Okeechobee

Lake Okeechobee

The Big Lake

Lake O

There are many names for Lake Okeechobee. We drove out there today to do some serious caching in that area. Laurie has been there before, and she knew where some good ones were. I think we found about 10 altogether. It was a nice day - cool temperatures and only a few sprinkles. There were spectacular clouds - Florida has great cloud displays.

There's one place by the lake where bikers like to congregate, especially on Sunday - Port Mayaca Lock. It was really shocking to see so many bikers in that one area. I'm not sure what the attraction is, but one of the fish camps out that way looks like a dealership - there are so many bikes parked there. I think they all just like to look at each others' bikes or something.

At Port Mayaca: Reflections, and a huge alligator!
At one point in our drive around the area, we found the Basswood Estates. It was hilarious because the B had been removed from the signs on each side of the road, and another B had been painted onto the concrete to take its place. Try to steal that! Dylan figured out why kids would steal that B :)

Here are Dick's logs:

Found it 1/6/2008 You found 'Buster' Ferrell (Traditional Cache)
We joined the sharkie crew for an afternoon at "The Lake". Although, like everyone else in America, we had heard much about Okeechobee, we had never before visited. We greatly enjoyed the experience. Your caches gave us a wonderful feel for the history of the area. We ran out of time before we could do them all. That just means we will have to schedule a return trip during our Florida stay. Thanks for adding to our fun afternoon.

Found it 1/6/2008 You found 'Buster' Ferrell (The Next Generation) (Traditional Cache)
We didn't stop in, the owner was much too busy this Sunday afternoon. Just signed the log and drove on. TFTC

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Okeechobee School #1 (Traditional Cache)
When we planned a caching expedition with the sharkie crew, this was our main target cache. Mrs Sharkie had scored this cache some time ago and wanted to show her retired school teacher parents the two caches at schools out here. We enjoyed scoping out the names of the graduates and agree that the Board of Ed blew it when they cut off the owner's class from being listed on the sidewalk. After our exploration we signed the log and drove on. TFTC

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Underwater Damage (Virtual Cache)

We joined the sharkie crew for an afternoon at "The Lake". Although, like everyone else in America, we had heard much about Okeechobee, we had never before visited. We greatly enjoyed the experience. The youngest sharkie enjoyed "firing" the ordnance. We spent quite a bit of time enjoying downtown Okeechobee. Thanks for showing it to us.
Email with answers sent.

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Williams Family Cattle Drive 1937 (Traditional Cache)
Found it and signed the log. Not my favorite type of hide. [The clue was "You will not be shocked, even though it may seem like it" - we're all thinking that this sets a bad precedent.]

Found it 1/6/2008 You found 'Mater Ditches (Traditional Cache)
Found it, grabbed it, signed the log, and ran. The lawn maintenance guy was watching. When he was distracted, found it, grabbed it, signed the log, and ran.

Found it 1/6/2008 You found The Speckled Perch (Traditional Cache)
A quandary, how does one hide a regular sized container in an urban area, highlighting a specific location? We liked the history and the location, just didn't love the hide. Probably just a squeamish snow bird. Signed the log and left our card. Thanks for more of the history of this unique part of Florida.

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Okeechobee Cowboys (Traditional Cache)
Didn't understand the clue but found it anyway. Signed the new log (Thanks Butterdish)and left a lady bug. TFTC

Found it 1/6/2008 You found Tantie Schoolhouse (Traditional Cache)
The second schoolhouse cache that were the main goals of our caching afternoon. We enjoyed the visit. We found the plaque from the boat launch amusing and the school interesting. The cache was a disaster, the contents were a sodden mess and the area is crying for CITO. We threw out the old soggy and unreadable paper and left a new log in a small zip lock. Also left a glass lady bug and a pencil. Took a bag of trash from the area of the fence row. Thanks for another history lesson.

At this last cache there was a huge hill of fire ants - one of several we saw today. It's fascinating to watch them when the hill is disturbed.