Florida Caverns State Park

Caves in Florida? 

Actually, the middle to northern part of the state is fairly hilly, and prone to sink holes.  Where there are sink holes, there are underground caves.  Most Florida caves are filled with water.  But, the ones in Marianna are actual caves you can walk in.  They were made into a state park by the Civilian Civil Corps.  There is a camp ground, lake with swimming area, canoeing, hiking, and of course, tours through the caves.  I think they have regular guided tours.  In addition, there are lantern tours at night and I think they added tours where  you really  have to crawl through some tight spaces.  Those are by appointment only.

I remember going to the caverns as a little girl.  I remember my great Aunt Harriet was with us and she had to stoop down to go through many of the passages.  She was fairly tall, and I must have been very young at the time.  This go around I spent a lot of the tour looking for the place with the highest clearing to stand in.

While we were waiting for our tour time, we went for a hike.  It was perfect hiking weather.  We followed a trail along a cypress swamp and through some really tall trees.  For some reason trees in South Florida don’t get as tall as trees up North.  We saw a really big fox running through the swamp, which was pretty dry at the time.

The caverns were, well,  caverns.  Neat to experience.  The tour was informative, but tedious.  We tend to do all the exploring ourselves, so it got kind of drawn out, having to go slow and wait.  After a while everything starts to look the same.  But, it is still a really neat thing to do.  I can’t wait to take the kids and watch their wonder.  One of the things I liked the most were seeing fossils of shells in the cavern ceilings.

 

Ponce De Leon Springs State Park

There is nothing quite like jumping into crystal clear 68 degree water in the middle of January. 

I hadn’t been to a spring in quite a while, but now we try to plan them into every vacation.  Florida has an abundance of springs, fed by our underground aquifer.  The water is so clear and refreshing, and fun to kayak on as well.  This particular trip was on our honeymoon, and this particular park wasn’t kayak friendly.  The springhead was a large pool.  I can imagine it being a popular destination in the summer months.  We went for a quick swim. The fish would come right up to us(no doubt from being fed by people before).  We also explored the stream as it wandered back into the woods.  It was a refreshing stop before going onto our next destination.  If you are making a long drive on I-10 and see the sign and have your bathing suit, it is worth an hour of your time.

Torreya State Park

We stayed at  Torreya State Park for our honeymoon, just west of Tallahassee, in a yurt.  A yurt is a round framed structure covered by a canvas material.  It had heat and AC, electricity, and beds.  Not quite the luxury of an RV, but much more upscale than a tent, especially in January!

Winter hiking in Florida is really pleasant.  You don’t have to deal with as many horseflies or mosquitos.  Plus, the air is cool, so you don’t get exhausted from the heat.  Torreya was a great place to hike.  It has an old plantation house located on the Apalachicola River.  It was also a strategic place of battle during one of the wars.  On the trail that runs behind the house are markers and canons that aim out towards the river. 

The campground was elevated, almost like a table top.  The sunsets were spectacular; looking over the river valley, the red trees, the low clouds.  We saw plenty of deer.  And up the road there was plenty of hunting going on.  The central bathroom had hundreds of ladybugs in it.  Yes, a strange memory, but it was almost a delight…better than roaches, etc.

Our first night there we hiked down the East trail from the campsite.  We went through  a swampy area and then up a steep hill and towards the river.  We saw deer and foxes.  By the time we got to the river the sun was just setting and steam was rising off the water, but it was already too dark for my meager camera skills to capture it.  We went for other night hikes below our yurt on the lower trails.  It was really beautifully and very hilly.  Definitely terrain I am not accustomed to.  We are awaiting the day when we can bring the kids.

 

Our wedding

We got married in a little state park that I used to hike at almost every morning.  It is a short mile loop through a hilly(for South Florida) pine scrub habitat.  There is a good deal of sugar sand there.  After the triple hurricanes that hit our area, there were many down trees in the park, but the trails have since been cleared.  Walking though it was like being in a tree graveyard.  But it is still one of my favorite little hikes.  I love walking past the scrub oaks, deer moss, and smelling the underlying pine tones.  I love rounding the corner to see the Savannahs, our own personal little Everglades.  I love the croak of the gators, the abundance of birds.

We got married on the first day off Gary had from working overtime after the hurricanes.  One of my surfing buddies married us(there are a handful of surfing pastors in our area).  We wore jeans and ate pizza afterwords.  God painted a brilliant sunset for us.  We have since gone back for many a date night and seen spectacular sunsets, keeping Hawks Bluff magical.

where we fell in love

 

 

This was one of our earlier trips down the Loxahatchee River as a family.  Obviously Wyatt wasn’t around yet, and we weren’t married yet either.  But, it is part of why I love my husband.  Extreme family outings really bring us together.  Nothing too extreme happened on this trip.  Except, Croix did lose her dad’s favorite hat.   Lots of gators.  We had to paddle right past a big one.  Unfortunately the picture wouldn’t upload.  I love the one with the baby gator on its back.

