Back to Gainesville

It's New Years Day and the nest tradition I have is to spend it outside! Off to Gainesville we go to look for shark teeth in the water of the Hogstown Creek accessible through Loblolly Woods. A word of warning... this time we went there were signs posted that it was high in fecal bacteria. It didn't stop all of us... maybe it should have. Yuck!

 

Some of the cool teeth we found.

 

We tried to get in a visit to Lake Alice and to see the bats come out but the rain and temperature drop ended that possibility. We headed to The Swamp to have some dinner and ended the holiday with some friends. Good stuff. Next in Gainesville: more locations to explore on Hogstown Creek. 

Wednesday's Adventure to Rainbow Springs State Park

When you have a Wednesday off for Veterans Day in the middle of the week what else is there to do but have an adventure? For my gang, it was a no brainer. I needed to be outside and Florida State Parks are FREE on Veterans Day!

Say no more. Arm twisted. Let's go to Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon.

The park was once privately owned but it fell into disrepair and the state park system decided to buy it and take it over to preserve some of natural Florida. I'm so glad when they do that. It's HUGE. I have visited quite a few parks in the area that have that same story to tell.

Now Rainbow River is really known for the pristine water and getting into 72 degree water wasn't in my plans for the day but man o' man, I would have loved to get out there in a kayak again. You can see straight to the bottom as it is crystal clear. There is a swimming area, plenty of picnic areas and you can Geocache as well. We found 4 today! Yahoo!

Because the park was once a tourist attraction there were some manmade waterfalls that were fed from the springs. The park still maintains these waterfalls and it's a beautiful walk through the park with the sounds of running water all around. 

The entire place is picturesque and really pops like a post card from the 1960's. Doesn't it? 

The State Park also has a butterfly garden and the remains of what once was a small zoo with a few animals. It just gives you more to walk around and look at throughout the park. And yes, I managed to find something to put on my nose. The frogs were there but uncooperative but the Monarch caterpillar was willing. 

There was a bugle, (yes, the snack food) that was balanced on the tip of the nose at one point of our picnic lunch as well but I'll spare you from that. Lots and lots of fun was had. Lots of acorns were whistled into annoying everyone. Pecans and other nut pieces were found and lobbed at each other in fun. A few games of Marco Polo were even played as we explored and lost each other. I'd say that was a successful AbJ day! Yes, Hailey, we need t-shirts. Still. 

Time to get wet...

There are plenty of options in Orlando to get wet other than the typical afternoon rainstorms. We have an annual tradition of hitting Coco Key Waterpark & Resort every summer with the kids. Sadly we didn't pick a great day to do that this year with a few too many lightning strikes that closed the park periodically.

Coco Key is both a water park and hotel but they do offer day passes to just the water park and there are often deals on Living Social or Groupon so be sure to check ahead of your visit.

There are 3 taller slides you can see off the side of I-4 and then the splash area with more slides pictured above. Oh yeah, and that big bucket up top... see it... it dumps all over the place every so often. Super fun!

Step inside the covered area and there is a nice pool with a few more slides where you can escape the sun and cool down. They also have a poolside bar along with an arcade and cafe. Check it out and see for yourself!