Disappointing Update at The Desert Inn - Yeehaw Junction Destroyed Landmark / Forgotten & Untouched
Desert Inn in Yeehaw Junction Update
Transcript
0:04
welcome everyone adam the woo here as a
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recording of this monday august 23rd
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2021 or should i say
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welcome
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to yeehaw junction
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as shown there on that dilapidated
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billboard
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right here at the exit to the florida
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turnpike
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i traveled
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southbound
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on the toll road out of celebration
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about an hour
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a 15-minute drive
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wanted to do an update in this area
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at the desert inn
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just about a half mile away actually
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probably less than that
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and from here
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we'll make my way through some of the
0:55
florida back roads
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check out some other things in this area
1:00
in december of 2009
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the what is on the national register of
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historic places the desert inn
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was
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slammed into by a truck similar
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to the ones that are at this
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intersection a lot of trucks go through
1:20
here
1:21
and it was destroyed
1:24
a few months later in early
1:27
2020 i did an update just to see
1:30
if it had been removed
1:32
fixed up
1:33
remodeled restructured repurposed and it
1:37
had not
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i'm going to head over there and see if
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anything has happened since then
1:44
i'm just going to go out on a limb and
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say probably not i haven't been over
1:47
there no spoilers i have not
1:50
i i pulled off the exit here i have not
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been down
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to where the desert is so
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i am as curious as you are
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inviting you to join me
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in yeehaw junction
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shall you
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a lot of trucks go through here also
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this signage has fallen and there's
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rocks
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all along here to keep
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to keep the truckers from parking their
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trucks
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that's what those are
2:18
before perusing down to that area or
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going down to that area if you want to
2:23
feature this a little bit more you can
2:24
see the parking lot here next to that
2:27
billboard that is falling apart
2:29
but check out over in the woods
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in here
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i'm hoping this is safe to go in oh
2:37
look at these caterpillars here
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there's little caterpillars in the tree
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right there
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hello there little caterpillars
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and hello back there in the woods
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very
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creepy shed
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hello
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yeah i don't know yeah
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someone might be living back in there
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pennywise
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okay the caterpillars warned me said do
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not go farther
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into the woods
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of yeehaw junction look at this
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alligator right here
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an alligator most likely not a crocodile
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you'll see too many crocodiles in these
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parts oh there's ariel
3:37
there's ariel right there on the
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the fin
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of the dolphin
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thing is tall surprise the storm hasn't
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knocked this thing down it's just
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not too structurally sound notice how
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the asphalt there is just kind of ripped
3:55
up
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from the earth
3:58
used to be a store
3:59
at one time
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has been torn down
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but you'll notice over here you can
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still see the tile work
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of the floor also could have been gas
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pumps here
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at one point through history but you can
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still see the tile work there that was
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attempted to be covered
4:17
by this
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other other sort of flooring but there's
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some of the original tile
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still down there oh here's some broken
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up tile
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right here as well
4:31
this was a store
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or a mechanic shop gas station of sorts
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right there off the turnpike exit and
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then directly across the street
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from that big sign right over there
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was another establishment
