Peace River

We are back in Wauchula, FL at the Peace River Thousand Trails and we even got our site we had when we were here a week ago next to the Peace River.  It feels like home.  Some of the neighbors are still here so it was nice to get a warm welcome on our return.  Last time we were here I talked about Peace River but I did not know a lot about it and it has had my curiosity about it so this is what I learned.
Peace River is a river in southwest Florida Peninsula.  It originates at the junction of Saddle Creek and Peace Creek in Bartow, FL in Polk County and flows south through Hardee county to Arcadia in DeSoto county and flows into the Charlotte Harbor in Port Charlotte in Charlotte county.  It is a 106 miles long and runs south near or somewhat parallel to US Highway 17 flowing next to Fort Meade, Wauchula and Zolfo Springs.  The river has been called different names but all revolving around "peace".  In the 16th century the Spanish called it "Rio de la Paz" and later on maps it appeared as "Peas Creek" or "Pease Creek".  The Creek, later Seminole, Indians called it Talakchopcohatchee, "River of Long Peas" which all worked into its name the Peace River.  Peace River supplies over six million gallons of drinking water to the people in the region and is very popular for canoeing or kayaking.  It is also a popular place for fossil hunters who dig and sift the river gravel for fossilized shark teeth and prehistoric mammal bones. 
It is nice to be back at Peace River, Shadow likes swimming and playing in it we just have to watch the alligators that are around the area.  There is a resident alligator here at the  Peace River TT and has been named Stumpy by the staff and RVers.  Stumpy and Shadow do not play together and when Stumpy wants to enter the water Shadow gets out!  We are here for three days and there is one more thing I want to do while we are here.  It is a tourist attraction near by and it is an odd one.  We will be visiting it on Wednesday.  Today is errands day; laundry, shopping, going to the post office, and so on!