We spent most of this day outside beginning with a visit
to the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam located on the Caloosahatchee River. This dam
and lock are parts of a system of three dams and locks that control the water
flow and allow shipping to cross the state. Once this river was a meandering,
beautiful tributary of the Gulf of Mexico, issuing from Lake Flirt, about 15
miles west of present-day Lake Okeechobee. The river was twice as long as its
current length of 67 miles. Besides accommodating navigation from the east to
the west side and vice versa of the state, the locks control water levels and
help prevent floods.
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Our arrival at the site was timely since we were able to
watch three ships pass through the lock. One was traveling downriver and the
other two were traveling up river. There is a nice observation area where we
could easily see the water level rise and fall. We even were able to have a
conversation with some of the people on the ships.
We learned that manatees also make use of these locks to
pass up and down the river and there was one in the lock while the we were
there that went downstream in front of one of the ships. The lock gates have
sensors in them and they will not close if there is a manatee nearby.
One of the ships was over 100’ and we couldn’t imagine
having enough money to own it. Definitely, the owner was not piloting this
ship. Afterwards, there were no ships in either direction as far as we could
see.
We learned that during hurricane preparations, this lock
operates around the clock as owners move their boats to safer areas. The lock
manager told us that the most craft he has passed through the lock at one time
was 16.
After we left the dam, we drove to The Pop Ash Creek
Preserve Filter Marsh. This marsh system gets most of its water from the sheet
flow coming from the north.
There was an earth geocache at the marsh and the description
advised us that we might be required to wade through standing water. However,
this is not the rainy season and since there had not been any significant rainfall
lately, we were happy to walk on dry or moist ground all the way. An earth
cache does not have a physical container to find. It takes one to an area of
interest and we must find answers to questions posed by the cache owner.
There were some truly beautiful areas in the preserve and
we did see an alligator swimming around in the water.
During our drive, we passed by Hogbody’s Bar & Grill
and upon noticing that the parking lot was full, we decided to stop there for
lunch. I was tempted to order the fried bologna sandwich which was a staple
around our house when I was growing up.
I thought of my son, Andy, who likes chicken wings very
much when I saw all the different ways one could order them off this menu.
We enjoyed people watching while we were eating. We were
planning on going to the afternoon rodeo which was being held nearby and we
noticed a lot of cowboys and cowgirls who we were sure were going to be
competing in the events.
Lee County Posse Arena is a non-profit club whose mission
is to assist youth organizations such as Lee County Junior Posse, 4-H, Jr. and
High School Rodeos and other equestrian organizations. We missed the rodeo last
year so I had put it on our To Do List for this year.
Today’s event was billed as a Cracker Rodeo and it
consisted of events for all ages—from little children to adults.
When we took our seats in the sun, the temperature had
reached 78°. By intermission, we decided to move to the other side of the arena
to sit in the shade before we got sunburned.
Before the rodeo began, there was a riding demonstration
by a group that is involved in therapeutic riding for children who are
disabled. The riders were almost through their routine before Cordell noticed
that their leader was a girl who had no legs.
Besides the usual rodeo events like bull riding and team
roping, I enjoyed mutton bustin where the smallest of the children attempted to
stay on the backs of sheep.
I thought of my granddaughter, Janelle who loves to ride
horses, and I sent her a text with a photo of ladies who were barrel racing.
Only a few of the contestants were able to successfully negotiate riding around
the barrels without knocking at least one of them over.
During intermission, they staged three boot races that
started with children between the ages of 2 and 6. Their boots or shoes were
left at one end of the arena and they were lined up several yards away. At the signal,
each child had to run to the pile, find their own footwear, put it on and then
race back to the starting line. For the second group of older children, they
scattered their boots and increased the distance they had to run. When they
announced the senior group, Cordell was ready to go down and take part in the
race and he was disappointed when he found out it was for the teenagers. After
thinking about it, he remarked that there probably wouldn’t be enough
ambulances in the county to carry away all the old people who might try this
race! The senior group had to start at the back wall of the arena and their
boots were scattered very, very far apart. It was interesting to see that both of
the races the two older groups were won by girls.
There was a tractor dragging some kind of attachment on
the back that periodically smoothed the sand in the arena. It reminded me of
the Zamboni that is used at the ice arenas.
The bull riding was especially exciting to watch. There was
a long wait for one bull that took a long time to get in the chute. After the
quick ride, that bull was not inclined to leave the arena and it was
interesting to see all the different people working together to finally get the
bull put away. One rider had a whip that he never struck the bull with, but he
cracked it several times. And that’s how the cowboys in Florida became known as
Crackers. Many of the events we saw today were skills that the cowboys needed
to use while raising cattle.
And so we had another beautiful sunset to a very pretty
and fun filled day.
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