November 12, 2020

Biking Adventure on the LOST

South Bay RV Campground South Bay, Florida

I began my day with a walk to the Saint Lucie Lock Recreation Area.

It was very warm and humid already…so early in the day. I was hoping to walk across the locks but due to COVID the locks were locked. It was still a nice walk.

There are tons of squirrels everywhere…probably because there are trillions of acorns! Our RV was backed up to the water underneath a huge live oak tree. Yesterday, we heard acorns dropping on the RV roof all afternoon. By evening they had stopped…when the squirrels went back to their nests to rest!

We took the short drive through farmland to South Bay. Our new site backs up to a small canal. There is a sign right behind us that warns that alligators are present…yes they are!

By noon, we were finished with laundry and lunch and we set out to ride our bikes on the LOST or Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. The trail is paved (mostly) and goes for 25 miles along the berm around the lake.

Little white birds or LWB’s…mostly ibis and egrets.

We saw dozens of these turtles, many crossing the trail.

This alligator had to be 8 feet long!

The trail was paved…until it wasn’t. About 4 miles in, we hit a 1.5 mile stretch of hard gravel/sharp coral. It was very hard riding for awhile, bumping along and trying to avoid the larger sharper pieces of coral. We didn’t want to be thrown or puncture a tire. I didn’t take time to take a picture…because I was concentrating very hard on making it through the obstacle course. We decided to ride a little bit further to see if the trail conditions improved and viola…nice smooth pavement that led us to the Paul Rarden Park. We took a water break in the shade of a big old banyan tree. We were emerging from the park when we found a debit card laying on the path. We saw, far ahead, a woman on a bike and assumed that it was hers. We raced against the headwind to catch up with her. Her name was Sharon. She was a spry, energetic, great grandmother who was out for a long ride. It was not her card…however…as we were talking, she mentioned a detour to get around the rocky trail. She was going to take a farm road around, along a smaller canal, past the golf course, and up to the levee…if she could find it. We told her that we wanted to be part of her adventure and off we went!

We hit some muddy patches.

But, for the most part the road was better than that coral stuff!

I’ve said before that one of the things that is very different while traveling in this COVID world, is that we miss meeting people along the way. Today we got to meet this amazing person! Sharon lost her husband and decided to sell her house and she travels in a camper. She walk and bikes and enjoys the world without fear because of her very strong faith. Have you ever met a person so vital and self reliant and confident that it changes how you think? I know that I will always remember Sharon, her resilience and her wonderful energy and love of life! Thanks for our adventure today! She totally outdid me on the bike, hooting and hollering when she crested the hills!