Wakulla Springs

The landscape was similar to the day before with some long , straight, flat roads on mostly county roads through patches of pine forests and open pasture lands. I think we are all weary and though we did not have a long ride, 49 miles I think, we wanted to get to our destination again before it got too warm. As our rooms were not ready, we headed over to the river boat tour first. For $6 we hopped on a boat and headed a mile or so down the river for a guided tour.

The wildlife that we saw was incredible. Fish were leaping out of the water., Osprey had two nests high in the cypress trees. We passed some 500 year old cypress trees with moss hanging down from the branches. Alligators were in the water and sunning themselves up on grassy embankments. We even saw some baby alligators on one side of the bank on top of their mom. Large birds called anahingas? were out in number and you would often see them in trees or on a patch of land with their wings spread wide drying their feathers in the sun so they weren't so waterlogged. We also saw limpkin, osprey and their babies, blue herons, large white egrets and fluffy white chicks,wood ducks, cranes , and many turtles.

Wakulla Springs is one of the largest and deepest natural springs. They have currently mapped 31 miles of the underground caverns and found that it goes all the way to Georgia.We traveled past the section of the river where the original black and white Tarzan movies were made and saw the remaining stump of the tree that he used to climb . A 3-D movie called The Creature from the Black Lagoon was also filmed in this location. The original actor who was to play the creature opted out after he discovered the water is 69 degrees year round and alligators inhabit this river. The movie makers asked a lifeguard who was working here at the time to try on the suit so he became the creature and later went on to produce the show “Flipper.”

I enjoyed the tour so much,that I went again on the first boat out in the morning on our LAST day off on Sunday. With a different guide, you learn a bit more and we saw many of the same animals plus some white tailed deer along the shore in the shadows of the forests.

This lodge that we are staying in was built in the 1930's. Our room is a muted gray shade of lavender, comfortable with that old feel. The lobby has cypress ceilings recycled from trees from the river. A German artist painted the ceiling with different patterns and scenes of Florida. They have picnic areas all around the park and a roped off swimming area with docks and tall platforms you can dive off into water that is 20 feet deep. They say that the alligators have never bothered any of the swimmers over here in all of the years since the resort was built in the 1930's. I did go in the water even after I saw two very large snakes on the boat dock yesterday, but let's just say I didn't linger.

For dinner that night, Chef Linda made barbecue pork sandwiches with coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, cantaloupe and for dessert our guest diner made a delicious pound cake. I brought down my scrap book that I have been working on during the trip to share for those people that had not already seen it. I'm out of glue dots and paper so will have to finish the rest of the scrapbook at home. I only completed up to Arizona and entry into New Mexico. After dinner, we had our map meeting and our talent show in a room upstairs in the lodge.

It was quite an event and I laughed all the way through it. We had a mistress of ceremony, presenters of poems, songs, skits, and awards. It turned out fairly well considering there were a lot of people who said they were not going to participate or had no talent. Susan, Liz, and I have been working hard for weeks thinking of a special category for each person, creating certificates and obtaining or making a small prize to go along with each special category.. Liz our artist, made ribbons and embossed the certificates with the picture of a bike. I was in charge of finding/making most of the token gifts. It's a good thing they have a Walmart, Dollar Store, or Big Lot in many of the towns we have traveled through.

Here are a few examples of “awards.” Our 70 year old Sag driver has hair down to her waist, so we got her hair doodads to go with her “Road Rapunzel” award. Lois has had trouble with her seat area so we gave her a mini tin of bag balm to to with her “Bag Balm Babe” award. Connie who is an insulin diabetic and has used over 900 needles to check her blood sugar got the “Human Pin Cushion” award and got a strawberry pin cushion to go along with it. Susan is a great speaker, so she could roast everyone well with a sense of humor, so I don't think anybody's feelings were hurt. I now have a tiny bit more room in my suitcase, or at least I did until I went into the gift shop today.

Only four more days of biking. It's hard to believe. Life is good...
Love,
Robin