First Stop

 Mary Jane's home was the first stop on our cross country jaunt. Hospitality and abundant greenery are always the order of the day. 

Testing Testing

 We are about to embark on a grand adventure, but I need to figure out how to post (it has been way too long). 

Good news, I added a photo of Doug from this morning. I might just be back in business!

Looking Silly

Our neighborhood swam birds like to dry their plumage after swimming. The Anhinga (below) shows off nicely, but the Great Blue Heron (top) looks silly to me.

 

Poop Roller

People here are pretty good about cleaning up after their dogs, but just in case they forget... I never expected to see dung beetles here in Florida, but the Rainbow Scarab is native to the area.

One of our nesting pair of Bald Eagles has returned to the neighborhood nest. I haven't seen the other, I'm hoping it is sitting on eggs down inside the nest well out of sight.

 

Playful Swimmers

I thoroughly enjoyed another downriver swim this morning. What a great way to beat the heat (the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico is 91 degrees, the Rainbow River was 72).

There were a lot more swimmers than last month, and some were even willing to explore the wildlife.

 

Around the Bend

The Starkey Wilderness is only a few miles from my house and offers miles of quiet hiking and biking trails. 

Besides a few birds, some ground tortoises and the rare deer sighting, I have not experienced much in the way of wildlife there. But who knows what may lie around the next bend?

 

Weeki Wachee Springs

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park has plenty of kitsch, but fun kitsch. It was a mere thirty minute drive from our house to their parking lot, yet we had never visited before today. 

The enthusiastic audience made the mermaid show a lot of fun, and the excited and precocious children got everyone excited about the creatures we saw on the river cruise.

We didn't even mind braving the chilly spring waters to do our own mermaid show.