glamping day one . . .

and robin, julie, vicki and i are off to de leon springs for some kayaking.  doing a happy dance.

 that's nineteen million gallons of water a day and all of it at 72•

crystal clear until it hits the cyprus trees and turns brown with tannin.

we lucked out.  drop dead gorgeous day.

but the run out the river and down to lake woodruff is long and the wind has picked up so we decide to take the boat ride rather than kayak and this is by far my favorite shot.  check out all the babies crawling all over mom. 

aren't they cute.  until they get big and then i like them better as shoes.

more normal river life:

 and finally out on the river itself.

we decided we were hungry and since we couldn't get into our cabin until three, we decided to go to de la vega in deland.  check out these goodies:

that's plantain.  slurp.

and my soup with magic cheese.  see the white food in the little cup?  i thought it was creme fraiche but as i ate my soup, more and more stringy delicious cheese came up to the surface.  having no idea what it was, we added more of the magical mystery substance and stirred it in.  more string cheese.  we were fascinated!!!!  then robin asks what our magical cheese is and the waitress looks like we are crazy.  that is sour cream, says she.  we look at each other and the bowl and shake our heads.  turns out, the soup is ladled into the bowl on top of a large portion of cheese which then starts to melt.  so much for our magical cheese and hooray for friends that understand your life.

and finally it is time to head to silver springs and our cabin:

as soon as we unpack, we head to the spring head to count manatees.  mother nature has blessed us with a stunning day and since the manatees are happy in warm water, three quarters of them have left the warmth of the spring and headed out to the river but not all.  check out this shot.  there is a gator, a manatee and a turtle:

but here are my favorites with mama and her baby:

 

and this is a little herd. or clutch. or nest or . . . .

amazing beasties and no, i would never make shoes out of them.

julie set the ambiance for dinner:

we dined on robin's amazing crab cakes and spinach, mushroom, bacon and hard boiled egg salad with homemade chocolate chip, walnut cookies for dessert and wine.  well that's the wine that needed to be chilled at least:

and then a camp fire of course:

but here's the thing about the campfire.  we're all sitting around with me closest to the parking pad and all of a sudden the girls, who are more or less facing me start to giggle.  i look around and behind me by only three feet, is rocky racoon.  he wanders up the walk, pushes the screen door open, walks into the porch, wanders around, hooks his claws into the screen, pulls it open, walks down the stairs and into the woods.  true story!

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya.  and to all a good night.