Itchetucknee Springs....The Epic Journey!

Our day began as all good Travelin' Dennen days begin...by dilly dallying and making ourselves late, hurried and somewhat haphazard. Usually, for MOST people, this proves to be disastrous. When you're a Travelin' Dennen, it makes you ADVENTUROUS!  Huzzah!  Tube ride down the Itchetucknee, here we go!  OK....so, helpful "don't do it this way, do it THIS way" tip #1:when you plan a full day at a springs, river, swimming hole....watery place...always, always, ALWAYS pack a spare set of DRY clothing.  You may wish to do things AFTER the wet part of your day. Tip #2: if you will be spending many hours in a single position, like a chicken in a roasting pan, with no where to run or hide in the summer sun, WEAR SUNSCREEN or a diving skin and cover the skin up. We followed advice #2 this time...but failed to follow it on our Rainbow River tube ride.  Vincent is still shedding skin like a reptile...but we were kind of prepared for this adventure. We had our skin covered. Check. Dry clothes?  Huh?  What are THEY? 

We should really begin this tale by telling you that the park itself does NOT rent out the tube you meander down the river in. That must be procured in advance from one of the fine tube purveyors on the way into the park.  We went with the company in closest proximity to the River. They have been renting tubes to river floaters for 42 years, and have been on TV and in books for their services. It cost us 15 bucks to rent a "love seat" style tube...this way, we were assured to stick together and not get separated (which would be a highly probable scenario with us). They will strap the tube to your car any way it needs to go...and can do it no matter what size, shape or condition your car is in. 

You THEN drive your passengers and tubes to the North entrance to the park if you want a 3 hour trip. You pay $5 per person for entrance fees, and then  passengers and tubes get out and wait for you.  You must then drive your car to the south entrance and park it, and a ranger will drive you up to meet your family or friends.  Your other option is to go to the South entrance with tubes and people if you want a 1.5 hour trip.  We recommend the first option, however, because you can always get out halfway if you don't want 3 hours...but you can't decide to do more than 1.5 after putting in at the south entrance, if you're having the time of your life.

You'd think I would have a fun photo of the tube, how it was strapped to the car, or how cute my husband looked in his dive skin but you'd be wrong, instead I took no photos of these things and determined that I am not a photojournalist after all but I do remember the day well, I think. I did take pictures of a turtle who was about to lay eggs. That was important, right?

She even posed and smiled. I think that was pretty Important. Before you go on the river you may NOT have with you...tobacco, fishing tackle, firearms, anything disposable AT ALL. The river is listed as a National Natural Treasure (it truly is a gorgeous American treasure) so they take this seriously and check you out before you put it. Got it?  its just you and the tube. Leave everything else locked in the car. OK. Now, we get to the fun stuff... You walk your tube down a lovely path to a dock/launch site. Carefully lower yourself into the brisk, refreshing waters and let the river and spring flow do their job.  We recommend having a paddle of some kind or dive flippers to make course adjustments along the way or you can end up stuck on the bank or on submerged tree branches. 

Vincent is modeling the hand paddle in this picture, using a dive flipper which came in VERY handy later on in our story. 

It's a gorgeous river of grass...this scene greets you fairly early on.  Here are a few scenes you will also see....

The trip is idyllic, majestic, refreshing, relaxing, magical, memorable and magnificent. You should not miss this opportunity.  You should create an opportunity to do this....and soon. We both enjoyed watching the fish swimming beneath us, the turtles basking in the summer sun, the osprey fishing in the waters, and seeing people laughing and enjoying the day. Until we met.....HER.  A woman who is known affectionately by her children as Debbie Downpour. She proclaimed the last time she took this trip a horrendous electrical storm broke out at the end of the ride.  That was when we heard it. Thunder.  The kids said she had brought the storm. We joked about it for a time as thunder gently rolled in the distance. No real threat, to speak of....and then....CRRRRRRAAAAAACK!  A bolt of lightning, a loud clap of thunder and driving rain. And we had an hour left to go. GREEEAATTTT.  Debbie Downpour did it again!  (Debbie was a beautiful woman with great kids...great senses of humor and personalities). I looked over at Vincent and told him that it would be best if he gave me the flippers to put on my feet and I get in and kick like the dickens to push us to safety. He was skeptical at first, but I got a 60 minute job done in 20. Not bad. 

                                Just keep swimmin' just keep swimmin'!

                                                             Whew!  Safe!

We arrived safely  at the end, hauled out and met with the tram that brought us up to the south lot where our car awaited us.  Now....where did we put that extra dry set of clothing?!?