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which is gone
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you can still see the foundation here as
4:59
well
5:01
kind of looks like a tennis court
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just with the coloration and the the
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line work but this also was a gas
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station at least here in the front
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portion
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of the property
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see where the pylons were
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there's also a hotel in this area that
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has been demolished
5:37
tile works always kind of neat to see
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because it
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it's a little
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relic of the past
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even where the walls and ceiling and
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roof line are demolished
5:45
tile work usually will remain
5:48
it's a little step down
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it's a very busy intersection for there
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being nothing in this area it's a lot of
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traffic goes through here and just next
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door
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is the lot from a former hotel
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which was here
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completely gone
6:12
it's almost like they it's like
6:13
everything
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within this little
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mile or two radius
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has been attempted to be to be gotten
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rid of
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not on purpose it just it just happens
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dilapidated falls down
6:28
and then tearing it down or a truck 18
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wheeler truck
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runs into it like the desert end which
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is
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just up the way but however there are
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one or two places that are open like
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this looks to be
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possibly a stuckey's
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still around gas station
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that's kind of in this area but other
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than a couple a couple convenience
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stores that's about it
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anywhere in this area that's open well
6:53
it's official
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a year and and what nine months
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over a year and nine months it was
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december of 2019
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the truck smashed into this
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nothing has been done
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doesn't even look like anything's been
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cleaned up well maybe a little bit
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has been cleaned up
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i'll kind of walk over there in a minute
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but i want to go back about
7:18
six years or so
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i stayed in this very
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little attachment to the hotel was all
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the same property owned by the same
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people
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this was the office kind of reminds me
7:28
of the bates motel norman
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norman are you home
7:34
her mother
7:36
this door really falling apart here
7:40
oh
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look at that
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little seashell looking creatures like
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slugs
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have taken over
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that is moderately horrifying
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staying here so speaking of
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horrifying staying here was quite an
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experience i stayed in room number three
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here was the office on yeah okay
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here was the office side i remember
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correctly
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right there was the office sign
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it has been removed
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and i was in number three here's number
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two
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which would just make sense down the way
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would be
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number three this was the room
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i stayed in
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looks like someone has removed the three
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the intention on me staying here over
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half a decade ago
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was to to document my experience
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staying inside one of these cabins
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i think they call them bungalows or
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cabins i don't know what they referred
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to them as but
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barry bates motelish
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so what because there were some rumors
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of some interesting activity that took
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place around here
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you believe in that sort of thing
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the ghost stories and such
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so i stayed overnight
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and i was able to eat in the restaurant
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i don't even know if i want to peek in
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there
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so it might be in there
