There was Diana, myself, and Gertie GPS!
We were on our last day in Dundee, Florida. Diana decided that Gertie GPS may be acting up because she felt used and unappreciated! So- I greeted her warmly today and praised her efforts. What did I have to loose? However, I believe what followed was the result of Diana's rather sarcastic morning greeting! Her words were something to the effect of "Morning Gertie- nutsy coo coo GPS! Hope you've got your act together today!" That was not the positive reinforcement I was hoping for! Ha!
We were off to see the Strawberry Festival in Plant City! At least, that was our plan! Gertie had different ideas! Following her instructions to the letter we ended up at the end of a dirt road looking at a swamp with lots of all alligators! (I think both Diana and Gertie GPS were thinking of throwing each other to those big mouth beasts!
Meanwhile I was frantically trying to find someplace else to go, thereby averting the rather tense situation!! (I actually was trying not to laugh! Gertie insisted on wanting us to move forward into the swamp- Diana was arguing with her! Lol!) I finally mentioned the "Morning greeting" that Diana gave and how Gertie got her feelings hurt. Surprisingly- Diana apologized! That's when I realized just how personal Gertie had become- she was indeed a third personality in the car- machine or not!
Lake Wales was not far away. There was a "Spook Hill" there, with a legend. This "Hill" is so named because if you drive to a certain spot, put your car in neutral- the car will roll backwards, even though you are not on a hill at all, but level ground. It's supposed to be a gravity-defying phenomenon.
Off we drove to that very spot- put the car in neutral- and waited. I believe Gertie had something to do with this- because instead of moving backward we started gently going forward-backward-forward-backward. (What the heck!?) It sort of gave me the willies!
The Legend goes like this:
Chief Cufcowellax was a Seminole Indian Chief. His tribe lived in the area and a large bull alligator lived in a lake nearby. (Perhaps where Gertie tried to feed us to the alligators?) The Bull alligator regularly attacked the Indians. With the assistance of the Great Spirit, the Chief engaged the alligator in a month-long battle at the end of which the chief was victorious. During the battle, a small lake appeared next to the large one, and upon his death the Chief was buried on the shore of the new small lake. So the enigma of Spook Hill is attributed to the alligator seeking revenge on Chief Cufcowellax returning to defend his homeland.
We decided it's probably an optical illusion.
We celebrated Not driving into the alligator filled swamp by having dinner at a Chinese Buffet in Lake Wales. We didn't have dessert---well, cream puffs don't count because they are mostly air! Ha!
Diana and I decided that Gertie has been trying to get us killed- or at least maimed since we started! Can a machine have violent thoughts!??!
Until Next Time, Dear Readers!
Life Is Indeed An Adventure! And A Hateful GPS, Swamp Full Of Alligators, And A Spook Hill made For Quite An Adventurous Day!!
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