Back in Florida

After our return from Costa we headed back to Tampa to visit with my great aunt Mary Esther once again.  We were able to meet her son Jud and his family and had a relaxing time watching his daughters soccer game and eating dinner at a great mexican restaurant.  From Tampa we headed north to O'Leno State Park in order to get ready for a canoe trip down the Santa Fe River starting near the river rise.  The river actually disappears below ground for ~3 miles and then reappears at the river rise.  We went for a 15 mile bike ride and had a great time on the trails, even if they were a bit soggy and required some maneuvering to avoid wet feet.  I was not completely successful in that endeavor. 

   

At the recommendation of Bob Campbell we set out for a 3 day, two night, canoe trip down the Santa Fe River.  The river is slow and meandering with beautiful clear springs adding to it all the way down to where it meets the Suwannee River.  We enjoyed the warming weather as it had once again been cold and floated lazily down the river.  Where the Ichetucknee River (the names are extremely easy to pronounce) joins the Santa Fe, we took a right and battled the sometimes very rapid current to reach the state park.  The water was clear and we could see huge gar, among other fish, looking up at us.  This was the off season and besides a lone swimmer and a few boaters we had the place to ourselves.  There was an open meadow area with the river flowing through it where we camped and it turned out to be a mecca for wildlife. 

   

We headed north to northwest once again to meet Patricia and Bob at Three Rivers State Park for the holiday weekend.  Our camp site had a great view of a large lake; however, the park forgot to mention controlled burns and we had some authentic fire ambiance all weekend long.  We enjoyed a lot of good food, a paddle around the lake, and a short hike. 

 

In three weeks we will be back in Flagstaff (staying for two weeks) so we are beginning our trip back west.  We plan on heading along the Gulf coast, through New Orleans, and then straight across Texas.