The past month has flown by in two shakes of a lambs tail. Ricky, Ronak and Carmen have all come back from their extended trips abroad and we've all been getting fat going out to dinner/ice cream celebrating their return and the end of the summer ("we" implying "I"). With school starting back up this week everyone has been getting accustomed to their new schedules and trying to readjust to the workload after a summer of no classes... fun!
For the past several weeks my dad, my mom, Billy and I have been going across North Central Florida exploring various springs and isolated spots along the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers. One of our favorites spots is a track of land on the Santa Fe river in Gilcrist County that my Great Grandmother sold to the state in the 90's in order to keep it preserved after she passed away. The last time we visited that spot I spent nearly 30 minutes running along the limestone shore of the river following a determined river otter who was bent on swimming upstream. After walking for a while and admiring the otter, I jumped in the river, swam out to the middle and let the river carry me back to where my family was waiting for me. While drifting along the river I gazed upstream at the undeveloped land which was encompassed by the preserved land that the state bought from my great grandmother and was almost moved to tears by the serenity and peacefulness of it all. I'm so glad that places like this are still plentiful and so easily accessible!
While my mom cruised with my sister down to Nassau one week and while she was getting her classroom ready for the start of school another week, my dad, Billy, and I had the chance to go and visit several county/state parks, including: Rum Island, Manatee Springs, Rainbow Springs, and Troy Springs. Manatee was one of my favorites because a manatee and its baby actually swam into the spring head from the Suwannee River, came right up to us and let me get close enough to reach out and touch it as it swam by. So cool!
As you can see from the panoramic photo below, however, Manatee Springs is definitely a destination worth visiting whether or not there is a manatee present. Although we didn't appreciate it at the time, you are allowed to swim directly on top of the spring's large water boil and dive as far down as you can before getting pushed back up by the literally millions of gallons of water being forced out from the ground.
Another picturesque park we visited was Rainbow springs (pictured below) where you can swim in ridiculously clear water (horizontal visibility of ~200ft) and walk around the park's famous gardens that were built when the state park was privately own and run as an amusement park during the first half of the 1900s.
This past week was both my mom's and Billy's birthdays and to celebrate we went down to Orlando to visit Disney. Jack, my mom, Billy, and I all rode down from Gainesville, while my brother drove over separately from New Smyrna (in my old jeep which is working well for him!... even though there is still no AC). We met up at Disney marketplace and all crammed into my mom's car and meandered through the backroads to the Magic Kingdom parking lot (escaping having to pay for parking). Disney was awesome!... as usual... I hadn't been in at least 2-3 years and it was sweet going with Billy and getting the "Billy pass" which allows our group to skip all the lines. We rode on all the classic rides (including the carousel of progress, much to Billy chagrin) and a few that I wasn't familiar with (philharmonic orchestra - which is a 3D theater adventure - SO COOL!). One of the best things about going with Billy is the fact that he loves the BIG rides. I think that we rode on Thunder Mountain railroad and Splash mountain like 4 or 5 times (see picture below) and we would have done the same with Space Mountain if it wasn't closed for renovations...
The past month has been AWESOME! It went by fast, but it was so memorable and makes me sad thinking about what I'll be missing while I'm gone for 2 years. I can't imagine how different my life would be now if I had left for Mauritania in June. I really appreciate everyone who has made this summer memorable and for all of those who make me excited about coming back home after my trip. Also, I'd like to thank you all who have taken the time to read this long blog post. Take care!
