A Quick trip to the Pruitt Trailhead!

 

Even a short hike can reap great results! 

When we drove in, the first bird I saw was perched on an old dead snag. So I rolled the window down and took a photo.

Mississippi Kite

We see Kites all through the summer months here in Florida.

Swallow-tailed Kite

Queen Butterfly

The stars of this little outing were the butterflies!

The Queen butterfly was exquisite!

And some of them were a duller brownish color. 

The Gulf Fritillary is always a pretty orange and common in North Central Florida.

And here are the maps for this little outing!

I love these unknown roads! I feel right at home here!

Happy September everyone!

 I am getting this post done early before Hurricane Idalia comes through. I'll update it to let everyone know how we fared. Hopefully it will just be a rain event for our area and we won't have any damage. I'm keeping everyone in the path of the storm in my prayers.

Update : We weathered the storm without any damage. You don't have to drive far to see a lot of damage though. We live about 30 miles, as the crow flies from Cedar Key. But we are fine and have clear skies and hot temps again! WHEW!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

Traveling on the 'unknown road'!

 Is that even better than the 'back roads'? 

I love maps and enjoy the navigation maps in the new vehicles. I was surprised when we drove down this road that it was listed as an unknown road!

Perfect! I love it!

Let's see where it leads!

Oh, it leads to the Gulf of Mexico!

Well you can't go wrong with a trip down an unknown dirt road to the coast.

And it was beautiful when we got there. The parking lot was empty on a Saturday morning, which surprised us.

We took a little hike down the Withlacoochee Bay trail.

What will we see today?

Wasn't this Great White Egret gorgeous!

Hubby got a new Chevy 'pick em up' truck . 

And he even let me drive it....through a mud puddle! 

We stopped at the locks on the way home and saw a rain shower in the distance.

It sure was a fun day (and yes, we got rained on)! Thanks hubby for the beautiful Great White Egret photos and for letting me get your new truck dirty! 

Do you like to take a drive? A Sunday drive on Saturday?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

I love maps! 'Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway'

 

I've always loved maps. I'm not the best at following them but they have always intrigued me. 

And now they are a great tool for planning a hike!

A few years ago a sweet couple that volunteered for the Cross Florida Greenway gave me a set of maps. We used to see them on the ATV with the blower attachment that cleaned off the paved trail. And then the last time I saw her, she told me her beloved Kenny had passed away.

Now we can walk past the bench dedicated to Kenny with fond memories. 

We hike from several different trailheads when we hike what I usually call  the 'Florida Trails'.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon when we started our hike at the 49th Ave Trailhead.

And it was too nice to stay on the pavement so off into the woods we went.

Lots of neat things to see like this Fence Lizard.

And the wild plum is blooming all through the forest!

Lots of green year round here.

Lots of palmetto palm and ferns in this area!

And a view from the trail.

Several people have poured over these maps to look at the trails close by but I can't be talked out of them! 

I love pouring over maps. Do you?

I'm joining Mosaic Monday HERE 

and I like Thursdays HERE !