. There's always something to do there. We introduced our two newest children to the Everglades this year. We took some self-guided tours, attended the new ranger class about the invasive python species (yikes!), and completed the Junior ranger booklet, including the scavenger hunt bingo board. We earned badges from all 3 National Parks: Everglades, Big Cypress, and Biscayne. We didn't get to do the wilderness tour walking through the water and grass but I guess that's something to look forward to next year since all ranger-led tours end by April 1.

Interesting homeschooling tidbit of the day: the Anhinga has oil on it's feathers so it can dive for birds, stay down quite awhile, come up again and be completely dry.

We also visited the Nike Missile Site in the Everglades for a bit of history.

 

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing that was made. John 1:3

God gives us richly all things to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17