Waccasassa Park

Saturday afternoon drive down the backroads just to see something different. Waccasassa Park is literaly at the end of the road. There is a public boat dock, a few cement tables and benches and functional restrooms. And No-See-Ums. I've been inside so long, I forgot about bugs. (Self - add bug spray to the car travel kit) Most imprtantly, there is the Waccasassa River. Dark and wild. Occasional sound of an boat motor; otherwise quiet. Sunny but crisp.

There is a fish club next to the park which must have it's own boat ramp as this red airboat is heading in for the day.

The sky and water reflect the colors of the sun setting.

Colors are gone for the day; gray and then dark filter in.

Map to area:

Orleno State Park

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Tuscawilla Preserve, Subtle Flowers, Sunday Afternoon

Just south of Micanopy Florida along S.E. Tuscawilla Road just east of Highway 441, we drive along the Tuscawilla Preserve site of the historic Tuscawilla Lake.

We walk through the Spanish Moss covered Live Oaks onto a damp prairie. It's April but the prairie is still brown. A hawk flies high hunting for lunch. We hear some traffic sounds but overall it's quiet. We see patches of subtle flowers ever where.

Subtle Flowers? The ones that don't scream their bright colors at you. They're there. You see them. But it takes a longer, more in depth look to really see them. They coexist with the landscape around them, provide beauty without the need to dominate.

The world could use more subtle flowers.

Anthropomorphism on a Sunday afternoon.

   

The Dixie Monuments Co.

Driving west along Highway 19 outside just outside Old Town, Fl. early afternoon last Saturday, the combination of American flag, purple rooster and Florida Gator bird bath caught my attention.

Knowing that at least one of us in the car would find this an interesting stop, I turn the car around.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

American flag, purple chicken and Florida Gator bird bath 

Interesting selection of lawn ornaments and tombstones

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Should the Georgia Bulldog should have black dots on his nose?

Guess what went home with us?

In the Company of Cattle Egrets

Driving south on U.S. Highway 41 between Williston and Dunnellen (Florida) late on a Sunday afternoon on our way to visit friends, we were simply enjoying the drive. Looking east, I saw the typical Florida scene I have come to love: black cows, white birds, humongous green trees and a dark looming sky.

Suddenly, in the grass field next to the cattle, there were hundreds of white birds flying. This certainly got our attention! We turned the car around and came back to the side of the road to observe.

They would fly up and land in the tall grass. Then fly up again. Moving from one side of the field back to the other. Not still for more than a few minutes at a time.

Some continued hanging out with the cows and others seemed to prefer hanging out on the fence posts.

After a good while observing and absorbing, we were back in the car heading south, doing "research" on the smart phone on the "humble" but ever present Cattle Egret.

 We learned:

1. "The cattle egret is a cosmopolitan species of heron found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Wikipedia
3. Scientific name: Bubulcus ibis
4. Rank: Species
5. Higher classification: Bubulcus"

"The short, thick-necked Cattle Egret spends most of its time in fields rather than streams. It forages at the feet of grazing cattle, head bobbing with each step, or rides on their backs to pick at ticks. This stocky white heron has yellow plumes on its head and neck during breeding season. Originally from Africa, it found its way to North America in 1953 and quickly spread across the continent. Elsewhere in the world, it forages alongside camels, ostriches, rhinos, and tortoises—as well as farmers’ tractors" Cornell Lab of Ornithology

 

Arrived safely at our destination to friends who patiently "humored" our amazement and appreciation of this "typical" rural Florida scene which was played out before us in abundance this afternoon.

Grateful for the opportunity to witness.  Even more grateful for the aptitude to "turn the car around" and be able to appreciate and enjoy what was before us.

Down the Creek; With a Paddle

It's early Sunday morning; bright sun and few clouds. Here we are at the Earl P Powers Boat ramp in Southeast Gainesvile, Florida meeting our outfitter and group for our paddle down Prairie Creek. 

We head out to Newnan's Lake
  

Until we reach the entrance to Prairie Creek

A narrow, winding creek in a natural preserve area

Many cypress knees

A Limpken along the bank

Another Limpken amongst the cypress knees

The water is high considering all of our rainfall but we still have several down trees to contend with

LLL 'does the Limbo" with this tree. I'm hearing Chubby Checker in the my mind singing "How loooooow can she go?"

