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Road Trip - Day Three - Southern FL
brianreynolds:
Up early on Monday morning, back on the road before daylight. FL-70 west into Highlands County, CR-721 into Glades County and through the Brighton Indian Reservation. FL-78 and US-27 into Clewiston. Stopped at McDonalds for breakfast. The weather up to (and including) this point was unseasonably cool. Everyone who heard I was from Michigan blamed me for bringing my Michigan winter with me.
At 8 AM in Clewiston, it was 52°F. There were two couples who were having breakfast together in the McDonalds, all of them properly dressed for a cold Michigan winter day. Not only were they bundled up, even inside the restaurant, their coats were buttoned and zipped, as though it was cold inside. In contrast, I was in a T-shirt, without a jacket. I’m sure the locals could tell that I was an alien being from a foreign climate.
I was hoping that the US-27 roadway along Lake Okeechobee would offer a pleasant view of the lake, but the intervening levee precluded that. US-27 south of the lake is not a particularly scenic route.
FL-997 connects US-27 to US-41 by-passing the Miami metro area. Along this road, there was a motorist whose car had left the roadway (probably at a high rate of speed) and ended up far out into the swamp. As I was passing, a tow truck (the kind that loads a car fully up off the road onto a platform) was just pulling away, without rescuing the car. My interpretation is that this tow truck did not have the means to retrieve a car that far out into the swamp.
I have read about the very expensive effort to mitigate the damage to the Everglades. I was skeptical, but having visited, I am now in favor of the project. Along US-41, there is some construction in progress to elevate the highway, similar to several highways I have seen in the swamps of Louisiana. I assume that when the new highway is finished, the old roadbed will be removed as part of the restoration.
My one somewhat standard tourist activity for this trip was a visit to the Shark Valley Visitor Center at Everglades National Park, just off US-41. The cost to get in was $20, but because of my recent 62nd birthday, the admission fee included a lifetime pass into all National Park facilities. Wow. There are not many tangible benefits to old age, but this one is a dandy. The tram ride was another $20 ($19 for me because of my advanced age). It takes two full hours, and is absolutely worth the investment of time and money. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining. Big birds and alligators are everywhere. There is so much to see and do and learn. Highly recommended.
It was mid-morning when I arrived. There was no line of traffic at the entrance gate, and no trouble finding parking. When I left in the early afternoon, it had changed. There were 8-10 cars lined up at the gate, not many parking spaces left. On the tram ride, foreign visitors might have outnumbered the US citizens. There were many Orientals (probably Japanese, but I’m not sure), a large group of Australians, and another bunch from Brazil. Everyone seemed to enjoy it immensely.
Back on the road, a few miles west is the apparent tri-county point of Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Collier counties. As reported in an earlier thread, on the northeast side of the road is a guard rail with the words “Collier-Dade tri-county corner” spray-painted on it. Opposite this is a wide graded area that vehicles can pull off and park. That is exactly what I did, keeping as far off the traveled road as was practical. In so doing, I am fairly sure (but lack conclusive proof) that I crossed from Miami-Dade into and through a corner of Monroe and on into Collier.
I stopped and parked, got out my magnetic locator, and searched for evidence of the iron pipe in the road that is supposed to mark the actual tri-corner. I did not find it. However I did note that a recent paving project in Miami-Dade ends abruptly at the county line as indicated by the spray paint.
Took a few photos, then back on the road westbound. I stopped at the Big Cypress National Preserve visitor center to enjoy my brown-bag lunch, then on westward.
My pre-planned routing started to unravel. I had planned to turn north off US-41 to catch un-tolled I-75 at exit 101. I missed the turn, went on into Naples, and had to double back east to I-75. An hour or so later, I was supposed to turn north off FL-72 to go through Sandy toward Myakka City. I missed the turn, went all the way back to I-75 instead. Tried to correct by taking I-75 to US-301 to FL-62, then back to US-17. This didn’t work well either. US-301 was completely closed for some emergency at CR-675. Traffic was diverted east. I traveled east on CR-675 assuming that I could catch some county road back north to FL-62. Bad assumption. CR-675 took me back to FL-64. It seemed I was going backwards. Took FL-64 to US-17, completely running out of daylight along the way. Fueled up in Zolfo Springs.
I had originally planned to overnight in Lakeland, or maybe somewhere between there and Tampa. I was pretty discouraged by my lack of forward progress, decided to look for accommodations in Wauchula. Inquired at the Best Western, was told that there was a good room available for $100, a better one for $110. I was assured that there was nothing to offer for $60 or less. We agreed to disagree. Re-energized and re-invigorated, I hit the road again, determined to get to Lakeland.
At Lakeland, got the best room of the entire trip for under $50. Five bucks worth of food from Taco Bell and two cheap beers out of my cooler represented my complete New Year’s Eve celebration. I was asleep before 10:30 PM. Ya know, I just don’t party as hearty as I used to.
tvketchum:
I thought the same about Lake Okechobee, but the Army Corps of Engineers turned it into a resevoir back in the 1920's as part of the water supply to Miami and other coastal cities. I did drive up onto the levee at one spot where public access was allowed. You cannot see across the lake to the other shore. Just a high earten wall around the shore as far as one can see.
cpzilliacus:
--- Quote from: brianreynolds on January 05, 2013, 10:44:17 PM ---Back on the road, a few miles west is the apparent tri-county point of Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Collier counties. As reported in an earlier thread, on the northeast side of the road is a guard rail with the words “Collier-Dade tri-county corner” spray-painted on it. Opposite this is a wide graded area that vehicles can pull off and park. That is exactly what I did, keeping as far off the traveled road as was practical. In so doing, I am fairly sure (but lack conclusive proof) that I crossed from Miami-Dade into and through a corner of Monroe and on into Collier.
I stopped and parked, got out my magnetic locator, and searched for evidence of the iron pipe in the road that is supposed to mark the actual tri-corner. I did not find it. However I did note that a recent paving project in Miami-Dade ends abruptly at the county line as indicated by the spray paint.
--- End quote ---
Unlike Google Maps, county boundaries in Mapquest do not disappear as you zoom in to a feature on the map.
According to Mapquest (here), the buildings and the nearby small body of water on the southbound [eastbound] side of U.S. 41 near the tripoint are in Monroe County. Wonder who those people call if they need law enforcement or fire/EMS to respond there? Or does it matter?
Only part of the "wide area" is in Monroe County.
cpzilliacus:
While watching the football game, looked on the Monroe County Web site to see if they have a geographic information system (GIS) portal, and they do - but I cannot get any of the geography in the northern mainland part of the county to render.
realjd:
--- Quote from: cpzilliacus on January 06, 2013, 02:29:55 PM ---While watching the football game, looked on the Monroe County Web site to see if they have a geographic information system (GIS) portal, and they do - but I cannot get any of the geography in the northern mainland part of the county to render.
--- End quote ---
With no police services, fire services, water, sewer, parks, or county highways, why bother with GIS coverage?
A better bet may be to look at Miami-Dade and Collier GIS.
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