David and I had another fantastic and epic road trip over Christmas break. This time, we decided to head South and explore Florida. 3000+ miles in 12 days sounds like a lot, but we really needed much more time. We really enjoyed camping in Florida with the exception of the mosquitos in the southern part of the Everglades. The campgrounds were really lovely and reasonably priced except for Orlando and Key West where we paid in the $130 range at times. I guess that's Florida for you. We enjoyed Epcot Center quite a lot. The Animal Kingdom was so so, and the "Magic" Kingdom, left us feeling completely unmusical in all honesty. I think our Disney days are done. We went to three national parks - Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, and Everglades. We didn't spend much time at Biscayne, but the Dry Tortugas and Everglades were amazing. The Yankee Freedom ferry to the Dry Tortugas was an amazing experience we will never forget. It was worth every penny. Everglades was great as I kept imagining Dad there with us. We sprinkled some of his ashes at a really cool spot where the Shark Valley Trolly stopped (on the left as you head up the path to the observation tower). A true highlight of the trip, however, was spending Christmas Day at Ellie Schiller Wildlife Park in Hommosassa Springs with our friend Yuma, the two year old panther kitty that David feel in love with upon his rescue in the Everglades as a young cub. When we saw Yuma, he was at the back of his habitat lying down and then we spoke to him and suddenly, he was right in front of us. He even stood up on his hind legs so that his face was even with David's. It's like he knew how far we had come to see him.
We hope to see him again some day.
Until we return from the next adventure.....Julie
https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Homosassa-Springs
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