Rainbow Springs

It's nice and hot out - wanna go for a swim?! Aw c'mon, look how beautiful that water is!! That sign? What sign?

While we were visiting with Barsh, we stayed at another state park. The Rainbow Springs SP campground was really nice and had lots of great full hook-up sites. Ours was more plain and unvegetated than this one pictured above, but maybe they thought that would be better for such a big rig...or maybe the nicer-looking sites only had 30amp or...?? but the nice ones were fairly private, surrounded by lush greenery, and covered in crushed rock/shell.

We did have THIS at our site though - maybe the others didn't!?! That would be some compensation, at least!

And here are the "headsprings" of the park. The campground is actually about a 6-mile drive away. And yes, it was here at the headsprings that the alligator warning sign was found... And yes, it was here that I went swimming anyways! With a bunch of other folks. We stayed in the cordoned-off area, but I figured that didn't mean much to any nearby, hidden gators, so I only swam for a few minutes! And while there were no incidents that day, I read later that people have been "nabbed" by gators in springs such as these...!! So,...as Foxworthy might say "here's your sign!"

Long last pals!

Meet my pal, Barsha. She used to live in San Diego, but a few years ago, she and her hubby, JD, up and moved to Florida! Needless to say, that meant A LOT less frequent visits! So, it was so nice to be able to plot our trip to include The Villages and spend some good time with our buddies!

But first, an introduction to The Villages, in case you're not familiar... It's a golf-course/golf-cart based retirement community, consisting of different, themed neighborhoods. There are more bedecked, stylized golf carts, zooming around than cars.

There are some wonderful restaurants too, in and around The Villages - like this terrific BBQ place we went to with Barsh and JD and friend Nancy.

One of the adventures Barsh, Nancy, and I shared was an airboat ride. Not too good for photos - too fast, but a fun experience!

Another great outing was a carriage museum/horsey place. We had fun feeding the horses from a giant bag of carrots. I think they enjoyed it too! But I probably had the most fun, at the others' expense! Watching poor Barsh & Nancy attempting to transfer carrots without losing fingers! Neither had really been around horses so had no knowledge on proper horse-feeding etiquette... As can be seen in this photo, with a dismayed, open-mouthed horse, a falling mid-air carrot, and a laughing Barsh in the background...!

Either this guy was laughing so hard he just couldn't contain himself anymore, or maybe he was just enjoying the afternoon sunshine...

But it was a neat place, with or without carrots...

However, these three definitely voted for the "with carrots" option!!!

Hey, he got one! Now all he has to do is figure out how to eat it! Kind of hard when it's one big long chunk - they can't exactly hold the carrot themselves to bite off little, edible pieces! So invariably the rest of the carrot would end up in the sand...

Oh well, it was all in fun, and some horses actually had enough success with the carrots, they didn't want to see us leave!

And across the street, it wasn't all about horses... But something I didn't know, is that location is a big-time, big-money horse ranch area!!!!

Meet the Neighbors!

There are many wonderful aspects to full-time RVing - the adventure, the scenery, the differing cultures and character of the small towns (and even the very occasional big city..). But one of the best parts, as I've mentioned before, is meeting really neat people and sometimes even receiving the lasting gift of continued friendship. And so it was with Linda and Russell and their three grandkids. What great folks! A special treat to meet them and spend time - made Manatee that much more memorable!

Russell and Linda and family were so gracious to share their campfire (and roasted marshmallows - yay!) with us. And grandson, Cory (sp?) brought out a cool laser, which made for a weird effect on the fire/smoke!

Taylor butters up Scratty. She doesn't have to work too hard though - kids are Scratty's absolute favorite demographic!!! She likes them way better than she likes us! We feed and clothe her, but does she appreciate it? NO! She runs off with the first kids she can! And Tractor's not much better...! Actually, we figure it's because two little girls had our kitties when they were still kittens, so our two have very fond memories and associations...

Senny getting a foot massage from Cory, Taylor, and Jacob.

Jacob practices for the big leagues. Watch for that face! He's an up and comer, no doubt!

Weird fuzzy caterpiller type...

Taylor and Scratty again. That girl has Scratty's number! Here she's entertaining Scratty Catty with a huge feather.

Jacob shows off another worm type. Yeah, so there were a lot of worms/caterpillars here - but nothing compared to the ticks!!! This was Tick Central! And little tiny things. Poor Bill really got nailed constantly - thank goodness no bad effects (other than grossing out a bit!).

Tractor contemplates the boardwalk less traveled...

Manatee Springs SP

Our next stop was another springs, and it was very pretty too!

There were so many great things about our visit here! And one of them was the armadillos!!!!!!! Bill had always told me about these guys being prolific in Texas, but I all I ever saw of them there was roadkill! And hardly any of that (thank goodness). So to finally see a live one was wonderful! And I got to see many of them. You'll need to click to enlarge this photo though, or you won't see his little bum running away from the photographer!

Lots of wildlife at this state park!!! Armadillos all over (and they're hilarious! They don't seem to have very good eyesight, so they must rely more on their hearing. So I could sneak up on them pretty good until I'd step on a snappy twig! And then they'd leap straight up in the air and scoot off!). Deer moseying around (including right outside your RV! You could look out the window and see six deer just right there!). All kinds of fish and turtles in the spring, or in the Suwannee River, which the spring feeds into. And...

