Sunday, September 6, 2009

Labor Day Weekend Part II

I found the summer crowds! They showed up today! It was really the first time this summer that I have seen the park full like it was so often in the past summers. Its sad to think that the summer is winding down. It really feels like it just got started. I am still bitter about the flood ruining the beginning of the summer. At least we had Labor Day...
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The morning started out peaceful and impressive. There was such a dense fog that everywhere I looked, I wanted to take pictures. I contained myself and hurried along my morning drive through the park and flag and gate procedures. At the gate, I couldn't resist another Morning Glory that had been chewed on in a few spots before it opened. I just love the effect that it has on the petals when its opened. I also took a look at the spider web that I mentioned yesterday. The Banana Spider was working hard to repair her web from the last catch. I looked around on the stabilizers of the web and saw that there were more than the one little kleptoparasite living on that web! There were at least six other tiny little spiders taking advantage of this one industrious spider, not to mention her male companion that really does the same things as the others. I took one more quick photo of the view of the fog at the park entrance and moved on to the office. On my way in, I stopped to check the rain gauge to see if we ever had any rain last night. The result was not what I had expected. It apparently rained one baby Anole last night.
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I held off on paperwork to make sure that the park was in good shape and ready for a busy day. I wasn't sure, at that point if it would be busy, but I was hoping. I loaded the leaf blower in the Gator and headed out into the park. I unlocked the Log Cabin Visitor Center and took a quick photo of the view from the porch. I love a foggy morning. The ride over to the picnic area was cool because I could feel the moisture in the air. The fog was almost raining on me as I drove along on the Gator. As I was checking over the restrooms, the first vehicle pulled in. They were divers and after I checked them in, I asked if they minded if I did some leaf blower. I don't like to interrupt a peaceful day at the park with a noisy blower, but many of the divers don't mind it. I tried starting the blower, but it decided that it wanted the day off. We do usually only blow off the walkway every other day at most, but the leaves have really been falling. I wanted to clean up again, but the blower said 'NO.' After trying to start it a couple of times (knowing that if it doesn't work on the first try, it isn't going to) another car pulled into the parking lot and I admitted to myself that the walkway was going to have leaves on it today. I at least made it down to the dock to make sure that it was presentable. I emptied the garbage can and caught one more photo of the fog before it drifted away.
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My day continued at about the same pace all day. Car after car after car continued into the parking lot. There were only a few dive groups, who were very well spaced and easy to keep track of. There were several large family groups, enjoying the holiday weekend. There were also several people who I saw at the park yesterday. I think I talked to nearly everyone at some point, even if it was just a quick 'Hi' in passing. I even got a hug from a toddler. He was really happy to see me every time he saw me, he was cute. At the busiest part of the day, just after noon, I walked along one side of the spring to get some photos of the park in full swing. Its really amazing how many people this body of water can entertain at one time. Its exciting.
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Before the excitement was all over, I emptied more garbage cans, picked up the restrooms, added toilet paper and picked up some litter along the river bank. I talked and joked with some very disappointed fishermen who stayed all day and left with one fish. They were frustrated, but they did stay in the area where they are supposed to fish even though the fish have other ideas. I also had a little scare late in the afternoon when we had to call an ambulance, but fortunately, it was nothing too serious. It was everything I would expect a holiday weekend at the park to be.

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