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By Katrina Kane, on January 21st, 2009 I got to stay quite awhile at the SKP park in Wauchula, FL but the time came when they suddenly started to fill up for their January Capers and I got pushed out of my spot and into the overnight area. First in, first out is the rule which is fair. I couldn’t leave their lovely wifi though until a new aircard for Verizon wireless was sent from an Ebay auction I had won. So, I went into the overnight area which is actually still pretty decent with 20 amp electric and water, no sewer. It is also up near the clubhouse rather than shoved in the back. I was actually sorry to leave Wauchula SKP park but it really was time to move on anyway.
I stayed another week then moved on to Southern Charm RV Resort in Zephyrhills, FL which also has wonderful wifi throughout the park and is part of Enjoy America, a discount camping club associated with RPI. Going to Zephyrhills and Southern Charm was rather a shock for me. Zephyrhills is a mecca for RVers it seems, particularly snowbirds. Never in my life have I seen so many RV parks together one right after the other. Chancey Road seems to be at the heart of it. Southern Charm was not only very nice about giving me the 50% Enjoy America Discount, they were also very flexible and they have the most active senior residents I have ever seen. Every morning no matter how cold, they fill 2 of the 4 volleyball courts with some real skilled players of all ages and both sexes. It makes one giddy to see all the bicycles parked by the courts and watch the “older children” play. Everyone rides a bike at the park. Many have golf carts but still keep a bike around as well. It made me feel so much better to see most of the bikes have either the extra large seat for those of us who have lived long enough to have earned it and need it, or they have bucket seats for those that need the support. Whatever it takes, only the ride matters. I also saw the residents playing some pretty active shuffleboard and horseshoes.
   
Continue reading Zephyrhills, FL
By Katrina Kane, on December 29th, 2008 Time to settle down for a few weeks and recover from the cold I got in Big Cypress. I headed for the Wauchula SKP Resort owned by my Escapees camping club. The rates are cheap, amenities great, and people are always very friendly in Escapee parks. I love staying in them. It is also in the heart of Florida’s orange grove country.
The sites are level and provide cement patios as well as full utilities and wide paved roads. The entrance is easy to spot, very wide, and the 2 lane 60 MPH road opens up with a very long left turn lane to make it easy to slow down with a large RV to turn. The pool is heated and well used as is the clubhouse and the bike racks. The laundry room is very clean and inexpensive. WIFI is excellent all through the park! They have local brochures available. Super Walmart is nearby as well as plenty of restaurants. It was great to get back to a clubhouse with puzzles again. I have gotten my jollies with several puzzles since arriving.
   
Since I planned to be staying a while, I had some fun putting out some of my trailer decorations. I even had time to wash the Maine mud off the front and I washed the windows with my new collapsible bucket. The collapsible buckets are great! They do work and store neatly out of the way in their own pouch. Did some other annual maintenance too.
   
Continue reading Wauchula, FL SKP Park
By Katrina Kane, on December 7th, 2008 I finally found a national park that has a campground with electricity. I have been shut out of all the national parks since this trip began because I have to have electric hookup for my work and our national parks are rather behind the times in this respect. State parks, however, have upgraded many of their parks. Unfortunately, state parks do not honor the 50% discount or free park entry provided by Golden Eagle Senior passes or National Access passes for the handicapped unless you are a resident of that state.
So, here I am at Midway Campground in the Big Cypress National Preserve for only $10/night with my pass. No water or sewer hookups and no showers but they do provide a potable water station to fill up when you come in and a dump site on the way out. The pads are paved and level. They have nice picnic tables and covered tables nearby for tenters. The sites are in a circle around a small pond. There are no trees on the sites but that guarantees your satellite TV dish will work. It is very pretty and peaceful. You may have to walk over to the main road for cell phone reception. My aircard on its own does not work with the low signal here. However, once I hooked up the external antenna I picked up off Ebay while in Massachussettes, I managed to get 1 bar of Sprint EVDO which is enough to work with.
Warnings concerning camping in a wildlife preserve:
- Don’t go out at night or if you must, carry a good flashlight and look around before stepping out. There was an animal under my trailer tonight.
- Stay away from the water’s edge. Alligators are everywhere here.
- Bring lots of bug repellant. The mosquitos are HUGE here. They do bite right through light clothes. (Very few out right now though)
- Watch your driving speed. Limits are strictly enforced and you never know when a deer, panther, alligator, turtle, etc will decide to cross the road in front of you.
- Don’t leave any trash outside or anything shiny. The birds are very large and very aggressive. What the crows don’t go after, the buzzards will. Today new campers made that mistake and provided a nice picnic all day for the crows. It could just as easily have attracted a bear or panther.
Continue reading Ochopee, FL – Big Cypress
By Katrina Kane, on November 28th, 2008 If you check out the reviews for Florida City Campsite online, they are all bad and unfortunately true. It is a city run campground with too many long-time residents many of whom are locals down on their luck with nowhere else to go. I didn’t even bother checking out the bathrooms after seeing reviews. They do have a laundromat and I see propane there though they currently are not refilling. The sites are far from level and the placement of the hookup for water is so horrible that I did not even bother with it. I would have had to buy another 25 foot hose to reach it with my current hoses and the hose will run through someone’s space where it will be tripped over and parked on. Many of the trailers there are rundown. They are also in the heart of the city with city traffic.
The drivers down there are the worst I have seen since I was in Michigan. To drive there you have to be aggressive or you will never get to make a turn. Be prepared to be cutoff or hemmed in at any time. They love to use their horns too. The nearby Walmart has the worst parking area layout I have ever seen or at least the driveway into it which guarantees a traffic jam at any time of day. I was also astonished at the gall of handicapped drivers who park in the blue crossed lane next to each handicapped space which is required to provide wheelchair access. They don’t care how much they inconvenience other handicapped persons as long as they get to park close no matter how illegal. Police sitting right there did nothing to dissuade them.
So you ask, why would I stay at such a place for a week? Because it is the only reasonably priced park in the area and it is very very close to the Coral Castle, the Everglades National Park, and Biscayne Bay National Park. Key Largo is only 20 miles away. It is also .3 miles from a Walmart, restaurants, Target, Kmart, Best Buy, etc. I also found that if you either stay in your rig most of the time or are out sightseeing, the park itself is not so bothersome.
Continue reading Florida City, FL – Everglades – Biscayne Bay
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