A beautiful day here in central Florida. Sunny, with a few drifty clouds and plenty of warmth. Nearly 78 degrees out there this afternoon if the truck temperature gauge is at all reliable, and it usually matches up to other bank thermometers and such.

   Drove into Chiefland after noon and finally managed to get my hair cut today. Even at my age I still find that chore to be really onerous. Not sure why I feel this way, perhaps it is a feeling that it is such a waste of time, but I do and probably always will dislike it. It may also be that I was so traumatized when I was real young and one of my sisters always ended up cutting my hair. I'm not sure if it was the indignity that came with actually having a cereal bowl put on my head and everything trimmed off that fell below it, or the ear twisting that occurred when I wouldn't sit still. Either way I'm blaming my sister for this psychotic loathing.... and yes, she knows who she is. :)

   Once that chore was done I could get on to bigger and better things. Drove on over to Gainsville and spent several hours doing some Christmas shopping as well as some shopping errands of my own. Actually got most of it done in one fell swoop, but then there isn't all that many gifts to buy these days. Now I just need to get some of it wrapped up and mailed away. Yeah!

   Called up the Gainsville Theatre earlier and picked up a ticket for tonight's performance. The play this evening was their holiday selection of 'White Christmas'. One nice thing about being on your own is that there is always at least one good seat still available. Tonight was no different as I ended up in the 3rd row right off of the center line. Of course the theatre was only about 2/3rd's full anyway. It is after all still a Thursday night and it isn't even December yet.

    The play was a little gem of a production. Of course I'm not much of a critic since I consider anyone who can get up on a stage and act or sing is worth a good review just for that alone. The play was actually a lot better than that anyway and there were a few outstanding parts like there usually are in a local production. It was also nice to hear a few of those wonderful old Irving Berlin classics being sung. It almost made me nostalgic for some cold temperatures and a little snow. That ended as soon as I left the theatre and found the temp had dipped all the way down to 68 degrees. That was cold enough for me tonight.

    A pleasant drive home in the dark without hitting any critters though I did see a skunk, two raccoons and a couple of deer. None of them were intent on committing suicide this evening though. Time to go get some sleep now, for some reason I'm tired tonight.

    A nice enough day today, not quite as sunny, but still warm and a bit more humid than it has been lately. I hear that it may rain a bit north of here, but right now it's still warm and dry around here.

   Took a nice walk this morning. Just took one of the trails out to the river, but it was a nice morning and there were lots of birds out and about. Still looking for that first sighting of an Ivory Billed, but may have a long wait for that one. ;-)  Did see another armadillo though. They are rather cute little critters, but they can certainly run if they want to. They also kind of bounce a bit when they're scared. They kind of look like a football shaped rabbit with this little bitty head with pointed ears and nose.

    I drove into Gainsville this afternoon and took in the movie 'Lincoln'. A fascinating movie for me given all of the Civil War historical stuff that I've been immersed in these past few days. I was not aware how close the vote on the 13th amendment had been. I guess I always figured it was pretty much a slam dunk with all of the southern states out of the picture at the time. I also didn't connect up the timing of the passage of it with the peace between the states occurring so soon afterwards. It is just a shame that it took so many lives before freedom for all people could be assured. Now I will need to find a copy of Gone With the Wind and get a different perpective.

    Time for another hair cut tomorrow. Hard to believe how quick it grows at times. Still hate them, but hope to be able to go to a place I've used before and get another one tomorrow morning. Otherwise it looks like it will be an easy day.

   Woke up early this morning, or rather, got woken up, by a phone call from the company that takes care of camping reservations for the Florida State Parks system, as well as quite a few other states. They wanted to let me know that they had problems with the reservation I had made last night for a two week stay over near Gainsville in mid December. Something about my credit card payment not going through or something like that. I finally got a hold of them around 10:00 and got it all straightened out, but why they thought calling at 7:05 a.m. on a Sunday morning was okay is beyond me.

  A leisurely morning once I was up. A nice shower, some breakfast and a chance to read the Sunday comics. I have rediscovered instant grits for breakfast now. Not only simple to do, but they also taste good and are filling.

    Ended up driving down to Manatee Springs State Park right after noon and spent a couple of hours wandering around there. Checked out the springs of course and wandered out on all of the boardwalks. I really wish I had a canoe today, it would of been nice to paddle out on the Suwannee River for a couple of hours. Did see a couple of manatee's out in the spring run, but they were right where the run met up with the river and the water was to dark, to deep and they were a bit to far out to really get a good view of.

