#32 - Tuesday, 14 March 2017 | Okeechobee, Florida

Still loving this location. Not Okeechobee city limits so much, but the south central prairies of Florida and Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. I write this from dinner at Applebee's and on the way here I saw several red-shouldered hawks, a huge osprey, several kites, a caracara, white-tailed deer, sandhill cranes, numerous egrets, black and turkey vultures and ravens. I came into town on impulse. I had been plagued by a headache all day and got a little stir-crazy and felt like taking a ride and having a restaurant dinner. 

Tomorrow will be my last day at KPPSP. Thursday morning I will leave as early as possible to make my way south to Everglades National Park. I have a reservation for the Flamingo Campground at the southern tip of the park, but it isn't a site-specific booking and campsites are allotted first come, first serve after arrival. I've begun to take a look at where to head after the Everglades, but Florida is well booked with snowbirds. The season ends mid-April and then most state parks don't take reservations anymore and everything becomes "walk-in". I've been watching the temperatures in Texas and I really want to be heading that direction by April.

All the best, M

#31 - Friday, 10 March 2017 - Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida

Well, it’s been a minute since I’ve blogged. I don’t even know where to begin a “catch up” so this will be a hyper-abridged Reader’s Digest & Cliff Notes recount of life for one dude, one parrot, four tarantulas and 16 wheels.

Borneo and Malaysia was an amazing adventure. I was so happy to spend time with Mark, Kim, Brandon and 14 others. Then again, that’s at least 14 people too many for me. The sweltering heat and humidity was oppressive and I was finally glad to head home to where my clothes wouldn’t be constantly soaked with my salty sweat. The journey home sucked monkey ass. I am far too large and far too incapable of sleeping other than in a dark bed to be confined to a laugh of a seat surrounded by people who have never bought deodorant and their bawling babies. 24 hours in a plane over 36 hours and I arrived back at O’Hare in Chicago a hot mess. I had two days to recover before I would start my drive back to Florida. And, of course, I had things to organize and prepare despite the crushing effects of jet lag, an aching head and body, and fucked up inner ears.

One concern was that this trip would be for an indefinite amount of time. Another was that my crazy parrot Jesse would finally be accompanying me. A last minute challenge was the fact that I was reminded that I still owned four tarantulas and they were hidden away on the top shelf of a closet in Lisa’s house of Plenty.

Fast forward. I drove. I arrived in Chattanooga on the first night and crashed in a hotel. My ears were still buggered and the elevation changes in the mountains of southeastern Tennessee had them popping and stuffed. The next day I drove to pick up my Wheelhouse from storage outside of Ocala. By the time I arrived it was mid afternoon and I discovered the two batteries that power the RV when it isn’t connected to 30 amp service were drained. I should have disconnected before leaving for a month. My truck has a 110V outlet and the connection to the RV is a smart cable that charges batteries while operating the lights and brakes so I could have just connected and waited for hours and hours, but I couldn’t move the RV until I could retract the stabilizers and the tongue jack. So I headed into town and found an auto parts store to buy a battery charger. That is something that was on the list to buy from the start but was overlooked. Back to storage, plug in charger and back to work.

I had no place in mind to overnight and had planned to just crash in a truck stop or Wal-Mart parking lot or something. But after charging the batteries and hitching up and getting underway I was overcome by exhaustion. Jet lag was still in full force and the efforts with the RV had left me dead. I started heading south toward my final destination at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, but soon pulled over and looked for the closest cheap motel. I found a Days Inn at the head of the Florida Turnpike and checked in to die.

The next morning I left early and headed down the turnpike toward the state park. I had loads of time so I stopped at each services and relaxed with a drink and caught up on email and social media. When I finally arrived at the park at lunch time I discovered that I was one day early. My five night reservation didn’t begin until the following day. I got lucky, though, and they had one campsite available. I had to wait until the occupant checked out, so I took a little hike and found a marshy area full of baby alligators.

One night in the Family Campground and then I moved the Wheelhouse to site 32 in the Equestrian Campground. I prefer the latter, although the former has better cell reception. The equestrian is mostly just RVs and tent campers, but it has a few corrals adjacent to it where those who bring horses can let them graze. The trails in this state park are “multi-purpose” and can be used by horses, hikers or bikers.

