For the 6th time in as many years, the teeming multitudes of the organization "Scamp Owners International" (aka: SOI) held a Scamp Camp at Highlands Hammock State Park at Sebring, Florida.
The 2004 edition of this 5 day Scamp Love-In was the biggest one to date with 53 fiberglass travel trailers brought in by over a hundred "Scampers". The weather for this February-in-Florida-Fest was actually pretty good for the great majority of the time. We did have one day of drizzly rain and one when it got pretty cold but overall, the weather and the folks attending got along quite well. In fact, it can be said without fear of dissent that a good time was had by all who attended this Scamp Camp. There were campfires each night, two different pot-luck events, tours of the park, crafts demos, recipe sharing and trailer technical time events. All of this in addition to the ubiquitous show & tell of fiberglass trailer owners. Our thanks to all those who worked to make this a successful week... Rod & Sharon Cranson, Alice Vernezze, Judy Freed, Bob Anderson, Gene Gallman, Merle Lilly and Larry Page.
Sebring, Florida is a rather placid town in the middle of the Florida citrus belt. The main claim to fame of this burg is an old airport in the southeast part of town known as the
Sebring International Raceway. This is the site of the annual IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring endurance auto race. Sebring (the race... not the town) is also the inspiration for a car model built by Chrysler. It should be noted here however, that while a pretty sexy car, a Chrysler Sebring would make a really lousy tow vehicle for a fiberglass RV.Across town a few miles from the raceway is one of the first State Parks in Florida. Highlands Hammock was established in 1931 as a result of early citizen initiatives to halt rampant development of pristine lands. The 8100 acres of what is now the park were slated to be cleared for farmland until concerned activists bought the land and donated it to the state. The state arranged for the
Civilian Conservation Corps (a New Deal depression busting employment program) to build a base there and to develop the park for public benefit. To this day, many of the structures built by CCC crews are functional in the park as is a really interesting museum that is dedicated to educating visitors about this most innovative and successful national program.
Highlands Hammock is rather unique even in Florida due to the diversity of it's ecologies. There are several completely different yet interdependent ecosystems that are encompassed within the park boundaries. There is a virgin hardwood forest with some of the oldest and largest trees in all of Florida (including one 1000 year old oak), there are extensive pine flatwoods and pine scrub at the east end of the park, and there is a cypress swamp with bayheads and marsh. Each of these systems house their own flora and fauna and they are all contained within an area no more than 4 miles end to end. There are numerous walking trails throughout the park as well as many miles of biking and equestrian paths.
The campground has over a hundred sites with electric and water at most. Most sites, while not large or private are at least well shaded and within easy walking distance of bathrooms. There are no sewer hook-ups at the sites but there is a park dump station. There are 3 clean bathhouses with hot showers. There are playgrounds for kids, ranger programs for everyone and guided tours of the park.
Due to the fact that this was such an extraordinary week, there are WAY too many photos to contain in one album. So there are two albums below that tell the story of this Scamp Camp: the people and their trailers.... the park itself. We also made an excusion to
the Fly Wheelers thing in Fort Meade on Saturday (a completely unique experience.)Highlands Hammock is one of the real stars in the constellation of
Florida State Parks. Because of the diversity of life there and because of the pleasant circumstance of the campground, it is a marvelous place to spend a few days.
OUR PICTURES OF THE SCAMP CAMP
OUR PICTURES OF HIGHLANDS HAMMOCK STATE PARK