    I had some lunch in the town of Chiefland, Chinese food this time, and then drove on back towards camp with a short stop at Fanning Springs State Park near Old Town Florida. A very small park right in town and right on the river. The spring is smaller, but still plenty of water for a swimming pool and a couple of docks. There was a women there in a small sea kayak who was sitting and watching one young manatee in the spring run right past the last dock. The water was plenty clear enough, but the sun was at just the wrong position to cast a bad glare off of the surface of the water. I did get one picture of it though and it is shown below.

     Got back to camp around 4:30 and took a walk out to the river bank. It's a bit more than a mile out there and I did see a couple of deer, an armadillo and I heard a couple of turkeys, but never saw them. Got to the river bank just as the sun was starting to go down. Really beautiful time of day out there even though it was starting to get cold even as I was walking back to the trailer. It is suppose to get darn cold tonight, down below freezing is what I'm hearing, but no rain and no snow at least. It is still suppose to be warm and sunny tomorrow anyway.

Manatee and Fanning Springs State Parks - Nov 25, 2012

Looking at the spring run of Manatee Springs. The water really is that color of blue, I didn't tweak the photo color to make it look like that. Just nice clear water, a nearly white sand bottom and a clear blue sky.

The main spring comes up in the midst of that dark area in the middle of the pool. Nearly 150 million gallons of pure water every day.

You can actually swim right here in the spring pool. There were a couple of people who were just getting ready to go scuba diving in it. Lot's and lot's of fish in the pool, as well as quite a few turtles. No gators that I could see.

 

 

Heading down the spring run. You can see the Suwannee River in the far background.

There are a couple of manatee's on the right side of the photo just out from the trees. They look like a couple of sand bars though.

On to Fanning Spring State Park. I'm standing on the last dock and the river is the farthest piece of water in the picture. The sun light was just making the leaves pop.

There was a women in a sea kayak that was sitting near the one manatee I saw in this spring.

You can sort of see the manatee in this photo. It is that blotch right where the reflection of the kayaker's hat is.

Just like the light in this one.

Back at Otter Springs, I got to the banks of the Suwannee River just as the sun was going down.

Have grown to really love bald cypress trees since spending time in the south. They are actually some type of evergreen, but are maybe closer related to a larch tree than a pine or fir. This is based on the fact that the cypress looses all of it's 'leaves', actually more like really soft needle clumps, every winter, just like the northern larch does. They have seed pods that look somewhat like cones in that they have a scaled look to them. They happen to sink if they hit water though, unlike most seeds that float in water. These seeds are capable of sprouting in up to 10"-12" of water and growing up and out of it. As they grow older special roots start sprouting up above the ground or water around each tree. Called knees, these conical growths are thought to help the tree roots breathe. They also collect lot's of detritus, leaves and soil when the water is high. As the area around the tree is filled in it creates it's own little island around it's base. Pretty neat.

    Turned out that there was nothing special going on over at Dudley Farms State Park today. But next week has their annual 'cane pressing' day going on. That is where they take the sugar cane they grew this year and put it through a horse powered press to extract the syrup. I was there last year for it and it was a lot of fun, so I'll try to get back to it again next Saturday.

   Otherwise it has been pretty quite here in the land of sun, considering it is a holiday weekend and all. Took a couple of walks around a couple of the trails and then ran into the town of Chiefland to do some grocery shopping. Still nice and warm and sunny today, but the evening sure cools down quickly.

   Have been reading '20,000 leagues under the sea' since last night. I remember reading it a long, long, long time ago, maybe 5th or 6th grade, but really don't remember all that much about it. I am finding all the references to biology, engineering, math and navigation really intriguing. I'm really to lazy any more to double check some of the figures that are given in the book, but most sound about right. Of course the whole design of the submarine as well as the diving suits are a bunch of bunk, but really a pretty remarkable thought train given the era when the book was written. It's been a lot of fun so far and will most likely finish up before the night is over.

   Not sure what tomorrow will bring or what I'll be doing yet. I'm leaning towards going over to Manatee Springs State Park and seeing if there are indeed any manatees there this year. Last year the park service had it all closed off in order to dredge the channel a bit. It had evidently silted in so much that the manatees could no longer make it up into the spring run. Right now though it's time for a nice cup of tea and a couple more chapters in my book.

   Moving day today... that means getting up way earlier than my 3:00 a.m. bedtime last night warranted. But alas, ya got to do what-cha got to do, so up at 7:00 and starting to pack by 8:30. Would of been on the road by 9:30, but had to make a separate stop to empty out the tanks. That always takes more time than one would expect.

   A nice morning for driving though. Clear, sunny, but not too warm until after I nearly made it to my next stop. Headed east and a bit south out of Tallahassee with the end goal being Otter Springs Park down by the town of Wilcox. That town being composed of one gas station and a 90 degree bend on the road. Spent some time here last year and had a pleasant time of it. There are a few nice walking trails, a swimming pool and cheap laundry facilities. Of course it is pretty full at the moment because of the long weekend, but by Sunday night I'm likely to be pretty much the only one left. For any of you that are curious, a week here costs me $144.00 for a full hookup. That's a pretty good price overall.

