VALRICO
Turn right at the cows.
It's true. To get to Valrico Forest, take the State Road 60 exit off Interstate 75 south. Go about 6 miles east, past hundreds of other businesses that line the congested six-lane road.
At Miller Road, right in the midst of this commercial strip sharing a block with a Speedway gas station and a Burger King, is a tree-dotted pasture on which a bunch of cows graze. That's where you turn.
The farm animals seem incredibly out of place to a visitor, but to those living in the subdivision, such as Jeff and Valerie Bynum, they are merely the last remnants of what once was.
When the Bynums' house was built in 1997, it was next to an orange grove and across the street from a strawberry farm. The aroma of fruit in the air was captivating. But they are gone now, replaced with houses on winding tree-lined streets.
Jeff Bynum had just graduated from dental school and gotten a job in neighboring Brandon when he decided to go looking for a house, or a lot upon which to build one.
"I wanted to move out this way so I drove down Route 60, which was then a four-lane road, and stopped at Miller Road because that's where it started getting too rural," the dentist who turned 45 on Friday said.
Back on a cul-de-sac in the 94-home subdivision in which only a few houses had been built, he found the perfect spot: a plot of land that would allow him, as a 26-year-old, to custom-design a house in which the kitchen and master bedroom face east, allowing for the morning sun to stream in.
"The kitchen nook is a morning-time room and I've always been a morning person," Jeff said. "And the sun comes in the bedroom to wake you up."
The lot also had a retention pond behind it, and he thought if designed just right, the house could look out over what appeared to be an endless yard.
He married Valerie, his high school sweetheart from Orlando, the next year. She loves the place as much as he does.
"The cool part is it's a big town with a small-town feel. It's a block from State Road 60 and yet quiet.
"You can hear the trains go by and I can go down the road and get strawberries that were just picked this morning," said Valerie, 44.
She homeschools their children, but it has nothing to do with the merits of the school district.
"It's just our personal preference about what we want our kids to get out of school," Jeff said.
They've managed to make a lot of friends despite still feeling a tad like outsiders even after being here as long as they have been.
"People don't seem to leave this area. Many come back after going away to college," Valerie said.
Planning your weekend?
Subscribe to our free Top 5 things to do newsletter
You’re all signed up!
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Explore all your optionsLater in the day, the pasture is empty. Seems the cows had moved out of sight. So, the best bet if headed to Valrico Forest is to just look for Miller Road. And, if you're lucky, you might just spot some grazing bovines, the sight of which momentarily transports you out of the hubbub of city living.
Contact Patti Ewald at pagewald@hotmail.com.