Sister Fun Day

I think that living close to Orlando is going to be a very handy thing.  My sister came for a visit all the way from Indiana.  She is attending a work-related conference in Orlando, but is able to find some time to visit with me before and after the conference.  We picked her up at the airport today and brought her back to the park.  She reads the blog, so she was familiar with many areas of the park but it was nice to be able to put it all together with her in person.
We drove along the whole park drive and through the campground.  We encountered a Gopher Tortoise happily munching on some grass near the entrance to the campground.  We sat and watched it eat for a while.  I wasn't able to catch it wrapping is big tongue around the grass, but I think you can tell how intent it was on eating this grass.


When we went to the youth camp area, we surprised an armadillo.  It started to run when we pulled up, then tried to wait us out.  As we walked closer to it, it finally bolted for cover in the tall grasses.


After seeing the sights visible from the park drive, we went for a little walk.  We walked the wet to dry trail that I blogged about on Sunday.  We walked it in reverse though so that we would end up at the spring.  So, I guess we walked the dry to wet trail.  I saw many of the same things that I saw on Sunday, but I also saw some new things.
There was a lovely Bromeliad clump on a fallen branch.  It was really striking because the filtered sunlight was highlighting the pink bloom.


We watched some very large Whirligig Beetles skate around on the water's surface on one of the streams.  I wasn't sure what they were at first because they were so big, much larger than the ones that I saw at Troy.  The photo of the beetles isn't very crisp, but I loved the color of the reflection on the water.


I was surprised to see a fallen tree.  It was definitely standing on Sunday.  We had just over three inches of rain on Sunday night, I wonder if the storm is what did this tree in.  It could not have fallen in a better place though, it didn't harm the walkway at all.


I was able to catch a photo of these Damselflies this time.  They are very similar to the one I photographed on Sunday, but they have a tiny white patch on the tip of their wings.  I saw this type flying around on Sunday, but they were a little more cooperative this time.


The best find of the walk was spotted by my sister.  She saw these lovely little Jack-in-the-Pulpits in bloom.  They are easily overlooked because the flower is the same color as the leaf and it even looks a little leafy.  They are beautiful little plants.


After our walk, we went for a swim.  I had to work at her for a while to get her into the cold spring water.  I had some help from the biting no-see-ums and some encouraging park visitors.  It was a good day.

Thought of the Day #58
Its easy to think that if you have walked along a particular trail that you have seen it and done it and there is no need to do it again.  Its nice to walk the same trail at different times of the year to see the changes in the foliage.  Its also nice to take a different companion with you each time.  Its amazing how many things are well hidden until the right pair of eyes come along.