Winter on the Silver River

The last time mom and dad were here, way back in '04, I took them to Silver Springs Park to go on the glass bottom boats. This time we took them up the Silver River on our pontoon. I love the river in the spring and summer, and it's really beautiful in the fall, too. During the winter it's kinda drab with most of the trees being without leaves. But you can really see the wildlife!

It was a long way up the river before we saw the 1st gator, but after that, they were everywhere.

This is a big momma gator. Her babies are on the log behind her.

There was a momma and 8 babies here! I couldn't fit them all in and still be close enough to see them.

Gator babies are babies you DON'T want to play with hahaha!
I didn't take pics of every gator we saw, but dad did!

Dad took lots of pictures!

Mom took lots of pics and posted them to FaceBook :)

There were so many birds out, too. I didn't take pics of many of the birds, because I have so many already.

I also have tons of pics of turtles on logs, but one or two more is ok, right?

I never tire of taking pics of the monkeys!

They are so fun to watch! And the babies are adorable!

I love being able to see the bottom of the river through the clear, clean water :)

So pretty! This is in about 17 feet of water!

It's still as mesmerizing now as it was when I was a little kid.

Ha! MORE monkeys!

There's a little one in the palmetto.

Oh, I love the monkeys!

and Cypress knees!

They just look so very cool! Cypress trees use these "knees" to breathe.

I thought this tree made an interesting picture, too.

I love the Silver River! And I love sharing it with my loved one's and visitors!
Would you like to take a trip up the river?

Visitors and Sight Seeing

My best friend from Alaska has been visiting for the past two weeks. Dee and I had a great time, and her 2nd oldest daughter came with her for the first week. Laci (my 2nd oldest) and Elisa had a good time, as they were also able to recall silly fun things they did as kids. Dee and I have been best friends since the 7th grade, so we go back many, many years.

We did get to the beach, but only once. We really wanted to hit both coasts, but one or the other of us was recuperating from our few outings.We are both sick ladies, but still want to get out and enjoy our surroundings!

We went to Silver Springs, and went on the glass bottom boats one day, and took a tour up the river from the other side in our pontoon boat on the weekend.

Lisa tried to feed the fish through the glass. It was hilarious!

Looking through the depths of the Silver River

This is so much deeper than it looks

White alligator. Pretty, yes...lethal, definitely!

Dee enjoying the Florida sunshine (I'm under the canopy in the shade!)

Can you see the monkeys?

How about here?

Look real close. See the baby hanging underneath it's momma? It was so very little.

The secret is not to make eye contact. It looks like they've been told that, too!

We never see the monkeys when we go to the park, but we've been lucky to see them almost every time we take our boat up the river. Florida is the only state that has wild monkeys, and we live pretty close to some of them!

I hope you enjoyed our tour on the Silver River!

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, and I'll be back to my old self soon, with less activity. Sight seeing is fun, but tiring!

I missed you all so much, and I can't express how glad I am to be back. I have so much catching up to do! I'll see you around!

Del