500 Miles, 500 Miles

Well, we didn't travel quite 1,000 miles on this week's road trip, but almost! 967, to be exact.

Driving trips are great, especially when you are not in a hurry. Because our plans were, what you might call fluid, when we felt like it, we stopped. Driving out the East-West Expressway, which I stubbornly still call it, although the name has changed in recent years, we got off at the last exit, and never got back on a major highway until we got on I-4 at Maitland Blvd. on our return trip.

I said our plans were fluid, and to a certain extent they were, but eventually I hoped to land in Destin, Florida because I'd heard so much about it. More on that in my next post, but we did indeed spend a few hours there on Thursday. Google Maps is great, don't you think? According to "them", driving the 418 miles to Destin would take 6 hours and 17 minutes. Fat chance with this couple behind the wheel!!

April is a lovely time to drive the scenic highways of Florida because there are wildflowers like nobodies business alongside the roads. I mean seriously, even Bruce, Mr., I don't care about flowers, was impressed. Phlox, mostly in pink, hot pink, white, as well as some purple. Fantastic, is what I had to say about that!

We followed State Road 50 until it hooked up with US 98, heading North. The link is to someone else's review which states "it takes a little longer, but is well worth it. We couldn't agree more. Not only was the scenery beautiful, couple that with the lack of traffic, and you have a win-win situation in our book.

Our first stop was the absolutely awesome Homossasa Springs State Park. Did I mention it was awesome? Why, yes I did, and that is why today's installment of "Camera Crazy" will focus only on said park. So, let's go there, shall we? Before we do so, a word of warning: there will be many, many photographs to follow, so if you're pressed for time, or uninterested in nature pictures, close down right now!

Furthermore, some of the photos are sadly, not so great, but I'm sharing them nonetheless to encourage those in range to visit. So, here we go.....

Why, yes there are owls, either just sitting on the ground, or in a tree. Seriously, I was so enamored of the beautiful flamingos, that I almost walked past the beautiful owls because they blend in so well with their habitat. They rescue injured birds, rehabilitating those who can be, and keeping those who can't.

Flamingos anyone?

You know how much I like Gatorland, the flamingos being one reason, but here, on the grass rather than in water like at Gatorland, their gorgeous color just popped! The whole park was absolutely pristine; both Bruce and I think it is the nicest State Park we have visited. Apparently, the flamingo's diet has something to do with their coloration, so perhaps there is some gorgeous coral stuff in this trough?

I've seen a fair number of brown pelicans before, but very few white pelicans who have this weird funky thing on their beaks. Here they share a habitat:

Yeesh--I tried so hard to keep the photo number down, but I see you can't see the funky thing, so here's yet another one of a white pelican:

I'll leave it those interested to find out what the heck that bump thing is. Meandering along the waterway, we next came to the eagle area, all of whom looked as if they were either missing a wing, or at least partly so.

A fantastic, as well as large, aviary came next. Good grief--I now have a new appreciation for ducks, including this finely colored one:

There were probably six or eight different types of ducks, none whose name I can recall.

Several other cool birds, which, again, I can't identify by name, were hanging out:

Somehow, I took a number of good ones of this bird:

Here's the thing, I love the shape, feathers, and coloring of birds, but their feet--not so much. God, in his infinite wisdom, gave birds beautiful bodies and ugly feet, all the better to perch with.

Before I forget, there are two whooping cranes, a cousin to my favorite Sandhill Cranes. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they are not only the tallest birds in America, but graceful as well. Plus, they are noisy!

The pure white body was gorgeous! Interested in more? See the above link.

Speaking of noisy, the park has three Florida red wolves, which began howling like you wouldn't believe.

Throughout the park there are volunteers, friendly ones, I might add, who are happy to answer questions. We heard such howling that we asked one of those friendly folks who volunteered that either a motorcycle, or an ambulance must have gone by on the nearby street. High pitched sounds apparently set them off. Looking at one another, we couldn't help but think of Baxter who makes such a pitiful sound when the phone rings more than once. By the way, Mr. Baxter spent a little vacation with his former owner, our son Bill; things went beautifully for both of them.

How about a Florida panther? Seen one lately? I sure hadn't.

But now I have, and so have you, albeit vicariously. The coat sure looks rough, doesn't it?

Anyone up for burrowing owls?

How cool are they? Very cool. Small as well.

We didn't spent too long in the serpentarium, but this diamond back turtle was pretty cool:

Although there was quite a large pool for otters, they either blended in, or were napping, because we did see a one of them, however, we did see a deer:

I have no idea why I could not focus the deer without the fence, because I did so with the panther, but I just couldn't seem to make it work. I've spared you the turkey.

Following the path we kept marveling at how pretty and clean everything was. Eventually, we came to one of the coolest features, a structure that set down in the spring, allowing a view to the fish AND manatees!

Taken through one of the windows, the reflection is super cool, isn't it? I can't seem to find a link to how they built the observatory, but there are placards which explain it. I came across this listing for an old postcard advertising the attraction before it became a state park. Here's an outside view:

There are gobs of fish swimming on the other side of the windows, as well as, on our visit, three manatees. See the manatee above in the deep part of the spring?

Are you weary yet? To think we saw all this in our first 90 miles!

How I wish we lived closer, because the park is so beautiful, and peaceful! In the interest of time, we skipped the twenty minute boat ride from the visitors center to the park, however, now that we have a yearly pass to the entire state park system, as well as more time on our hands, I'm hoping for an encore visit soon. Of course, it helped that the temperature was moderate, something I won't be able to say in the next month or so!

