A weekend full of happy clouds and friendly trees.
On Saturday morning I woke up bright and early around 8:00am, packed the car with snacks, and Crissy and I drove about an hour north of Orlando to Blue Springs State Park. I spent the day canoeing Blue Springs Run, walking up and down the boardwalk by the spring, and hanging out with manatees. One of them came right up and bumped our canoe. Then, after we finished canoeing, we followed some steps down the boardwalk that lead into a swimming area of the river, where we sat for quite a while, watching a manatee a few feet away from us grazing on some plants. Of course, there are signs that say not to swim when manatees are present. But even without the manatees right there, it would be a beautiful place to swim. The water there is crystal clear, and warmer than just about any other water you're going to find in February around here. So yeah, the park is really nice. If you have never been there, you should go. But go early and avoid the weekend if you can. By the time we left in the afternoon, crowds started forming and there was a line of cars outside waiting to get into the park.
So After spending the day surrounded by natural beauty, I felt a powerful need to try and recreate it. And since Blue Spring is closer to New Smyrna than Orlando is, it was the perfect time to take a drive over to the famous Bob Ross store. The people at the store were very nice, and I must have spent at least an hour talking with them. But if I were to have left with all of the supplies the lady told me I would need to start painting, it would have cost me well over $200. $200 that I was not prepared to spend. So instead, I signed up to receive the Bob Ross store calendar that lists all the coming painting workshops that they do for each month. Before I spend the cash to start painting on my own, I'm going to try that out. They walk you through the Bob Ross wet-on-wet method, supply you with all the equipment, and at the end of the day you can go home with your own artwork. Saturday, March 12th is looking like the day, since school will be out for spring break and I should have the extra time.
That was yesterday. Today, I had a similar but all together different experience. Again, I woke up early in the morning, packed up the car with food and took a drive out to spend the day canoeing- this time at Wekiva Springs in Apopka. And while there were no manatees, the five hours I spent out on the water today were just about as perfect as they could have been.
We met three alligators
lots of birds
even more turtles
some ducks, butterflies, what I think was an otter, and a lot of really nice fellow canoers.
(By the way, I also have a bunch of pictures from Blue Springs State Park still on a disposable camera that I will try and develop and add tomorrow).