Another (water?) snake! Sorry snake-loathers... But I had to hurry to get this guy's photo. He told me he was just passing through!

When we got here, there were quite a few people swimming in the spring. I was so envious! All that beautiful clear water, filled with cool fish and turtles and...?! So we ran to Walmart (only about 6 miles away) and got goggles and snorkel, and in I went! It was worth it! Very neato!

And the star of the show...in the spotlight...? Yep, a darn squirrel. But he looked so good there!

Florida Caverns - our first springs!

Bill and I went to the Florida Caverns State Park to see what we were missing (I had wanted to camp there but couldn't make reservations) and to see the Blue Hole Springs, which looked really pretty in some photos I found on-line. Those photos didn't do it justice...

This was our very first Florida spring, and it was gorgeous! I just love that color of water!! It reminds me of glacial lakes!!!

VIEWER WARNING: The item you are about to see below is NOT intended for the

snake-hyperphobic reader!!!!!!

They're a lot bigger than this photo suggests, but if you enlarge it... The park ranger who spotted them and brought them to our attention said they were brown banded water snakes - or something like that... Harmless. But pretty risque!!! Right out in the open, and in the middle of day like that! Goodness!! (and I wonder which one's which! pretty good size difference!)

OK, I have to say I got very excited when I went over a little bridge they had farther back from the main pool. The look was so completely ethereal to me!!! It was fantastic!!! This is definitely one of the moments where photography = addiction. I HAD to take photos of this stuff!!!!!

And while it was very hard to capture the look I wanted and was seeing, and the light kept changing with each passing breeze, I think I got close to getting a good photo. And with all the various and incredible places we've been to, and all the billions of photos I've taken (who, me?!!), you'd think I'd have plenty of photos I was happy with and excited about. But, honestly, I think maybe there have been about two so far. Between San Diego and Torreya - two. The other photo was the B&W one of the Saguaro cacti in Tucson. And I doubt it would win any awards, but it had a cool look to me. And this one has an otherworldly feel for me, which I love.

Apalachicola

Before we left Torreya, we did a little exploring - of course! I took one day to drive down to Apalachicola - due south of the park. Remember? That was the day I heard Tim McGraw sing his 'Southern Voices' song on XM radio. Sure it's a really great and popular song, but what are the odds exactly on hearing McGraw croon "Apalachicola" on my way to Apalachicola?!!!! I mean, c'mon!!!!!

Wanna see something really weird?

On the way, I stopped to investigate this unusual wildflower! Maybe there are some of you who will recognize and know what this is, but I sure didn't!

If anything, it looked like maybe an alien life form! I mean can't you just hear the sound that one underneath piece would make as it moved down and opened up the flower?!! Some kind of metal, hydraulic, scraping sound, I'd imagine. And then all these weird little things suddenly pop out of the flower, transform into hideous creatures, and take over the planet. No? Well, maybe too many scary movies. But I don't watch those. Things that make you go "hmmm...."

(OK, I later discovered this is the flower for the pitcher plant! So, it is pretty strange after all!!! Those plants are carnivorous!!!!! Their 'pitchers' hold water to drown insects that get lured in by different things, depending on the type of pitcher plant - could be the color, or a sweet, nectary smell, or even a stinky, decaying smell! More photos and factoids here: http://waynesword.palomar.edu/carnivor.htm)

A pretty, and less anxiety-producing wildflower. It looks to me like the kind of flower that colonizes after a burn.

These forests had to be monoculture logging tracts. And it did look like periodic burns must be conducted in the maintenance of them.

Apalachicola wasn't really that big of a deal. I guess it has a mystique and charm because it's a remnant of the "old Florida." I did enjoy it, but it wasn't a wow experience. However, I was wowed by something there - the food!!! At least at this one restaurant...

No, I didn't get any of these. As much as I love chocolate... I was just admiring the outdoor sign from my indoor table, wondering who exactly would see the sign and think "ooooo, YUMMY!!!!!!" And while Bill loves those chocolate-covered caramel and pecan turtles, I'm not sure that these turtles would quite be the same...!?! Ya just gotta wonder...

"That Place Off 98" had absolutely wonderful food. The BEST calamari I have ever had!!!!!!!!!! I've never had it prepared that way. Hmm, I wonder how long it'd take to drive from Quebec to Apalachicola? Or maybe it's on the way back home to San Diego? No? Not even close? Oh well, maybe we should just winter in Apalachicola!!

A stop at Lafayette Park.

A very nicely-kept little park...

with a neat walkway out over the marsh.

Entrepreneur!

Quite the bridge.

A sailor's dream...

A late afternoon stop before the long drive back to Torreya - St. George Island. I loved these cute, tall houses! It was like San Francisco with gaps!

While I'm generally not a big beach person (a mountain person!), St. George was pretty neat. Sand dunes right down to the water, and all unsullied (at least in the park - the rest of the island was pretty developed). The other cool thing about this beach were all the big ol' chunks of seashells - looked like mostly scallop shells.

Pretty water.