Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Okeechobee, Florida
On that day (the day Abram made the sacrificial offering) the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates . . .” ~ Genesis 15:18
The last few nights we’ve been awakened by the very loud sound of monkeys ooo-ooo-oooing. The problem is, there are no monkeys anywhere near here.
So what is it???
Leave it to good ol’ Google to provide the answer!
Never woulda guessed that! We had barred owls in the woods at our old house. Never heard the like! Either they were too far away, or our house was better insulated, or a combination of both. Cool beans! Except when you’re trying to sleep . . .
The wind is down from yesterday, so we took off on our bikes. This Park covers over 53,600 acres. That’s a lot of ground to cover if you’re just walking. What we did yesterday was one small blip on the map compared to what’s here.
First, we went otter hunting. We didn’t find any, but we did hear something. You know that sound your tires make when you drive over rumble strips? That’s what we heard! Only it couldn’t be that, because we’re out in the middle of the prairie! We heard it again, and could tell it was close, so we stopped and walked and listened and crept and . . . . There it is again!
What IS that?!?!?
Then we figured it out. It was a gator rumbling!
When a male alligator is looking for company, he issues a sound from his lungs that is too low to be heard. This “infrasound” causes him to vibrate violently and whips the water on his back into a froth of waves and leaping fountains. We’ve seen this before (somewhere?), but unfortunately not today. Today we had to be happy with just hearing it.
We stopped back at the coach so we could pick up more water, and I could change clothes. The wind had picked up and I was tired of trying to keep my wide-brimmed hat on my head. I could also do with a cotton T instead of a half polyester one.
The minute we were back to riding, I missed my hat. The visor only protects the front, but as anyone with light-sensitive eyes knows, that’s not always enough. The brutal sunlight was sneaking in the sides and causing the beginnings of what I call a sun-headache. Usually, those only happen when I’m facing the sun during the last hours of the day.
So anyway, we rode into the wind (which is very difficult, even on flat hard surfaces), in the increased heat, and for what? Well, food of course! Mostly potato chips for lunch! And then there was the peanut butter and jelly, and some healthy stuff too. But for me, it was mostly about the chips. And General Tso’s chicken for dinner. And cake for dessert . . . .
Of course, there’s also the stunning scenery to consider, and the wildlife.
There are always lots of wading birds and alligators here, plus fish and frogs and stuff.
In the afternoon, Blaine washed off the bottom part of the coach. It was covered in splattered limestone that needed to be gotten rid of. He spent two hours out in the heat working on it. And then, later tonight, it rained and splashed some more on it. ☹
The coach was really dirty – covered in splatters of limestone. 
We ventured back out again after dinner, as the sun was thinking about calling it a day.
