Radio silence is so hard!

So we arrived to Manatee Springs in Chiefland Florida, safe and sound. The springs themselves are so beautiful!  The thing I enjoy the most about our springs is the way they smell.  They smell so clean and refreshing...like a gigantic bowl of fresh, clean water....it makes you physically thirsty when you smell the water. Swimming in the springs is VERY refreshing.....heart stopping refreshing. The clarity of the water is also amazing. It's like swimming in a giant fishbowl. The fish lazily swim by you and check you out. The waters are replenished and moving constantly. Today, we drove to Fanning Springs where Cheri took underwater photos.  We walked the boardwalk and enjoyed the scenery of the cypress trees, the springs and the Suwannee River. Park staff are friendly and helpful, and ever present. It's a great place to spend the day. Plenty of places to picnic and enjoy the park as well. Yesterday (Saturday the 28th) we went to see Cedar Key Museum and Cedar Key Scrub state parks. The museum was a wonderful lesson in the area's history and a tour through the home of a man named St. Clair Whitman. It was kept as it was in the 1920's.  it was a very interesting park that offered a lovely walk along a salt marsh.  Cheri thinks the most heavenly places on earth are salt marshes. This walk took you into several different habitats that included the marsh. Fiddler crabs abound there, as well as osprey. The ranger on duty was lovely. Friendly and knowledgable.  Cedar Scrub offers a long list of trails. 13 to be exact. Cheri took trails 2,3,4 and 5 to make a 3.3 mile loop. Spotted bobcat paws, saw a deer...we mutually scared the crap out of each other...weird bugs mating, snakes, toads, swallow tailed kites, towhees and a multitude of songbirds. This area and these parks are beautiful. We love our Florida State Parks. Photos coming...we need to get the laptop to a place with wifi....our connections aren't very good. We haven't forgotten about you!  We promise!