Silver Springs State Park, Silver Springs, Florida
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. ~ Romans 1:20
We see God everywhere, no matter where we are, no matter what we’re doing. He’s there. Clearly visible.
But today was special. A close-up look at just a teeny fraction of the things He’s created. Beautiful, wonderful, marvelous things!
I woke up with no sore throat and no gunk in my head or lungs for the first time in three weeks!! Thank you, Jesus!
As the morning progressed, however, I developed this tickle in the back of my throat, so I drank a lot of water, which helped. But I’m feeling soooo much better! Thanks to all who’ve been lifting me – and Blaine, who surely needed it as much as I 😊 – up in prayer!
It was a glorious day! Bright sunshine, temperatures in the low to mid sixties (although we began at 39!), and no wind. Perfect for kayaking here in Silver Springs. Do you remember when we were in Ichetucknee last year and kayaked in the clear springs? This was much the same. The lovely, clear, slow moving, spring water of the Silver River.
We were out the door by 10:45am and didn’t return home until 4:30pm.
But here’s the thing.
We didn’t actually get on the water until close to noon. First, we had to get to the water, which is about ¾ -mile or so from our site. A half-mile of that requires traversing a trail. Oh, boy. . . .
The first plan was for Blaine to carry our boat on his back as we biked from home to the dock. Well, that didn’t work so well. I was prepared to snap a quick picture of this, but I was too busy helping hold up the bike and the boat – alternately, of course. The straps were too big and he couldn’t keep the boat secure and steer and pedal at the same time. I suggested (vehemently) that he try putting the boat in front of him, but his knees would hit and he couldn’t see over the top. It would’ve been much like the new blindfold craze and we have more common sense than that. We talked other options pretty quickly, finally arriving at the decision to drive to the parking lot at the trailhead, blow up the boat and carry the 40# thing the half-mile to the dock.
Ready to hit the trail!
So that’s what we did. Setting down the boat and switching hands periodically, it actually went pretty well! Although a cart of some kind would’ve been better. 😊 The walk took about 15-minutes.
Whew! We made it!
Now we just need to take it a few yards to the water,
And then we were in the water!
Where we started
Look how clear and beautiful the water is!
What an experience! The critters here are very friendly! The turtles continued to sun themselves without sliding off into the water, the alligators stayed put or swam away from us, and the birds didn’t fly away, so we got some great pictures! Only the fish didn’t cooperate. But they still put on a show for us, arching out of the water to great heights and distances . . . for a fish anyway.
Spoiler alert: A few of the pictures look closer than they actually were, so don’t be alarmed. Blaine has a great zoom on his phone. 😊 But most were taken without much, if any, zoom.
Here we go again . . . .
Turtles on a log! : )
Actually, the ones we’ll see today are Painted Turtles.
They’re the most abundant turtles in America. Do you know what a group of turtles are called?
I’ll tell you later. : )
This is a bale of turtles!
Now you can answer yet another trivia question!
These beautiful birds are called Anhinga.
Their bodies look like black velvet, and their wings are gorgeous!
But their feathers are not waterproof as you would expect.
Their wet feathers and dense bones help them submerge to stalk their prey underwater.
They spread their wings in the sun to dry them.
These are Ibis.
The males are very protective of their nests because they steal sticks from each other’s nests.
There was an abundance of American Alligators around.
Did you know that they replace their teeth when they get worn down? Up to 3,000 of them in their 50 year lifespan!
Sometimes these Anhinga’s are called Water Turkeys because their tail feathers look like a turkey’s.
Today’s lunch view!
That’s a Little Blue Heron.
No kidding. That’s it’s name. : )
They have a row of ‘built in teeth’ along their middle tow that they use as a grooming comb.
Now there’s something you don’t expect to see!
American Alligators eat birds and turtles, yet here they all are, soaking up the sun together!
Can you believe it?!?!?
Great Blue Heron’s grow to between 4 – 4.5 feet tall, but they only weigh 5-6 pounds.
