But then for my birthday he bought me the BEST GIVE EVER...a kayak for him!
Yes, the Suwannee River from the Stephen Foster minstrel song..."Old Folks at Home" (also known as "Way Down Upon the Suwannee River"). Turns out Stephen Foster had never seen the Suwannee River nor visited Florida. He picked the name because it fit the lyrics. I couldn't get that song out of my head for a week!
Springs are one of my favorite places to visit...THE GEMS OF FLORIDA. Before the kayaks, Brian and I visited quite a few...taken the glass bottom boat ride in Silver Springs, swam in the crystal clear waters at Juniper Springs, walked the trail and watched the manatees at Blue Springs.
The first day of our mini-vacation, we launched our kayaks at Manatee Springs State Park. It was early and we had the park to ourselves. In fact, I think we woke up a few hundred vultures that were roosting in the trees on the river. Since vultures don't have a syrinx (bird vocal organ), they are silent. All we heard was their wings flapping.
After enjoying the river, we headed into the spring area. There is a big difference between the blackwater of the Suwannee River and the spring water. The water in the run from the spring is crystal clear with lots of turtles and fish (bass, mullet and carp). The area around the spring is for swimming only (no kayaks). Manatee Springs is a first magnitude spring, meaning the water flow is greater than 65 million gallons of water per day.
The next day, we went a little north to Fanning Springs State Park. Again we were there early and were the only people on the river. The first thing we saw on the river was a sign saying "DANGER: Jumping Sturgeon". It is a real danger. In 2015, a 5-year old girl was killed by a jumping sturgeon and during the summer, 8 people were injured. A sturgeon can be 5 feet in length and weigh from 40 to over 100 pounds. They can leap 7 feet in the air. The sturgeons aren't aggressive...they just like to jump. I didn't realize the seriousness of these encounters until we left the park and I googled it. That's where I got the photo on the right. Brian and I didn't see any jumping sturgeons on our visit...Oh my!
Also while we were at Fanning Springs, Brian and I track down a geocache near an old sink hole off the hiking trail in the park. I started geocaching 12 years ago in Ohio. Geocaching is an outdoor game where you use a GPS device to find hidden containers (called caches). There are caches all over the world...over a million caches worldwide. Once you find a cache, you sign the log book and log your find on the geocaching website, geocaching.com. When I started geocaching, I needed a GPS device...now I use an app on my phone. This activity is more fun because I am directionally challenged. Brian get a lot of amusement from watching me walk around in circles trying to figure out which way is north.
Our latest kayaking adventure was at Weeki Wachee. We had visited the state park to see the mermaid show and returned a week later to kayak 5 miles down the Weeki Wachee River. For the first 4 miles we didn't see anyone...just fish, birds and a couple manatees. It got a little crowded the last mile. I was happy to see more people after reading the sign: "DANGER: Water Moccasin Breeding Area, Beware of Snakes". Seriously???
I enjoy the birds, turtles, fish and can't get enough of the manatees. And I am happy to say I have not seen an alligator or snake on the water. Maybe they saw me first!
LIFE IS SHORT...PLAY IN THE WATER
