Settling in at Fontainebleau State Park

Sun. Jan. 30-Mon. Jan. 31: Here at campsite #22 there is a nearly constant sound of loud “clicking” from the swamp. I haven’t managed to find out if it is insects or frogs or something else, but I sure hope to learn before the week is out! It’s a bit disconcerting because it sounds very much like the click of raindrops on the aluminum roof of the camper. We have spent these two days getting acclimated, learning our way around the campground, and trying to recover from bronchitis and ear infections (Peggy) and a very bad cold (Marv). We agreed that we mostly needed to take it easy so that we have enough energy to be helpful when we show up at Habitat! So yesterday we went shopping for groceries and then took a rest. We walked around the campground a bit and then took a rest. We went to the Visitors Center to see their demonstration of old fashioned wood working and their exhibition of the history of the park and then took a rest. You get the idea. It rained off and on nearly all day and the temperature was right around 60. It rained hard after sunset and the chili I made tasted very good. The night wasn’t too cold and we woke to fog but temps in the 50s. Although Monday was cloudy much of the time we did have times with hazy sunshine. Many of our fellow campers left yesterday or today and so we have very few neighbors. The campground is quiet and we have seen deer in neighboring campsites. Most of the buildings and structures in the park were wiped out by Hurricane Katrina so what is here is new and very nice. We rode our bikes a lot today—about 8 miles, all in the campground. We started out by going to the registration gate to get quarters for the laundry only to find out we were too late; they had been sent out already with the weekend proceeds. So we rode down to the lakefront and walked on the Alligator Boardwalk. I can’t decide if I’m disappointed or relieved that we didn’t see any alligators. We did see lots of water fowl and no other people. We came back, ate lunch and rested. After sitting in the sun and reading for a while, we rode over to the group campground area and to see the cabins that are available to rent. There are twelve of them, all up in the air, and right over the water. They have a table and chairs, rocking chairs, and fans on their front porch overlooking the lake. Each has a dish for TV and internet access. We don’t know how much they cost to rent, but they look very, very nice! As we ride the camp roads we see very few vehicles but many, many white tail (and possibly another, smaller type) deer and armadillos. We also saw the back end of a wild pig as it scurried into the brush away from us. Marv greased the truck and the camper and we waited to take one more bike ride, back down to the lakeshore to watch the sunset. But by the time he came in, we realized the sun was setting. So instead we hopped in the truck and drove down in time to catch just the edge of the sun as it slipped beyond the horizon. But there was lots of color so it was very nice. We drove from there into Mandeville to get some local cuisine for dinner—bar-b-que beef po’ boys and fried dill pickles at Bears Grill washed down with Abita beer, which is made about 5 miles away. Yummy but we were stuffed!!! We came back to the campsite with a supply of quarters and did two loads of laundry, watched a little TV and got to bed early so we’ll be ready for our first day with Habitat for Humanity.