   They put me in a nice space right across from the pool and laundry and it only took about 30 mins to get all set up again. Had a bit of lunch, read a couple chapters in my book and then went and took a nice hour long nap. It is interesting to note that where I have been using the heaters most of the last few weeks, today I had to break out the fans and start them up. A beautiful, warm and sunny afternoon, about 76 degrees is what the thermometer was saying. Of course tonight I'll probably need the heater again for a bit. I have already heard the heater on the trailer next door kick on a dozen times while sitting here. they are certainly going to go through the propane tonight.

    Took a nice long walk this afternoon. Down to a small spring they have on the south end of the property. Saw plenty of tracks of turkeys, deer and wild pigs but the only thing I saw live, besides squirrels, were a couple of armadillos. Tried to get up close enough for a picture on one, but while the size of their head makes you believe that they are probably only a bit smarter than a rock, they do seem to have excellent hearing. Since they live in a world where pretty much everything considers them dinner, they pretty much just run away when they hear anything they don't understand. They are kind of cute though.

   Not sure yet what I'll do for the two weeks I'll be here. Will most likely visit a couple state parks in the area and maybe rent a canoe for a couple of hours one day and go paddle the Suwanee River. I think tomorrow I'll go over to Dudley State Park and see if they have any special programs going on during this weekend. They are an old Farm that has been turned into a park and they do living history programs at them on some weekends. Cane grinding, blacksmithing, soap making etc. I bought an annual park pass the other day so it doesn't cost me anything extra to get in, so what the heck. Below are a couple of photo's from today's hike, just stuff that caught my eye.

 

Way Down Upon the Suwanee River - Nov. 23, 2012 

 

Tree fungus. Not sure why this stuff intrigues me, but it always does. I seem to have a lot of pictures of this stuff, but I'll probably still take more.

A view of the Suwanee River right at dusk.

Another view. The light wasn't quite right yet, but I was getting hungry for dinner and didn't want to wait around another 30 mins.

    Hey there... Happy Thanksgiving everyone. For me it has been a very nice day today. Woke up kind of late and had a leisurely breakfast and read the comics and did the crossword puzzle. Took a nice shower, did the dishes and then headed for the beach.

   Drove over to St George's Island again because I really like that beach and the area around it. Took my chair, my kindle and a thermos of margarita's and a bottle of ice tea with me. Pretty much had the beach to myself from about 12:30 to 4:00, after that people started to come back out after their Thanksgiving feast and play on the beach again. Lot's of families with little kids this year and it looked like all the kids would have all those calorie's worn off in no time at all.

  I headed over to my favorite beach bar soon after and snagged a table out on the deck over looking the beach. Shrimp taco's this time, along with a nice 'Fat Tire' beer on tap to go with them. I stayed long enough to see the sun starting to go down before heading back to the trailer.

    It sometimes feels a bit hard to be away from all of my family and friends on a day like today. I do miss being around the table with a dozen or more family members, maybe a couple of friends or a stray orphaned person with no where else to go. I also miss those family feast's that my family has always been noted for. If nothing else, we all know how to cook and eat well. But it has also been nice to sit on a beach in the sunshine, read my book, toast all of my family and friends and think about them all and what they must all be doing today. It is interesting to note that as long as I hold them all in my thoughts, while I may spend the day alone.... I'm really not lonely.

    Another beautiful day here in the deep south. Was up at a decent hour this morning and after breakfast and a chance to read the comics, email and facebook, it was off to Wakulla Springs State Park. A bit south and east of Tallahassee, Wakulla is another one of those huge natural springs that pop up all over Florida. This one releases an amazing 690 million gallons per day, yep I didn't misquote that, at peak release. It's enough water to produce a freaking river right from it's mouth.

   I got there just after noon and walked around the grounds for a bit. According to one of the rangers the park has been occupied for centuries. In fact one site along the river has been carbon dated back further than any other Native American settlement in the United States. The Spanish, of course, found it early on in recent history and once they and the Americans managed to displace all the natives the whites started 'developing' it. Lucky for us most of those attempts ended in failure or bankruptcy so much of the land within the park looks like it would of 200 years ago.

    One guy did have big plans to turn the spring into a big tourist resort with hotel and lots of amenities. But he managed to run out of money after getting the hotel part of it built. The Fed's came in after that and turned it into a rehab spot for WW II GI's coming back from the war. They finally gave it up to the State, and Florida went ahead and added it into their park system.

