Can you feel your blood pressure going down just watching the water?
Cousin Don....
Sue looking over one of two floating docks they have access to. This is the one Liz and I ended up using but we are sworn to destroy any video of our getting back out of the kayaks....but we aren't there yet.
First there are the Saturday chores.
And Saturday adventures that lead us back to Silver Springs State Park for their Annual Knapp-in. Okay, I may have been disappointed to find out it had nothing to do with catching up on my sleep.....but we were close and Silver Spring State Park is never a bad choice.
This piece of art was in the parking lot on the walk over to the event. Nice detail work.
Have no idea if this price tag is for real or just to make your hands jump back when you touch it.
Lot of rocks.....and nice people interested in rocks.
When Liz still had her house in Ocala she was a frequent volunteer with the state park and still knows some of the other dedicated volunteers. Doesn't get you in events free but does give you added smiles and welcomes.
Knapper at work.
Ohio Flint doesn't come in these colors....nor do the pieces of flint my brother and I would find in TN.
Woman demonstrating an ironwood weapon which is interesting and good and stuff but....
My eyes were drawn to the floor mat she was using.
Many of the buildings in the museum village were open to the public.
A demonstration of scrapping and stretching hides complete with discussion of what sort of animal brains are recommended. Don't ask. I didn't take detailed notes, other than no one used cow brains for awhile because of Mad Cow disease.
Then Sunday rolled around and Liz and I were off to Crystal River and we hit the water.
I read that paddle boards are good for working your core. These guys appear well worked.
As we paddled closer to the Three Sister's Spring the traffic on the water grew more crowed. This is prime Manatee watching season. Some folks rent kayak, some use paddle boards, some used small motor boats or took rides with the big tour boats. Some just watch from their boats and some include getting in the water with snorkels.
I asked some folks sitting out on their dock how many levels of entertainment this scene provides. You can watch the animals....the manatees and the crazy hoomans. The Springs themselves are now owned by either the city or county and are closed. Given the amount of swimmers and kayakers it is probably a good thing for the Manatees. For a fee you can ride overland to visit the main springs and observe the Manatees from land. Having made the swim up the narrow water way two years ago, that water is not large enough to accommodate all these people. For those that have never visited there are still roped off spring areas, that you might be able to see in the pictures, to keep the kayaks and swimmer at a distance and give Manatees some private hanging out spaces. Lucky for many of us in kayaks there was a lot of movement up and down the river with Manatees leaving the spring and heading off most likely in search of munchies. For that matter Don and Sue told us that there are usually Manatees in their cove every morning.....
Stuart is not allowed to see this one and Remi wouldn't believe it if he did see it.
Just in case anyone was wondering, especially the young folks not worrying about their next dermatologist appointment and how many spots are going to be frozen off, many folks were working on their tans. It was that nice out on the water.
Boats, boats and more boats and the snorkelers One of the other kayakers assured me that we earned 2 points for every swimmer we beaned with our paddles.
Yeah, I still can't see Stuart just standing there. He would be all about jumping in the water.
Nice Dad, but those girls aren't pulling their weight.....just an observation. But the strangest deals were the girls that got to ride on their kayak while being towed by the guy in the front kayak. Like "What? They can't paddle for themselves?"
And when one swims close you just keep breathing and hold your paddle very, very still.
That is Liz's bow on the right.
And then the Manatee floated over to me. I didn't touch, but I could have.....this was my close encounter.
And then he floats on under to the other side of the kayak and to the beyond.
Family fun.
More family fun.
The watcher on the wall.
Some dogs do get to swim.....
Back to the dock with tired arms and shoulders but memories of close encounters.
No comments:
Post a Comment