December 16-17 2012 Salt Spring Run, Florida

Sunday we took a day of rest. Really whooped after paddling 10 miles up and down the Silver river the day before. I made my sister a fruit cake last year from our mothers recipe and mailed it to her this time last year when we were in Louisiana. She saved it and entered it in the Fruit Cake Festival in Independence, Ca. I did one the year before from Denver and it won the oldest fruit cake ribbon and the farthest away one. So this years, from Louisiana won first in as the oldest.  So I made her another one this year while we are in Florida, and dated it, took a photo of it in my kitchen and will send it to her with the receipt from the campground we are in, so that next year she will have proof of it’s age and origin.  After that we sat in lawn chairs outside and read. John barbequed delicious steaks and veges.

The fruit cake, with mothers photo and it’s ribbon.  This years fruit cake in my kitchen, with some fruit cake cupcakes for John.

Sunset last night though the long leaf pines. Ponderosa pines which grow in Colorado used to be my favorite pines, but these long leafs have usurped their place. The leaves are twice as long and the trees much taller. Today we boated on the Salt spring run, which comes from Salt Springs where we are camped. The spring flows 52 million gallons per day and is a constant 72 degrees year round. The water is beautifully clear , the bottom is white sand.

There are these manatees in the spring run.This one came right up to my boat a couple times. It is the baby one, these things are enormous.

Here is one swimming under my boat. They are much bigger than my boat. For those of you who don’t know what a manatee is, here is the sign. Some of the ones we see are about 15 feet long. We saw one in a refuge that was 2000 lbs. It was as big as a hippo. I was lucky with good light to get these photos.

These are the more usual photos, the top one is three of them, they come up for air every few minutes, and the bottom photo is their backs. there is usually too many reflections to see them in a photo. They are very friendly, and cute but about as active and fun to watch as cows, all they do eat all day, and not move fast.

The spring run is very wide with a grass marsh beside it, and river grass underwater. The water is so clear you can see to the bottom. John is out in his sun hat. In the second photo he is going so fast he is creating this huge wake. We saw a little alligator and some turtles and lots of birds. John saw a ray.

Lance leafed Arrowheads. They looked kind of like holly hocks growing in the water near the banks.