Last night was the last of my five nights at this site and that means I’ve been here for six nights already. However, I love this park and the weather has been fabulous. Each morning in the equestrian camp I have been visited by wild turkey. The tom is elusive, but I have heard him each morning and one he emerged and displayed. Unfortunately, my images of him are disappointing. As I type this, the group of twelve or so hens and one young male is pecking around my site. I’ve been hiking and photographing, but also just relaxing and reading and watching movies. I finished a catalog I had been designing for my former employer in Seattle. I am now working on the March issue of the Journal of the British Tarantula Society. Today I was supposed to leave Kissimmee Prairie, but I was able to book a site in the family campground for six more nights, which would take me up to my reservation on the 16th in the Flamingo Campground at the southern tip of Everglades National Park. I’ll be there for five nights and then reassess how much time I want to stay in Florida and if I want to visit any other sites. By the month’s end I will head back north to Georgia and then start west.

Jesse is now a pikey too. I left her cage at Joel’s house and she spent the first four days in her travel cage. She only slept inside her big cage and spent all waking hours on the top playground, so I decided to buy her a new play stand for the RV. I finally assembled it a couple days ago and she now has an unconfined space. This morning I woke to a strange sound and found her next to the bed sleeping. The piles of shit around her proved she had been there for some time. She didn’t do that the first couple nights, but I may have to use the enclosure of the travel cage for her to sleep in at night.

All the best, MJ

#21 - Friday, 3 February 2017 | Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida

It is Friday morning. I woke before dawn and decided to make a cup of coffee and take a sunrise stroll. The birds were singing and coaxing me to join them for the break of daylight. Deer were everywhere. I walked along and they didn’t seem too bothered by this early-rising primate, but would bound into surrounding cover if my approach was too close. I had one camera. I also had my iPhone. I must learn to live fully off the grid and not be so dependent on it, but there was a message I wanted to send so I hoped I would acquire signal at some point. I saw a raccoon walk across the crushed shell and sand main road of Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. The post cold front skies had been clear all week, but some morning clouds today aided me in capturing a few beautiful sunrise images. I saw more and more white-tailed deer. When I got to the park office I sat at one of the picnic tables and checked my cell signal and was able to send a couple important direct messages and also answer a few emails. I sat finishing my coffee and three young deer approached. One got within ten feet of me before finally spooking and trotting off a bit.

Yesterday I went to breakfast at Cowpoke’s Cafe, which is maybe ten miles from my campsite. You drive several miles to exit the park and then follow the paved roads towards the main road. The cafe is remote and I wondered about the locals that were inside. After an omelette, toast, juice and coffee, I drove back to camp and along the park road stopped for six snakes that were sunning in the road. Three were Florida garter snakes and three were related ribbon snakes. The largest was no more than two and a half feet long, and most drivers would have just thought they were twigs or other debris. When I arrived at the park office on the first day I saw a graphic that explained that 80% of the animals found dead-on-road (DOR), victims of vehicles, are snakes. Certainly these small snakes, which were motionless and sunning and not moving across the road, would be overlooked by most drivers and accidentally killed. However, the sad fact is that some drivers that recognize snakes on the road go out of their way to crush them beneath their wheels. Humans can suck. I photographed a couple of the snakes and released all in the roadside grass. I’m sure they went right back out onto the road, but at least the traffic I saw during the rest of my drive wouldn’t kill them.

I parked back at my campsite and decided to hike towards the slough that runs through the park where I was certain to find alligators and wading birds. As I walked down the path running parallel to the wetland I came upon an alligator sunning in the trailside grass. It was a six-footer and didn’t even move as I stopped to photograph it. Farther along I saw many alligators ranging from six to ten feet or more. Great blue herons, great egrets, wood storks and other birds took to flight at my disturbance. The area is close to the park road and allows access for those less adventurous than me. There is a bench on one side of the path and a picnic table a bit farther up on the other side. I spent a couple hours at the site with my long lens on a tripod and another camera in my hand. I watched both great blue and little blue herons, cormorants, egrets, ibis, wood storks and, of course, alligators. Fish were constantly jumping in the marsh and I saw some large fish in the shallows. It was a serene spot to spend the late morning. I was by myself except for a couple that road up on mountain bikes. I recognized them quickly as my campsite next-door neighbors. Their arrival sent the birds to flight, but I waited for many to return.

Tonight is my last night here. Tomorrow morning I will drive two and a half hours north to Ocala where I will be storing the Wheelhouse while I am in Borneo and Malaysia. Hopefully I will be done by midday and then I will continue north to Macon, Georgia for the night. I intend to make it back to my bonus dad (stepdad) Joel’s house on Monday. On Tuesday I will get ready for my overseas trip and have lunch with my sister Lisa. I fly out of Chicago’s O’Hare airport Wednesday evening arriving in Dubai on Thursday evening, Kuala Lumpur Friday morning and then Kuching, Borneo on Friday afternoon. My friends will join me in Kuching on Saturday.

