Campgrounds in Florida are packed this time of year, with some people reserving sites in the state parks a year ahead of time. We were convinced that there would always be room for just one more so we drove (and drove and drove) until we reached Manatee Lake SP just before dark. The ranger at the gate was pleasant and kind as he told us there was no room and handed us a list of nearby campgrounds we might try. And try we did, with no success. We called park after park and either got (pleasantly and kindly) turned down or a busy signal, indicating to me that many people were trying the same thing. After about 20 minutes or so, the ranger must have taken pity on us and tapped on the van window to tell us he had just gotten a cancellation a could spend one, and only one, night there.
Wednesday morning we left early as promised and continued heading south. Ron wanted to show me all the great birding sites he had visited on the previous trip with Al Martens so we needed to cover some ground. After many side trips, some even intentional, we reached the first one, Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, about an hour before closing. We decided to pay the $14 entrance fee with the assurance that it would allow us to visit again the next day. We started the “short walk” on the boardwalk trail and were soon joined by two volunteers who were assigned to make sure all visitors were off the trail by closing. But there were just too many great birds and all the stragglers (including us) didn’t make it to the end until well after 5:30.
The volunteers had an interesting story. They come from northeastern Pennsylvania and had camped all over their state but were looking for a post-retirement adventure (sound familiar?) when they read about volunteering for Audubon centers. This one appealed to them so they chose it sight unseen and signed up for a six month stint. They figured it was worth it to get away from the northeastern winter and have already committed to returning next year. When we mentioned that we hadn’t found a place to stay yet they gave us a good tip, one that we had heard from a couple at the birding festival: RVers are generally welcome at casinos and we were less than ten miles from one owned by the Seminole tribe. I was totally ready to try but Ron had some concerns. Since I was driving, off we went to the casino and sure enough, there were a few RVs (much larger than ours) parked at the end of the lot. There were even electric hookups! Our “neighbor” happened to be loading his bikes and he filled us in. We went into the casino, got comped for $20 each play money, spent it on dinner and the poker machines and walked out with $17.75 and a free place to stay. You can bet we’ll be doing that again when we have the opportunity!
The Ultimate Road Trip 