New Years Eve in the Boonies

 

 

Happy New Year! .......  June & I spent New Years Eve at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, which is about 25 miles North of Okeechobee, FL... This has been a State Park for only 12 years. The State of Florida decided that this flat land must be preserved as it is one of the last remnants of the original Florida prairie that is very much a necessary part of what feeds water to the Everglades.  There's a lot more to this story, but I'm not in tune enough to repeat it.  In any event, we had an enjoyable time spending three nights in what we were told is one of the two darkest spots in the State.  The Park has special camping sites with electric hookups, where star gazers park their RV's and set up their stargazing equipment.  Being so far from city lights, the area is a top spot for this activity.

Sunday morning it was 42 degrees with a breeze and we decided to take the 2 1/2 hour swamp buggy ride thru the swamps.  The ranger explained the animal and bird population and told us about the preserving efforts under way for this park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a sculpture of the Carolina Parakeet which was last seen here in 1918.  The artist donated this in honor of this bird that was driven to extintion and last seen here near this site .   We understand he has done this for many extinct birds and places them near where they were last officially spotted.  The sculpture is over 5 ft. long.