Dixie and Friends at Sumter Oaks

While we have stayed at the Escapees' Sumter Oaks RV Park in Bushnell many times over the years, this time when we returned from our sojourn to Orlando, we parked on the outer edge of the campground.  Directly in front of us was the newly installed (since we left in January) Dog Run.  It is an instant hit with the many dog owners staying here and it provided Dixie many opportunities to meet new playmates.  And she met them all, large and small, and generally got along well with most.  So this first group of pictures will be of some of the activity in the dog run.  Though it is hard to capture the frenetic energy of these animals in still photos, you will see them mostly at rest after a romp.

Mini Dachshunds, Fritz, the black and tan, and Dolly the brindle were lots of fun and about the same size as Dixie.  Here they are taking a breather.

If ever there were a case of puppy love it was evident between Dixie and Peanut!  Whenever, while on walks, we got near Peanut's site, she would start to pull that way, wimpering, hoping to see him.  And Peanut was the same way!  They really had connected.

When they played, they played roughly and Dixie loved his long furry ears.  I think they reminded her of the soft toys she likes to dismantle!

Dixie's ancestry is a mystery, but opinions have been rendered suggesting some combination of Dachshund, Welsh Corgie, maybe, and Jack Russell or rat terrier. Peanut is a mix of Lhasa Apso and Shih Tzu.  Happy, below is believed to be a mix of Golden Retriever and Standard Poodle.  He loves to play fetch and also to romp with the other dogs.  The day these were taken, Happy's master was enjoying some ice cream and Dixie was more interested in that than the playtime!  One would think we starve her.

Dixie is the champ hole digger and was glad for a place to dig where nobody would be angry with her.

Happy was happy to take a break!

Enough of Dogs for this time.  In my earlier travel posts I liked to share with you the "View From Here" with a picture of what we see out our front window as we are parked around the country.  Directly in front of our rig is a pasture, Florida style, with scattered Live Oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss, various scrub grasses and the occasional palm or cypress trees.  Nearly every evening the cattle wander through browsing.  We have seen wild turkeys, red-tailed hawks, a pileated woodpecker, bluebirds, house wrens, chickadees, the local family of sandhill cranes.  Last night the sky showed us the crescent moon, Venus and Saturn and after we went to bed an unknown number of Barred Owls serenaded with their familiar call, hoot, hoot, hoot, who cooks for you? 

Finally, I offer a view of the main drag through a little town, Floral City, FL.  Talk about your canopy trees!

    

Campground Art?

First some news, then I'll get to the pictures.


Cathy's tricycle, the brand new one, was stolen last Monday night about 9:15. We had moved from Orlando back to Bushnell on Sunday and were parked early in the afternoon.  After unpacking and getting something for supper, we were chillin' at home.  It was a pleasant evening so the windows were open and I heard some kids outside on the road talking.  It didn't concern me since it is Spring Break and there are youthful guests are not uncommon. But, about two minutes later I heard 2 or 3 sets of footsteps running away.  I immediately knew what had happened and opened the door to look where it had been parked, but no trike.  While I was calling the cops, Mom went out with Dixie and spotted one kid running down the highway.


A Deputy Sherrif came about 20 minutes later to get the story and he pretty much knew where the culprits likely lived.  There is a very low class neighborhood called Croom or Croom-a-Coochie just  a half mile or so south of the campground.  The cop told us many of the teens there have already been in and out of jail more than once.  I sensed he had low expectations of recovering the trike.  But he did say they would not have an easy time selling it - none of their neighbors would have money for such a luxury and if they offered it to another snowbird, they would be skeptical and question where it came from.


The officer explained to us that FL has a victim re-imbursement program in which money and profits from sales of recovered stolen goods is returned to compensate victims. It may take 3 months for a claim to work its way through the system though.   We reported the incident to our insurance company and a reimbursement check is already on the way to us.  In addition a new Trike is also on the way from Amazon and should be here this week.  So the matter will be resolved, but the experience was troubling! 


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Somebody in the Campground has been painting "faces" in scars on the trees around the park.  I admire the eye and imagination as well as the talent required to create these small folk art gems.  I hope you enjoy seeing them.  I will not attempt to describe them but choose to let your imagination run wild!

So much for the art.  Recently a storm system passed and left the sunset display below for us to enjoy. 

And the family of Sand Hill Cranes have reappeared after only a pair had been regular visitors.  I think the one in the center is the chick.

That's all until next time.

Campground Wildlife

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have seen the Gopher Tortoise while parked at Thousand Trails near Orlando FL.  We have returned to Orlando after two weeks farther south and are parked next to an active Gopher Tortoise burrow.  We have been fortunate to witness their mating ritual which is a fairly active show.  Unfortunately I did not capture it on video.






Above is the female in the burrow today.


The Gopher Tortoise is one of only a few species that digs burrows which may be as long as 40 feet and as deep as 10 feet, but only as wide as the tortoise doing the digging.  The front claws are adapted to the task.  In addition to providing a home for the tortoise the burrows are also used by a range of other creatures including the indigo snake, Florida mouse, gopher frog and burrowing owl.



The male, seen above, approached the female and went through a lot of head bobbing and rushes toward her while she forced him to back away.  When she was ready for him, she entered the burrow head first and he raced in behind to complete the union!  We saw this twice over a ten day span, so we're not sure if it didn't take the first time or if they were just making sure!  Today she is back in the burrow on alert as seen at left.  She was not happy as I approached to take her picture.

And lastly for this time I share a sunset we enjoyed while were at the Peace River Preserve near the small town of Wauchula FL.  While neither there nor here in Orlando is close to the Ocean or the Gulf we have seen some nice evening skies.