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Orlando Florida

I had arrived in Orlando, Florida with my travel companion Mitchell. He had a friend there, Dennis, who we had wanted to stop in and see, Dennis stayed in a converted van. We would be staying in a Walmart parking lot and by the time we arrived, it was already starting to get dark. We parked on the edge of the lot right next to a big, grassy area. Dennis met us there, and the three of us hung out in the parking lot late into the night.


The next day was Easter. Mitchell and I gave each other Easter baskets, which meant lots of candy! I also got stickers, paint, chalk and some little Easter knick-knacks.

We decided to try to bring Thomas the cat outside for a little while. We put his harness on him with a leash and I carried him over into the grass. He was terrified to leave the bus, and once I set him down in the grass he just laid there, not going anywhere. Eventually he did start purring and rolling around a bit, but he was still jumpy and on guard. He finally took a few steps around, but that was about it.

Dennis told us about an area in the middle of Orlando called Lake Eola Park, and Mitchell and I took the motorcycle there. We arrived at a giant, beautiful pond with a big fountain in the middle. The fountain looked like a purple and green lit-up spaceship that had landed on the water, and it had pink and yellow water shooting out of it.

The pond was filled with all sorts of swans. I had no idea there were that many different kinds, and one that stood out was a beautiful, pure-black one. I picked up some bread that someone else had left on the ground and offered it to one of the large birds. The swan ate it right from my hand before trying to nibble on my knee.

Since it was Easter, we wanted to go out for dinner. We thought a buffet would be the best option, but as we looked up a nearby place, raindrops started falling. We took the bike over to a nearby gas station and made it under cover just in time. Right as we went under the protection of the gas station roof, it started pouring buckets. We stood there for a while with a bunch of others who had also taken shelter from the rain. It didn’t seem like it was going to let up, so I said “Screw it,” and went out and danced around in the rain. I jumped in all the puddles that had already formed, spraying water everywhere. It was raining so hard that after playing in it for about 30 seconds, I looked like I had gone swimming.


The buffet we wanted to go to would be closing soon, and the rain wasn’t letting up at all. We decided that we were just going to have to ride in the rain if we wanted our Easter meal. Mitchell bought us cheap, disposable rain ponchos from the gas station. They didn’t do much, especially with the wind blowing them around on the bike, but it was better than nothing. I had a blast riding around in that downpour, but I’m not quite sure how Mitchell could see anything. We did make it safely to the buffet, though.


Before going in, we did our best to shake the water off, but we were soaked, and I wasn’t sure if they would even let us in. When we walked into the restaurant and went up to the lady to seat us, she looked up and just said, “Oh,” as her eyes widened, and she handed us a bunch of napkins to dry off. They took us to our seats and we left puddles behind, which they ended up having to get a mop to clean up. We felt bad about creating extra work for them, but the whole thing was also quite humorous. We ate piles and piles of food in our sopping wet clothing. When we left, it was still raining, but not nearly as bad as it had been when we arrived.

The next morning we went to meet Dennis at a nearby botanical garden he had also told us about. We put Maggie in the basket in the back of the motorcycle and the three of us rode over together.

We walked around, looking at all the beautiful flowers and statues. They had a little hiking trail that we took, and a few of the paths were closed because they were overtaken by the forest, but that didn’t stop us from taking them.

That evening we went back to Lake Eola Park because although we had seen it, we also wanted to walk around and explore the beautiful grounds that surrounded the lake. All the swans, ducks and geese were out and about amongst all the people, and they didn’t seem to mind one bit.

There were little statues here and there, and oh so many different kinds of birds.

As we walked farther, we started seeing giant turtles swimming in the water. I got to see my first soft shell turtle in person. We came up to a log that had multiple turtles sunbathing on it, along with a bird, perched right on top of one of the turtles. The turtle didn’t seem to mind; he sat there in the warmth as the bird sat on top of him stretching out his wings to catch the sun.