Endeavor Launch 11.14.2008

We went up to see our third space shuttle launch from the causeway at the Kennedy Space Center.  Endeavor was taking parts and supplies up to the International Space Station.  We spent the entire day waiting for the launch, and got to watch IMAX movies about the space station, experience a launch simulator, and learn about future missions.  The kids played on the playground a lot, too.  This was an early evening launch, right around 8PM.  The crowd out on the causeway was the most attentive, awed, and inspired compared to our past experiences.  Our kids were stoked to see the shuttle again.  It was a great evening.

journey to the space station

Endeavor blasts off!

Spectacular view of Endeavor lift off

Endeavor lighting up the sky

It’s really cool!

It go boom, boom!

Homosassa State Park

manatee swimming at Homosassa

underwater view of manatee

hippo

alligators

majestic eagle

owls

albino turtle

tortoises

fighting flamingos

Wyatt and I visited Homosassa State Park with our friends from Ocala and their son.  It was his first visit to see animals in a zoo like setting.  We parked off State Road 19 and took the tram to the park.  Wyatt thought it was a train ride.  The park is located on one of Florida’s many crystal clear springs.  My only regret was not bringing my bathing suit to go swimming nearby.  The highlight of the park is manatees.  We could see them swimming from the surface, and in the underwater observatory.  What was more amazing to me were the number of snook and redfish.  I was wishing I could catch and eat a snook, but I’m sure fishing isn’t allowed in the park. 

There were all sorts of other native birds and reptiles, including an albino turtle.  My favorite of the animals was the hippo.  What an amazing creature.  There was also an education center that had fossils and displays.  Wyatt touched an alligator skull and some alligator skin. 

We rode the boat up the river back to where we were parked.  It is definitely a park I would recommend visiting if you are traveling on the west coast of Florida.

Yulee Sugar Mills

I visited the ruins of a sugar mill that ran for 13 years during the time of the Cival War.  Not far from Homosassa State Park, it’s worth the extra few minutes drive to see how sugar used to be made.  Sugar cane would be rolled through big rollers.  The juice that came out was collected and heated and then put through a refining process.  After that they would put the liquid into barrells.  When it dried, sugar crytals remained.

It makes me want to see how they process sugar now.  The only idea I have is from the attack of the giant ants movie, which was filmed at my local state park and beach.  If you like B movies, it’s worth a laugh.

Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins

Loggerhead Marinelife Center

The other day we visited the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach.  We have gone to see it many times before, but within the past year they opened a new state of the art facility that must have cost millions.  I don’t have a problem taking the kids to see animals and teaching them about ecosystems and the ocean environment.  I think it is a great opportunity for people who wouldn’t snorkle, dive, or spend time on the water to see and learn about creatures they would never see otherwise.  However, I think a lot of people are really missing the mark and not getting what life is all about. 

This is a place where I have seen multitudes of people volunteer their time and energy to save a few sea turtles.  Plastic people in heels, hairy hippies, protestor types, along with the scientists and philanthropists…all there to spend millions on a few turtles.  That’s nice, but last time I checked, God made turtles, and all sea creatures, to be self regulating.  If sea turtles are part of the food chain, there must be some hungry sharks out there. 

Why are we here?  Doesn’t it have something to do with taking care of others?  Can’t we feed the hungry and sick in other nations for pennies a day?  Why then spend millions on turtles?  Where are peoples’ priorities anyways?

The last picture shows more than a handful of people “helping” a turtle.  If you ask me, it was all a big show.  Is it really necessary to have that many people helping a turtle?  I think God instilled in us the need for a purpose in our life.  Some people never find it, and go on living a depressed routine.  Others fill that need with different types of addictions and dependencies.  Some become workaholics, workout freaks, uncontrolled hobbyists.  A lot become devoted to a cause, thinking they are making a difference.  Yes, they could be, but in reality they are just trying to justify their lives.  They are only serving themselves. 

I feel bad for the turtle people.  One day, God will ask, what did you do with this life I gave you.  “I saved turtles.”  I imagine God replying…what about your kids?  What about the old lady down the street that needed help getting her trash out?  What about the guy at work who was going through a hard time?  The money you spent on turtles could have given a whole village food, immmunizations, and an education for a year.  The time you spent feeling good about yourself at the turtle place could have been spent feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, tending the sick, meeting the needs of the less fortunate, and taking care of those around you.

I’m not saying all causes are without merit.  Many causes that people are devoted to do a lot of good.  But where are our hearts?  Is what we do in life just to make ourselves feel good, or are we really heeding our Higher calling? 

Busch Wildlife Sanctuary

We visited Busch Wildlife today, wich we do pretty often.  I tried to get some good pictures of the animals.  They have all been rescued and are used for educational purposes.  The kids really like feeding the turtles and catfish, something we can do at home.  The panthers are pretty cool, too.  I wouldn’t want to come across one of those in the woods.