On Saturday May 18, friends Lisa Dietrich and Gayle King joined me for a ride at my favorite place - Orlando Wetlands Park. Wow, what a surprise! The Marine Corp ROTC was hosting a run around the perimeter of the park (approximately 6 miles) and the parking lot was jammed, people everywhere. No worries, we parked in the regular parking lot where I could easily pull through without having to back up.
We were able to get off before the race started and headed in the opposite direction of the runners. Interestingly, we never actually saw a single runner but we were happy to find a tub of cold bottled water on our return on the far side of Lake Searcy. We saw lots and lots of alligators - big and small enjoying the beautiful day.
Orlando Wetlands Park now connects to the Charles Bronson State Forest through a gate out the back. Well, that's where we headed. We had a beautiful ride on a shaded road (albeit a little buggy) all the way out to the St. John's River and what Gayle discovered was an area known as Puzzle Lake.
Upon our return to the parking area, we were greeted by a group of young ROTC recruits who were admiring the Sheriff's helicopter. We were hoping they wouldn't be starting the rotors any time soon. The fine folks with the Sheriff's office and the ROTC recruits were more than happy to oblige us with a picture. The horses enjoyed all the attention as the kids were snapping lots of pictures and providing lots of petting.
Just another beautiful day on the trail. Looking forward to tomorrow's adventure at Snow Hill (Little Big Econ State Forest).
Puzzle Lake is a lake near Geneva in Seminole County, Florida. It forms the border of Volusia and Seminole counties. It is one of the lakes that make up the St. Johns River system. 1,627 yards (1,488 m) north of the lake is the mouth of the tributary, the Econlockhatchee River. It has a surface area of 1,300 acres (530 ha). 3.2 miles (5.1 km) downriver is Lake Harney, the start of the river becoming a wetland (upriver).
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