Exploring the World with Pokémon Go: Cross Seminole Trail 9
At long last I have reached Cross Seminole Trail 9. And at the end of this is the final spot on the trail. Let’s see what I found.
Mile Marker 26.75:
I started my journey down Cross Seminole Trail 9 right where my last adventure stopped. This same street looks a lot different mid morning with far less cars on the road. Hard to imagine there was bumper to bumper traffic on this same street not even 24 hours before.
Don’t be fooled though. This is still US Highway 17-92 to my right. There is a ton of traffic that passes through here. Much of it trying to avoid the nearby Interstate 4. Plenty of cars still passed by. This isn’t a backroad by any stretch of the imagination.
I saw a series of signs promoting guns and ammunition at a nearby store as I passed by. It was hard not to groan as I went by. Yes it feels like the world is getting more dangerous. Even though its not. It just so happens that many groups who were ok with getting attacked are just defending themselves. Don’t let people trick you otherwise. Then again, this idea of increasing violence is making some people a lot of money. Fear is one hell of a drug. And hypothetically attacking imagined enemies is quite an addictive thought.
I can’t remember if I mentioned Mile Marker 26.75 in my last post. It had a Fire Ant mound around it which made me think I had. The final mile marker in my last post had a similar feature around it. I refuse to mess with these bugs. Their stings hurt.
Mile Marker 27:
On this dreary and cloudy day, the next part of Cross Seminole Trail 9 didn’t have many features to showcase. This section follows the highway north towards a much more interesting sight. I know this area looks featureless and even a bit bland. But don’t worry, things are about to improve by a lot.
Mile Marker 27.0 would be the last part of this adventure that seemed lacking in amazing features to look at. Just wait. The rest of this adventure was amazing.
Mile Marker 27.25:
In my last post, I mentioned that there were railroad tracks up ahead. Well here they are. While far away, I saw an Amtrak train go by and was worried I would miss the chance to get a train crossing the road when I got close. A good thing a Sunrail train came by when I was standing near the tracks.
I got a bit excited and even more than a little reckless. Running across a street when the walk sign wasn’t displayed showed how important getting this image was. Not sure how the people sitting in their cars nearby felt about this as I dashed across the street. I can assure readers that I did not get hit by a car. Nor did I cause any accidents.
This is the last time I’ll see the train tracks on this trail. But that’s because Cross Seminole Trail 9 is the final instalment of this series. Getting another Sunrail Train on my travel blog is a wonderful thing. I love trains. Its a shame there are not more of them in Central Florida. Cities that have them tend to benefit when they are placed correctly.
As I passed the tracks, I saw yet more signs for Interstate 4. I was not only approaching the end of the trail, but a massive road bottleneck. For those of you familiar with the area, there is a large water feature near here. Its called Lake Monroe.
Mile Marker 27.25 would be one of the last ones I passed on the Cross Seminole Trail. Its crazy to think that I am finally reaching the end of a journey multiple years in the making. Well there are plenty of pictures still to show. Keep reading on.
Mile Marker 27.5:
The next stage of Cross Seminole Trail 9 I got ever closer to Lake Monroe and Interstate 4. On the way, I saw plenty of signs pointing towards downtown Sanford. Despite most people knowing of this city because of the Travon Martin Court Case, there are a lot of positive things to be found there.
The waterfront along Lake Monroe is amazing. I have visited there before, though I am not sure if this blog reflects that. I might pay another visit to make up for those missing pictures. Should I do so I’ll make sure to spend some time in downtown Sanford as well.
Also nearby according to those signs are the Central Florida Zoo and Marina. I knew where the Marina was, but didn’t realize there was a Zoo with Botanic Gardens nearby as well. I might take a visit to that place. Though it might cost some money to check out that one. Might be worth the trip. Oh hell what I am I saying? If it costs money and people pay it, that absolutely means its worth visiting.
Mile Marker 27.5 is one of the last I’ll pass on this journey. But where one adventure ends, another will certainly begin. I could barely contain my excitement as I moved closer to the end. I was fast approaching Interstate 4. And where a major US Highway meets an Interstate Highway, you can expect a mess of bridges and ramps to be nearby. As I mentioned earlier. US 17 and US 92 both follow one road. It didn’t translate to twice as many ramps though.
Mile Marker 27.7
I made it to the Interstate 4 bridge. US 17-92 go right past this bridge before crossing Lake Monroe on another one. Cross Seminole Trail follows this second road. And Cross Seminole Trail 9 ends at that bridge. But there was plenty to see along the way.
People drive under bridges all the time. But rarely do we get to look at these same places on foot. Here are some pictures showcasing what you might miss otherwise. And there was a lot to look at. Notice just how many pictures I took.
The land under these bridges is not kept empty. The disturbed dirt proved as such. My guess is they store construction equipment here. A fair guess since Interstate 4 is under construction. A project that began before I moved to Jacksonville and still continues as of the writing of this blog post 2 years later.
Mile Marker 27.7 is the final Mile Marker on the Cross Seminole Trail. You can tell because it doesn’t follow the same numbering pattern of all the others leading up to it. The nearby Seminole Wekiva Trail did the same thing near its end. You know what that means. The end is in sight. Just scroll down a bit and you can see it.
End of the Trail:
Well here we are everyone. This is the actual end of the Cross Seminole Trail. I’m sorry for the deception. I actually tricked myself too. But for real this time. At the bridge crossing Lake Monroe, I finally reached the end of Cross Seminole Trail 9 and the full adventure of this trail.
But rejoice and look closely. The path doesn’t end at the Volusia County Line. There is another trail connected to this one. I’ll be sure to document that at some point soon. I’m not sure how far into Volusia County I’ll be traveling. There is plenty in Orange and Seminole County’s to see still. But don’t worry, the world is greater than Orlando. I’ll be checking out this trail and where it leads.
Pokémon Go:
Let’s take a look at Pokémon Go as I reach the end of this journey on Cross Seminole Trail 9. Compared to the last section, this one was much better. Though the reason behind it was because of the parks nearby. I chose to zoom in on the above image because there is a park right here where I stood when I got to the very end of the trail. I intend to visit this park next time. So I avoided a double image.
Parks are the best place to play Pokémon Go. The trails lead you to those parks. And if you want to hatch eggs, why not go for a stroll?
Speaking of which, I hatched three eggs while traveling Cross Seminole Trail 9. The half hatch distance is still in effect. I wouldn’t be surprised if my next couple posts have several hatches as well. A shame that none of these are useful. Drifloon was a pleasant surprise from the 5k Egg it came out of at least.
Wrap Up:
Here I stand at the end of my Cross Seminole Trail journey. But I stood in a similar spot at the Cady Way Trail which ended at this trail. I wonder what I’ll find when I continue past the Lake Monroe Bridge and into Volusia County?