It has been really nice down here in Florida the last couple of days. So nice in fact that it was hard to hang around inside and do all those regular things I do... like updating my blog on a regular basis. Oops! Sorry, but those of you who have been following this for awhile know that if it is a choice between writing this and being outside or doing something else that is fun.... well, the fun wins out every time.
    So with that being said; most of my time has been taken up doing stuff around this area including a trip to a nearby State Park that I didn't even know existed until a couple weeks ago. Mill Hopper State Park is located at the north edge of Gainsville city limits. But it is a nice small bit of wild right next to the city. The main feature of the park is basically a 120 foot deep sink hole. You can walk down a 'WHOLE' lot of stairs to the bottom of the hole, passing some nice little micro climate areas along the way. These run the gamete from basic Florida scrub land to a near rain forest area at the bottom of the hole. Of course walking down all those stairs also means walking back up every single one of them. It's a bit of a pain but I'm glad I did it... probably don't want to do it again though.
    Also took a couple short hikes over at Payne's Prairie  these past few days. Not much new there other than seeing a few deer and a couple bunches of turkeys. But still fun.
   Today I went and took in a movie. A typical 'Boys Night Out' type,' The Seventh Son' was entertaining enough, but like most of those types of films, it had few socially redeeming values and really.... didn't have much of a plot either.
   In the end I think I have gotten a lot more enjoyment out of watching DVD's of old TV reruns of the Andy Griffith show. I have made it through the original 1st and 3rd seasons and am working on the 6th. I would of liked to have watched all the years in order, but it has been hard to find many of them without going on line and ordering them. No matter though, each episode pretty much stands on it's own and brings a bit of old fashion common sense and morality to everyday life. A couple things I have observed though, other than Andy and Helen, most of the other characters are kind of dumb. Of course I know it was all played for laughs, but Don Knotts as Barney Fife sometimes makes me just want to punch him.
   One other interesting thing I noticed last night.... So this all takes place in Mayberry North Carolina sometime in the early 60's, ( remember.... this is the south), so up until last night there hasn't been a single black person in any of the shows. Last night I finally saw one couple in the background and that's it. Hard to believe our country was so segregated even then.
   Only two more days to go before I pull out of here. I am hoping for some decent weather on my run up to Virginia, but it sounds like it might be in for some more snow tonight. It may mean pulling off along the way and waiting an extra day or two, but I'll play that by ear. Tomorrow I'll start packing stuff away and getting ready to go. I'm getting anxious to be out on the road again.
    Here are some pictures I took nearly a month ago when Rima first got into town. It was a nice day to go over to Wakulla Springs and take a river boat ride.

Wakulla Springs State Park boat ride with Rima.

February 2015

You can take a nice hour to hour and a half boat ride there at the springs for $8.00. Maybe one of the all time great deals still left. For that you get a ranger along who will help spot and identify all kinds of birds, plants and so forth along the way. Going at this time of year, and during the middle of the week, you are likely to have a nearly empty boat. I think there might of been 8 of us on this trip.

These are 'Cypress Knees' growing along the shore line. Most scientists think that they not only help anchor the tree, since it often grows right in the water, but that it helps supply oxygen to the roots when the tree is flooded. I just think they look neat.

It was rather chilly the day we were there even though the sun was out and shining. Good thing I always have a coat or two in the truck.

The trees with all the Spanish moss on them are bald cypress. They actually have needles like an evergreen tree during the summer instead of regular leaves like a deciduous tree, but they shed their needles every fall just like oaks and maples do.

A couple of turtles, or 'Cooters', as they call them down here.

I love how the moss blows with the wind and how it gleams when the sun hits it just right.

More cypress knees, but this time with an 'Anhinga' bird sunning itself.

A closer view of an Anhinga, this one being a female. Unlike most bird species, the female of this one has the beautiful plumage. I love how the feathers fit together just so.

Rima is enjoying the ride.

We actually came across a few manatee still in the upper reaches of the spring. Normally as soon as it warms up they go back down into the main part of the river, or even back too the ocean to resume feeding. But it must of still been cool enough for this cow and her calf, as well as a couple others, to still be hanging around. 

 

 

More pictures next time.

brk*