And this hope (promise of eternity with the Father)will not lead to disappointment.
For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy
Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.
~ Romans 5:5
It was with great anticipation we began our day
today! In his search for a way over to
the Gulf of Mexico for a day trip today, Blaine ran across the Crystal River
National Wildlife Refuge. This place was
established in 1983 to protect the West Indian Manatees. It is the home to the largest number of
manatees in the state. Between November
and April, there are about 400-500 manatees that migrate to Crystal River! And they allow you to snorkel with them!
The drive to the Park was about 30 minutes. We packed our snorkel gear and swimsuits, but
due to the cooler air temperatures today, we knew it’d have to be something
special to get us in (well, mostly out of) the water.
When we arrived, the town Sheriff and a woman were
standing beside the information board, and they began telling us about where to
go and what to do, etc. They were both
very friendly and welcoming. And they
had received a report that there were 200 manatees at the Three Sisters Spring
area. It wasn’t very far to paddle, so
we figured if we still wanted to snorkel, we’d come back and change.
The Sheriff and a “Public Service Officer”, whatever that is. : )
Must not be much crime in this town because the Sheriff hung around and talked to people, including us, for quite a while. : )This is a map of where we’re planning on paddling today.
Three Sisters is where there’s supposedly 200 manatees.
There was a roped off area right there, that currently
had a couple of manatees in it. But they
seemed to be just passing through.
We set up and took off.
What a gloriously sunny day!
Ready to go on our next great adventure!Beautiful day!Look at the eyes on these ducks!
They’re bright yellow!
Turns out they’re Common Goldeneyes.
Goldeneye chicks leave the nest just one day after they hatch. The first step can be a doozy, with nests placed in tree cavities up to 40 feet high. As the female stands at the base of the tree and calls, the downy chicks jump from the nest hole one after the other and tumble to the ground. After the ducklings leave the nest they can feed themselves and require only protection.I think everyone is familiar with Mallards. : )
Aren’t they gorgeous?Many, many homes line the River and the canals.Some are quite large!
And then we came to this house.
What in the world????
There are vultures on the roof of that house! The house sat alone on an island. This was the most unusual thing we’ve seen in a long time!In this picture you can see:
pelicans, vultures, double crested cormorants, and an egret! All hanging out at this house! And there were so many more than the pictures show!
Wow!
These guys were funny to watch!
We went on around the corner – a few more birds, but not that you could see very well.Another tour around the house to the other side and we spotted vultures on the porch. : )
Just a teeny sample of what we saw!
Around the corner were more pelicans in the trees!Well, not every picture can be perfect.
Blaine says my arms got in the way.
It’s probably one of the most fascinating things we’ve
seen! What a great find! And we still had 200 manatees to go!
We assume the house is abandoned, but there was no one to
ask about it.
We’re back on track now, heading for Three Sisters Spring.The volunteer said “under the bridge”, so under we go!More homes, and more and more river traffic –
tour boats and private “fishing” boats (all of which make noise and smell bad), kayakers and SUPs (stand up paddleboard)Not sure if that actually works, but good for them for trying, and excellent if they actually get footage!I guess this is where the tour boats stop.
We checked – it’s over $100/person to tour with them and snorkel.
No thanks!
And then we arrived at “The Spot”!
200 manatees, huh? Well, certainly not now! Maybe not even 20!That’s them. Those bumps in the water at the far end.There’s some leaving out the side.
To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. The water’s not clear here like at Silver and Rainbow Springs, so it was difficult at best to see anything, let alone the entire manatee. The area was roped off, and snorkelers had parked themselves everywhere, so it was not easy to get and keep our spot for watching. But even then, we could tell there were nowhere near 200 – at least not anymore. I was afraid to voice my disappointment out loud because sometimes I can be a bit of a Negative Nellie. It’s why I don’t usually let myself get excited about prospects. If I don’t get excited, I don’t get disappointed. Today I was disappointed. But so was Blaine. We realize we’re a bit spoiled after such a remarkable time at Silver Springs, but this was just not anything like what we expected.
Here’s a picture of what was supposed to be in the Springs.
We resolved to enjoy the rest of our paddle though, and
we did!
We paddled to the dead end, turned around and did one of the canals.Now THAT’s funny!!!
Wonder if they’re originally from up north somewhere?
Look closely – – Made of snow shovels and supported with sand.Beautiful!That’s a really big house!The majority of homes have screened in swimming pools.Look at all the snorkelers now!
We couldn’t get a look at the manatees even if we wanted to!You probably think I took this to show the trashy garage, but that’s not it.
It reminded us of the time our son forgot to put his car in park in our driveway and it rolled down to the small creek we had in our side yard.
We had to get a tow truck to get it out.
If that happened here, there’d be no easy way to get it out. Hahaha!This was pretty.
Kinda like a weeping willow and it had these pretty fuzzy flowers on it.We hung around in this area until I could get a better picture of a manatee.
The water’s not clear in this river, so it’s more difficult to see them.There were quite a few large yachts on the river!
Once again, there was no place to get out and stretch, so
we had to go back to the launch area where there were numerous picnic tables
and benches for lunch.
Today’s lunch view.
This is where we started out this morning.
Across the river they’re building a house.
Evidently, we arrived at break time this morning and now lunch time, because the guys weren’t working and were out in front of the house fishing. : )People and their dogs . . . .
I guess we never loved our dogs enough . . .
As we ate, the clouds rolled in and because the sun was
gone, it was cooler, especially with the wind kicking up. No more paddling today.
There’s Blaine at our table. : )More snorkelers.
But look how the clouds have come in! And it’s cooler.
We left the water.
Instead, we drove over to Fort Island Gulf Beach. It’s also part of the Refuge area and there
were places for fishing, a decent-sized beach on the Gulf and short trails.
Dark and dreary now.
What a difference!This is a nuclear and coal power plant.We’re trying to sneak up on a Great Blue Heron.I don’t think it’s possible to sneak up on one of these!These are so gorgeous!
And the size of the entire flower was only about the size of a half dollar!This was a pretty walk!
And unexpected!Ugh! Dark and dismal! And breezy and cool!The feathers on this
are iridescent blue and purple!
I couldn’t find out what this is, there are just too many that are similar.
But he was pretty – even without the sun.They’re lined up for dinner!There he is trying to pretend its warm and sunny. : )It wasn’t much of a nature trail. Sorry Gary.At the end of the trail.This was at another park area, we were ready to leave until a local fisherman started pointing out manatees and dolphins.
He said there’s a “pink” dolphin that rides these waters. Maybe it’s an albino?
We hung out here for a bit, but it was cold, and even
more breezy and dark and dreary, so we headed home, which from here was almost
an hour drive.
Shortly after we left the beach, we had to stop for a
school bus coming the other direction.
And we were almost rear-ended!
Again!!!
This time by a little sports car flying around the corner
going at least 60mph in a 35, as we sat stopped on the two-lane road, waiting
on that school bus to discharge its children.
Fortunately for us (and especially for them), they ended up off the road
beside us instead of accordioned into our bumper! Thank you to our guardian angel! It was a really
close call!
We ended our day with dinner at a Pizza Hut buffet. Great pizza!
Really fresh food. And because we
were hungry for pizza, we certainly got more than our money’s worth! 😊
