Mount Dora, Florida, Howey Estate & Rain

On the way to Mount Dora, we stopped to take a picture of the Howey Estate, the former home of the founder of the town of Howey-In-The-Hills, William J. Howey.

The estate fell on hard times in 2010 as the property went into foreclosure after being refinanced for $1.2 million.

On the Register of National Historic Places since 1983, the property was deemed too costly for Lake County or the state of Florida to purchase as a possible museum site.

Further up the road, we found our destination for today, Mount Dora, Florida and down Royellou Lane, a narrow alley, we found the Mount Dora History Museum.

As expected, the museum contains artifacts from the history of the city founded in 1880.

One of the town's claims to fame was its use in the 1980 movie Honky Tonk Freeway starring Teri Garr, Howard Hesseman, Beau Bridges, Jessica Tandy and William Devane among many other well-known names.

The entire downtown area was painted pink for the movie.

Mount Dora is known for antiques, the arts and the many festivals held in the city each year.

On the way back to camp, we stopped at Trimble Park on the shore of Lake Beauclair and saw several of these little guys peeking their heads out of the water.

When we returned to the campground, a storm was brewing.

After about two hours of rain, we were glad we weren't checking out until tomorrow morning.

Watch the storm.

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To be continued...

Bee's RV Resort & Lake Griffin State Park, Florida

Yesterday, we moved 70 miles northeast to our Coast to Coast & RPI home park, Bee's RV Resort in Clermont, Florida.

The swimming pool is next to a small lake with RVs and park models around it.

Today, we found our next state park, Lake Griffin State Park, in Fruitland Park just north of Leesburg.

Armed with life preservers and paddles, we are in search of canoes.

We found them by the boat ramp.

The entry point is Dead River which is a couple miles long and leads out to the very large Lake Griffin. Our one-hour trip will lead us to the end of Dead River.

Paddling in sync is a good thing to do when canoeing.

Luckily, it was not too hot because this would look like an awfully long way if it was.

We encountered thousands of lily pads along the way, but saw no frogs lounging on them. In the cooler winter months canoers might find themselves face to face with alligators. Not today, though.

Marlon took the front seat and Doug took the back.

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To be continued...

Hillsborough River State Park, Florida

Today we purchased our Florida State Park Passport and got our first stamp at Hillsborough River State Park in Thonotosassa. Say that five times.

The park features about 7 miles of its own trails which are configured in interconnected loops. The park also connects to the much longer Florida Trail.

The Rapids Trail took us along the banks of the Hillsborough River.

The river was a slow mover today.


Marlon stands under a tall tree waiting for ticks to fall.

The final leg of our hike is almost over.

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To be continued...