And there are supposed to be Rhesus monkeys here. There are signs everywhere and people on the water asking if you’ve seen them, and we asked many people coming towards us. But despite people saying they’d seem them today, or in the past, we didn’t see hide nor hair of them. Nor did we hear them. ☹
As wonderfully spectacular as our time on the water was, the highlight of our day were the multiple manatees! We saw at least seven different ones! And at one point, we were surrounded by five! They swam right with us, close enough at one point that we were both able to touch them! It’s kinda hard to describe what they felt like. A bit leathery, but also very rough. That surprised us because when you see them, they look smooth, like a dolphin. We also noticed that when motor boats – and there were two of them today – came around, they hit the bottom. Truthfully, we’re shocked that motors are allowed on this water. They’re loud and fumey and very disruptive to the water and wildlife, even though they were going slow. Plus, they’re the leading cause of manatee deaths, as their propellers often hit the gentle beasts.
Oh, wow!!!!
A Manatee!!
I just though the reflection off my paddle was pretty. : )
We spotted this manatee because of that propeller mark on his tail.
It looked florescent underwater and we wondered what it could be. : )
This was soooooo cool!!!
Here’s some information I found on the Florida Manatee:
- They’re Florida’s state marine mammal. (How many states have those???)
- Also known as sea cows, they’re actually related to the elephant. (What?!?!?)
- Despite their small eyes and lack of outer ears manatees are thought to see and hear quite well.
- They have four rows of teeth and when a tooth wears down and fall out, they’re replaced with new ones.
- They’re herbivores.
- It is believed that there are about 6,000 Florida manatees today.
- They rarely venture into water below 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
- They’re mostly in Florida during the winter.
- A manatee’s lungs are 2/3 the length of their bodies.
- Newborns weigh between 60-70 pounds and are about 3-4 feet long.
This is a Double Crested Cormorant.
The oldest known one is at least 22 and a half years old. It was banded in Ontario, Canada in 1984 and found in Louisiana in 2006!
All watercraft are expected to give way to the glass-bottom boats.
Understandable as the captains are busy piloting and narrating.
We had planned on getting out and stretching our legs at the glass-bottom boat terminal, but there was no place to dock. Ugh! After two hours of paddling upstream for three miles, we needed the break for several reasons.
This is the Silver Springs boat dock for the glass-bottom boats.
But there’s absolutely no place for the rest of us.
Look how pretty!
We turned around and headed off to explore what they call their paddle trail. It’s a detour around an island that eventually ends up back at the river further downstream. Back in the day, this area was a tourist attraction for the boats. There were these “fake” buildings along the shore that were supposed to look like an old town, and I’m sure they had some type of activity here for people to see as they sailed by – most likely with narration by the boat captain.
This is the Fort King paddle trail.
No motorized boats are allowed in here.
Signs of ruin.
Looked like a good stopping place to us!
And private! : )
But for us, it became a much needed break and a short time of exploration. There really is nothing behind those old buildings now. 😊
That door hasn’t been opened for a really long time . . . .
Blaine thought this might have also been used a Boy Scout camp at one time, but he’s not sure.
All these buildings are just three-sided.
Some had young trees growing out of them.
Guess they had a ‘fort’ too!
The remnants of a “riverboat”.
We spent almost an hour on our detour. It was surprisingly a pretty long trail.
Floating, with some paddling, downstream now took an hour, but that’s no surprise since the river moves along at three miles an hour and our dock was three miles away.
That’s a biggun!!
I was so excited to capture this palm tree before it was too late, I didn’t set my phone level. : )
Look! Our reflection!
This is a Wood Stork.
In order to keep their babies hydrated when it’s hot, they regurgitate water over them and into their mouths.
Blaine counted 18 in this bale!
See there! I used a new word in a sentence! Aren’t you impressed? : )
Another manatee sighting!
This one had blue gill swimming around it.
At least we think their blue gill . . .
The moon is out!
Must be time to get home!
This is a Green Heron.
It’s one of very few species of birds that uses bait to help catch it’s prey.
They drop bread crumbs, insects or feathers onto the water and when the fish come up to get it – –
they’re goners.
The walk back to the Jeep was a bit more difficult for me. My hands were tired of being in clenched mode. Between carrying the boat to the dock and holding a paddle for hours, then carrying the boat back, they weren’t too happy with me and voiced their opinion loudly and frequently. Blaine offered a towel to wrap around the carrying strap, but that really wasn’t the issue, so I didn’t use it. I think having a bulky towel would’ve made it even more difficult to carry. Anyway, we made it back and shortly thereafter, other body parts started protesting the more strenuous activity than I’ve had in a month of Sundays.
But what a day we had! Can’t wait to get back out there, especially since we didn’t see the monkeys today.