r Hills. We ha
ve a great site - we can walk from the back of our site and we are right at the edge of the river. The park is beautifully landscaped, with lots of old structures originally built by the CCC in the 1930's. There are a couple of bridges crossing the river, one of which is an old suspension bridge. There are lots of trails, which I'm looking forward to. The river itself is not real wide, but it's crystal clear and very pretty. The current isn't very strong so we can easily paddle both upstream and downstream. There's a canoe launch about two sites away from us, so we already put the kayaks down by the river and hope to drop them in tomorrow. The road through the park actually has a bike path painted on the edge of the road, which makes it nice for bicycling. We took the four mile loop through the park this afternoon and explored - we are really looking forward to our time here! And here's something funny - there is also a fort on the premises, but you have to take a tram to the fort for the guided tour at 2:00 on Saturday or 11:00 on Sunday - and the name of the fort is Fort FOSTER! Isn't that weird? Anyway - the temps are finally beginning to moderate and we were able to stay outside all afternoon with just a light sweater. And tomorrow is supposed to hit 70 degrees. Wonderful!So - to go backwards - yesterday (Tuesday) we did pick up Foster's ashes and were very pleased with how the whole thing was handled. His ashes were in a tight plastic bag, which was placed in a blue velvet bag, and that was put into a very nice wooden box with a hinged lid and kind of a redwood finish. Very nice, very tasteful. For Dave in particular, having Foster's ashes is very comforting. And now... I'm going to leave Foster in peace for the rest of my blog journal. Once again, thanks for the expressions of sympathy - we appreciate them.
I also wanted to spend a couple minutes wrapping up the time w
e spent at Manatee Springs and in the "Nature Coast" area of Florida. We probably didn't get to enjoy the park as much as we would have if the weather had been better. But the last two days were warmer so I got out for nice hikes both days - about an hour on Monday and over two hours on Tuesday (kind of by accident - I couldn't find the trail intersection that I was looking for). Dave was able to fish both days and had a really good time - he caught three BIG fish that put up a big fight, which he enjoys a lot. He didn't keep them, but had a lot of fun catching them. The springs themselves were very pretty - there are over 600 
springs in Florida, with about 30 of them considered to be of a first magnitude. That means the spring pumps between 50 and 150 million gallons of clear water per day - unbelievable. Manatee Springs pumps around 65 million gallons daily. All of these springs are so pretty - they are crystal clear with beautiful turquoise water that stays at 72 degrees year round (so you can actually swim any time). We agreed that we like this part of Florida a lot and would come back to the area again.
e spent at Manatee Springs and in the "Nature Coast" area of Florida. We probably didn't get to enjoy the park as much as we would have if the weather had been better. But the last two days were warmer so I got out for nice hikes both days - about an hour on Monday and over two hours on Tuesday (kind of by accident - I couldn't find the trail intersection that I was looking for). Dave was able to fish both days and had a really good time - he caught three BIG fish that put up a big fight, which he enjoys a lot. He didn't keep them, but had a lot of fun catching them. The springs themselves were very pretty - there are over 600 
springs in Florida, with about 30 of them considered to be of a first magnitude. That means the spring pumps between 50 and 150 million gallons of clear water per day - unbelievable. Manatee Springs pumps around 65 million gallons daily. All of these springs are so pretty - they are crystal clear with beautiful turquoise water that stays at 72 degrees year round (so you can actually swim any time). We agreed that we like this part of Florida a lot and would come back to the area again.Last night we went to the men's basketball game in Gaineville, at t
he O'Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida. The game was broadcast on ESPN and the game was played at 9:00 at night before a packed house. We actually didn't get back "home" until almost 1:00 AM. We had a lot of fun, even thought the Gators lost to Kentucky. We are enjoying our efforts to find basketball games to attend as we travel around - it just adds another fun thing to our normal "to do" list of activities on the road.
he O'Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida. The game was broadcast on ESPN and the game was played at 9:00 at night before a packed house. We actually didn't get back "home" until almost 1:00 AM. We had a lot of fun, even thought the Gators lost to Kentucky. We are enjoying our efforts to find basketball games to attend as we travel around - it just adds another fun thing to our normal "to do" list of activities on the road.
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