Pre-Christmas Traffic vs Campground Critters

My plan for today was to head to Publix for a few groceries.

Once I realized it was the weekend before Christmas… I opted not to go anywhere!

Getting groceries was just an excuse anyway.

I didn’t really need anything.

I just wanted to get out-n-about for a while.

But Monday works for me!

Pre-Christmas Weekend Traffic

The south Miami-Dade County traffic is crazy before Christmas.

It doesn’t matter if you take the Turnpike, Dixie Highway or any other road… the traffic is plum bonkers!

I learned my lesson about south Miami-Dade pre-Christmas traffic several years ago after selling my laptop on Offer Up.

My Pre-Christmas Laptop Selling Adventure

Flashback to the Friday before Christmas 2017…

It was supposed to be a 20 minute drive to Miami to meet the people who were buying my laptop.

I had no concern that it was the Friday before Christmas because I wasn’t planning on going into any stores.

That 20 minute drive took TWO HOURS!

And that was only one way.

The drive back took almost TWO AND A HALF HOURS!

What should have taken an hour (20 minutes there, 20 minutes or less to sell, 20 minutes back) took over FOUR HOURS.

The traffic was jam-frickin-packed and, with all the fender benders, traffic backed up quickly and often.

Even with police everywhere there was no escaping the consequences of choosing to drive amidst the chaos of pre-Christmas, south Florida traffic.

Nature: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Flashfoward to present day…

My campsite is on the outer edge of the campground. Thankfully, my spot offers sight-seeing opportunities from the comfort of my campsite and it sure beats the chaos of current day traffic.

The grass at the back of my campsite is taller than the top of my head.

If I’m looking at Google Earth correctly, the back of my campsite is a small section of the Southern Glades.

From my campsite, I watch different birds and critters during the day but I’m NOT going out there at night.

I don’t know which would be worse… the pre-Christmas Miami-Dade traffic or the night time Everglades critters (gasp).

The Bugs Are Biting Bad This Year

The few occasions when I walked about 10 feet from the van to Nikki’s car after dark – with my safe-for-me bug spray on – I ended up plastered with bug bites.

They even bite through clothing.

I have proof on my butt! There will be no pictures so you’ll have to take my word for it.

This year the bugs seem much worse than in the past.

The biting bugs are bad enough but who knows what other critters luck around after dark.

I (and many other’s) usually stay inside after dark.

Critters Around The Campground

Every day, in the early afternoon, a medium sized lizard comes down the tree that sits at the edge of my patio.

The lizard hangs there, head down, and stares. I can’t tell if he’s staring at me, the van or my neighbors – but he does this everyday.

I named him Snowball.

In the picture, you can see the tall grass directly behind my campsite as Snowball gazes at whatever he’s spying with his little eye.

Some pictures may look a little dark because they’re taken through my tinted window. To open the door and go back outside would scare the critters away.

Around 5:15PM each day, the peacocks hit this section of the campground.

This must be their preference for eating supper. I’m sure it’s stocked with lots of tasty critters!

In the picture, the peahens forage for food at the back of my neighbors campsite.

When I’m out in the morning, I see the peacock elsewhere in the campground but I rarely see him with the hens in late afternoon.

Maybe he’s tuckered out from flaunting his feathers all day and needs a nap ?!?

You May Not Be Showering Alone

If you plan to take a shower in the bath house… you may not be alone!

I’m not talking about hidden cameras or creepers… I’m talking about hidden critters.

I don’t use the bathhouse here because the chlorine is bad. There’s not an easy way for me to filter the shower water at campground showers.

When in this neck of the woods, I shower/wash in the van or shower at Nikki’s house (she has a shower filter).

I hadn’t checked the shower house out for a few years and wondered if anything changed so… during one of my walks I checked it out.

As I pulled the shower curtain back to see what I could see…a little frog popped out from between the folds of the curtain.

He posed for a picture before looking for another crease to crawl into.

Poisonous Frogs?

Some frogs here are poisonous but I’m told this little guy isn’t.

As for poisonous frogs, the biggest threat is to dogs who lick or bite the frogs.

A neighbor was worried because her dog licked a frog. She didn’t know if the frog was poisonous so she called a vet to get some info.

The vet told her she could bring her dog in but, if the frog was poisonous, it would unalive her small dog in about 15 minutes.

She’d been on the phone with the vet for several minutes and it would take more than 10 minutes to get to the vet so she opted to ride out the storm.

Happily, the little furball is alive and well. Hopefully the little stinker quits licking frogs!

Parting Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed my musings and reminiscing’s about Miami-Dade pre-Christmas traffic and my little critter adventure around the campground.

Whatever you do or don’t celebrate this season… I hope your Holiday’s and/or the remainder of 2022 is peaceful, pleasant and filled with great memories.

I’ll see you in 2023!