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plus there's glass i thought about
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reaching my hand through that glass
9:20
with my luck
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i would cut myself on the glass there
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yeah this is kind of out here
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maybe people might be people staying in
9:34
squatters and whatnot
9:36
i don't want to disturb anyone or even
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take a chance
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oh is this a there's a caterpillar
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piece of heavy machinery in here
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and an igloo cooler water cooler down
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there too
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so when the diner was open here i was
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able to eat at it talk to the owner who
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was running over the manager at that
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time
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the food was really good
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he let me go up in the bordello room
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which was
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when the truck plowed into this
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it was the first thing that fell
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but i got to go up in there
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got the donkey or there's probably a
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donkey could be a horse
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there on the side see this is not safe
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this is definitely
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probably not the best i think i should
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be good
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oh yeah
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look this thing is just like bowing in
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oh yeah i'm gonna get out from
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underneath this
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now if you were feeling adventurous you
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could whoa there's a lizard that lizard
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startled me you could slither through
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that hole
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like a serpent of sorts
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probably not
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probably not in my best interest to do
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that
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i am i'm kind of surprised this is still
11:34
in all honesty surprise
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they have not done anything with it
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now it's my understanding when something
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is on the national registry of historic
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places you cannot tear it down you can
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only fix it up
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that's my understanding
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don't quote me on that
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now this this is fascinating
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it looks as if
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the former name of yee-haw junction
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used to be that painted on the side they
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changed the name
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looks like that's been repainted
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recently that looks like in pristine
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shape for a painting
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something just crawled
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across that wooden plank down there that
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was kind of frightening i don't know
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what the heck that was
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i missed it but i saw it on my
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peripheral vision could have been a
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snake slithering by
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why in the heck has this not been
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cleaned up is beyond me
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i'm also noticing something else
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the placard that used to be up here
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stating
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that it was on the national registry of
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historic places is gone
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it is gone it's been removed it was
12:50
right here
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even after it was torn down
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someone has
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removed it
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for themselves maybe the maybe the
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property owner or
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someone has decided oh
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does that say no photographs
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okay well that rule just got broken
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because i am filming this
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maybe that maybe that means i can't jump
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over the fence
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it is being photographed however
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right there so you see that little
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that little broken off piece of signage
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that was the historical marker why
13:25
was it taken down
13:27
someone might have just broken it off
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and they got themselves a little
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souvenir that states do not jump fence
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please use entrance
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little did they know that later on that
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would not be the fence you have to worry
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about anyone jumping
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the one they have to worry about jumping
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is the one that was placed here after
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the truck ran into it see all these
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trucks it was bound to happen one day