The next day we went out to explore a park called Big Tree Park. Some of the oldest cypress trees around grew there. Two of them had been named: The Senator and Lady Liberty. Unfortunately the older one, The Senator, which had been 3000 years old, burned due to arson in 2012. The remains of the tree were inside a fence and the trunk was huge. It made my heart heavy to see it.

We walked another trail that led through the woods which eventually opened up to Lady Liberty. She was estimated to be 2000 years old and was also surrounded by a fence. She was a beauty.

The park itself was small, so we looked up other hiking trails around us, and found one nearby in an area called Spring Hammock Preserve. We hiked along a dirt path that ran along a little stream that ran through the forest. At one part a tree had fallen across the stream, leaving a perfect bridge across. It led to a beautiful jungle-like setting.

We continued walking, seeing all sorts of different, large trees and random fish swimming in the water. We came upon a giant, dead tree on its side. It looked like the tree was bigger around than I was tall.

As we walked, we found multiple wooden walkways that were blocked off because those paths were no longer maintained. Some were worse than others with boards missing here and there, or caved in, while others had large sections of the paths that were completely missing.

Of course we had to take every closed path we came to because they were much more exciting than the open paths. One of the paths we started walking down had “have a nice trip” painted onto the walkway, as if it knew we were walking into a world of pure magic.

The first thing we stumbled upon was a giant cypress tree. It was even bigger than the one we had gone to that was on display at the last park. I hopped over the little rail of the path we were walking down to give the tree a big hug. It was so large that I couldn’t even wrap my arms a quarter of the way around it. The tree felt so peaceful and gentle.

Not far from the tree, I found part of a broken plaque that had once been on display. It was old and covered in dirt, but there was just enough dirt scratched off where you could see that it estimated the tree to be between 2000-2500 years old.

We made our way across the wooden trails, over and under fallen trees, jumping from spot to spot where the path had fallen. Maggie came along, winding through every obstacle without a struggle.

Eventually that path circled back and we walked along the open path again. The main trail eventually came to an end, but there was also another closed path right there that we could take to keep the excitement going. The only thing was, the closed trail had originally gone over a stream, and that part of the trail was completely gone. It was too deep to walk across, and it was over ten feet wide so there was no way we could jump. But there were a few two-by-fours laid out, and with a little adjustment, we were able to make them go across the water. In all, it took four different boards balancing on logs and whatever we could find to get across. I picked up Maggie and carefully walked across while holding her. It was rather difficult to balance while holding a dog, and one of the boards moved around and went slightly underwater as I walked across it, but we made it safely to the other side.


Then it was Mitchell’s turn. All was well until a giant wolf spider the size of my palm happened to appear on one of the boards. As he stepped onto that board, it slipped slightly underwater, and the only dry spot was Mitchell himself. The spider ran for safety up Mitchell’s leg, as a look of pure panic came across his face. I watched in what seemed like slow motion as he raised that leg in the air, wildly flailing it around while screaming. There was no way he could balance like that. As he started swatting at his leg, splash! Into the water below he plummeted. The water was up to his armpits. He climbed out onto another board and finished the walk across without any more incidents.

We walked along the broken path, which was practically an obstacle course. Eventually we came to a spot that was so consumed by water, we could no further, and had to turn back.

We got back to the part where we had started with the boards, but we weren’t able to walk back across because when Mitchell fell, it sent them all askew. Mitchell went first adjusting the boards as he walked. Maggie thought I was taking too long to go, so instead of waiting for me to carry her, she walked across the boards herself. I was terrified she would fall the entire time, but she had surprisingly good balance. She made it safely across all on her own.

The sun had started to set so we headed back to the bus and my last night in Orlando. I had loved every bit of being in that city because it was filled with pockets of nature and wildlife. But staying in a Walmart parking lot is not really camping, and I was getting eager to leave Florida. I wanted to make one last stop before I left though – Ocala National Forest, for the regenerative solitude of the natural world, alone with a campfire, sleeping in a tent, with only my sweet pup for company.




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