I had heard from some fellow campers that Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park is a great place for stargazing and decided to give it a try this year. Last year when we were reserving our site I checked the lunar calendar to ensure that we picked a weekend with a new moon so that the moon’s light wouldn’t prevent us from seeing as many stars as possible.
We arrived early Friday afternoon and our friend’s Mick & Heidi and their girls Haley and Lola arrived shortly after we did. The park is literally in the middle of nowhere (no stores so pack accordingly) and the last few miles to the campground are on a dirt road. When we were there the dirt road was fairly smooth and it wasn’t a rough ride. We stayed in Site #30 which is on the northern side of a grove of trees making satellite setup difficult. I accepted the challenge and managed to find a spot in the woods where there was a slight gap in the overhead branches. I placed our portable satellite antenna (R2D2) there and was able to pickup all three of the DISH Eastern Arc satellites (61.5, 72.7, 77).
Site #30 
Site #30 
Cat Playtime
It was a cold and extremely windy day so we spent all of our time inside that afternoon and evening. We knew it was going to be cold so Beth packed the ingredients for chili and we had a delicious supper. Mick & Heidi came over after dinner for cocktails.
On Saturday morning we all took the 8:30AM two hour swamp buggy tour. It was a bit cold at first but there was plenty of sun and we didn’t suffer too much. The tour went straight west for 7 miles to the Kissimmee River. By the time we got there it had started to warm up enough that the ospreys and eagles were able to start riding the thermals to circle above us searching for prey.
Saturday night Mick, Lola, and I took our lawn chairs, telescopes, and spotting scopes to an open area in front of the campers to stargaze. Although we never felt like we saw the Milky Way, we had an incredible view of the stars. I spent a lot of time tinkering with my camera trying to get some decent long exposures. Later on Heidi and the girls went up to the Astronomy Pads and got to look through some of the HUGE telescopes.
Orion 
Mick & Heidi’s crew had to head home on Sunday, but we stayed until Tuesday. On Monday we hiked the 4.5 mile Prairie Loop Trail. It was a nice hike through the prairie on a beautiful day.
Lola, Heidi, Haley, Mick, & S’More 
Chicken & Taters 
The Prairie
