Subscribe to Updates
A photo of Rayleigh, Dillon, Ainsley, and Grayson posing with a statue of Thomas Edison in front of the huge banyan tree on the property

32 Days in America, Day 9

Stats

  • Miles traveled: 44.7
  • Miles traveled to date: 1830.2
  • States visited today: 1 – Florida
  • States visited to date: 9
  • Tanks of gas pumped to date: 6
  • Meltdowns: 8
  • Loads of Laundry: 5
  • Illness: 1

Daily recap

After a breakfast of French toast on the pool deck and some school work, we headed to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were good friends and collaborated on automobile research, and built winter estates right next to each other on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River. Edison, Ford, and Firestone (yes, that Firestone) were trying to discover a source of rubber that could be grown domestically, and planted all sorts of different plants all around the property to see what the latex yield would be and how well they would grow. After touring the buildings, gardens, and grounds, we headed to Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve to hike the trails (which, perplexingly, were only 1.2 miles long). Then it was back to the house for dinner and some night swimming before bed.

Highlights

  • Spending the day with Grammy and Grandpa
A photo of Grandpa Luke and Grammy Patty with the Edison and Ford Winter Estates buildings in the background
Grandpa Luke and Grammy Patty joined us for our excursion to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates.
  • Seeing huge trees at Edison and Ford Winter Estates
A photo of a huge banyan tree which has towering root systems that extend for dozens of feet in every direction
This is a photo of a single, huge banyan tree. There is a sign in the middle that says “central trunk” to show the origin point of the tree. The tree drops aerial roots down from its branches, which then take root in the ground and help to nourish and support the weight of the tree.
  • Seeing examples of early automobiles that Henry Ford built
A photo of Kevin, Grayson, Rayleigh, Ainsley, and Dillon standing next to several early Ford automobiles
The car on the right is one of the early Fords, and includes wooden spokes on the wheels as well as a mostly wood body. It has a truck bed on the back, and is much closer to a horse-drawn wagon than what we think of as a car today.
  • Exploring the Edison and Ford homes and additional buildings
A photo of about 20 tall palm trees that were planted in a row behind the Edison and Ford Winter Estates
They don’t provide much privacy, but they do look cool all planted in a row.
  • Stopping for a bubble tea break
A photo of Kevin and Dillon making excited faces about their bubble tea while Kelsey makes a disgusted face
At Dillon’s request, we stopped for bubble tea, which isn’t Kelsey’s cup of … tea.
  • Hiking the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
A panoramic photo of Gator Pond
Water nearly as far as the eye can see, but no gators.
A photo of a grove of cypress trees with moss growing on the forest floor
These cypress trees lost their needles in the fall and haven’t grown new ones yet. They are called “deciduous conifers” because they have needles, but shed them like other deciduous trees.
A photo of Dillon, Ainsley, Rayleigh, and Kelsey, with Grayson riding piggyback, reading one of the signs along the elevated walkway in the preserve
There were placards like this scattered around the elevated walkway that provided clues to guess the animal they described. This one was about black bears. You can see a spray painted black bear print under Ainsley’s left shoe.

