Daytime walks to Manatee Springs

 

I'm trying my best to choose photos from different folders so that I'll have fewer posts of Manatee Springs State Park!

Green Heron

But it's a challenge.

I entitled this folder 'day pics'.

Since it was only 1/2 mile away, I walked over there whenever I wanted to stretch my legs.

We were so fortunate to have good weather while we camped. It was a bit 'buggy' but that's to be expected around the water. 

And this place is like a jungle with all the healthy vegetation.

On Saturday there were a group of scuba divers exploring the caves. 

Once thought of as the longest cave in the world, Manatee Springs cave system includes over 20,000 explored and mapped caves.

It's a popular place for lots of people but even on a Saturday, it wasn't crowded.

So I had a lot of unique bird sightings every day.

I'll share more of the Green Heron.

These are all the same bird but he changed his pose often!

I stood there and watched to my heart's content!

I saw one alligator, one turtle and one monster.

It's a Cypress root or knee but it looked like a turtle monster!

Grumpy Green

Thank you ALL so much for your help with descriptive words for Manatee Springs! One thing we all have in common is our love of nature. We marvel at it's beauty. So here goes the list of words to describe the beauty of the Springs!

Glorious, gorgeous, spectacular, amazing, beautiful, awesome, lovely, splendid, superb, wonderful, grand, impressive, awe-inspiring, awesome, astounding, astonishing, amazing, stunning breathtaking, stupendous, incredible, sensational, out of this world, fabulous, enchanted, magical, insurmountable, unsurpassed, fantastic, unbeatable, awesome, stunning, marvelous, adorable, picturesque, magnificent, beyond beautiful, neat.

And now on to some of the words from other languages! Maravilloso...thanks Teresa

Prachtig, pronounced PRAHKH-tikh...thank you Aritha

And Traude gave me several words in German...hinreibend, marchenhaft, verqauber, atemberaubend, translated...ravishing, fairytale-like, enchanted, breathtaking.

Everyone really came through with words to describe what I've seen at the Springs. I couldn't pick a favorite but I know I'll be using many of these words in future posts. You really are the best blog buddies in the world! You are ALL 'ravishing', meaning unusually attractive, pleasing or striking. 

Thank you!

And thanks for joining me on my walks to the Springs!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !

"Manatee Springs State Park" Gorgeous!

 

I tried to think of a better word than 'gorgeous' but you'll have to help me there. 

If after you look at the photos, you can think of a more descriptive word, I'll use it in my next post.

I'll include a link HERE if you want to read more about this park. This is a first-magnitude spring that releases an astounding 100 million gallons of water daily!

We spent a week camping here and had such fun. 

There are a lot of hiking trails and the Springs were only about 1/2 mile away from our campsite so we went every day. 

It was nice going at different times of the day to see wildlife and birds. We did not see Manatees on this trip but we weren't disappointed in our sightings each day.

Deer walked through our campsite. A raccoon climbed the tree next to the picnic table and we got back one evening to see a pretty white cat waiting for us.

And the Springs are just gorgeous!

Ibis in the water

The first evening we walked down there we saw a Barred Owl fly into a tree nearby.

You all know that's one of my favorite sightings.

And then we saw him 3 nights in a row in the same area. 

I have about a hundred photos. 

Want to see them all?

OK....OK! 

How about this Little Blue Heron!

And here's a mosaic of the owl preening!

I'll share more photos of some of the hikes we took in days to come. Hope you'll come back to hike with me!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

"The Bridge to Nowhere" Old Town, Florida

 

We took a day trip to Old Town, Florida on one of our camping trips for a hike to the Suwannee River. 

And yes, we walked across the "Bridge to Nowhere".

It was a beautiful sunny morning but the trees along the path provided plenty of shade and this was my favorite photo of the day.

Of course hubby and I got into the picture with that beautiful background!

There's so much history on the internet that I will add some links if you want to learn more.

This one HERE told of the supply ship that brought lumber to build the bridge. They sunk the ship when the delivery was made. That seems so odd but you can see the sunken ship sometimes.

Another good article HERE.

We took our time and took photos from both sides of the bridge.

Of course the Suwannee River is a beautiful river and we had a quiet morning.

There were very few walkers and bikes and no boats on the river.

It sure gave us a peaceful time in nature.

There were a few houses and this one was right on the river.

Another house had a longhorn cow and a donkey.

We saw hummingbirds feeding on the trumpet vine too.

These were purple martins I think.

This sign was at a residence along the trail.

It's an out of the way place to visit.

Just what I love!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !

Hiking the Florida trails in early summer!

 

We are definitely feeling the heat and summertime humidity but it's still really nice deep in the woods.

Between camping trips, I head to the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway and on this particular hike, I went down into the diggings.

It's cooler and extends my hike to closer to 2 hours but it has it's own rewards.

On this hike, I went to Josef's table. 

It's a table in the middle of the forest, dedicated to Josef who loved to hike.

I left a seashell from Canaveral National Seashore on the table the last time I visited and it was still there.

Something new was this beautiful little Chinese Zen planter.

It was on the large boulder next to the table.

The tiny plant was pretty too!

And behind the table someone had put together a ladder. It's a little big for the gnomes that live there so I'm not sure who uses it. Any guesses?

Always pretty wildflowers and this caterpillar was colorful!

I wanted to include photos of this duck that showed up in our flower bed this week too.

I think he stopped to take a break on the way to the neighborhood pond. 

I asked him, but he ignored me.

Now back to the hike deep in the forest to find the monsters!

You know I saw some! 

Have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !