December 27, 2015 - Okeechobee, FL

We had a good night's sleep while staying at Walmart.  It was a lovely morning and we had few places we wanted to go visit today.

First stop was at Tractor Supply to see if they have rubber retainers for the Jeep locks and they were out of them. They suggested to check Advance Zone or AutoParts stores. We did not check either one of them while in town.

We went to Lake Okeechobee and walked the dock.  A guy caught a nice sized bass and catfish. Speckled perchs (crappies) are biting during the winter months.  Lots of boats were out on the water. Erwin mentioned that this might be a good spot for sunset photography and Edith said she'll try to come this evening.

Swamp cabbage is taken from the Sabal Palm tree (Florida's state tree).
Heart of palm, also called palm heart, is harvested from the inner core.

We checked out some RV resorts and one of them was KOA that was the largest KOA campsite in USA. The site was very well maintained and the layout was convenient for big rigs like ours. However, the camping fee for one night was a bit too high. 

The Big Flea Market was open and we pulled into it to walk around and see if there is something we can buy for our Lil' Home or for ourselves.  Erwin bought 6 paperbacks (50 cents each) and navel oranges at the produce.  There were lots of Mexican food stands, but we did not order lunch there.

We toured historic downtown area and there was some murals on buildings.  Christmas decors and signs were displayed on the median.

After checking Tripadvisor.com for attractions it mentioned Taylor Creek Stormwater Management for wildlife viewing and hiking. After leaving downtown we went straight to Taylor Creek to check it out.  The trail does not allow vehicles, only hike and bike.  Since we were planning on checking out of Okeechobee this afternoon we decided we did not have time to bike around the loop, so we left to go back to Walmart.

Edith had to have her cemetery fix and she managed to find one that was not too far from Taylor Creek. Evergreen Cemetery has some interesting shaped tombstones.  There were not too many statues, but Edith found some small ones.

On way to Walmart we went by Villa Margaret RV/mobile resort, decided to go in to get information.  None was at the office, but there was a note on the door with phone numbers to contact.  Erwin called one of the numbers, left message and waited a while.  While we were waiting a guy named Joe drove by and asked what we wanted.  He told us there were some vacancies and wanted to show us one.  We followed him to site #4A.  $25 for one night with full hookups and 50 amps. We liked the site and told Joe that we were going to bring our Lil' Home from Walmart and will pay after we set it up. A motorhome next to us was from Montana!  

After setting up the LH Edith was going to drop Erwin off at Taylor Creek, but after we got there Edith changed her mind and joined him in biking around the loop. There were  sandhill cranes, herons, ibises, gators, egrets.  Nice bike path over 2 1/2 miles.

Edith dropped Erwin off at Villa Bargaret and went to Lake Okeechobee for sunset photo op.  Other photographers were there, also.  There were more anglers fishing at the dock than this morning. One guy caught  crappie and another guy caught a bass. The dock is open for fishing until midnight. The sunset was so-so.  The location was not perfect, but Edith went ahead and shoot some pictures.

We had a restful evening after supper. Erwin commented that he is going to sleep good tonight because the air conditioning is on.  The other night where there was no electricity when we boondocked at Walmart it was uncomfortably humid.