Places Visited:
Florida: Hillsborough River SP, Lake Kissimmee SP, Melbourne

Sunday, February 3, 2002
Hillsborough River State Park near Tampa/Zephyrhills

We had an uneventful drive through rolling Florida landscape before
arriving at Hillsborough River SP around 1:00. We are staying in
Hillsborough River SP to visit with RV friends Lee and Joe Belanger
who are volunteering at the park. We talked and reminisced about
places and individuals we know. Some of you should shudder, just
joking. While we were talking the New England Patriots were taking it
to St. Louis. We parted discussing getting together again tomorrow
night.

Monday, February 4, 2002
Hillsborough River State Park near Tampa/Zephyrhills

Today was a time for sleeping late, making repairs, doing laundry and
long walks. On a 4-mile walk through the river flood plane we kept
running across orange trees. To began with we picked and ate the
fruit like Adam & Eve. Close to the end we were full so we picked
around 20 to take back to the motorhome. The trail was through old
growth live oak and cabbage palms along with a complete range of swamp
trees from cypress to sweet gum. Free oranges were neat but watching
pileated woodpeckers at very close range was probably the highlight.
Our memories of Hillsborough River will be of the pileated
woodpeckers, wild oranges, and of course Lee & Joe.

We went to dinner with Lee and Joe where we discussed mutual
friends,
lifestyles along with places to go and see. As we parted ways we
agreed to see each other again for coffee in the morning before we
pull out and before they go about their volunteer functions.

Tuesday, February 5, 2002
Trek mileage 34,107
Lake Kissimmee State Park: Near Kissimmee/Disney World

The short (66-mile) drive to Lake Kissimmee SP transitioned us
from
the coastal plain to the Lake Wales Ridge. The coastal plain is
generally flat and just above sea level. The Lake Wales Ridge is an
upland running down the spine of the Florida Peninsula. As you would
expect the "uplands" region is higher than the coastal plane. However,
the average elevation is only between 200 to 298 feet above sea level.
This higher elevation comes complete with a string of large lakes.

Before leaving the coastal plain we drove through miles and miles of
strawberry fields. Most fields had large groups of migrant workers
harvesting the sweet berry. How those migrant workers can stand up at
the end of a long day harvesting strawberries is beyond my
comprehension. For those of you that are not familiar with
strawberries they grow right on the ground.

Suddenly gigantic phosphate mines replaced the strawberry fields. The
town of Bartow could easily have been called phosphate. Right in the
middle of this extremely flat land are these mountains of mined
material (either phosphate or the tailings). Florida has the largest
phosphate deposits in the United States and much of the state's
phosphate comes from mines in and around Bartow. Phosphate rock is
Florida's most valuable mineral product producing about four-fifths of
the nation's supply. Fertilizer factories were located adjacent to
these mines. For those of you that did not pay attention in physical
science, phosphate rocks are chemical sediments that were once
dissolved in water. Rock salt and gypsum are other "chemical
sediments" that you may be familiar with.

Just as sudden as the phosphate mines appeared they disappeared
to be
replaced by citrus groves. It was like we were driving through a sea
of orange trees. Dark green citrus trees are planted in neat parallel
rows that seem to stretch to the horizon. Eighteen-wheelers were
hauling truckloads of oranges to processing plants. Roadsides were
littered with oranges like the roadsides in southern Louisiana are
littered with sugar cane.

Land along the Lake Wales Ridge not utilized for citrus groves is
predominantly cattle ranches. Our destination of Lake Kissimmee State
Park is on the western shore of Lake Kissimmee. Lake Kissimmee SP has
historically been a "cow camp". Back in the 1870s early Florida "cow
hunters" used this area as a "cow camp". Just like out west in the
mid-1800s, cattle roamed the countryside (before fences). Cow hunters
had to find, brand and "cut" cattle as well as drive them to the west
coast of Florida for shipment. The Park maintains one of the few
remaining herds of scrub cows in existence. In addition to scrub cows
the park maintains a recreated cow camp. The Florida Park system has
done an excellent job of preserving Florida's history. Joyce and I
had a super afternoon touring the recreated cow camp and learning
about this part of our States history.

