Little House on the Prairie

We are enjoying our time here at Kissimmee Prairie State Park.  Not having any neighbors is a wonderful change.

This is what is known as a “dry Prairie.”  The state park consists of 54,000 acres.  There used to be over 3 million acres of dry prairie in this part of Florida.   Sadly it is mostly gone.  This is such a pristine place and is a wildlife haven.  This is a birders paradise.  I think Judy would love it here.

This is home to the endangered Grasshopper Sparrow.  We haven’t seen one of them yet.  The ranger said they are very rare.  There are two people here studying whey they are declining.  One theory is because of the imported fire ants, that are killing the babies.

We have seen quite a few Kites flying overhead.

The ranger told us there are endangered White Tailed Kites here nesting,  and that birders come from all over to see them.  There is a nest here in the park and they have guided tours onto the prairie to see it.  We’re hoping to go, but the next tour is already full.  They charge $10 a person for a half hour tour.  Seems a bit short for $10, but what can you do.

We walked around the prairie last night and watched the sun go down.

It was a beauty.

and to top it off.  A beautiful full moon.

I was unable to get internet from my phone, but the Verizon Mifi is working fine.  Last night, it was the opposite.  I don’t know why, but as long as I get internet from somewhere, I’m happy!

We got up before 6am to watch the sun rise over the prairie.  We decided to take a “short” walk outside just to see what was around the campsite.  We ended up walking a couple miles.  We didn’t see any deer until we got back to near the motor home, and they were everywhere!  We must have seen two dozen.  Tomorrow, we’ll walk by our campsite to see the deer.

We were walking along the main road.  Al happened to walk over to the ditch beside the road and this is the surprise that he found.

This is place is considered a DRY prairie….we weren’t expecting to see gators, despite the warning signs about not feeding them.   We have since learned that the prairie is not’s not completely dry and there are some wetlands, so we do have lots of gators. The dry prairie actually has water on it, but it’s not flooded.  I guess the gators are on the move right now and there are lots of signs warning of the gators.  I guess I’ll believe them now!

We had an enjoyable walk around the park this morning. 

Lots of flowers blooming right now.

This amazing huge Oak tree that was still alive, despite being uprooted.   The picture doesn’t show the size of the tree, but it was huge and very healthy looking.

Some nice trails through the prairie.

This is the paddock for the horses, and where we found all the deer this morning.

Vultures on each post.

and of course…..deer.

By the time we got back from our morning walk, it was too late for breakfast, so we had lunch. Then a nap seemed to be in order, so we took a snort one.  We got up, washed a load of clothes at the campground laundry ($1.00 a load), then went outside to our “back yard” and read for a while.  When we first came out the thermometer said it was 94 degrees.  With the strong prairie breezes and the shade, we felt perfectly comfortable…surprisingly.

Yeah, we’re very happy here.  We paid for a week.  We may stay longer.  It’s a lovely place and is now one of our favorite places.   We will be back often, I’m sure.  I imagine it will be great in the fall, although we’re liking the lack of people right now.