Today after I have everything packed I am going to make the campsite and RV tour video I never got to yesterday and I also am going to buy some firewood so I can have a campfire on my final night and enjoy the big can of Foster’s lager I bought the other day.

Due to the lack of wifi and almost no cell signal I am way behind on posting images to Instagram. Tomorrow night when I reach my Macon hotel I will bomb Insta will loads of pix. I'm sending this from town, but have no wifi and am using my cell data plan. Images will have to wait until the weekend. Enjoy yours!

All the best, M

#20 - Wednesday, 1 February 2017 | Okeechobee, Florida

Hello February from Okeechobee, Florida where it is currently 78ºF/26ºC. I type this during my second visit to Applebee's since my arrival to the area (the first was the first night's dinner). Tonight will be night three of five at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. Not only is there no wi-fi, but my cell signal is almost non-existent. The park is situated far from cities and cell towers and my beautiful campsite is shaded by amazing old trees covered with epiphytes and Spanish moss. I hope to wean myself of my Internet dependency as the year progresses, but I will always seek out free wi-fi when I can. Starbucks is the most dependable source of both the finest espresso and high speed inter webs, but there isn't one anywhere near here. The drive from my campsite to Okeechobee is about 50 minutes, 15 of which is spent driving the white sand and gravel road leading out of the park. The remoteness of Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park (KPPSP) lends itself to many things. It is known to be the finest place in Florida for stargazing and one of my campsite neighbors has two huge telescopes set up next to his equally huge and impressive RV coach.

Site 27, Equestrian Campground, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

My favorite part of the drive 33 miles southeast to Okeechobee (and back) is the huge flocks of Sandhill Cranes I see each time. I so enjoyed photographing these magnificent birds in northern Illinois last year and I wonder if any of those that frequented Huntley are feeding in the south central Florida warmth. The first evening I saw one pasture that held at least fifty cranes, perhaps closer to 75. Today I saw groups ranging from several to dozens and many were near water-filled oases. I also saw many in flight. Sandhill cranes 

The state park is beautiful and this morning I hiked almost four hours. The park is expansive (54,000 acres) and there are many trails. As it is prairie filled with palmetto scrub, there is little tree cover, but many of the trails lead from the sweeping grassland vistas in out of shady hammocks. In one island of trees I watched a pair of flickers (woodpeckers) for some time and photographed them. Vultures soared overhead and small birds flitted among the palmetto. They were far too fast to view for long much less photograph, but I believe that many were the endangered Florida grasshopper sparrow. The sun was strong and my liter of water began to disappear quicker than I would have liked. My eyes scanned everywhere for reptiles and I had hoped that they would be warming after a comparatively cool early year night. I startled a couple of grouse hidden in the scrub. Actually, my heart jumped and it would be fairer to say that they startled me. Further along a raptor rosefrom the trailside ground ahead and flew across the prairie. Although it quickly distanced itself from me, the beak shape revealed its identity and I may have cursed at having missed the chance to get a good view, and perhaps a photograph, of a Crested Caracara. These falcon relatives are very different in shape and habits, and are known to often feed on carrion. They are known from central Florida, central and southern Texas and south-central Arizona south into Mexico. I continued along the trail and was surprised that what seemed like mostly a dry area became increasingly wetland. I hoped this might mean snakes and I searched around accumulated water. Out of water and my the ball of my right foot becoming very pained I picked up speed after consulting my trail map and finding the right trail to lead me back towards camp. The white sand trail became wide enough for my truck and I observed tracks from the ranger's ATVs and some paw prints that had me wondering if panthers were found in the park. A blue heron and a couple of great white egrets spooked as I approached and I knew that the sides of the trail must be marshy. Soon the water reached both sides of the trail. Where one culvert passed beneath the trail I paused and saw both baby and juvenile alligators in the water. I photographed them for some time and began to wonder if mother might be nearby. The marshy grass showed clear signs of alligator trails. There were banded neonate alligators, but also yearlings and they varied in size based on feeding and growth. I started looking more closely for an adult. I walked to the other side of the trail (the other end of the culvert pipe) and I don't know if mom or I were more startled. She was about seven feet long and was laying in the grass sunning herself. At sight of the big tattooed primate she dove into the water and sought cover inside the mouth of the pipe. I moved along and picked up pace to return to camp for much needed water and a cold shower.

