87 & 88: Florida Prairies & Blowing Rocks
F L O R I D A Kissimmee Prairie (87) Okeechobee, Florida Vast & Humbling I exit Florida’s Turnpike at Yeehaw Junction and drive into a dense darkness. I’m a lone traveler on a now-thinner road no longer surrounded by the highway’s luminance. Suddenly my headlights seem quite feeble. The feebleness though, is a good sign. I’m deliberately headed toward the state’s darkest place – Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park (KPPSP). When I arrive, two hours before sunrise, the gate is closed. An expected obstacle. The park doesn’t open until 8:00 but surmised that even at its gate the stars would be magnificent. The early arrival was just the first of three things to have lined up perfectly. Today is also a new moon, meaning it’s just a sliver of distracting light in the sky, plus there is not a single cloud to be found, awarding ideal stargazing conditions. I hop onto the trunk o...