Ready for another looooong post? OK, sit back and relax. We're gonna go kayaking for a few hours. Have your camera ready to capture all the incredible scenery, and yes, keep your eyes open for any gator viewing opportunities! (and rest assured, they will be viewing you too!!)
The launching point, a little downstream of the state park (meaning a little bit of an "uphill battle" for the first leg of our trip - but well worth it!!).
Fortunately for me, it was a cloudy, slightly cooler day. And boy, what a beautiful river!! I really wanted to get good photos of this so decided to take my real camera. It's old, and it was insured, so if it fell in the water - so be it! New, paid-for camera, thank you!! But no such luck... Everything went fine, and I still had a working camera at the end of things. Darn.
More people swimming with gators... (Hah! Probably not a gator to be found with all that commotion!)
Pretty, pretty - nature's jewelry on full display.
A supervisor on the dock - telling me where to find one of the springs (in front of him, kind of in center of photo).
Cormorant (cool eyes, eh?!).
Cool rocky bottom pattern.
Cool grassy bottom pattern!
Imagine having to be one of the poor people, forced to live with this in their backyard! Just awful... Wouldn't mind having a little boat dock there myself...!!!! How fun would it be to just hop in any ol' time and go for a float!!!! The really pretty light blue is caused by the super clear water and white sandy floor.
So here we enter the park - time to be on best behavior...
Wow. Is it real??
Here's the same area as in the "park proper" post,...
including the "Swimming for the More Adventurous" section (aka, Alligator Feeding Arena?! Ha-ha, just kidding! mostly...).
Yeah, we don't really have anything like this in San Diego... (although if I was a diver, I guess the La Jolla area would offer some pretty amazing underwater sights...)
A common scene - gator chow! (although they also seem to coexist peacefully at times...sort of like when you see images of gazelles happily grazing with a pride of lions drowsing in the background... The key to such a serene scene? Perhaps the giveaway is the blood around the lions' mouths and slightly distended bellies - they've eaten recently and aren't that hungry/interested in chasing anything down right then, thank you!)
Back to the river, and headed downstream now. Wonder if there are affordable housing opportunities here??! (from the looks of things, mostly no, but maybe a few were grandfathered in...??)
Aaaaaawww.... Cute. But... If my dog was for sure going to be well-behaved and super stable in the boat, I would consider this. Otherwise, my precious puppies stay in a secured location! (which means - our two exuberant pooches are landlocked!)
I think I might pick this spot... Love their red chairs with the pretty greens, and great trees.
I know - some of these photos look very much like the other ones...but I am so in love with this place, I wanted to post ALL the photos!
Anhinga.
A family of what I think are wood ducks.
Mr. & Mrs. W. D.
More trees and river grass.
One of these would do...
Ah-ha! See my leeettle friend here? (top of the steps)
Oh darn! Before I could really get set up for a good photo, he started taking off! I got too close and made him nervous. Yes, HE was the nervous one (but the tables were to be turned a little later on...!) While I was trying to get some shots of this cutie, I heard somebody hollering at me. A couple of guys swimming nearby... Yeah...well, anyways, so they called me over and told me where to look for other gators. And that there was purportedly a REALLY large guy (14 footer!!) in this one spot, although he was known to mostly hang out on the bottom. So guess who was gunning for a sighting of that dude!?!
Another sighting! (no, not The Big One) See him/her? In the leaf debris below the deck?
Here...
Can you hear/see me now?
So...the story. Those swimmers told me there was a little side channel that went to a larger pond with houses around it - and that the B-I-G gator liked to hang out there. I found what I was pretty sure was said channel. It wasn't very wide though (hardly room to work my paddles)...and I wasn't sure I wanted to venture down it. But... So, anyways, down it I go...
I had only gone a little ways when I spotted some movement, seemingly from the banks up ahead, followed by a HUGE splash - the kind of splash a GIANT alligator might make...!?!? Well that did it! I was outta there!! As fast as I could back up! Which turns out wasn't very fast - when you're hemmed in by overgrown plants and afraid of tipping over! So much for my adventurous spirit! Only goes so far before it gets curbed by pragmatic practicality!
Beautiful cypress and moss.
A great deck, a canoe, and a perfectly-placed hammock. What more do you need?
Cormorants (the lighter-colored one on the right is probably a juvenile).
I wasn't the only one out enjoying a great day in an incredible setting!
These are appropriately named alligator lilies!
Someone making the most of his own semi-private piece of paradise.
About to go under the roadway I drove over just a few hours earlier.
Great fishing site, whether he catches anything or not!
Almost to the take-out. Another experience that makes life worth living!
