We had been enjoying warm Florida weather during the day with cool evenings. Christopher joined us on the 28th. After lunch on March 1st, we drove over to New Smyrna Beach and walked on the beach. It was cloudy and windy!
We had dinner at The Breakers and hoped to see a Falcon 9 launch at 6:20pm but it was postponed due to winds which would have affected recovery; it ended up launching at 21:56 – so Chris watched it on his iPad.
Chris had been planning on this trip for several months and spent a few weeks fixing up his bike. He cleaned it up; bought new tires and tubes, cleaned and oiled the chain, changed the gear shifter and brake cables and got a new seat. On the 2nd, we drove to Oakland and rode on the West Orange Trail to Winter Garden.
The West Orange Trail is a rails-to-trail, and we found a mile marker from the railroad days – 801 miles to Richmond, VA.
We had a delicious lunch at the Hangry Bison.
It was a beautiful day to ride on this trail!
Gatorland was our destination on the 3rd. We had visited the park last year and thought Christopher would enjoy it. It’s a pretty amazing place, swarming with alligators. Here we are by the “historic Gator mouth entrance”!
As you enter the park, there are platforms full of gators divided by age groups. These are 1-2 years old.
And slightly older and bigger 3-5 years old…
How interesting that these birds seemed to be safe standing on the backs of gators!
And this was in the same pond where these gators swam!
There were 3 shows to see – At the Close Encounters Show, we saw tarantulas, a pygmy rattlesnake, and this Boa constrictor that members of the audience held.
The Gator Jumparo Show was spectacular! Gators jumped up to catch chicken dangling in front of them, and then these crazy dudes leaned over to feed more chicken to the gators!
And Alligators – Legend of the Swamp; alligator wrestling! A young boy in the audience pointed out which alligator to use in the show. The guy stepped into the moat and pulled it out!
He straddled the gator and told us fun facts about gators; safety advice – punch it on the nose if you are attacked by a gator… yikes! (He did not punch the gator)
And then he did these tricks – Y I K E S !
Owen Godwin founded the park in 1949 and it is still a family-owned business.
This gator is NOT albino, but a rare Leucistic gator.
Besides gators, there were many other critters to see at Gatorland. There were some of Marlin’s “cousins” to see.
Crocodiles have a longer slender v-shaped snout; alligators have a u-shaped snout.
There were a few different species of giant tortoises – and an opportunity to feed them lettuce!
In another area of the park, there was an African Spur Thigh Tortoise.
Florida Panthers
Flamingos!
A beautiful snowy egret perched by the pond for a photo op!
We didn’t ride the train last year, but since Chris was with us, we splurged ($3.00 each) to ride it! 😊(Central Florida’s FIRST amusement park ride!)
This is the original train… we didn’t get a photo of the train we rode…
This is Jawlene; she was found without a top jaw and rescued by Gatorland in 2023. She gets special treatment and has grown a bit since we saw her last year!
There are several stories about her on YouTube – check out this one and this one. She’s quite a celebrity – and she swims with her turtle friend!
We visited the breeding marsh.
There was interesting “alligator facts” posted at the covered shelters.
On the far side of the marsh, many gators were piled on each other.
The arms on these big gators are as big around as a human’s – you sure don’t want to mess with one of these guys!
There were stories of several gators posted around the marsh. Interesting stuff!
We enjoyed our time at Gatorland – so many gators! It’s great that they rescue alligators and give them a new home. It was a fun visit!
The next day we drove to Orange City to visit Blue Spring State Park. The spring itself produces a staggering 100 million gallons of crystal-clear water each day, flowing into the St. Johns River. During the colder winter months, manatees migrate to the warm waters of the spring.
There were not very many manatees on the day we visited, but we had some come close to where we were!
There were several varieties of fish swimming along with the manatees, birds perched on branches and in the trees, and we had a close encounter with a small lizard!
We had packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed eating outside on a lovely day at the park.
On the 5th, we found a bike trail in Tavares – it wasn’t very scenic, but it was not far from Southern Palms. We went out in the morning before it got too hot.
Some pretty blue wildflowers were growing next to part of the trail.
We went back to Acey for lunch and then headed out for an afternoon cruise on the Dora Canal. Thanks to the internet, here’s a photo of the large pontoon boat that we cruised in.
A bald eagle was perched high up on a branch.
A Gnome village appeared on the bank!
Herman’s “uncle” was having an early happy hour on the patio as we passed by. 😊
A gator crossed the canal in front of our boat.
Anhingas, also known as snake birds, lack oil glands, so they need to dry their feathers before they fly again.
We see ibis all over the place in Florida – no surprise to see them here!
We cruised past Puddle Jumpers where, later, we had dinner. Tavares claims to be “America’s seaplane city” but Anchorage, Alaska may dispute that…
On Friday, Chris showed Jim how he cleaned and oiled his chain; Jim had already bought the same kit Chris recommended and they worked on Linda’s trike and Jim’s bike. Having the trike on the carrier made it easy.
Later we walked around the RV park and spotted a gator by the pond.
On Saturday, we rode about 5 miles around the RV park.
Chris saw 3 turtles by the canal, but only one remained when he took a photo.
On the 8th, Chris worked on getting his stuff packed up and we made some preparations for our move the next day. After lunch, we played Mexican Train. Christopher was the big winner!
It was a rainy afternoon, but we were rewarded with a bit of a rainbow!
Chris got an early start at 7am on Monday and got home by 8pm; he wasn’t sure he’d get back to Nashville in one day. Chris was our chauffeur for many of our outings. We sure enjoyed having him stay with us and he was glad to have some time off work. He rode his bike a total of 24 miles with us; pretty good for a guy that hasn’t ridden in several years!
