On our way to Florida

We stopped a couple of days by Gatlinburg TN and a couple of days in Savanah GA. on our way back to Florida.

That wasn't our original plan, but that's the way it worked out. Jello plans you know!

Gatlinburg area was interesting. We took a gondola up into the Smoky Mountains.  Very beautiful! We sampled 10 different flavors of moonshine, tasty! There were a lot of little shops and a pancake restaurant on every corner, don't know why. 

Savannah is a very fun place,a lot of  history. We 1st visited Tybee Island, just east. Nice beaches, but no dogs allowed.    

Toby, Tucker and Luxi were not happy. 

We took a Trolley tour of Savannah and learned a lot about the area. We checked  out Ft  McAllister, too. It's an old Civil War fort. Vel was in heaven with all of the history. 

Many shelves of Moonshine

Tybee Beach, SC

Savannah, SC

Savannah, SC

Trolley in Savannah, SC

Savannah

Some Summer Pictures

Hummingbirds and Woodpeckers

It's spring here in Florida!!  The bottle brush tree is full of  hummingbirds!! and the Woodpecker's are making their condo for the kids!!

Boat ride

There's an alligator on that log.

Last week we went on a boat ride with some friends from the park.   To the Suwannee River we went.  It was cool but, beautiful day. We headed to Manatee springs and right away we saw over a dozen manatees at the enterance to the springs.  We aren't able to ride down to the springs, so we parked the boat and walked down, to the pretty blue aqua water.  We saw some scuba divers, but weren't able to get them to show up in the pictures.

group of manatees

Manatee coming to say HI

Coming closer

Hello (the engine is off)

View from Suwannee river

Water lillies on Suwannee river

 We headed down stream and saw a couple of small alligators, lots of birds and turtles.  The turtles are interesting, they will be lined up sunning themselves on a log, but when we went by them slowly, they would all slide into river one by one. Plop, plop, plop. 
It was a fun day and the Manatee's were the highlight. So Cool!!!!!-M

Manatee springs

Toby sleeping in the back seat.

Kayaking the Rainbow

Vel, checking out the turtles

 About a month ago, a group from the park headed to the Rainbow River, for some kayaking.  We headed upstream, after  2 miles, we took a lunch break.  Some of us single kayakers arms were wearing out, so back down the river we went.  We didn't make it the the Rainbow Springs, that will be another trip.

Heading up river(clear water)

Clear, Aqua blue

Anhingas in the tree, with nests

Heading back down the Rainbow River

It was so beautiful! The water is soooo clear and an aqua blue. We saw Egrets, Anhingas, Blue Herons, Otters, Turtles along with the fish.  No alligators, thank goodness! They were probably hiding.











Another good day in Florida!-M

Sunset

One of the many beautiful Cedar Key sunsets. At about a half hour before the sun sets, you will see several cars leave the park. They are usually heading to town to see what georgeous colors there will be.

More Pics of trip

These are pictures of the St. Augustine area. Coni
 

"Other side"

Daytona International Speedway

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse

Flagler Beach

Luxi and I on Flagler Beach

St. Augustine Lighthouse

A few people around here have talked about going to "the other side" of Florida. So, we decided to do the same.  Sunday morning we headed over to Daytona Beach (camperless) to check it out. It is a busy place, your typical high rises along the beaches, very touristy.  We did enjoy the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse area.  Vel was able to get a stamp for her, National History Passport book.  We also went to see the Daytona International Speedway.  Big place!
We stayed over night in Ormand Beach, next to the large Harley Davidson complex. Everything for bikers.
Monday morning, we headed up A1A highway. We stopped for lunch at Flagler beach, very nice little beach town. (more our size)  We also walked the dogs on the beach, they loved it! Tucker dug in the sand, Luxi barked at the seagulls and Toby just enjoyed it!  It seems like most of the Florida beaches don't allow dogs. There were some guests at our park, that told us about the beach in Flagler that allows them. That's one nice thing about rv parks, everyone enjoys telling about their experiences in their travels. 
Then it was northward to St. Augustine.  We went to the Lighthouse there, Vel got another stamp! Woohoo!!  We drove through the streets of the Nation's Oldest City, but we were running out of time to stop.  That was the purpose of this trip, just to see what was on the "other side".  But we will be back, because there is a lot to see here. 
Three hours later, with a stop in Gainesville (Petsmart and Trader Joe's), we were home! It was a nice enjoyable trip!-M