Moving South (Zolfo Springs, FL)

We have covered a few miles since my last posting.  We are still making our way south towards Key West, FL.  

We stayed for the first time in Three Rivers State Park with a site on the river.  We had a great view of the airboats passing by while letting the cats explored.  We only stayed for one night and wished we had planned for more nights.  Maybe next time. 

 Our next stop was at the Suwanee River State Park.  We have been here before and had enjoyed walking the Lime Sink Run Trail several times.  This time of year it is not so much fun between large spiders making huge webs to walk through and mosquitoes having lunch on us.

Needless to say, we only walked it once this time. 😐

I did get a few good photos between ducking and dodging....

The big wheel below is from an old paddle wheel steamboat near the river path.  A much better walk under big shady trees with Spanish moss.

Next stop was Clermont, FL near Orlando.  Since June, my schedule has been to get out early before the day becomes too hot and humid for walking.  As soon as I return, we take cats out.  Hard to believe Fall officially starts tomorrow.  The weather still feels more like mid-July.

Most days have been very hazy so we end up spending most of our time indoors unless we have some shopping to do.

One good thing about hot days is that it does motivate me to get moving early enough to get those golden moment photos!  I'm rarely out the door before sunrise. 😀 ...or out of bed. 😴

By noon, the clouds are building up and soon we have a downpour that will last for about an hour or two.

We even had a nice rainbow one day.

Did I mention that our site backed up to a cattle's field?  It must have been a large fenced in area because the cattle only showed up once in awhile. I have never seen such happy cattle with so much energy by showing off their prancing and head butting skills.

We had a couple of visitors one day.  One of the Sand Cranes was begging for food until I showed him open hands.  Can a Sand Crane looked disgusted?  This one certainly gave it a good try as he walked away from me. "The nerve of some people.  Take a photo and NOT offer any food! Really!"

One more photo of the lake reflecting the clouds before we left the Orlando TT campground.

Dan discovered a Cat Cafe nearby.  I have read about the cafes in Japan and never thought we would have the opportunity to visit one in the US and here was one within a 10 minute drive from our campground!

 

The Orlando Cat Cafe is a partnership between the Axum Coffee and the Florida SPCA. All cats are up for adoption.

We ordered a small lunch with drinks from the cafe and paid $8 each to enter the Cat's room.  They limit the cat's room to 20 visitors at a time.  It was a slow day for visitors so it was nice and quiet for the cats.  We spent our time eating lunch, watching cats play or wander around, and hearing about their stories.

A very relaxed atmosphere for cats to meet their humans.  After visiting a Humane Society and seeing so many stressed out animals in cages, I have to admit that I was a little worried that I would feel very guilty for not adopting a cat, but they all looked very happy with their new temporary home.  Except for this one....such a woeful look.  Her look must have worked well on someone because her photo is gone from the adoptable list.

I felt good that we were able to donate some time and attention to the cats.  Adoptions have been very good since they started the Cat's Cafe.  I hope this idea catches on in other towns and we start seeing more of them.  

On The Cutting Board

I finally finished quilting all four quilt tops.  

I'm binding them now....

...and getting plenty of supervision from Max.  😻

2 down and 2 more to go!
Happy Quilting!

From Gulf to Ocean (Mayport NAS, FL)

In less than two weeks, we went from the Gulf coast to the Atlantic.  During our travel east, we spent four wonderful days in the Suwannee River State Park.  The campground had good shade and plenty of space to spread out.  No complaints from the kitties!

We would have stayed longer, but this place is so popular that it is booked almost solid.  Dan was lucky to find four days in a spacious site, so we were happy to have that time.

We did a lot of walking along the park's trails.  Our favorite trail was along the Lime Sink Run that runs into the Suwannee river.  Not a very pretty name for such a beautiful spring fed river.

just hanging around getting some sun

There were plenty of turtles and squirrels to watch along trails with a few small deer.  Tall trees for deep cool shade and the trails were well marked.  

Birds were singing, but it hard to see thanks to the tall trees.  I was glimpses of a few that I have not seen before.

The Lime Sink Run is seasonal so we came at a good time.  Sunshine the whole time we were there and the spring was still running.  I could not get over how crystal clear the water looked.  

We could see the bottom most of the time unless it was too deep and in shadows.

It is too bad that it runs into the Suwanee River.  The river is almost black from decomposing vegetation.  This photo was taken at the Big Shoals State Park while walking one of the river's trails.

Largest whitewater rapids in Florida

I love my gnarly trees!  This one is more twisted than gnarly.  It leans way over the Suwannee River. I wonder how many kids wish this tree was leaning over their favorite swimming hole.  It would be perfect for tying a rope to it for swinging from this tree and into the water.

We also visited the Stephen Foster Folk Center Culture State Park.  He is the songwriter that made Suwannee River famous.  Surprise!  The man never saw the river!  The park itself was interesting with folk crafts such as jewelry, needlework, blacksmith, and wood work.  Each one had their own craft shop where they can demonstrate and show off their crafts.  There was also a small gift shop that sold a wide variety of art work.

State Park's Museum

We attracted another stray while we were staying in the park.  This guy has begging down.  I dubbed him - Oliver Twist.  He stayed outside the campsites and cried.  We watched him walk over to a recently vacated site...Meow!..they left me with no food!.....walk across the street....Meow!...oops!  dogs...onto the next site...Meow!  The camping area is a small circle so we could still hear him every once in awhile.

 "Please sir.  Can I have some more?"

About a half hour later while we were outside with our cats, he showed back up.  Giving us a pitiful meow and looking half starved.  Of course, his begging worked.  We fed him for the next few days.  We found out that he could put a lot of food away and still act hungry.  He was not happy to see us go, but we are sure he will talk another camper with a soft heart into helping him out.

Back to sea and sun!  We are staying on Mayport NAS.  This view is only a five minute walk from our site.  I love it!  I have walked barefoot on this beach everyday since we have arrived.  We are expecting some thunderstorms this weekend so I am taking advantage of the sunny days with walks and sitting outside with the cats.  I'm not getting a whole lot of sewing done right now.  Maybe while it is raining?

Happy Quilting!