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i do feel bad for those who owned it
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you see a chair down in there
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all kind of items crushed
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when that truck
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and that piece of wood right there has
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been holding strong for like 18 months
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19 months now in all truthfulness i
14:14
could easily get in here it would be no
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issue whatsoever
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for me to walk through this little hole
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i could either squeeze my torso through
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or as someone else obviously has done
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just pull back the fence
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crawl through there
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there is no glass on that door
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whatsoever it's completely open and
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exposed to
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the elements and anyone who just wants
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to walk in i would imagine dozens
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if not a hundred folk have walked
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through there
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over the last year and a half as well as
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a door up there that is completely open
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but that's not why i'm here i have been
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in there before when it was open
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and i would imagine anything that's
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interesting to see in there other than
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the decay of the roof falling in
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has been taken
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by anyone who showed up here
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i don't want to
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i just don't want to take a chance on
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going through there
15:12
i just feel like nothing nothing is in
15:15
that's worth me doing that i've learned
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my lesson over the years
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with stuff like this
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but it is open it is accessible
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and i highly doubt that that door will
15:34
be fixed anytime soon
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nor will
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any of this building
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it will probably slowly decay
15:41
and just rot away
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it's been you know
15:45
drawing up almost two years since the
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event happened
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and nothing's been fixed so
15:50
and the signs been taken down so if the
15:52
sign is gone is it no longer on the
15:55
national registry of historic places
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what the heck up on the second floor
15:59
teetering right there is a little oven
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of some sort and some shelving
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that was what they called the the
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wardello room you can even see
16:10
some curtains that are still there and
16:12
the hallway over there
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would not be wise to go yeah that this
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thing could collapse at any time even
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though
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it's been holding pretty strong
16:30
that truck careen right into this side
16:30
just like the one driving by right now
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your guess is as good as mine if
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anything will be done with this and if
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it is win
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when will this
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be completely gone and or fixed up win
16:44
this could turn into a yearly update
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did not imagine when i was here over a
16:51
year ago doing the first update months
16:53
after the accident that anything would
16:55
be left
17:02
fast forward a year past then
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still
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okay yeah this is
17:07
get the fence here and then there's just
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nothing here
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it wouldn't be too difficult to just hop
17:12
around that this lock has been busted
17:15
should i
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i don't know what i would have done if
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it was unlocked that'd be a good thing
17:28
it
17:29
probably a good thing it
17:30
wasn't probably would have just peeked
17:33
in said hello and one about my merry way
17:55
all right
17:55
moving on
17:56
do gotta peruse back by room number
17:59
three again
18:05
oh that faithful evening
18:05
you and i room number three
18:07
out here in the basically the middle of
18:09
nowhere in yeehaw junction only traffic
18:11
going by
18:15
and that dump truck
18:18
number three
18:19
here in yeehaw
18:40
where'd the traffic go
18:40
where'd the trucks go
18:50
where's the traffic
18:50
before moving on just to give a little
18:52
perspective here is a photograph
18:54
of uh
18:55
you know the truck
18:57
plowed into the side of it
18:59
not good at all
19:01
goodbye historical building from here
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gonna make my way
19:06
over towards saint cloud
19:13
through kenansville
19:13
some of the smaller towns that way
19:27
driving a few miles you can see
19:28
virtually no one
19:30
no one out here
19:32
on this road
19:33
going away from the turnpike
19:35
fun fact that little building right
19:37
there used to run parallel to a train
19:40
track it was used for the train tracks
19:44
that would go right across next to this
19:45
road so that's that's a relic as well
19:48
so just imagine if you will
19:50
train tracks
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running parallel to this road i am
19:53
driving on way back in the day
19:55
a little deep florida history for you
19:58
train tracks are gone however long gone
20:01
at one time this was the first state
20:03
bank
20:04
here in keenansville it has been
20:06
renovated cleaned up for a while it was
20:08
abandoned and just kind of sitting here
20:11
falling apart
20:12
someone has taken on the responsibility
20:14
to fix it up
20:16
and i believe at certain times
20:18
might even be open for those to go in
20:21
there is no one here today however
20:23
