Since you are reading this post you now know that we are safe - and not one of the at least 19 dead. A couple tornados touched down last night doing massive damage. And it really wasn't all that far from us - only about half an hour away. Just yesterday on our driving trip we were exactly where one of the tornados hit. We have been so lucky. On our trip this year, four tornados have touched down within 30 miles of where we have been camped. We had some wet and rough times being so close but have been safe each time. We're sure hoping our luck holds out.
This morning when we got up it was calm out - but very wet! It was supposed to be warm today so we decided to take a nice hike since a cold front is supposed to come through starting tomorrow with highs only in the 40's for a week or so.
We went to the Florida Scenic Trail in the Ocala National Forest. It was pretty as we started out on a lake and came to three very large ponds on the way. I wonderful what defines a lake versus a pond? Well, the dogs don't seem to care as long as it's water.
The ponds looked like nice places for alligators but I just couldn't believe there would be any there since we had to hike a long ways to get to the ponds. So we decided it would be safe to let the dogs go in the water.
The Pointer in Sparkie came out and she had quite the time running around the edges of the pond flushing out birds.
Wazzu was sure something had gone in to the water as she arrived. (We're guessing it may have been a frog.) So she spent most of the time hunting for whatever it was.
She was quite thorough checking both the water and the grassy areas. I guess at one point she thought she might have found it under the water.
The dogs didn't want to leave but we finally convinced them it was time to move on. Shortly after we got back on the trail Wazzu took off - fairly unusual for her. She came back a short time later all excited and acted as though she wanted me to follow her. So I went on ahead with her and she led me right to this very large Florida Red Belly turtle. She was so proud of her find.
Sparkie's first reaction was to try to pick it up - which of course she couldn't do because it was so large. And Slugger, as usual, was afraid of it.
And I guess he wasn't real thrilled about having his picture taken as you can see here.
Along the trail in quite a number of spots was what the call Deer Moss. It was very interesting stuff. It looked like little sponges - kind of like what you would use in a fancy spa.
After the long warm hike we let the dogs stop at the lake to do some swimming since that is Slugger's favorite activity - and his only opportunity to be off leash.
He was especially excited to swim today. I think the combination of it being warm and the water temperature was warm too so that made for perfect swimming. Wazzu, on the other hand, much prefers wading. I only included this picture so you could see how clear the water was.
Sparkie had gone in for one stick chase and immediately decided she was too cold. So she sat back up in the forest looking so pitiful.
That was our clue that it was time to leave.
As you could probably tell from my post a day or two ago, I'm really not much into museums. So after dropping us off at home, Mike went out to do the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum tour.
He found it very interesting and he really learned a lot of new things about lighthouses. Each lighthouse has it's own striping that is a little different from the next. That way during the day a ship can tell just by looking at the lighthouse what place he is at. During the night they can tell by the different light rhythms. Another thing he learned is that they have a LOT of steps - 220 to be exact!
But he found the view on the way up to be very pretty....
And the view looking down to a bit scary!
He did catch the sun coming through the clouds while he was up there.
I wonder if he slid down the banister on the way down. Knowing Mike, probably not.
From there Mike went to explore a little more of St. Augustine. Mostly he found hundreds more little stores with various interesting items. Along the way he did come across a few pretty spots.
This is a picture of the gardens at the nations oldest house. You had to pay to go in so Mike just snapped this picture from the sidewalk.
And this is in front of the nations oldest military barracks.
Since St. Augustine is right on the water there were many seafood restaurants. We figured better to eat seafood here than in the middle of the country where there isn't an ocean. So we found a place that was absolutely packed. We figured that was a good sign of good food. We stopped and placed a To Go order and while it was being prepared we took a walk along the beach with the dogs.
It was actually busier there at night than it had been during the day. It's really hard to take a picture at night but I tried. You can't see it from the picture but the moon was a really bright orange.
After getting our food we went back to the RV. It was dark out and I reached up to open the door and got a handful of something. It startled me! Turns out it was a frog. I guess it has been so wet that the frog decided that sitting inside our door handle was a good spot. I think I could have found a better spot! Once I got over being startled, he really was a very cute but fairly large frog.
We now know why the restaraunt was crowded. The food was fabulous. If you ever get to St. Augustine be sure to go to the Sunset Grill for dinner. You'll be glad you did!
Debbie
2/2/07
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