The Polk Parkway, also known as State Road 570, is a 25-mile,
limited-access toll road which runs through Polk County, Florida.
It is operated as part of the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise system
of limited-access expressways. While the road does provide easier
access to Interstate 4 from Polk County cities such as Winter
Haven, Bartow, and Auburndale, the Polk Parkway mainly serves as a
beltway around Lakeland forming a semi circle, which along with I-4
circumscribes most of the city limits of Lakeland. The road is
signed east-west, although the section from SR 540 to the eastern
terminus near Interstate 4 runs nearly south to north.
The 1998 Florida Legislature designated the western seven miles
of the Polk Parkway (between Interstate 4 and South Florida Avenue
(SR 37)) as the James Henry Mills Medal of Honor Parkway in
recognition of his heroic actions in World War II in Cisterna
Italy. Mills (May 02, 1923 – November 11, 1973) was the only Polk
County, Florida native to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World
War II. Private Mills earned the Medal of Honor in 1944 for
demonstrating "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of
his life above and beyond the call of duty." Mills actions allowed
his platoon to take its objective without casualties. Private Mills
lost his life twenty-nine years later at the hands of a thief
posing as a stranded motorist, whom Mills had stopped to assist,
near Gainesville, Florida on November 11, 1973.
This is the Bonus Cache for the Polk Parkway Pursuit (PPP) Series.
You will be searching for an ammo can. To locate the Bonus Cache
you will have to find the 12 other caches in the series. From this
cache you can see the Parkway, but you cannot get to the cache from
the Parkway. This series of caches was placed for the urban
geocachers who don’t like bushwhacking through the palmettos,
crossing streams or getting their shoes muddy. You can park within
20 feet of most of the caches and not even turn off the car or the
air conditioner. The sites are not pretty, there are no scenic
views and you won’t see much wildlife.
The cache is not accessible from the Polk
Parkway and you DO NOT have to pay a toll to search for the
cache.
Please replace the cache as found.
This cache was placed by a member of the
Florida
Geocaching Association