I love exploring new places with old friends. It may be one of the best feelings ever. Luckily, my friend and I both had the same spring break! Worked out perfectly!
I landed in Tampa last night (monday) around 8:30 and was so happy to see the smiling face of my good friend whom I spent time with in FL and the VI. Her new puppy greeted me as I hopped in the front seat and we chatted about life the whole way back to her place
This morning, we took it easy and then grabbed the dog and started the drive to Myakka River State Park. With the sun out, a slight breeze and 70+ degree weather, it was the perfect day for a hike. We got to the park around mid-day and our first stop was at the bird dock. This was a birders paradise! Hawks, vultures, cranes, herons. There were beautiful birds of every kind flying over the water and low shrubs. You could see for forever!
After the birds, we went to find our trail. The trail started in a wooded area and then opened up pretty quickly. They had been doing prescribed burns on parts of the park and once we got to the open area, we were able to see all the smoke in the distance. We decided on a loop that took us south, closer to the fires but figured that we would loop back before we go even close to the fire. When we did get a little closer, we were able to see some of the flames licking the sky in the distance which was really cool!
We turned a corner and noticed some trucks and people wearing reflective clothing. One man approached us and asked us where we were going and before we could answer, Huck, the dog had encircled the man with his leash. We apologized for Huck's curiosity while he stepped out of the leash, and I chuckled a bit. He asked again where we were going and I showed him on the map that I had that we were headed north. I asked the man where exactly we were on the map, I had a general idea, and no one could give me an answer. They were pointing at parts of the map that I was definitely sure we weren't and I was confused that the people who worked here had no idea where they were... Finally someone brought out a bigger map and figured out our general area and told us to go north to avoid the fire... Duh.
So we went on our way, north and realized quickly that yes, indeed the workers had no idea where they were. But I did! We saw a weird turkey running and got lost for a second which is very like us. Back in Georgia, we went on a hike where the map, like this time, was awful and we came out in a suburb where some nice gentleman had to give us a ride back to the parking lot in his pickup truck...
Finally we got back on track and out of the sun, back into the forest. Once we finally found the trail we were looking for, we got really excited! Back on track! We sat at an empty, beautiful, hike-in campground to eat our lunch-snacks and I climbed a tree.
Our hike was very science-y because when you put two naturalists together we find everything! I was into the bugs and mushrooms, she was into the flowers and birds. Together we shall learn it all! We saw tons of different kinds of birds which were really cool, even a hawk that was cawing and circling above us.
We finished our long hike and decided to check out the short guided nature hike. Here we were walking along and heard a bird so we stopped and listened. It turned out to be a barred owl! We sat quietly and listened to it a little more, talking to one of its friends who was a little further away. I dont think I had ever heard a barred owl in nature like this, and during the day too! Although, it was late afternoon.
Lastly, we went to the canopy walk. We hiked up about 3 flights of stairs to take us just to the top of the canopy and there was a small bridge along the canopy. It was so cool being close to the bromeliads in the trees and up so high! The bridge swayed ever so slightly as we walked across. After the bridge, we walked up several more stories of stairs to come up over the canopy to look across the park. Florida is so flat that you could see for miles! It was incredible. We could only see some of the remnants of the fires from earlier, only a small tuft of smoke in the distance. Would have been cool to see the fire from up there earlier!
On the drive back, I got super tired. Long day in the sunshine makes for a sleepy girl. Funny enough, by the time we got back, changed and went to dinner, I woke up and we stayed awake until midnight watching videos of tiny houses!
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