Manatee Springs State Park(February 25 – 29)2020

THE GATOR INCOUNTER

It was a chilly morning for a short walk to the springs, but it was well worth it! However, reflection on the water this time of day, made it difficult to see the lounging manatees.

I love to stop and listen to all the jungly sounds.

Looking for the manatees while clutching my warm cup of coffee,

Lots of these vulture birds hanging around . They let me get pretty close to them.

Up,up and away! I guess that was close enough!

Jeanie is walking point on this hike. Sunny is wanting to catch up!

Stopping to read information about Florida’s trees.

I’m amazed at all the beautiful bird sounds.

Sunny blending in to the background. He’s hoping he doesn’t have to pose too much longer.

Love these eerie looking shadows as we walked along the trail.

Lots to contemplate and enjoy along the way. (Who is in deeper thought?)

There were lots of deer hanging close to the campground. Sunny would have loved to herd them.

It was so fun to see this gator as we paddled by on the Suwannee River.

We were thrilled to see that gator lounging on the log as we paddled by. BUT THEN! 😳 How quickly things change! These old folks flipped their canoe (I maintain that my husband is responsible) about 50 yards from that resting gator!!!!We then managed to turn over our partially submerged canoe, climb back in from waist deep water and make our way back to the dock while bailing water out of our canoe with a water bottle. Sorry gator! No Whaley meat today! *We didn’t realize we had it all on video until we got back to our campsite. We laughed as we watched our dunk into the water!

After our traumatic canoe dunking we showered and headed out to dinner at Tony’s seafood restaurant to celebrate survival!