January 8th 2016 - Kayaking in Silver Springs

We started another cloudy day with coffee made in our percolator over the campfire. We never seem to get exactly the right proportions of coffee and water but we keep trying because I have to have my coffee. Francis laughs at me because I am pretty low maintenance in every other way. Our neighbors came by to invite us to go kayaking in Silver Spring Park. We threw our supplies and some food together and headed out. It was an awesome trip. Monica and Irene are very experienced boaters and avid birders so we learned a lot. The water was so clear that you could see the fish swimming on their own and in schools. It was incredible seeing through the water like that. There were spring heads that were incredibly deep and glowed a beautiful turquoise color. We saw so many beautiful birds, turtles, a few gators, and even some monkeys, yes wild monkeys in Florida! The babies were adorable, swinging from the trees like performers in a circus trapeze act. We spent the whole day on the water and we so tired we did not even want to think about cooking back at our campsite so we did dinner at Steak n Shake. We ended the night with a bonfire at Irene and Monica's site, chatting and viewing the pictures and video from the trip.

Getting our coffee ready

Monkeys in Florida

look how clear the water is

the spring head

Irene in front, Monica in the back