Apparently, quite low!  The rest of us got hung up on the other side with a submerged log. But there was no way I was going to be able to get under this log the way she did.

Another log requiring some assistance and a bit of "scrunching"

Prairie Creak is absolutely beautiful to navigate. Well worth the hassle of an occasional "scrunch" and "duck"

Many Apple Snail eggs attached to grass and  cypress knees. Vivid orange in some cases. Unfortunately for the eco system, these belong to an exotic variety instead of the native Florida snail and bodes for an uncertain future.

Not too many alligator out today. Just a few of the "small guys"

A "nature" quiet morning and afternoon.  (Nature is NOT quiet. I mean we heard no machine sounds during most of our paddle)

The creek skirts the eastern edge of Payne's Prairie State park.  Original water flow for the creek empties into the Prairie.  In the 1930's canals were dug to divert the water down to Orange Lake.  Still a very contested issue to this day.  Toward the end of our journey, we are in Camp's Canal and paddle past a weir which determines how much water flows to the Prairie and how much flows to Orange Lake. 

We exit the creek and headed home by 2:30 in the afternoon. Physically tired but emotionally exhilarated both by being in such close contact with nature as well as having challenged ourselves and come through. 

My ice cold tea from the car cooler would not have tasted so good under other circumstances. 

Smile.

Our Blackberry Sniffing Dog

Sarah, our faithful canine, and I are never sure where we will end up when traveling with LLL- a glimpse at a sign by the side of the road ....

....and the next thing we know, we're out in the hot sun picking blackberries. 

Two other people jokingly (we think) accused us of having better luck finding the ripe berries because our dog was telling us where they were. Sort of like a truffle pig.

Sarah's nose pointing to ripe blackberries

 Sarah may have found another calling; although I think she prefers her "callings" to come with air conditioning. 

Usually our "outings" are reward in themselves, but today we have

fresh picked blackberries and vanilla ice cream!

At the Blues Brothers Blueberry Farm in Anthony, Florida 

Lake Chatuge, Tallulah Gorge & Gurly Creek Falls: Day 5 in North Georgia

Anna Ruby Falls: Day 4 in North Georgia

Yes, there are twin falls ...

... and yes, they are that beautiful.

Forest Roads & High Shoals Trail: Day 3 in North Georgia

Out of the campground nice and early heading for the forest: specifically forest roads 44 and 283 looking for waterfalls.

Just driving these roads is an adventure as we hope never to meet another vehicle. We drive with the windows open and see a pair of (some kind of) yellow warblers flying along the side of the road from bush to shrub.

This is what some may call a "bonus falls": just water sliding down dark rock along side the road. I absolutely love these!

Another rabbit by the side of the road and Sarah actually notices. When we were driving to the campground on the first day, we kept seeing small brown creatures along the side of the road. If we were in Minnesota, I would have said that the were woodchucks. But not being in Minnesota and now that I see the ears, we know they are rabbits. They don't seem to be afraid or bothered by much.

Our mission for the day: High Shoal Trail. Only 1.2 miles. However, that is 1.2 miles DOWN and then 1.2 miles UP. I like "down" better than "up". Of course that is personal opinion.

We see full size trees growing out of rocks and small openings in the side of the mountain with flowing water.

High Shoals Falls. There is such a tendency to hurry down and hurry back up (HA! like I actually could hurry going up the mountain) Still in work mode not vacation. We step back and absorb where we are. High Shoal Falls.

Finally, we head back up the trail. The upper falls, known as Blue Hole Falls, is a popular swimming place. As popular as a place can be knowing you have to walk 2 miles round trip to get to it. Apparently the jump off the top of the falls adds to the attraction. We watch, fascinated.

Somehow, I missed this single flower in the woods when we were walking down. Hiking back up, I see it. Haven't found it's name yet, but WOW.

Our forest road ends a mile outside of Helen. After hiking and driving backwoods trails for over 6 hours, we are not psychologically prepared for bumper to bumper traffic that is Helen, Georgia on a Saturday afternoon in August. We take a different road "home" to camp passing by the historic Stovall Mill Covered Bridge.

And we are home in time to feed the goats down on the farm.

After today, what could we possibly do on DAY 4?