Sunday April 27th 2025

On Friday I finally got to Sea World. A visit has been in my plans each day for the last couple of weeks. It’s a good alternative while I’m in a blackout period to Disney World based on my limited annual pass.

The parking lot wasn’t close to full, so I had high hopes for low crowds and short lines. It wasn’t the case. There were dozens of school groups in the park. Each group had their own colorful tee shirts with identifying information. They moved as groups filling the walkways from side to side making getting from place to place difficult.

On this visit I got to see the Orca show for the first in over a year. The stadium was under refurbishment for a while and I just had bad timing as well. The show was good as always, but I still like the dolphin show better. I took plenty of pictures of both shows.

Thursday April 24th 2025

The first time I was in this area of Florida was in the mid 1960s. I’m not sure if I was in this specific area since I was a kid in the back seat of my parents car at the time, but it’s probable since we went to Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven from north of Orlando. I think I visited this general area at least once every decade since then. Once the Rambling Road Trip began at the end of 2015, I’ve spent several weeks in this area southwest of Disney World every year. All of that means I’ve seen a lot of change.

Originally this area was very rural. The roads were narrow and lined with orange groves. As the years went by scattered housing developments and businesses started to appear in between the citrus groves. On each visit I was surprised by the growth. For the most part developments of single family homes came first followed by business like supermarkets to support the new residents. Since 2020 the development activity has accelerated. In addition to the single family homes multi family dwellings started to be added to the mix. Some or them were townhouses, but the majority seemed to be apartments.

At the start of this winter very few areas of undeveloped land seem to exist. Over the course of the winter the trees on at least seven different large parcels near my base camp have been cut and earth moving equipment has moved in. I have learned that a new Walmart and Sams is going into one of the tracts. A Target anchored development is going into another and a Home Depot into a third. The others could be anything. The bottom line is the greater Orlando urban sprawl has arrived.

Despite all the construction and roadwork the traffic volume in the area has gone down. The only reason I can think of is that the winter snowbird season is over. It certainly has ended in this park.

Sunday April 20th 2025

Happy Easter

I spent the day at home to avoid the traffic I assumed would dominate the area on the holiday. Yesterday was bad enough just getting to the Walmart less than a mile away for groceries. That was a different mistake. I only needed milk, but it took about an hour with all the people shopping for Easter dinner supplies. In addition to the milk, I came home with a slice of ham for my Easter dinner and a few other things.

It was a very quiet day today. Walking around the park I didn’t see much activity. Many people have departed for the summer. Others were gone for the holiday and those that remained seemed to be indoors. The weather was in the upper eighties, but not too humid. Even the usually constant flow of golf carts on the roads was down to a trickle.

Thursday April 17th 2025

One of the things I enjoy doing on the Rambling Road Trip is taking pictures of the bigger wading birds. This winter as I’ve been enjoying life at my base camp, I haven’t found a good location for capturing images of these majestic creatures. Today I was wandering a good distance away from my base camp into one of my regular stopping areas on my rambling road trip. I stopped at the Tom Bennett County Park in Bradenton Florida to check for birds.

The water level in the various ponds was down, but the birds were there. First up was a flock of Ibis at the waters edge. They are very common, but still interesting to watch. My next bird I spotted was a Great Blue Heron standing among the weeds in the shallow water. Three other Blue Herons were in other ponds and areas. The final bird I took a picture of was an Egret.

Traffic getting to and from the west coast of the Florida peninsula was terrible. I saw several accidents on the interstates and had a hard braking event of my own to avoid am almost accident a few hundred yards in front of me. On the other end of the travel event spectrum there were a lot of periods of wall to wall cars moving at a crawl. I think most of the traffic is normal day to day traffic rather than holiday weekend related.

Sunday April 13th 2025

One day last week the morning TV news called this Florida roadwork season. Apparently the months of April, May and most of June are the desired time to get most of the simple road projects like repaving accomplished. It is after the bulk of the winter residents have returned home and before the heat and daily rains of the Florida summer begin. A similar period in the fall doesn’t exist because of hurricane season.