and directly across from it
20:26
is the heartbreak hotel
20:29
which in the past when i passed through
20:31
no one resided there but
20:33
looks as if someone
20:35
now owns it there's a couple vehicles in
20:37
front
20:39
the heartbreak hotel in kinaseville one
20:41
neat thing about the side
20:44
of the former bank
20:45
the structure is represented here in the
20:48
tile work talking a lot about tile today
20:50
but you can see
20:52
the tile makes up what the building
20:54
looks like
20:56
i always like to point that out
21:06
it's on the corner of north bow street
21:06
and south
21:08
canoe creek road
21:10
as stated right there on that piece of
21:11
signage
21:13
now the heartbreak hotel
21:15
has been said to have a
21:17
obviously an an elvis tie-in
21:21
some said years ago that he even stayed
21:23
there which i don't think that's ever
21:24
been confirmed
21:26
it's just a clever name
21:39
but if it is true be pretty awesome
21:39
right
21:52
dating back to 1914.
21:59
and peeking inside they have some relics
21:59
in there as well
22:01
no one in there and the doors closed but
22:03
unlocked but
22:04
little artifacts inside as well i'm
22:07
glancing through the glass window now
22:09
so just get this angle
22:12
pretty neat i'm really glad that someone
22:14
has done something with us and appears
22:16
behind this wooden carved eagle that
22:20
was the safe
22:22
right there keenansville bank safe
22:25
that's awesome
22:46
a lot of really interesting places out
22:47
it's a bit of a hike from pretty much
22:49
anywhere in central florida
22:51
but if you're kind of near this neck of
22:53
the woods
22:55
check out some of these spots
22:58
that looks to be a marker here that has
23:00
not been removed
23:01
a historical marker that has not been
23:03
torn down
23:05
or stolen or taken like the one of the
23:08
desert in
23:14
a few years ago i passed through here
23:14
and was lucky enough to to catch someone
23:16
who was working here and they let me in
23:18
they got me stroll around in there and
23:19
go up to the second floor
23:22
check out the stage and everything
23:24
there's the old post office there and
23:26
across the oh my gosh there's a lot of
23:28
dragonflies
23:30
flying around there's also a bunch of
23:32
cows over there
23:43
making your way over to the watering
23:43
hole i don't blame you it is hot out
23:45
here about to get back in the car it is
23:47
toasty
23:51
somewhere over there in the watering
23:52
hole
23:53
and then others is probably at least a
23:55
half a dozen
23:56
under that tree in the shade very wise
23:59
cows
24:00
this florida sun is no joke this
24:03
building was constructed in 1917
24:06
on five acres of land
24:08
from six thousand dollars donated from
24:09
the estate of
24:11
mrs
24:12
mary lily keenan flagler
24:15
bingham
24:23
not referring to this
24:23
referring to this
24:25
you can see the bell out front there
24:28
as well as the flagpole there
24:31
i don't want to look
24:32
i'm gonna look too far they're up here
24:33
the sun is there very bright
24:40
keenansville post office
24:40
i hear you over there cows
24:43
i hear you over there
24:45
nothing says florida
24:47
like this stuff here dangling from the
24:48
trees
24:49
well some other stuff says florida too
24:51
but this really
24:52
kind of sells the
24:54
ideal
25:03
stepping up here on the
25:03
the wooden
25:04
little step here
25:06
little porch
25:12
used to be located in fort pierce
25:12
florida interesting that's a pretty good
25:14
way from here what probably an hour
25:16
maybe not maybe less than that
25:18
fort pierce from orlando's a long way
25:20
but i keep forgetting him i'm kind of
25:21
way south right now but let's say
25:23
45 minutes to an hour don't quote me on
25:28
back in 79 it was moved and then in
25:30
december 15
25:32
it was moved here
25:33
to keenesville
25:38
and there's a 1914 right there you see
25:38
over to the side where the mail was
25:40
stored
25:41
right here looking through the window as
25:42
well okay this makes more sense so the
25:44
postmaster was on the other side
25:46
and anyone that came in to get their
25:48
mail would go in on this side this where
25:49
the po boxes
25:51
were so what i was looking at on the
25:52
other side is
25:53
was off limits to those who were coming
25:56
to get their mail
25:57
that was just for the
25:59
those working in the post office you got
26:00
your mail on the side
26:02
pretty neat all this out here
26:05
oh i hear you cows
26:07
i know i know you're trying to get in
26:09
the video i get it
26:11
i see you over there i'm not going to
26:12
edit you out
26:19
air conditioning is all i can hear the
26:19
air conditioning unit over there
26:27
i believe this is a museum now too
26:27
don't ask me what the hours are though
26:29
we'll see any posted hours or if it even
26:31
still is an active
26:34
museum
26:47
yeah there's hardly anyone out here
26:47
just a couple cars driving by on a rare
26:49
occasion or motorcycles or trucks that's
26:51
it the humidity and heat is real i don't
26:54
know if it's because i'm acclimated to
26:55
southern california weather
26:57
i mean just think a couple weeks ago
27:00
give or take a day i was up in san
27:02
francisco which is even nicer in cooler
27:04
weather than what i'm used to in socal
27:08
and then fast forward down here in
27:09
florida
27:10
does not take me long to sweat out here
27:12
in this humidity at all
27:16
get back on the ac in the car
27:18
ah florida summers gotta love it you
27:20
know what i'm talking about don't you
27:22
cow
27:23
you know what the you know what that
27:25
sweat's like yeah you're wiping the
27:26
sweat off of you right now
27:28
it is warm
27:30
okay you've lost interest in me talking
27:32
to your cow going back to grazing
27:34
okay whatever takes your mind off the
27:36
heat
27:37
get back to it cal i'm gonna keep moving
27:40
down the road cal is that all right
28:02
you might think you can hide from me but
28:02
i see you in there among the foliage and
28:04
the trees
28:06
and all the grown-up grass
28:09
there's a lot of you in there cows
28:19
there's a lot of cows in there
28:19
oh hello cows more cows right there by
28:22
the fence line
28:23
oh making some eye contact cal
28:27
making some eye contact
28:36
making plenty of eye contact with the
28:39
hello cows
28:41
don't mind me just rolling through
28:44
don't mind me baby cow right there pay
28:46
no attention to me cows
28:49
oh and random horse random horse back
28:53
random horse you thought i was gone
28:56
didn't you cows you thought i was it was
28:59
not gonna turn around did you cows
29:03
did you miss me cows
29:05
you missed me admit it
29:08
all right i'm not gonna bother you
29:09
anymore cows
29:11
for bulls
29:12
and horses
29:17
go about your business back in there i'm
29:17
going to leave you be cows
29:19
just want to let you know that i did see
29:21
you you're not hiding from anyone
29:23
except the sun which is i approve of
29:26
stay in that shade
29:28
i'm not seeing a large bird or an eagle
29:31
up there in that nest but driving down
29:32
the way a couple more miles
29:34
pulled over to look at this rather large
29:37
nest
29:38
in the top of this tree
29:41
possibly an eagle's nest
29:44
there's even another one over here as
29:47
a little bit smaller but in comparison
29:49
to a regular bird's nest i think is
29:51
massive
29:52
but this
29:55
it is that is that is a large nest
29:59
way up there
30:06
no sign of any eagles there were
30:06
birds maybe they're sleeping we're out
30:09
and about gathering food
30:55
and that's going to do it for today
30:55
a little ride around some of the back
30:57
roads of central florida
31:00
stopped off at the desert inn got a
31:02
little update through keenansville and
31:03
other spots
31:09
i'll see the next video the vlog
31:09
is over