Friday, October 3, 2014
We arrived in Crystal River yesterday following a short 60 mile drive from Cedar Key. Sunny and hot so far; although we hear a change is coming. Our campground is Rock Crusher Canyon RV Resort. We understand it is the site of an old limestone quarry. Beside the campground is a big entertainment venue that uses the acoustics of the quarry walls.
Today we had a unique experience. We took a boat tour on the Homosassa River to snorkel in an area that Manatees use as their winter home due to the constant 70 degree water from the springs in this area. So with wetsuits and snorkeling gear we jumped in. There were only a few here and the water clarity wasn’t the best due to the heavy rains in the preceding weeks. But it was pretty cool.
Manatees, often called sea cows, grow to about 13 feet in length and can weigh up to 1300 pounds. They are herbivores and eat up to 10% of body weight in seaweed and other bottom vegetation, There are very strict power boat operation rules in manatee waters. The next picture shows an encounter with a boat motor.
These guys sleep 10 to 12 hours a day, which is really 20 minutes at a time since they have to surface to breathe. They cruise at about 5 mph, but can hustle up to 20 mph in a short sprint. The manatees we encountered were not real friendly and tended to swim away from us. There are many You-Tube videos showing them up close and personal, but not these guys. The following link will take you to our You-Tube video.
If you have trouble with the above link, use ctrl+left click as you hover over the link.
Here are a couple other pix you’ll enjoy.
A close encounter with a duck!
Not a Manatee!
Saturday, October 4, 2014
We woke up to some big rain very early this morning. Once it cleared though it was a perfect day with low humidity and temps in the 70s. The news calls this a “fall” cold front, we call it RELIEF!! Its going down to 50 tonight, so finally, no A/C required.
We visited the Ellie Schiller Wildlife State Park today. It is like a zoo, but really an animal sanctuary as most of the animals have been rescued and have a disability that will not allow them to be released back into the wild. It is very nicely laid out and contained critters mostly local to Florida.
As you know by now, we like photographing critters, big and small, so here are a few of our favorites from today.
Our next stop was the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins State Park. This site was once part of a thriving sugar plantation owned by David Levy Yulee. Yulee was big in Florida politics and was a partner in the Florida Railroad running into Cedar Key.
The park contains the remnants of the once-thriving 5,100-acre sugar plantation.
The remains included a forty-foot limestone masonry chimney, iron gears, and a cane press. The steam-driven mill operated from 1851 to 1864 and served as a supplier of sugar products for southern troops during the Civil War.
We then drove around Homosassa and Crystal River. Homosassa is a pretty cool little town. Tomorrow we head for Clearwater. There is supposed to be some very nice beaches with shelling and snorkeling opportunities.
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