what an interesting day!!

[jessica31876]

My husband and I planned on going out to the Orlando Wetlands today. Well he gets the bikes loaded and we set off to the wetlands which is a pretty quick drive. We get out on the trails and it is a nice ride...until I stop for a break and something messes up on my bike and the wheel wont turn. My husband comes over and looks at it and somehow the brakes had gotten stuck on the tire and pulled it off the wheel which in turn got the brakes stuck on the inner tube. My husband gets it unstuck then BAM!! the tire popped!! Birds go flying everywhere. This place is protected and there is no hunting allowed so Im worried people are gonna think we just shot something. We were only about half-way through the path around the lake too so we ended up having to walk the rest of the way around listening to squeak-squeak-squeak of my tire which is completely flat and still kinda rubbing the brakes.

As we are walking my husband not even watching what he is doing almost steps on a water moccasin. (which I got a picture of...not of him almost stepping on it but of hte snake itself. Its pretty small) Then a little more down the path my husband is walking and comes about two feet from a seven foot gator. Totally not watching the ground itself. (they really dont mess with you though...usually they jump back in the water before you even see them) Sooo we finally make it back to the car and head home. It really was an interesting day.

Going to try to take the inner tube back to walmart because it is one of those self sealing ones and maybe they will exchange it for us.

[scrapperjade]

LOL! I totally laughed out loud at the tire popping - I had JUST been thinking "what else can go wrong" and THEN he almost steps on a snake and comes across a gator!! I think I would be avoiding the wetlands for awhile, lol!

[jessica31876]

Ohhh you have no idea this is not the first time this tire has popped. It is actually my youngest sons bike. Its a really expensive bike too but one day he is riding it in the yard (I dont let him ride on the street because of crazy drivers) and the tire just pops. IDK...I think the bike is jinxed LOL.

And I checked the photo of the snake. Pretty sure it is a diamondback rattlesnake but you know I didnt stick around for a positive ID. Snapped the photo from about twenty feet away and got moving. My husband is really bad about not watching where he is walking though...oh and he wants to go back tomorrow. It is about 4 1/2 miles the route we took today and we walked about half of that so not to sure I am going to feel like going back so soon. I do love it there and Im posting some photos on my blog from this week because we also went to another nature preserve and to a botanical garden.

[Sharon Kay]

ok I got goose bumps and a shiver down my spine ... I wouldn't be going back there! acckkk I hate snakes ... and a gator up close ... jeesh I would have freaked!

[jessica31876]

there were about six or seven gators up close but you can usually see them from aways away. Ive been there at least a dozen times. I love it there. Usually though the day goes much better.

[adi]

You'd think he's learn to watch where he was going after almost stepping ont he snake, lol! That was a weird day. Glad nothing happened on the way home!

[pam4gators]

You know whats funny is my sister's MIL lives in Nebraska and she thinks gators are in everyones back yard here in Florida. You really hardly ever see them unless you go to places like the wetlands, she also thinks snakes are everywhere here too, she has a fit if the kids go outside to play. The last time she came down there were 2 baby moccasins in the pool, and it is enclosed. We have no idea how they got in, but it kinda freaked her out, don't know if we can get her to go outside again when she comes down. lol