Blessed Are The Intrepid, Day 15:
Into the Wild Again

The day would start in a place far from where it would end, in West Palm Beach’s budding downtown–within its brightly colored murals and instagram opportunities, its hip eateries. In the span of just a few hours I was within Florida’s “Prairie”–its cowboy apparel stores, fields of grazing cows who meander strangely backdropped by palm trees, lagoon birds at their side and perched on their backs. Yet another Florida. And I’d see the Milky Way again. This time in the darkest sky in Peninsular Florida, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve.

But first, a send-off lunch at Kapow, a vibrant hotspot of Asian fusion cuisine that would likely be unbearable during its prime time. But during lunch, mellow enough, despite the day-mayor action on the street. I got the Avocado Crispy Rice, deep-fried rice prisms topped with guacamole, pickled ginger, sriracha, sweet soy and crunchy rice pearls. I never had anything like them before! A lot of good stuff going on in a bite.

Closer…

MP’s Bento box of General Tso’s Cauliflower with sweet shallots, chili sauce, and Chinese black vinegar; a salad and jasmine rice.

Another new and interesting dish–Brûléed pineapple topped with coconut, Fleur De Sel and lime. A valiant attempt but it was mostly untransformed pineapple.

Pretty umbrellas in the sky is a great way to shade an outdoor space for a hip coffee shop.

Uncle Albert

A delicious almond mealy, coconut-y chocolate chip cookie-y thing from said hip coffee shop

And I was on my way, heading back north–but also west to the magical nature preserve Kissimmee Prairie. This would be astronomy pad number 4 on my trip’s itinerary, the only one with an official dark sky certification from the International Dark-sky Association. But upon arrival I was within torrential downpours, the large expanse of sky dark with angry clouds. In fact, it was raining so hard that I thought about whether I ought to just continue north and forgo the night in the park given the forecast.

I decided I’d have my last night of camping in this remote location after all. And as I drove the roads of the property while the skies parted I knew I made the right choice. There were wonderful things everywhere I looked… and a tremendous sky.

I saw more cows with their bird friends, a fox, then this little guy on my car’s hood! Can you see him?

This little frog did not want to leave my humming car.

A cute fellow

I saw these prints…

…then these…

…then I saw the makers of those prints.

Struttin’ its stuff, the wild turkey

Red-shouldered Hawks were also about. I saw several.

And my goodness, shells all about as well.

I set up camp and then explored the area by foot.

I loved the Dark Sky signage: Stars Up Lights Down

Welcome to The Red Light District

Daytime views from the Astro Pad. It’s important to make the walk in the light, so you don’t get turned around in the dark.

Deer feeding around the Astro Pad.

I await the dark.

Back at camp, the red lights at the facilities

I hung out in my tent until it was dark enough, then it was time to shoot. This location had the worst mosquito attacks of all of my night shoots. Though I was covered up in long layers, difficult in the heat and humidity, these pests ruthlessly attacked me with all their might. Besides the bites they got in through my clothing and my natural bug repellant, the noise of them attacking was the most disturbing. I realize that I need to make special preparations for this next time. Maybe this (lol), some music and a fan, since astro pads usually have outlets. Also, lots of water since layers had me sweating. In the end, I ignored the mosquitos but was ultimately chased away by the strong moonlight.

But not before more Milky Way! So yes, I captured it again. And once I see it, I don’t want to shoot anything else. Below was one of my first shots. And I saw that it was behind all those clouds. So patience…

Also, a planet was visible there on the right. I am not sure which one. Do you?

I played with my ISO settings for this shot, moving it from 3200 to “Hi.” I thought it pulled in too much light. Perhaps when it is a new moon I’ll try it again as it really filled the shot with too much moonlight.

The Milky Way reached all the way up to the sky… but I don’t have a powerful enough lens to capture it all. Or perhaps images like this are stacked in post-processing?

This was a crazy meteor… I think. I’ve never seen one so bright. But they are much closer than the stars and this one certainly appears so.

These last two shots are my favorite, mostly because I capture a lot of the Milk Way.

A truly wonderful stop, I’d love to stay at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve again. But tomorrow, I’d bid Florida goodbye, heading back north. It’s been beautiful experiencing all of its different sides. xo,vv.