Once I was refreshed and wearing t-shirt, shorts and sandals, I headed into town. As I drove out of KPPSP, I saw a raptor ahead on the road. I slowed my truck and noticed that it was feeding. As I got closer I knew that it was a crested caracara. Perhaps I would have another chance to capture an image or three. I pulled over. Whenever I am driving I have two cameras on the passenger seat. One body has my 300mm f4 super telephoto with 1.4x teleconverter and the other has my amazing 70-200mm f2.8 wildlife workhorse. The first is equivalent to 630mm on my APC (cropped sensor) bodies and I pointed it at the bird. I was able to snap a couple of exposures, but it took to flight before I had a chance to do what I hoped. I jumped back into the truck and chased after it. It was flying parallel to the road on the right side perhaps 50 feet above the ground and moving at a good clip. I drove faster in pursuit watching for it to land. Ahead it landed on a elevated wood platform. I am not sure what the purpose of the structure is, but it sort of looks like an osprey nesting platform only about ten times as large. I'll have to investigate it later when I return to camp. The caracara landed and I was able to drive just past and pull off the road. It seemed much more comfortable sitting high above the ground and I spent about five minutes firing off maybe 100 exposures. I can't wait to review my photos later. Hopefully at least one will make it to Instagram along with some gator shots. I won't be able to post until I have wi-fi again though ...

My plan for the evening is to finish tidying the Wheelhouse. Almost everything is put away now and I will then relax with a movie. Tomorrow morning I plan to film a tour of the campsite and the interior of the Wheelhouse. I'll post it to YouTube and share here.

All the best, M

#17 - Friday, 27 January 2017 | Bowling Green, Kentucky

#roadtripusa2017 has now officially begun! 

It will be interrupted by my February 8-26 trip to Kuching and Langkawi, but yesterday I left Chicagoland with "The Wheelhouse" – my 31' travel trailer – in tow. Once the RV was delivered earlier in the week I had planned to leave Sunday morning after my family returned from their holiday in Riviera Maya, Mexico, but icy and cold conditions and no place to park the rig combined to make me leave yesterday morning. In the back of my mind I think I had hoped that I'd be able to back the travel trailer into my sister's driveway to load and organize, but it is far too narrow and I realized that my eagerness had left me in a bind. When I picked it up on Wednesday I began to load it, but became very stressed about having no place to park it overnight, and that worry was exacerbated by the dreary fog and cold rain of the day. I loaded what I could and took a test drive on the highway where I found a truck stop where I could do some unpacking inside. Eventually I decided I had no choice but to park it on the street in front of my stepdad's house. I could block his drive and park overlapping the parkway in front of his neighbors. However, his side is the no parking side where fire hydrants are located. I resigned myself to accept the parking ticket and went to bed early, very anxious and restless. 

Yesterday dawned with no angry neighbors and no police department fine. When I say dawned I mean the wee hours before dawn as I am an early riser always, and had gone to bed very early the night before intending to wake early and get shit done. It was 2 a.m. and I drove to my sister's house in Huntley to load the rest of my gear. In the dark of predawn I was able to park in the alley beside her business house and load everything. I then headed back to Joel's house to load the rest after a stop at Starbucks and Walmart. It was a cold and icy morning and the weather forecast was for dropping temperatures. Trucks were everywhere salting the streets. Even though it would mean leaving my parrot Jesse alone for 48 hours, I knew that my best plan was to avoid the weather and rig parking and hassle and get on the road. One week ago I had stayed at this Country Inn & Suites by Carlson in Bowling Green, Kentucky and loved the hotel. I decided to book last night here and start getting myself back to warmth. Today I have a return to Macon, Georgia planned, but as it has cooled off there to where overnight temps will be close to freezing I will either have to go farther south or stay in a hotel for one more night. Starting Monday night I have a campsite reserved at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida where I was originally planning to start this road trip. The only sites available were in the equestrian area so I imagine my RV will be among musky scents and whinnying. I'll be there four nights unpacking my things and doing some hiking. Winter weather has returned throughout the U.S. and temps in Florida will be cooler than when I was there just over a week ago. The furnace in my RV will actually run during the night. On February 4 I will park The Wheelhouse at a storage facility in Ocala, Florida and return to Chicagoland for my trip to Borneo and Malaysia. It won't be cool there.