Other photos from today

Rayleigh standing next to the trunk of a huge tree, the roots of which go several feet above her head
The root systems of some of the trees at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates were really cool (and huge), like this kapok tree.
A photo of Ainsley and Grayson admiring a photo of an early 20th century automobile
There were a lot of photos of old cars, which the kids found fascinating.
A photo of an early Ford automobile in black with leather seats and a leather canopy
One of the early Ford automobiles that are kept on the Edison and Ford Winter Estates grounds. This is one of several that they keep in working order.
A photo of Kevin and Kelsey in front of a huge banyan tree with sprawling exposed roots
This banyan tree on the banks of the river has sinuous roots that stretch out for a dozen or so feet in every direction.
Kevin excitedly pointing at the sign in front of a strangler fig
Kevin was excited to find a strangler fig (although this one isn’t strangling anything). There’s a pattern in computer science that is named after the strangler fig, so it was neat to find one in real life.
A photo of Kevin excitedly pointing out a fig tree that is strangling an oak by growing around it
Although this isn’t a proper strangler fig, it is a variety of fig that exhibits strangling behavior. The actual strangler fig on the property isn’t strangling anything.
A photo of bamboo that has been cut near to the ground, showing the hollow center of the bamboo stalks
The bamboo at Edison and Ford Winter Estates was very thick—up to 4 inches in diameter in some places. Pictured here is a section where some was cut, showing the hollow center.
A photo of Grayson being shy and hiding from the camera in front of an early Ford automobile painted red with white tires with a calliope in the back, which is a sort of steam-powered organ with several dozen shiny pipes sticking out on top
Grayson didn’t think the calliope was very interesting.
A photo of Dillon posing amoung the exposed root systems of a banyan tree
The root systems of the banyan trees provided good hiding spots.
A photo of Ainsley sitting on a bench next to a statue of Mina Edison
Mina Edison, Thomas Edison’s wife, called herself the “home executive,” keeping track of the myriad details of managing their homes and staff.
A photo that uses perspective to make it seem like Dillon is picking a coconut from a coconut tree, even though he's standing 20 feet in front of it
Dillon had been asking about getting fresh coconuts, and he finally got his chance! (not really)
A photo of Ainsley, Rayleigh, Dillon, and Grayson climbing on a banyan tree
This photo was taken before we saw the “don’t climb on the trees” signs.
A photo of a small gecko on a tree root
These little geckos were everywhere, if you could spot them through their camouflage.
A photo of orange starfruit growing in the high branches of a tree.
There were a lot of interesting trees on the grounds of the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, including this starfruit tree.
A photo of Kelsey and Grayson experimenting with building a Lego zipline in The Wizard's Workshop
In order to get the zipline to work properly, you need to build something out of Lego that is both balanced and is able to rotate freely as it travels down the string.
A photo of Grayson and Dillon building marble tracks
Experimenting with building marble tracks.
A photo of Rayleigh, Dillon, Grayson, and Kelsey looking at a display labeled "Looking for Latex: Where did Edison's plant collectors find rubber in the United States?"
Exploring the museum’s rubber exhibit.
A photo of a street sign which says Penzance Boulevard
I wonder if there are any pirates on this street…
A photo of Grayson reading one of the informational displays along the elevated walkway
Grayson learning all about the trail system at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve.
Ainsley reading about Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve in a pamphlet while standing on the elevated walkway
Ainsley played tour guide on our hike around Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve
A photo of three black birds on a floating dock on a pond
These black birds were hanging out on the floating dock on Gator Pond. We didn’t see any gators, but we did see a lot of birds.
A photo of swampland with standing water clearly visible among the trees and ferns
Sections of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve were very swampy.
A photo of Ainsley and Grayson holding hands while walking along the elevated walkway through the preserve
Besties in their new shoes hiking Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve.
A photo of Kelsey, Ainsley, and Dillon leaning over the side of the pier to look at fish underneath it while Rayleigh holds Ainsley's legs and Grayson holds Dillon's legs
The really interesting fish were under the pier.
A photo of a huge air plant growing on a tree trunk with an orange bloom coming out of it
The forest at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve was full of air plants of all kinds. This particular type was in bloom, and several of them had these reddish orange parts that added a splash of color to to the forest.
A photo of a white ibis hunting for food in the marshland next to the elevated walkway
The white ibis were used to people. We were able to get within two feet of this one without scaring it off of its hunt for food.
A panoramic photo of one of the ponds in the preserve, which is covered with lily pads
Despite being located within a few hundred yards of one another, the four ponds in the preserve had very different characters. This one was covered with lily pads, which the others weren’t.
A photo of part of a tree that had grown into the roof of the south shelter and had been cut off above and below the roof, but remains embedded within the roof's edge
This roof looks stumped.
A photo of cypress tree growths sticking out of the swamp that look like wooden cones
These are cypress tree “knees,” which are outgrowths of their root system which help them breathe when the water level rises.
A photo of about a hundred white ibis nesting in trees on the other side of a pond
As the sun was going down, the white ibis flew back to their rookery from where they were hunting for food individually all over the preserve.
A photo of an orange sunset over the highway
The photo doesn’t do it justice, but the sunset was a brilliant shade of orange.

And now for your moment of zen…

A photo of a sign that says "frog parking only: violators will be toad"
And let me tell you, those tow truck drivers really hop to it.

Posted

in

by

Kevin Fodness

Comments

Leave a Reply