Crystal River Archaelogical State Park

We’ve been to lots of Native American mounds (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). We still learned a lot by coming here. There was an item called stela here that we haven’t seen at other mounds. Basically it’s a stone slab with a design (in this case a face). However, no one knows its purpose. Maybe something similar to the statues we have.

Interestingly, there was some mention that there may have been Mayan influences with this civilization. There was much more complex pottery here. Much of the art seems similar to Mayan art.

There also seemed to have more artifacts than most mound museums.

Some mounds were midden mounds with shells, bones, and broken tools. There were also burial mounds and ceremonial mounds. Temple Mound is right on the water (Crystal River) with some tremendous views (and very windy).  The river was busy with people enjoying the holiday.

Hey, it’s not all about archeology! This is right around the corner. The funny thing is that it used to be in front of some sort of store as advertising. Now whatever it was is closed and it’s just seems a place to pull over and get a picture taken.

Eastern Lubber Grasshopper

Every area and time seems to have a different bug. We don’t like lovebugs given the cleaning required . Some of the no-see-ums and other mosquitoes are painful and frustrating. Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers are just gross. Apparently these show up in February as small grasshoppers. By now they are huge! They eat the plants they like to the ground if you don’t kill them. I guess these bugs are poisonous so birds don’t eat them and insecticide doesn’t kill them. You have to drown them in a bucket of soapy water when they are small. If you wait until this size you need to either smash them or cut off their heads with clippers. Can’t tell you how gross this is!

OK, this is weird that I’m commenting on this…but I was geocaching in a nearby development. Some roads were fine and some were terrible. This one had been recently done but was done so poorly that grass grew right up through it. How could you do a road like this?!

Bizarre tree growth. Even with the right angle growth it is still alive.

Misty morning picture. The buzzing of the electric lines with this mist was fairly loud.

Florida Weather

It has been hot and dry in Florida. Many fires are burning throughout Florida. As we were driving near Jacksonville, we drove though the smoke from the Okefenokee Swamp fire (also called West Mims).

Recent rain has helped a bit. BTW, it is very, very difficult to have a phone call in an RV when it rains. Anyhow, according to the rangers, the thunderstorms are actually worse since they may start new fires. Good news: resurrection ferns are green again in some areas.

I love the growth on what is left of this tree.

We were driving the roads in Silver Springs State Park and had to drive around this guy.

The river is formed by large springs. Gorgeous green views along the river.

More Fires

The latest is that there is a new smaller fire less than 10 miles from us (Mike Roess State Park). That’s more exciting for us. Speaking of exciting, I love this “creature” made of Spanish moss and reflectors.

The park has various animals. I’ve seen deer, but only a few compared to the last park. There is a bird (a cardinal) that likes the mirrors on our car and RV along with the shiny bumper. He likes it so much we hear him pecking early in the morning EVERY day. We’ve seen raccoon paw prints under our RV. We’ve heard that there is a huge raccoon in the campsite.

Rabbits are hopping around.

There is at least a pair of sandhill cranes living here.

It’s a great park!

Okefenokee Swamp Fire

Florida has several large wildfires occurring around the state, but none have affected us yet. You’ve probably heard about a big fire in southern Georgia. It’s been going for a month and is spreading requiring evacuations in a town nearby. This morning we woke up to smoke in the woods surrounding us and a smell of smoke. There is no danger. The fire is actually ~100 miles from us. But I was shocked that the smoke is affecting such a large area.

At the same time, our camp host accidentally ran over a water connection at one of the camp sites. It meant they had to turn off the water to two loops of campsites to make repairs. Not a big deal since we have a water tank, but just one of those things that happens every once in a while.

Just for the fun of it, a big dead tree seen on a walk!

Manatee Springs State Park

First thing, we didn’t actually see any manatees. We hear manatees show up here in the winter when the 72 F springs is warmer than other rivers. Right now, 72 F is good for cooling off. Swimming with cedar trees along the sides and the limestone and sand base is interesting. Oh, and we saw both turtles and snakes in the water which makes swimming just a bit more exciting.

There are several sinkholes in the area. This one is called Catfish Hotel. Scuba divers can swim beneath this to three miles of an underground cave system.

The park has a lot of deer. Every day we’d see deer wandering among the campsites and along the road. One morning there were 6 deer at our campsite. So, lots of pictures and even a short movie!