Scooting about Winter Haven and Lakeland

 I've been riding a lot lately.  Running back and forth not only to my job but whereever else I can go as well.  I am not traveling far, at least I'm out and about on Kimmie.  

It's hard for me to believe that the last group ride I was on was back in August 2015...yet, there it is.  I would once again be riding with the same group.  This time we were planning on meeting up in Lakeland and then take what I supposed would be a long circular route to Winter Haven for brunch.   

Kimmie and Rob's Vintage 125 Vespa

Again it occurs to me how very little I actually know about this state.   I remember visiting the Winter Haven area as a kid, where we went to a amusement park and I remember being impressed by a Water Skiing show there...this park later morphed into Legoland.  Other than that I knew next to nothing about the area.  

So the day started off well, with a ride promising to teach me a little more about my adopted state.  It also promised to be another in a series of hot, dry days which had me reconsidering my commitment to ATGATT.  However safety always comes first.

The group ride actually ended up just being a gang of two.  All the gang members where named Robert.  Although we did meet up with Rob's friend Andrew for brunch in Winter Haven for a bit..  He's an interesting guy with interests very similar to mine when it comes to home gardening.  His home is also directly influenced by the work of Gene Leedy, which to a geek like me was pretty cool.  I didn't take pictures however, I'm a big fan of privacy.  I may be all over the net, but that is my choice.  I wasn't sure how Andrew would feel about me wandering about taking pictures of his home.

A mural in downtown Winter Haven

Again I was impressed by the beauty of Lakeland, with its public spaces and wide open views of its various lakes.   Winter Haven also impressed me, with its attempts to revitalize its downtown area (signs of building construction where everywhere) and its various lakeside views.

As a fan a unusual buildings, I would have been happy to go in search of Leedy's work but we were here to ride.  The roads around Winter Haven were just twisty enough to make the ride fun, and the town has various lakes (50 in total) within it's borders meaning that where ever we road had a water view.   Many of these lakes were connected by canals.   

Over all it was a good ride out and I put about 117 miles on Kimmie.  

A mural painted onto a tree in Lakeland

 

Another mural

Public art in a public park