The area around my base camp seems to be proving the statement. Night time paving on US 27 north from here has begun. It appears to be scheduled for about a month. A little ways south of here on the cutoff to Interstate 4 a similar display board announces roadwork beginning tomorrow. East of here on another escape from the area more construction barrels have appeared. It is beginning to look like I’ll have to choose my routes based on the state of various construction projects.

Today was a two walk day. The first was in the nearby Nature preserve and the second was around my base camp. In between I stopped at Walmart for some groceries. It was a busy Sunday afternoon filled with shoppers, some empty shelves and lots of pallets of new stock blocking the pathways through the store. The only missing element was the staff to transfer the contents of the pallets to the empty shelves. I found most everything I needed. Thankfully, I’m only a mile away from Walmart and a few other food stores.

Thursday April 10th 2025

The weather has been just bad enough to disrupt plans. Some days have started with fog and most days have included at least a few moments of real rain. Nothing really bad, just unpredictable. As a result most of my exercise has been local to my base camp. Trips to the theme parks for a few hours of walking, watching and enjoying haven’t happened.

Over the last few weeks I’ve watched the gradual departure of the winter residents. It was subtle too begin with, but now it is clear that many people have departed. When I think about it, the timing is right. On initial thought, it is too soon. I still think it is winter. The weather isn’t winter, but my mode, living in my base camp, has a heavy impact on my thoughts.

When I have stayed in a single place during the winter, I have usually been in motion no later than the beginning of April. During the years that I jumped around Florida every couple of weeks, my departure from the state was usually later. This year it will probably closer to August.

Somehow I am fascinated with peoples travel pattern. Since COVID, I have been off pattern with other peoples travel plans quite a few times. In 2020, I holed up in Eloy Arizona for the months of April and May while the travel situation stabilized. The park of three hundred plus sites was practically empty by the time I departed near Memorial Day. This is probably when I started thinking about other peoples travel plan. The bottom line is I don’t think I’ll ever be consistent with the general set of travelers.

Sunday April 6th 2025

On Friday night I went on an Easter Egg hunt of sorts. Every year some of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels create displays of confectionery Easter eggs. About 5PM I parked in the Magic Kingdom parking lot and used the monorail to visit the three hotels on the loop.

I started at the Polynesian Resort before walking to the Grand Floridian. There were no Easter Eggs at the Poly, but I did get a nice refreshing Pineapple Dole Whip. The hen’s nest of eggs was at the Grand Floridian. In the same part of the lobby occupied by the gingerbread house at Christmas time there were a series of about two foot tall Easter Eggs depicting various Disney characters or scenes. Some of them were very intricate and others were kind of haunting. Along with the eggs were a few characters and scenes too. Overall it was worth the adventure.

After a monorail ride I visited Disney’s Contemporary Resort on the opposite shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon. The confectionery display at the Contemporary was more diverse than the Grand Floridian’s. Unlike the diorama style at the Grand Floridian these were mostly characters some loosely based on egg shapes and some a little more defined. It was an interesting lobby display.

To end the evening I climbed the stairs on the north end of the hotel tower to watch thee nightly fireworks display from the Magic Kingdom. It was a little windy standing on the roof deck waiting for the show, but it was worth the wait.

Thursday April 3rd 2025

The last few days have been warmer and more humid than normal for this time of year. Tuesday morning was very foggy and by evening a strong thunderstorm passed through with lots of lightening and wind. It was a harbinger of the summer weather to come. It also served as a reminder to get my mental state ready for summer. Florida summer is manageable once you acknowledge it is what it is.

Today’s exercise walking was at Disney’s EPCOT. The park was busy. This is a Disney road race weekend. The 5K starts around 4AM Friday with other race lengths on Saturday and Sunday mornings. They have all the barriers, monitor stations and porta potties up along the route, but by having the races early in the morning, the operation of the theme parks are not disrupted. The races are not for me. I get my exercise walking around the parks while they are open, not by running around them in the middle of the night.

Supper tonight was at the Regal Eagle Smokehouse Barbecue beside the American Adventure pavilion. It was a good change up from my usual fish and chips. The fact that the eating area was inside in air conditioned comfort also had an impact. Most of my visit to the park was consumed by walking and taking pictures, but I also road Living with the Land and Soarin Around the World at the Land Pavilion.