What else did we see? Stay tuned!

Let's Say We Go to Gatorland

You can well imagine what the first thing I put in my tote bag before leaving this morning for Gatorland can't you? Clever readers will immediately know that my fresh batteries went into my bag even before my cameras.

It is common knowledge that I love to go to Gatorland. Low key, free parking, and even better, discounts! Yesterday morning, while visiting Ace Hardware for a pool supply (a long story), I ran into my sister-in-law's sister, Margie. Margie and I share a great fondness for Gatorland; during our conversation she reminded me that this month is $9.99 for Florida residents. Heck, it cost more than that to go to the movies! What was stopping me? Arriving this morning, I discovered that I qualified for two discounts---over 55 was the same price as Florida residents--- I told the nice young man at the ticket window, take your pick.

Driving there the words from the Art Biz coach ran through my head--marketing 60% or more, creating the rest. Well, just this once???

A Gator picture I took at Gatorland a few years ago when we took the "kids" there around Christmas time has been quite the seller for me. Yeah, it is wildly popular! Only this last weekend an 11x14 print made it's way to England. So, there's that. Plus, my last visit was for my birthday, nearly nine months ago, so I needed a Gatorland fix, and knowing that rain would be falling later in the day, I took off after my bike ride this morning.

Mostly I'm going to show you some photographs taken there today, and once you've seen them, you, too, will love Gatorland!

Let's start with this peacock who must be molting because he sure is missing some tail feathers!

If you've never been to this fantastic old Florida attraction, you might not know that there are a ton of birds living there. Now you do.

Woo hoo! A white peacock, although he never once showed me anything more than this. There are macaws, parrots, and loads of shorebirds. While visiting the barnyard area I chatted with the young man selling feed. He was such a nice guy, having moved here from California after hearing his friend say how great it is to work at Gatorland. Nice, huh?

Apparently, the macaws like to eat ice cream cones if given the opportunity!

Aren't those claws something else? That young man was so loving up on this bull...

I was really touched by his tender nature. He mentioned that the employees move around, staying in one area for only a few hours. Later on I saw him in the budgie feeding area with a bird on his shoulder, loving it up as well.

The flamingos are awesome, although it is hard to get any really good shots because they pretty much spend all of their time skimming the water for food.

HaHa! You thought I was exaggerating about the birds I bet!! I wasn't!

This emu was something else, having both an orange eye and a blue one.

But wait, you're thinking, I thought it was called Gatorland for a reason. It is, it is-- hold your horses, I'm getting to the gators!

It seems as if the cockatoo prefers palm fronds over ice cream cones....

So, after roaming around at my leisure, the crowds being thin and all, I realized that a storm was a brewing and I wanted to stick around to see how the animals behave during one of our monster Florida rainstorms. Well, I can tell you this, they get active. The employees carried the macaws into a bird house because they apparently go a little crazy during storms. I saw one fellow with three large birds on his arms, walking into what I guess is the bird house, and let me tell you it was LOUD!

Plenty of one of the ugliest birds you'll see, the word storks, made their way to the roof tops.

Their bodies are not so different, but by golly their heads and beaks are awful!

They are nearly as ugly as the alligators! Their heads look like reptiles don't they? One thing that is kinda weird about Gatorland is that it is off a main road--Orange Blossom Trail, or 441 as some folks call it, and just on the other side of the street, life goes on like anywhere else.

When I was a girl, there was not a blessed thing out that far from Orlando, but these days things are entirely different. To get there I took Orange Avenue to Town Center Blvd. which runs through a gigantic development called Hunter's Creek. There are loads of lovely homes, and unlike our part of town, everything is relatively new. Still, it is about 15 miles from downtown, and I would not want to call that area of town home. That may have something to do with my age....

Gators Gail? Where are the gators? Coming, I promise!

The sky darkened, the birds began flying around frantically

And the rain came down in buckets! There are plenty of covered walkways, so no worries for Mrs. Camera Crazy! I was happy things cooled down to be honest with you. I was under cover by the exit to the gift shop just watching the animals. Make that the gators!

That's a big boy for you! He/she pretty much stayed just like that throughout the storm, but looking to my left I saw some folks under another cover with a scad of gators hanging around them.

I watched awhile from afar,  and finally I just had to go see what was going on. Scurrying through the uncovered areas, I made my way over, and discovered that they were feeding the gators, causing all the action. Food will do that--make that turkey hot dogs. They were kind enough to let me watch and take a few photos including one of this hungry guy.

Yikes!!! I have to admit this was very entertaining. The folks were British tourists, and no doubt this was quite a rare occurrence for them. Heck, it's a rare occurrence for a Floridian, and there are gators all over the place here! I suspect they'll have some exciting Florida tales to tell once they get home.

No visit to Gatorland these days is complete without a stop to see the "white gators", which are not really white at all.

Not to be confused with albino gators, they are actually ivory colored with blue eyes. Because they would suffer in the bright Florida sunshine, the four gators are housed in a special covered area. As you can see, this one has some of the regular "gator" coloring. Those teeth look pretty scary to me!

While talking to David this afternoon I told him some of the photographs were so life-like they gave me the shivers! In reality they have this netting, which must keep the gators from getting at the spectators, or I'm presuming it does.

After all, the park has been open now for more than 50 years, so they seem to know what they are doing! I know I sure like the place, and I bet you will too.