Ichetucknee

Next to gators (and the wildlife in general), the best thing in FL, are the springs!  FL has tons of these gorgeous turquoise springs that spew out tons of fresh water daily and are home to all sorts of wildlife, depending on their location - sometimes manatees, gators, and...human beings!

I found these pretty phlox growing along roadsides all over FL!  Outside the Ichetucknee Springs entrance was the first sighting.

 Pretty path to one of the tubing put-in/take-out spots.

 Do they know they're going to potentially be tubing with gators?!  Probably.  That's one of the things that strikes me and Bill as so cool - people and gators coexisting, sometimes in almost the exact same space, without incident!!!  It doesn't always go that way, but more often than not, I think.  Of course, people usually try to steer clear of where they know the gators are, and vice versa, the gators stay away from people.  But sometimes they end up being yards or feet apart and just go their own ways.

 Another path further in the park.

 And the Blue Hole Spring, one of the many springs feeding into the Ichetucknee River.  

See?  There's someone swimming, and you see that brownish splotch on the other side??  Just kidding - no, it's not a gator.  But it could have been....!

 The head spring.  Isn't it gorgeous?!!

 And it was hot.  If I'd had my bathing suit with me, I would've gone swimming with the gators too (no, I didn't see a single gator in this park - they probably avoid it, as it's obviously popular and probably usually overrun with people!  This was still morning and most likely early season, so not too many people yet).