Thursday April 15th 2021

Yesterday was the best weather day of the week. Today began the downhill slide of the current weather roller coaster. There were high clouds blocking the sun this morning. As the day progressed the cloud cover got thicker. It kept the temperature down into the low to mid eighties. Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

I set out this morning driving south. My goal was to find a place to take a more scenic walk than around the campground. Years ago this area along US 27 was all citrus groves. In recent years the groves have gradually been converted to housing developments and businesses. There are still a few groves and roads with names like Minute Maid Ramp 2 as reminders of the more agrarian times. As you get further south, away from the greater Orlando area, the citrus groves are still prevalent. I knew I was out of the rapidly evolving areas when I found a grove with newly planted trees. It will be another thirty to fifty years before the trees in the new groves are dying off.

My search to the south for a place to take a scenic walk turned up a couple of possibilities, but I need to do a little research first. Returning north I was further east than my RV home and continued on into the Kissimmee area. I stopped at the park in downtown Celebration that I visited a little more than a week ago. Parking is not easy to find in the downtown Celebration area. Most of the parking is along the street, but you are competing with the residents. The area has many condos or apartments with limited off street parking and no garages. I found a place to park in a lot behind some of the businesses that may or may not have been legal. There were signs about a tow away zone, but it didn’t really explain who would be towed. My car was still there an hour later, so I was either lucky or legal.

Walking around the lake in the downtown area was enjoyable. Some of the bright orange flowers were still in bloom. The young alligator I saw last time was still in the same general area. Today I also had the pleasure of seeing an Anhinga drying its wings and an Egret searching for food in the lake’s runoff. The walking and bicycle trails in Celebration are extensive and interesting. The parking situation makes them most useful for the residents as I’m sure they intended. The whole community is very pretty with lots of narrow tree lined streets with tightly packed homes. The style is a throw back to earlier times. I suspect it is a very expensive place to live with Community Development District costs and HOA fees.