Over the past few months - in 90+ degree weather, no less - I’ve taken to being in the outdoors exploring the backwoods of Florida. I’m not doing this haphazardly, however, but instead on the trails of our State Parks and State Forests. These areas are quite possibly the most well-preserved and well-suited for hiking, and I find a great deal of enjoyment in the peaceful settings they offer.

As a goal, I’m attempting to get through the first level of the Division of Forestry’s “Trailwalker” program. To become a “Trailwalker”, one must complete 10 different hikes in at least 5 different state forests. It shouldn’t be a difficult goal to achieve, but it does require some planning. Only certain trails have been selected for the program, a list of which is available on the DOF website.

Many of these hikes are simple, a few miles or less. All of them are well marked and rarely require any real navigation skills. As long as you get the trail map and can figure out which way your starting out, you’ll easily be able to find your way back. When you’re out on the trail, look for posts, trees or other markers with colored blazes on them. One blaze means you’re on the trail, two blazes mean there’s a change of direction.

As of today, I’ve completed six hikes in four state forests: Kolokee at Little Big Econ State Forest; Lower Wekiva at Seminole State Forest; Buncombe Hill at Tiger Bay State Forest; Bluffton Interpretive at Lake George State Forest; Bay Loop and Old Cabin at Lake Wales Ridge State Forest.

Of the six, I’d easily go back to the Kolokee, Lower Wekiva and Bluffton Interpretive trails. The Lower Wekiva trail offered me my first view of a Florida black bear in the wild. While that may sound dangerous (I don’t think it does), there is no record of a black bear attack in the state, and I was well separated from the bear by 20 yards of brush and trees. I simply stood and watched as the bear made its way down to the small stream for a drink of water.

Unfortunately, no good photo evidence of this exists.

If this sounds interesting to you, check out a local state park or state forest. You’ll want to bring a small backpack (no fannypacks, please) with a simple first-aid kit, water and a couple of snacks. Just be sure to bring the trash out of the woods with you and to always stay on or near the trail.

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I stopped writing more than 7 months ago, after coming to the conclusion that there was no way for me to keep up with the Orlando Sentinel, The Daily City, local news outlets and other sites in creating unique content about Orlando. There just wasn’t enough time to get all of the stories in (of those that I wanted to write, and those that I was asked to write) before they had already been written about elsewhere (with better style, and content, of course).  My goal of covering the “locals view of Orlando” was being handled by pros.

Now that I’ve had some time away, I think I can take a more laid back approach to my writing. Worry less about getting the story out at the right moment, and focus on getting the details that make life in Orlando interesting. Not sure if that means I’ll have one story a day, or one story a week, but at least a few stories per month about what I’m doing (or friends, other bloggers, etc.) around town.

Anyway, just wanted to get back to this site and see what it can become. First story to come soon (but not too soon)!

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People are sure looking for change these days. Not only did they vote Barack Obama into the white house, they are also on a mission to make the world a better place. What a better place to start than our own backyard of Downtown Orlando.

Rock for Hunger, a local 501(c)3 nonprofit, continues to make a difference in the Central Florida community. From feeding 150+ individuals every week to helping with employment, housing and child education, to throwing concerts for awareness and hope, Rock For Hunger is going to end homelessness one person at a time through music and peace.

This Saturday, November 15th marks the 3rd annual Rock For Hunger Festival. This year’s festivities will take place at The Plaza Theatre in Downtown Orlando and feature over 20 local and indie bands sprinkled in-between chart topping hip-hopper Kardinal Offishall. Rock For Hunger Fest kicks off at 1pm with a street party and art festival and then moves inside for 10 hours of music, facts, raffles and more.

Tickets for the event are only $10 in advance and $20 at the door. What’s even better is that every $10 ticket sold will help feed 40 hungry people right here in Orlando. Whether you work or play downtown, you have no doubt seen the homeless situation throughout downtown, now is your chance to do something about it. Even if you cannot make the event, Rock For Hunger is accepting donations to continue the work they started 3 years ago on the University of Central Florida campus.

Get your tickets here, right now or at:
Ticketmaster
The Plaza Theatre Box Office
Park Ave CD’s
Park Ave UCF
And 10,000 Villages

This show serves as an awareness point for the Central Florida community. However, on November 16th, poverty and homelessness do not end. Rock For Hunger still needs volunteers and help with donations, cooking, job training and other aspects. We are always looking for new smiling faces that we can make into Rock Stars and make the people we serve feel like Rock Stars.

See you on the 15th and get ready to Rock For Hunger.

The Plaza Theatre
425 N Bumby Ave
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 228-1220

For any questions regarding Rock For Hunger please contact Greg at greg.rollett@endagon.com or call 321.438.4442.

Guest author Greg Rollett, from Endagon Innovations, can be found on his blog at gregrollett.blogspot.com and can also be followed on Twitter

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Dinosaurs will roar to life this week in Orlando as WALKING WITH DINOSAURS - The Live Experience takes the Amway Arena back to prehistoric times for a series of eight perfomances starting Wednesday. Audiences will enjoy life-size recreations of ten different species of dinosaurs, inclduing the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Plateosaurus, Stegosaurus and more.

The show depicts the dinosaurs’ evolution, complete with the climatic and tectonic changes that took place, which led to the demise of many species. The history of the world is played out with the splitting of the earth’s continents, and the transition from the arid desert of the Triassic period is given over to the lush green prairies and forces of the later Jurassic. Oceans form, volcanoes erupt, a forest catches fire — all leading to the impact of the massive comet, which struck the earth, and forced the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster or at the Amway Arena box office and range from $27.50 to $65.00.

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Sugarland, Country Music Association’s “Vocal Duo of the Year” in 2007, held a concert last night at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee. A not-so-sold out crowd of about 8,000 country music fans were at the show, which included opening performances by Ashton Shepherd and former American Idol “minx” Kellie Pickler.

This was my first visit to the Osceola Heritage Park complex, and the Silver Spurs Arena proved to be a very acceptable concert venue. There was ample floor seating available and every ticket offered a good view of the main stage. The biggest issue was definitely the parking situation, which was nearly unbearable. After getting to within two blocks of the entrance, we crawled along in a single file line for the next hour before finally parking.

As for the show, Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles was amazing the combined energy level of the duo made for an exciting show. If you’re unfamiliar with Sugarland, you should check out one of their videos on YouTube. Their peformance of their Academy Award winning single, “Stay”, at one of last year’s award shows is a wonderful display of Nettle’s vocal prowess. Last night’s concert showed that and more.

The parking situation kept us from seeing Ashton Shepherd’s performance, but just after getting seated, Kellie Pickler took to the stage and belted out a set of songs from her first two albums. Having seen Kellie on American Idol, I wasn’t too sure about her overall abilities as a performer, but she too, had the pipes of a well-seasoned artist. With a little fine-tuning, a few more hits, and some additional experience on stage, she should enjoy a very nice career.

If you happened to be at the show and got a few pictures, send them along to fieldreport@livingorlando.com. My cameras could only do so good from our section, but just about everyone there had a camera so I’m sure there are good shots out there.

On a final note, Sugarland’s encore was decidedly un-country. Featuring performances of “The One I Love” and “Love Shack” (with Kellie Pickler and Ashton Shepherd joining in on the fun), Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush jumped in giant clear “balloons” and proceeded to jump off the stage and onto the hands of the excited crowd below. Definitely a cool moment.

Here are some pictures …

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I’m guessing there weren’t many houses in Orlando that had more decorations than these owners used around their home in Stoneybrook.

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