Wednesday, February 6, 2002
Lake Kissimmee State Park: Near Kissimmee/Disney World

We decided to visit Bok Tower and Gardens this morning. Edward
Bok
came to America from the Netherlands when he was 6-years old.
When he
left Europe his grandmother told him, "Make you the world a bit
better
or more beautiful because you have lived in it." Ed was extremely
successful and never forgot those words. In 1922, Edward Bok decided
to create a sanctuary for birds and people in Florida. He acquired a
large tract of land atop the Lake Wales Ridge covered with pines and
palmettos. Then he hired America's most famous landscape architect to
transform the area into a sanctuary that would "touch the soul with
its beauty and quiet."

As the transformation proceeded, Mr. Bok decided to add a carillon
tower to be a visual and aural centerpiece for the garden. Yea, I
know, you want to know what a carillon tower is. According to World
Book it is: "a bell tower" "a set of bells arranged for playing
melodies. The bells are played upon with hammers, either by hand or by
a keyboard or other mechanism." Understand that this no ordinary
tower. It is a magnificent large carillon tower, built of pink and
gray Georgia marble and coquina stone (a type of limestone created by
thousands upon thousands of seashells compressed together). The tower
is constructed atop peninsular Florida's highest point (298'). Florida
actually has some land above 300' somewhere around Tallahassee.

You would think that a 205' tower situated on the highest point
around
would make a good viewing platform. Wrong! Visitors are not
allowed
into the tower. The purpose of the tower is to house the carillon.
This particular carillon is comprised of 60 bronze bells ranging from
16 pounds to nearly 12 tons that span a range of five octaves. A
12-ton bell is one big bell if you get my drift. The bells were cast
in England. After casting, the manufacturer turns the bell on a lathe
removing small amounts of the inside of the bell until the correct
tone is achieved. The manual and pedal keys of the (clavier) keyboard
are connected by a transmission system to the clappers of the
corresponding bells. The carillonneur depresses keys to activate the
clappers. A light touch is required for delicate music, more force
for grandiose effects. The action is entirely mechanical, as has been
the case with carillons since the seventeenth century.

Around 3:00 pm a carillonneur plays the bells. It seems that certain
arrangements are made special for a carillon and famous carillonneurs
from around the world are invited to play recitals. For those friends
back in Pensacola I suppose the closest individual we know to a
carillonneur would be Steve Baker. I have seen Steve play some big
bells before but nothing like a 12-ton bell, do you suppose Steve
could be considered a carillonneuring attorney? How about them bells?

Just out the front gate of the state park is Camp Mack a
combination
dock, RV-Park, store and boat launch. We enjoyed spending the
afternoon on the Camp Mack docks watching fishermen returning
from a
days fishing on Lake Kissimmee. Wood storks, limpkins and a
variety
of herons and egrets kept us entertained when the fishermen
weren't.

Once back in Lake Kissimmee SP we watched some deer, a group
of 7 to
10 turkeys, and some scrub jays. How can things get any better?

Tomorrow we are off to Melbourne where we will visit with Joyce's
father and her younger sister and her family.

Thursday, February 7, 2002
Land Yacht Harbor RV-Park: Melbourne Florida.

On the way out of Lake Kissimmee SP we stopped at the ranger's
station
to feed scrub jays. That is right; we stopped to feed some birds.
Scrub jays are kin to blue jays except they do not have the topknot of
feathers on their head. Scrub jays only inhabit the wild scrub
located on the Lake Wales Ridge. They do not seem to be able to adapt
to other habitats so they are a fairly scarce species. Although rare,
Lake Kissimmee SP has groups that hang out at the ranger's station.
This group of scrub jays will eat out of you hand. We stopped to get
pictures of these scrub jays sitting on our outstretched hands eating
sunflower seeds.

As we headed east on highway 60 we quickly fell off the Lake Wales
Ridge and left the citrus groves behind. The land became extremely
flat rangeland and stayed that way until we reached the coast. The
only unusual thing we noticed was the pairs of sand hill cranes along
the roadside. So far we have not seen a single sand hill crane. Each
time we have seen them they are in pairs.

After arriving in Melbourne we visited Joyce's father then took him to
dinner with Joyce's Sister and her husband.

Friday, February 8, 2002
Land Yacht Harbor RV-Park: Melbourne Florida

We picked Pop's up around 10:00am, took care of some errands for him
then treated him to lunch. From there we headed south 18-miles along
1-A to Sebastian Inlet State Park. After walking along the man- made
pass from Indian River to the Atlantic Ocean we continued our journey
south to the causeway over the Indian River Lagoon to Vero Beach where
we turned north on US-1. For the next 25-miles we followed the
eastern bank of Indian River back to Melbourne. Not very exciting and
very slow, about all we can do is ride in the car.

Mike & Joyce Hendrix