We decided to start our trip back by taking US 27 out of Clewiston and going up through the center of the state. This would take us out of sugar cane country, into the citrus belt and through a part of Florida that Julie and I had lived and worked in.

Our first stop was just south of Lake Placid near the intersection of US 27 and SR 70. We pulled off onto an orange grove access road and parked so that we could walk around and show the kids an orange grove.

Jordan, being the adventurous type, decided to take me up on trying out a fresh Florida orange.

She seemed to like them, and Bryan said that they were the sweetest oranges he'd ever had.

Our next stop was going to be in Sebring, where Julie and I lived for a time after we were first married. We wanted to show the kids where we lived as well as a couple of our favorite places.

We went to the Highlands Hammock State Park first. The park has many hiking trails including some that have 'cat walks' that take you out into the hammocks and low lands that are preserved in their natural state.

On these 'cat walks' we were able to see not only the plant life that are natural to the area, but wild life as well.

We came upon some other park visitors that told us that they had seen the alligator pictured below eat a huge fish, then crawl up on the bank. They said that "He must be pretty proud of himself because he's been grinning ever since!"

We printed the above photo and have it framed and hanging up in our basement den. He will always be referred to as "Smiley".

We wandered around a few more trails and visited the park museum before leaving and then heading over to the Sebring International Raceway, the home of the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race.