Hut and I found a gem of place to go walking here in Polk County. It's been open for a few years but it's a pretty well kept secret. I thought I had posted about this before but evidently not. Guess I wanted to keep it a secret too. I will find the pictures from our first venture out here and post them soon. The place is called the Circle B Bar Reserve. It was formerly a cattle ranch. Actually the state bought 1/2 of the cattle ranch and turned it into a nature reserve. The other 1/2 is still a working cattle ranch. The reserve has about 8 walking/biking trails that are all natural. No cement sidewalks here. The first one we ever walked was a 1/2 mile trail which ended up being a mile because we forgot about the walk back, lol. The walk we went on Sunday was a 2 mile walk. The trail is called Alligator Alley and you will soon see why.
You have to walk on the Shady Oak trail before you get to Alligator Alley. Things are pretty much left the way they fell. This tree stump, as we walked up to it, resembled a dragon to both Hut and I.
As we got closer it seemed to me to resemble a deer. Hut said it reminded him of our Molly laying down and eating her bone. I could see that too,lol.
This I call the bridge to nowhere. It seems to serve no purpose but it is over a low lying area that probably floods when it rains. Out in the middle of nowhere.
A shot of Lake Hancock through the trees. This lake is 7 miles around and the water is only 2 feet deep. And I loved that when I looked across the water there was NO development of any kind. I honesty hope it stays that way. The reserve, I told Hut, reminded me of dinosaur days (yes, I'm that old). It has the musty smell and the air was thick and clingy. But I loved it. The reserve is pretty much like it was when people settled this land.
Just as we were getting to Alligator Alley I heard some banging. Here was a red-headed woodpecker busy on this tree.
Walking on Alligator Alley you come upon a dock out on the lake. From that dock you could see tons of alligators. This was one of many. They say you can tell how many feel long an alligator is by how many inches it is from his snout to his eyes. I don't know about you, but I'm not getting that close. I figure all of the gators we saw in the lake were at least 10 feet and bigger.
All the black lines and spots? GATORS!!!! HUGE GATORS!!!! I counted 31 total. 15 on one side of the dock and 16 on the other. We ran into another lady who said she counted 45!
There are 8 in this picture.
There were not any gators near the dock itself. My camera has a pretty good zoom so that's where the close ups came from. I'm kinda glad there weren't any near the docks.
This one was pretty long.
One trying to hide in the weeds.
Another one hiding in the weeds.
Alligators on the other side of the dock.
A few more on the other side of the dock.
Alligator Alley is not all alligators. Here is one of many turtles co-habitating with the gators. I believe this is a painted turtle.
Even though these are round and look like helmets, I believe these turtles are called box turtles.
On the canal we were walking along, this big guy was the only one we saw sunning himself on the bank. And that was fine with me. He was only about 10 feet from us.
Another family of box turtles. And these guys were right in front of the big gator sunning himself.
Another shot of the gator sunning himself.
A black heron sunning himself.
Believe it or not this gator is only 4 feet long. We were looking at a Coot (a bird) that was near him. I almost didn't see him. He blends right in with the logs.
A blue heron stalking fish in the canal.
This is another 4 footer. He was a little harder to see since he was in the shade and only his head was showing.
An osprey in the tree. These are very common in the wooded areas around here. Some friends were biking the trails the day we were there and they were lucky enough to see an eagle on one of the paths they were on. Hopefully one day I'll be as lucky.
Liz and Scott invited us to go to the Bay Area Renaissance Festival with them this year. I have always seen advertisements and have wanted to go, but just never made it. It was so much fun. I didn't take very many photos as I was just enjoying the festival. And on the day we went, they had wedding vow renewals. So of course, we just had to to that. The renewals were done at the above named "FIDDLEWORTH CHAPEL".
Hut and I next to the "chapel". You can see the king's squire in the background. And yes, Hut is wearing a crown. Thank you Burger King,lol.
The king's squire getting the "chapel" ready for the king.
The king and his court making thier way to the "chapel".
King Henry, who officiated the service.
Liz and Scott also renewed their vows. It was a group renewal so we don't have any pictures of the actual ceremony. Let me just say that if you thought it was going to be a serious service, you would have been quite wrong. Lots of fun and laughter.
Hut and I with the King after the ceremony. 
Hut and Scott trying to hit some wooden "frogs" onto some floating lily pads. No success from either. But it was fun.
Alot of people take this renaissance very seriously. These 3 photos are a small parade of people fully dressed in period clothing. It was a cool day. I couldn't imagine wearing some of the outfits they were wearing if it was hot.
This lady was at a game similiar to the dunk tank. She had a bustier on, but from where I was standing she looks totally "nekkid" where she is sitting.
Liz and Scott at a knife throwing game. The object was to get the knives to stick into the wooden targets. I think the knives were dull. None of them stuck.
King Hut taking a break and waiting for a comedian to come out on stage. It was a good show although I can't explain exactly what he was doing while telling his jokes. He was swinging some type of balls on strings. I wish I had taken at least one picture. Oh well, there's always next year.
We got to see a few minutes of a joust. Here is the horse "our" knight "William" was riding.
Our Knight, William. 
They had a booth where you could shoot archery. Scott tried it out. He hit a couple of deer, some rabbits and lot of hay, lol. Then it started raining really hard and we had to call it a day. Oh and they were selling the cutest t-shirts that said "Once a king, always a king but once a knight is not enough." Think about it and I guarantee if you let your mind go in the gutter for a minute, you will have a smile on your face.
These two pictures are Orange Trees. Not all orange trees have blossoms and oranges at the same time. I think these are Navels. I just love that every year you have oranges and blossoms on the tree together. They are so beautiful!
And we had a surprise visitor out by one of the sidewalks the other day. He was about 4 feet long from nose to tail end.
And he was gracious enough to pose for the pictures. We left him alone and I'm sure he wandered back to the pond after he was done sunning himself.
But the cruise is always in the evenings. Starts at 8:15 every Saturday night. So to kill some time the last time we went, we decided to go to Downtown Disney because it's only 10 minutes away. And we always park on the West Side because 1. You can always find a parking space close and 2. You can ride the boat to the Downtown Disney side. And that in itself is a fun time. And then you have Rossi Jean entertaining you with her many faces.
In this shot you can see Layla and Wade behind Diana and Rossi. This is a really nice ride across the lake and it's free!
This car was on display at Old Town and was a hit with everyone.
And here's why. This sign shows what parts the car is made from. This is a true Heinz 57 of cars.
This is a shot of the front of Wade's Chevelle.
And a side shot of the car. We love this car and have such a good time cruising in it.
Here's Rossi Jean. She was a little tired, but she always makes sure she is rested enough to wave at people while she cruises.
And darn Wade! Had to snap this picture. I had worked an overnight shift the night before the cruise and hadn't been to bed. I was sooooo tired. Not a very flattering picture, lol.
These two pictures are of the crowd that managed to get there for food before the rain. And boy did it rain.
Here is Hut's plate...fish, hushpuppies, beans and collard greens. There was also iced tea, lemonade and water.
I got fish, hushpuppies, beans, corn and cole slaw. And it all was fantastic!