Hopefully you keep up on my Instagram posts, but here are some photos my rig:

about to leave the lot at General RV Center, Huntley, IL

Practicing backing in a vacant lot

Unnamed truck & "The Wheelhouse"

Coachmen RV Freedom Express Liberty Edition 276RKDSLE
31 1/2 feet, 7800 lbs. loaded

#2: Thursday, 15 December 2016 | Huntley, Illinois

I am in a holding pattern. I will close on my house on Tuesday, 20 December, but I can’t flee the frozen heartland until I have four axles beneath me. My shiny new travel trailer and truck are expected on disturbingly vague dates: “by Christmas” and “by the end of the year”, respectively. My itinerary for 2017 will be open, and I will follow the weather to try to stay between fifty degree nights and eighty degree days. However, snowbirds flock to Florida during January so I have already made some campsite reservations. The first begins 3 January 2017 for four nights at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. Will I make it?

Kissimmee Prairie is between the Kissimmee Chain Of Lakes and Lake Okeechobee with the Blue Cypress Conservation area just to the east and the Atlantic coast near Vero Beach just further east. There is much to see in this area and it is the base camp from which I will seek to find the introduced population of the Mexican theraphosid species Brachypelma vagans along the canals and orchards near Fort Pierce. It is my first destination regardless, but the question is whether I will have to forfeit my prepaid campsite during the first week of January. While much of my western camping will be the boondocking, the free and dispersed primitive camping I defined in the first blog entry, Florida has fewer opportunities for staying at no cost on public land, and during the month of January most RVers crowd southern Florida. The state park offers full hookups with electricity and water for $16 a night so I eagerly made a reservation hoping my timeline would jive. Now I just need Coachmen RV/General RV and Ford/Tom Peck Ford to do their part. Because of the many snowbirds (people who flock to warmer climes during the northern winter) who made reservations long ago, campsite reservations are tricky and I was only able to book four nights. Once I hit the road I will be able to begin picking some other spots. The only other reservation I have made is not prepaid and is not in a state park. I will seldom stay in private and comparably expensive RV parks during 2017, but I will have to during January and have my second set of dates scheduled beginning 16 January at The Boardwalk RV Resort in Homestead. This is a great location to be able to explore Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Reserve and drive out to the Florida Keys. I’d like to try to find a campsite in the Everglades while I’m down there, but I will find comfort in knowing that my RV is parked in a gated RV park with security if I decide to drive all the way out to Key West without it. It all depends on timing. Should the Gods of Love and Reason (who caught that Rush reference?) cooperate and RV and F-150 arrive by December 29, I will be off and will make it to Key West for New Year’s Eve (sought alone to rule the fate of man … Cygnus X-1, Hemispheres, Rush).

As I mentioned in the premiere posting, this blog will be an almost daily supplement to what will be daily posts to my @jacobipix Instagram. Follow the exploits of one guitar-picking, snake and spider chasing photog and his little parrot as they tour America. It’s a reality TV series in the making! You’ll learn all sorts of crazy stuff including new words like boondocking and shunpiking. How about glamping? It’s a matter of perspective, but I am pretty sure I wouldn’t qualify. This word is a mash up of glamour and camping and refers to those who have more amenities than most people do in their brick and mortar homes. Hell, I just watched an episode of Big Time RV where a couple bought a $650,000 motor home. That’s right. That’s four times what I sold my house for! But I’ve spent years camping in leaky tents, sometimes freezing me arse off in a cheap sleeping bag poorly suited even for summer. Some will accuse my new 31 1/2 travel trailer of being too posh. The grass is always greener …

As I wrote before, I will return to Chicago in early February to fly to Dubai and on to Kuala Lumpur and my final destination of Kuching, Malaysian Borneo. After a week at the LimeTree Hotel in Kuching, I will return to KL to fly to Langkawi Island to stay at Berjaya Langkawi Resort. However, with any luck, before the month of January ends my buddy John Apple will be joining the spider chase in Florida. Those of you who know John know that he is an expert on araneomorphs or "true spiders", as well as other little invertebrates. I imagine his girlfriend Ashley will be with him, and the three of us will comb Florida for all sorts of creepy crawlies. Having John as a field researcher will definitely increase my yield of true spider photographs for upcoming projects, and it will be good to have some company around the campfire at night.

Stay tuned as I continue to document #roadtrip2017. My post frequency will increase as I take delivery of my vehicles and prepare to depart. I will be on the road to Atlanta as soon as I can, overnighting in a hotel there during my two day trip to southern Florida. Will I make it for New Year’s Eve and toast 2017 with a tropical drink in some bar in Key West? Or will I still be bundled up in Chicagoland? Only time will tell …

All the best, MJ