We couldn’t check in at the Orlando park until after 12 noon, so we waited till the11:00 checkout deadline to leave Southern Palms. Acey had 109,869.9 miles and Thor had 142,522 miles. (We put just over 200 miles on Thor during our 2-week stay since we rode a lot in Christopher’s Tesla) We arrived at Thousand Trails Orlando at 12:40.
We rode on the South Lake Trail a couple more times.
It was right here on this trail that Linda fell off her bike on March 8th (a year ago) and broke her collarbone — and ended up with a frozen shoulder. Fortunately, she is healed up and her shoulder is nearly good as new… still doing PT exercises to improve mobility and strength. Her new trike is much safer and fun to ride!
The Van Fleet State Trail is another rails-to-trail we have ridden often. It runs through the Green Swamp and we could see evidence of Florida’s drought. In previous years, there had been water on both sides of the trail and under the bridges we rode over – it all looked quite dry. We saw a few gators in the small pools of water here and there.
We rode the trail again 10 days later, after it had rained, but the ponds still had very little water.
The gopher tortoises were mostly close to their burrows, and went in when we came close – but this one let us get a photo!
Many times they walk close to the trail…
We rode the West Orange Trail a couple more times also. These gators were carved into a stump in someone’s yard along the trail.
It was cool when we rode the trail on the 18thth and we had the opportunity to wear the jackets Rob gave us!
On the 19th, we wanted to go to Gainesville to get some pan pizza at Leonardo’s – so we rode again on the Cross Florida Trail from Santos to the landbridge and back. The trail is very rural – lots of wooded areas we rode through.
There were several riders out that day, including a couple of groups on horseback!
After our 15-mile ride, we headed to Leonardo’s – the best pan pizza ever!
As we drove back “home” we passed under the landbridge that we rode over earlier.
TT Orlando is one of Thousand Trails’ largest park. We walked many times around the park and also rode our bikes a few times; weather was a bit unpredictable, so we stayed “close to home” for a few rides. We nearly always see gopher tortoises…
and sandhill cranes around the park!
We don’t often see chicks, but we saw these a few times this year!
We also saw a gator sunning itself by a retention pond,
and a duck on another pond.
We walked to the lake several times. We saw a gator out there one day… definitely no swimming here!
Our site was near the front of the park and there was very little traffic in the area.
We had a gopher tortoise come by our site!
And, since we were in the park for St. Patrick’s Day, there were some decorations out at some sites…
We visited an Irish Pub on St Paddy’s Day; we weren’t too impressed – the Guinness was served in a plastic cup and they didn’t serve food.
Easter is coming soon, and there was one site with an Easter decoration…
On March 23rd we left TT Orlando at 10:15am with 109,919.7 miles on Acey and 143,087 miles on Thor. We planned to stay at TT Three Flags for just 2 nights as we head back to Tennessee. We arrived at 12:15. Since there is no sales tax on food in Florida, we visited Costco, Walmart and Aldi and stocked up on some of our favorite foods 😊.
March 24 was our last day in the Sunshine State, so we went for a 20-mile bike ride on the Withlacoochee State Trail. We went out early since rain was predicted later in the day; but it never came.
We got back to Acey and made some preparations for our departure the next day. Then we met up with Russ and Adele for dinner and played 5 Crowns card game. We didn’t keep score, but Adele or Linda likely won.
On the 25th we had an early start, leaving Three Flags at 8am (Eastern) with 109,969.3 miles on Acey and 143,188 on Thor. During our 3 months in Florida, we rode our bikes 386 miles; well, actually, Jim hit 400 miles since he went for a ride in January before Linda joined him on the 6th. We passed under the landbridge over I-75 one last time!
We crossed the state line into Alabama and stopped at a Rest Area to make lunch.
We arrived at Deer Run RV Park in Troy, AL at 2:30 (Central Time) for an overnight stay. They gave us a pull-through site, so we did not have to disconnect Thor. We left Herman at the wheel…
We left just before 8am on the 26th with 110,337.9 miles on Acey and the same 143,188 on Thor. After several traffic jams, we finally crossed the state line into Tennessee at 1:00
and arrived home just before 3:00. We had a bumper crop of yellow weeds by the driveway and by the barn – and more scattered in the yard!
We had not seen butterweed last year and wonder where they came from! Hopefully we can get rid of them…
We came back from Florida for the Easter season; Linda helped at the Easter Egg Hunt at our church on the 28th. There was quite a good turnout on a perfect day!
A petting zoo with a donkey, lamas and goats to pet and feed!
There were several games to play – and of course the egg hunt; divided by age groups.
Palm Sunday is always a delightful worship service. The service opens with the children coming down the aisle waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna! (Save us now!) Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
Then the children, along with the adult choir, sang “Hosanna to the King Who Comes!”
Pastor Benny preached about the Triumphal Entry when Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover; A Borrowed Donkey for the King (Full service) It was wonderful to be back in person at our home church after being gone for nearly 3 months! The King is coming!
Wonderful wildlife and pictures of adventures. Glad you are home and settling back into your sweet home.
Thanks for the memories!
I want a gopher tortoise!
They are so fun to watch!
Alligators, panthers, and turtles – Oh my!
From the sounds of it, March was delightful for you! But I am glad you are now home!
Its fun to get out on the road – but there is still “no place like home”!
As always, great photos. And, I learned alot about gators and wildlife in Florida this morning. Thanks for doing this, it keeps me up to date.