South Bay and Sebring Fl.

Having left the busy traffic of Lake Worth and pointing the nose of the bright blue truck to the west, we retraced or reversed most of our path of several previous trips.   As always - thru sugarcane fields in various stages of growth from fresh plowed black fields with seagulls soaring in circles overhead, scouring for any turned

over rodents for a quick lunch, to waving fields of tasseled grassy growth that would soon be enveloped in massive clouds of black, orange and gray smoke.

South Bay Campground is not new to us –SPFB –Feb 19, 2018, Feb 2. 2016 and Feb 10, 2015!   This far south and this far into winter should not have been as cold or as windy or as wet as this one has been.  And to make matters worse – the steep ramp up to the top of the levee that keeps Lake Okeechobee from spilling onto

Hwy 27, this county park campground and the tiny town that bears that same name – was closed to all traffic.  No one could get to the boat launch on the other side nor could any one wishing to ride their bikes or hike make the trek up the steep drive to the top.  The reconstruction of the levee is still going on after what seems like an eternity instead of a half dozen years or so. On our last visit the huge piles of rock and the large dump trucks that hauled them were farther west, towards Clewiston and we could still ride our trusty bikes towards Torry Island Campground around to the east and 5 miles up to the town of Belle Glade.  This time, our trusty little bikes never left the security of the truck bed.  Instead, it was the bright blue truck that drove up and over the levee at any other available site to check the water level on the other side or to see how far in either direction the repair work was progressing.

Torry Island Campground was full!  And our friends that we had met there on several trips before were not in their usual spot on the corner, right by the channel and under the big sprawling tree!    Up the road in Pahokee, the campground, which is on the INSIDE of

the levee, was also occupied by more big RV’s and motor homes than we had ever seen in the past.  The break wall of the harbor still wrapped around and was protecting another eclectic collection of strange vessels.  Along side one lengthy dock was moored a 195 foot silver barge that looked like it was from Star Wars or some other alien movie.  The Counterpoint II still carries the banner on her side of “American Waterways Wind Orchestra” from her days as a floating concert hall that has traveled around the world!  In the center of the barge is a hydraulic powered steel cover that rises 25

ft in the air to protect the center stage as an overhead canopy and diffuses the sound.  In 2017 there was a bidding war to purchase the vessel to keep it from being dismantled and destroyed.   The bid was won by the town of Pahokee and is now to be used as a center of music education for the local children – including those from Pahokee - one of the poorest communities in Florida.  Go online and enter: “From Pittsburgh to Pahokee Florida” to read more!

Sunday morning arrived and so did the sun!  The temps were finally warming up!  As H was finally getting to visit with our neighbors and I was showing the ladies my “wares” of potholders and other handicrafts, H was approached by the office staff and was advised that his reservations were up but if he wanted to, he could sign up for one more day.  We thought we had till Tuesday in our now warm and sunny site.  After checking his schedule, H realized that she was right and we hurriedly packed and made haste to move to our next reserved spot – in Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring!  Whew!  Good thing we had fixed breakfast already!

In Highlands Hammock we were on the backside of the campground and across the little road was the “hammock” of palmetto bushes, tall skinny palm trees and thin waving pines.  Our site this time was pie shaped and the electric and water were up by the roadway so we parked close to the power supply  - as did the tiny, rough looking OLD 1960’s era trailer with various shades of

faded paint and/or rust.  She also sat at a slight tilt!  We finally got to meet the proud owners of  “Ilean” (get it? Tilt! I lean!) and were given the grand tour of her well done, COMPACT, rebuilt interior in colors of black and white and trimmed in turquoise and peach!  Their goal for her is to take her to ALL of the National Parks and have stickers on her front and back windows to brag about their trips – just like I do with my jacket of many patches! 

Our “to do” list was checked off in good order  - rode our bikes out around the 3 mile, shaded blacktopped road loop.  Still no armadillos!  The walking trail and NARROW boardwalk out thru the swamp and over the quiet, dark patch of water, ladened with water lily leaves was still a must do.  A visit with B&C, just down the road in Lake Placid at their winter home in Camp Florida RV Resort was our top priority since we’d not seen them since last November up home before we each started our separate winter adventures!

If you ask H where he wants to go for lunch in Lake Placid, without hesitation the reply is Mexican – at Casa Tequila Restaurant!  Our plates are always clean when we are done!  We all met at Galati’s Family Restaurant in Sebring the evening before we were to move on.  The pizza is not as good as Buddy’s Pizza up in Dearborn Michigan but it was really good!  None is ever wasted!

Now we’re on to unknown territory.  We’ve never been to Zolfo Springs or the Cracker Lake 55+ RV Resort.  Let’s go see something new!