turtle, mushrooms, tortoise, suwannee...

before i get started...

i just have to say that 'Ponzio' did a really terrific job

with that previous post! 

luckily, he left some food & beer in the fridge...

and unless he cleaned up REALLY good, i don't think he had any wild parties!

anyway...maybe i'll have him fill in when we go on vacation or whatever!

here he is, guarding the house...sitting on top of the turtle planter...

on the railing on the front porch!

oOo

OK...so this past weekend...we decided at the last minute to 'get outa town'!

we went to Stephen Foster St Pk in White Springs, FL.

not far from home, just a little over an hours drive.

Stephen Foster Pk...is named after the famous composer by the same name...

whose most famous song is probably  "Old Folks at Home" 

♪♫ ♪ ...way down upon the suwannee river... ♪♫ ♪

throughout the day, you can hear the 97-bell carillon 

play some of his famous tunes!  and if you go there around Christmas-time,

the bells play christmas songs!  i love it!! 

the park is located along the...yeah, you guessed it...the Suwannee River!!

the weather was cloudy...rainy...

thunderheads rolling in...letting loose the rain...and then rolling back out...

all day and night.

but between the rain drops...and between the storms, 

we were able to get some hiking in!

we also took a ride over to the Suwannee River St Pk which is only 

about 30 miles or so from Stephen Foster. this park is situated right where the 

Suwanne & Withlacoochee Rivers meet.

so, without further talk...

here are SOME of the pictures from our wanderings last weekend!

(sorry. i couldn't resist. MORE mushrooms!)

(looks like coral, eh?  but it's lichen on a dead tree!)

(box turtle!!!!!!)

(fence lizard)

(old bridge across the Suwannee)

(looking down the trail we walked along the Withlacoochee)

(an old crumbling wall around a natural spring)

(some collected tiny smooth stones and old, old, old sharks teeth.)

('balanced rock' on the Suwannee)

~back to the campground...

(a Gopher Tortoise!!!)

(i thought this was so cool looking...the color, the rings...the moss...)

(this one might look like a 'magic mushroom'...but my lens fogged up!)

(squirrel peeking over the fire-ring at campsite)

(i haven't seen this bird at home, so i'm not sure what it is...

but when i find out...i'll add it in here.)

THANKS to Samantha, Bunnits & Calling Ravens...in comments...

this is a Rufous-sided (or Eastern) Towhee!!

and so...as i bid you farewell...

a parting shot!

(sam carrying his baby around...)

(ok...so why do i always feel so guilty...when i click that 'publish' button...

but have not yet caught up on OTHER blog reading!?? hmmmm?)

stay cool. 

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride.

:] laura

way down upon the suwannee river...

a dragonfly resting on shovel handle out back.

Buckeye Butterfly

 ☼

every time i hear the name of that river...the Suwannee,

i can hear  ♪ ♪ 'Way down upon the Suwannee River...' ♪ ♪   playing in my head.

(well...it's better than hearing dueling banjos from 'Deliverance'....huh?!)

on saturday, we went for a drive...only about a 45 minute drive...

to where the old Lake City RR bridge crosses the Suwannee River.

 

we were hoping the water would be low enough to get down and wander

the river basin...in search of old bones, artifacts...cool stones...rocks.

BUT WAIT!   let me back track a little.

on the way up there, along Hwy 441...just before you get to small town Alachua...

we passed a local produce stand that's been there forever!

THAT DAY i had my camera with me...and sam did a U-ey

so i could snap pictures of these misspelled signs!

 ACEPTING is missing a 'C'.  

(EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer. it's Florida's government

food stamp assistance)

fresh cut collards, mustards...

and don't forget to TURNUP the volume!?

(turnips)

☼

OK...back on the road...we made it to the Suwannee...

off US Hwy 41, just south of White Springs.

as we hoped, the water was pretty low! 

usually all the rock you see here...is under water!

we walked along the exposed rock...limestone...

peering into the holes...or cavities, 

which have worn away over time from the rushing river.

as the water churns up the bottom...small stones...artifacts...debris...

can get trapped in these crevices in the rock.

 

the Suwannee River rises in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia...

and runs south for over 240 miles...until it empties into the 

Gulf of Mexico in the small town of Suwannee, Florida.

(Slider Turtle soaking up the sun)

the Suwannee River's DARK..tea colored water...is because it flows through

forested swamps, picking up decaying vegetation.

(a Little Blue Heron...also enjoying the sun & running water)

(weathered wood at the edge of the water)

(looking under a large limestone rock)

 

(a damsel fly)

so with heavy pockets...we headed back to the truck.

we didn't find any old bones...or artifacts. but we did pick up

a few OLD shells!  SO old in fact...they're like rock!
we found petrified wood...fossilized shells and coral...from long ago...

when most of florida was covered by the earth's oceans!

☼

on our way back to the main road we passed bunches of Coreopsis wildflowers. 

the Coreopsis is Florida's state wildflower!

you can see these bright yellow blooms all along the roadsides and in fields.

☼

heading south down Hwy 41...toward home...

we passed some florida long horn cattle! well, probably originally from texas...

sam did another U-ey so i could get a couple of pictures!

...and a here's a Gopher Tortoise digging his burrow...on the side of the road...

Gopher Tortoises belong to a group of land tortoises that originated

in North America 60 million years ago!

in florida they're considered endangered and threatened.

☼

back home...we put our collections together and rinsed everything off.

look closely at this piece of coral (you can enlarge).

it amazes me when i hold something like this...to feel it in my hands...

thinking about how old it is...and what the earth was like when this 

coral was alive...in the ocean.

and all the little long skinny pieces...

like stone...but what are they? petrified wood? coral? 

whatever! i could do this every day! 

hike...explore...search for treasures...

but we need to pay the bills.  :)

thanks for stopping by...and wandering...

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”  

~Winne the Pooh, AA Milne

stay cool. 

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride.

:] laura

OH YEAH...REMINDER...i made a MISSPELLED SIGN page...up there

at the top...under the header. IF YOU HAVE A sign pic...email it to me with 

where it was taken...and i'll add it to the page with credit to YOU!

☼

((i'm going to try and get on here and post again...SOON!

i have so many pictures i've taken around the yard lately...

snake, woodpecker, hawk, more assassin bugs, frog, butterflies, spider...

my camera is out of breath!))

p e a c e

lk