Monday February 29th 2016

It was another great day with temperature in the high 70s. I took a drive down to the Winter Haven Florida area. My goal was to explore some of the lakes in the area.
Winter Haven is the home of Cypress Gardens. This was a theme park from 1936 to 2009. The area is now Legoland Florida a theme park oriented around the theme of the building block. The actual botanical gardens that made up the bulk of the Cypress Gardens park are incorporated into Legoland. This is because the botanical gardens have been protected by conservation easements and public ownership.
I’ve been to the original Cypress Gardens three times or more. My first visit was in the 1960s. It made a strong impression on me as a boy. The gardens with girls in antebellum style gowns and the water ski show are strong memories. I don’t have any desire to cloud those memories with Legoland so my mission was just the area not the place.
I stopped at several lakes in the area looking for walking trails and animal life. Mostly all I found was boat launching areas. Each of these had nice views of the lakes, empty boat trailers, and an occasional fisherman but no significant wildlife. The warm weather and gentle breeze were nice for sitting and enjoying the views.

Florida Turkey

Turkey at the 7-11

The best of the wildlife I saw today was from the car window on the way down to Winter Haven. While stopped at a traffic light waiting to turn onto the busy US 27 a turkey was walking along the grass strip in front of a 7-11 convenience store and gas station. It was a lone bird not a rafter of them. It was wary of the people, so I don’t think it was a common occurrence.
Since I started this blog I’ve been wearing my Canon PowerShot camera on my belt. I was able to pull out the camera and zoom in on the turkey to get a couple of pictures before the light changed. My cell phone would not have been able to capture the picture as well.
Having the camera with me all the time is just one positive example of how writing this blog every night has enhanced my travel life. The biggest value is that needing to find something to write about every night forces me to get out and look for things to do. I think I write about the weather and grocery shopping to much, but it is what it is. I plan to continue the daily blog.