I needed to go back to the eye doctor in Merritt Island so I asked Ken if he wanted to camp, bird, sail and doctor all in one big excursion. He agreed and so off we headed due east. Ken had been giving me a hard time about not seeing Florida's only endemic bird, the Florida Scrub Jay, so I set out to find a place that has this bird. Buck Lake Conservation Area seemed to fit the bill. We headed out of Sanford around 3 PM. The initial plan was to head straight to Manatee Hammock County Park and set up the tents. I had sent the details to Ken the previous day and he said he would take care of the campsite. He knows all the interweb secrets for the various state and county parks so this seemed like the right course of action. I checked again while we were driving and he assured me that we would be fine. He also offered up the "sail to an island" where primitive camping is allowed but I declined. Since everything was already set, we decided to investigate the Buck Lake area first before heading to the campsite. It was later in the day but not late enough to get the birds that come out at sunset. Even though we did not see much, we knew where we would be going in the morning. We then headed to the campsite and really liked the layout. This is when Ken informed me that he did not actually reserve a spot, he thought it was too expensive. We tried to book, but the office was closed and you could not book online for the current day, only future reservations were allowed. We figured if we book the following night that would be enough to show good faith and we would settle up when the office opened in the morning. So we set up the tents, ate the dinner we brought and found out that there would be a rocket launch the following morning. Our reasonable plan fell apart at 10:30 when a ranger came and told us we had to leave. I asked her where we could go and she offered up a truck stop where "there are showers you could use." Perhaps we were a bit smelly but customer service was not part of her training. It seems that if you have the money to staff someone to throw people out, that person could just as easily take money from folks that want to pay. Oh well, we knocked down the tents, loaded up the car and sat at the gate for several minutes trying to activate the opening function. We could not figure it out so we drove the camping area to find the ranger or someone to help. We did manage to find a couple who told us that the gate manually slides open...duhhh. So we got a hotel down the road for only $15 more than the camposite would have been.
Do driving allowed unless you are a hunter
Lots of regulations
We wont be camping here
We are not designated hunters, but we are hunting birds
Swine brucellosis! Yikes!
Nice habitat
A dove
Big tracks
More doves and an osprey nest
Thunder storms are brewing
At the campsite
/We nabbed a campsite right by the water
Also next to a dog park
The causeway off on the distance
Also right next to boardwalk over the water
The storms are still going
Fishing off the walkway
Meet Ray
Time to set up the tents