    The hotel is still here and is still being used as one. Not sure how, or who, runs it, but evidently the park does seem to make money. I was more interested in the natural parts of the park so I ended up taking an hour+ boat ride on the river with a group of other people and one of the park rangers. Really one of the best values ever. For $8.00 you get to tour about a mile and a half down the river and then back up the other side. Along the way you can pretty much count on seeing all kinds of bird life, turtles, alligators and during the winter, manatees. We got to see lot's of all of those things, quite close up in some cases. I took over 250 photo's and pared them down into the one's shown below. Lot's of birds of course, but a few surprises. Hope you enjoy them.

Wakulla Springs State Park, Florida - Nov 20, 2012 

The front of the hotel. A very pretty building done in the 'Meditterarian Rivival' style, so I'm told. Lot's of interesting people have evidently stayed here before. Back in the 50's and 60's there was a lot of movie filming that took place in the park, including several Tarzan movies and The Creature From the Black Lagoon. I still remember that movie as scaring the heck out of me when I was younger.

The bottom of this picture starts about 2/3rd of the way across the river, so you get an idea of how much water is in it. The actual spring mouth is about 500 yards to the left.

Lot's of vultures come into the park every winter for some reason. This is just a few that were flying today.

A White Ibis.

Lot's of bald cypress grow along each bank as well as out in the river on little islands that they have created for themselves.

 

A female Anhinga.

Lot's of alligators along the shore and in the water. The problem was in getting a clear view of them.

 

A Little Blue Heron.

A Slider turtle of some kind. Or as they call them down here in the south, a Cooter.

White Ibis.

Female  Anhinga, or Snake Bird. 

Another gator swimming. This one was maybe 6'-7' long.

White Ibis.

Turkey Vultures.

Lot's of Turkey Vultures. There were several hundred sitting in several trees in this area. Kinda creepy!

A whole train load of Cooters.

 

Another female Anhinga.

This one was maybe 8'-9'.

Cormorants of some kind. I really like their blue eyes.

 

A male Anhinga.

Great Blue Heron.

Another male Anhinga. This bird is one of the few where the female is actually more colorful than the male.

We saw maybe 30-40 manatees on our tour. Of course the hard part is getting a picture that looks like something other than a patch of sand on the bottom of the river. This is about as good as I could get today.

Female Anhinga.

This is another cormorant. It seems that over the years they have learned to follow the tour boats as they move up and down the river. Their props, even though shrouded, stir up the bottom sand and vegetation and scare out little crawdads and other edible bits. They had no problem staying right with us, even underwater.

The colors today were all that you could as for.

    Finally a truly beautiful day down here. Drove over to St George Island on the Gulf coast to enjoy the sun and sand and water under clear blue skies and 72 degree temperatures. Spent a couple hours just walking up and back down the beach enjoying the feel of sand between my toes again. Hardly any wind to speak of so there wasn't a whole lot of wave action going on. There was evidently enough of a breeze though to keep a flock of brown pelicans coasting above the wave tops. It's always fun to watch them suddenly peel off, fold their wings and dive into the water after some fish they spotted from 40' in the air.

    Spent a little bit of time over around the light house on the island. Was there last year and took a few photo's, but wanted some from this visit too, as the light seemed to be better and it was certainly warmer. After looking through the displays inside and climbing the tower again if was time to go catch a bite to eat at a local beach bar/restaurant. Fresh fish tacos and a nice Dos XX's dark while watching the sandpipers and avocets play on the beach.

   Sounds like the weather is going to stay nice for a couple days now. It started clearing up yesterday afternoon, but was still a bit chilly last night. Got out for a nice, though short, walk yesterday and took some pictures from the lake I'm camped on. Hope to go over to Wikula Springs park tomorrow and see what that is all about. Below are a few pictures from yesterday and today.

 

Coe Landing County Park and St George Light House

The view from my campsite here at Coe Landing county park. I'm always a bit surprised that they actually have 'fall' down here. I just thought the trees stayed green the whole time and just replaced their leaves as needed.

It's nice to be back in the land of spanish moss again.

One of the half dozen fishing piers they have in the park. The boat ramp is just around the corner from here.

Sorry, I was having fun playing with the camera and the light, so there are a few of these photo's.

Not only was the sunlight doing neat things, but the wind was blowing just enough to move the spanish moss around.

Really tried to get the sun back lighting the moss on this tree, but it didn't turn out as well as it looked in real life.

The moss gave the scene a somewhat ethereal feel to it.

On to the light house on St George Island, down on the gulf coast. It is one of the prettier light house's that I have seen in Florida.

One more view.

Not sure why, but each time I have been here, twice now, there have been a whole lot of butterflies hanging around. I got two shots at this one and one actually turned out okay.