There are many strange (to us!) names here in FL. In the west, we have Spanish names on a lot of things....like San Jacinto, that seem strange maybe to people from the northeast. Here in FL are Indian names, like Okeechobee (big water), Caloosahatchie River, Immokalee (a town), Econlockhatchee (state park)...I love them but sometimes pronouncing them is difficult (even for me!). Two of our favorite names so far are in plain ole English...Burnt Store Rd (our theory is that back before the st. was named, a store burnt on it, everyone referred to it as "out on burnt store road" & so it became) and Fish Eating Creek (we have no theory here but would love to hear ideas from our commenters on this one). We love comments from our readers!!
You've all seen those "watch for deer" signs on the highways, right? Well, in the last week we've seen two signs that had us scanning the sides of the road for sightings...."bear crossing" and "panther crossing". Imagine hitting one of those in the middle of the night.....yikes!
My favorite Indian name so far is AH-TAH-THI-KI meaning place of learning. We went to the AH-TAH-THI-KI museum located on the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation in southern Florida. It's on the edge of the Big Cypress Swamp. There are many exhibits and dioramas showing Seminole life at the turn of the century (20th, that is!) and explaining how the Seminole adapted to the changing times. They consider themselves the tribe that never surrendered (unconquered) as they never signed a peace treaty with the whites and yet have themselves 4 or 5 reservations in Florida. In spite of a bit of rainfall as we left the building we ventured out on the 1 1/2 mile walkway through the swamp area behind the museum. Along the walkway are many signs explaining the names and uses of all the plants and trees in the swamp. We had umbrellas so walked at our leisure and read nearly every sign until they started repeating themselves. We learned about epiphytes, plants that grow on another tree or plant, usually without harming it. Many ferns are epiphytes like the air fern that people can grown at their desks!! At the halfway point of the walkway we came upon a sample village set up but because of the rain there were no demonstrations going on that day. They usually have people showing Indian crafts and even canoe building.
After the museum we headed a little further south to travese the I-75 or Alligator Alley as it is popularly known. I was driving (70 mph speed limit) and trying to go as slow as safely possible so Ed could spot alligators in the creek that runs along the highway. He spotted many but there was no place to safely stop and view them. We pulled off after spotting a sign saying that a panther preserve was ahead. We park at the preserve and decided to take a hike as the rain had stopped.......and we wanted to see a panther. No, we weren't worried that the panther would "get" us. I really didn't even think of that part of our folly.....for folly it turned out to be. We had already forgotten the recent (an hour ago) rains and set out on the trail full of the hope of seeing cool things. We set out on the long trail ( 1 1/3 mi) and after trudging probably about half of it, came upon a large swampy area right in the middle of the trail. We stood and pondered it a bit and then decided that we could get around it without too much difficulty. Well, we got our feet wet and it only got worse from there. We gingerly made our way through about 6 of those "wet spots" in the trail because by that time it was just as hard to go back as on. By the time we got back to the truck our feet were soaked and we had seen no wildlife at all except for a few butterflies. Still and all, we had a great hike, good exercise, and the scenery was amazing!!
We cut off the I-75 from there to head north again back to our 5th wheel and again the highway ran next to a creek. It was cutting through the Big Cypress Swamp and we spotted birds and alligators galore. We could stop as we pleased and did about 3 times but then got bored with getting out to watch gators. They do nothing but just lay there! Hollering at them doesn't help either (no, I didn't stoop to throwing stuff at them....who thought that??!!). We actually have gotten our fill of gator-watching for the time being.
The next day was "preparing to move again" day but after doing laundry.....again...we headed off to see if we could actually view Lake Okeechobee. We had to drive all the way to the town of Okeechobee on the northern end of the lake (we were camped on the southwest end) to catch our glimpse but we finally saw it in all its magnificent glory!! It is a biiigggg lake and surrounded by marshy mangroves and grasses...that's why it was so hard to find a way in down south as it's marshier down there. Okeechobee means big water, it's 730 sq miles (corrected) and relatively shallow (4-14 ft deep). It's enclosed by a 20 ft high dike built by the Army Corps of Engineers and has a 110 mile path along the dike all the way around the lake. We walked about a mile of it in different places (ok, it's a start!!) and saw many people biking on it. The lake is part of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, an 18,000 sq. mile tapestry of rivers, lakes, sloughs (slews), swamps and estuarine bays flowing through the southern part of Florida. Ok, ok, end of lesson, but I find the amount of water here in Florida captivating because I come from dry southern California.
This will be our last blog for about a week as we're boarding a ship tomorrow to cruise the Caribbean Sea to Cozumel, Mexico, Grand Cayman Island, Isla Roatan and the South American country of Belize. We'll blog about our shipboard adventures when we return to the United States (and cheaper communication costs!). Bye for now and love to all!!