When the sun shines through the Spanish moss, it looks like the trees are draped in scarves of lace.
We stopped at different points along the way to look for alligators, watch the birds, or see if we could spot Ken's favorite bird: a Roseate Spoonbill. At the north end of the park, we stopped at the bridge crossing Clay Gully to watch some people fishing for tilapia...
...and then rode back into the Clay Gully picnic area where a wedding and reception were just finishing up. We saw this Anhinga drying his wings near the Clay Gully stream.
We rode out to the north entrance, talked with the ranger at that entrance for a few minutes, and then began heading back down the road. Again, we were amazed by the beauty of the trees and the canopy of trees over the road.
Perfect place for bike riding, don't you agree?
We stopped when Chuck noticed another Red Shouldered Hawk in the woods. The hawk flew between a couple of trees and then landed on this short dead tree.
He almost seemed to be posing for his picture.
We stopped at the concession stand where Croctoberfest was going on. The festival was originally scheduled for 2 weeks earlier but had to be rescheduled to this weekend because of the flooding. The festival was fairly small with live music. We ate our snack bars and apples and enjoyed the music for a little while and then walked out to the historic weir that had been built by the CCC in the 1930's.
When we reached the observation deck, Ken walked out near the water to take a picture of something. What is it? Did he finally find his favorite bird, the Roseate Spoonbill?
Nope. It was another alligator.
A very BIG alligator.
After leaving the weir and having a Ben and Jerry's popsicle at the camp store, we got back on our bikes to begin heading back towards the campground. We stopped at the bridge over the Myakka River and explored a short nature trail that went through the trees...
...and ran along the Myakka River.
We heard what we thought was a wild hog but couldn't see one anywhere. But then Chuck pointed to something out on a nearby island.
Just another gator.
After we finished walking the trail, we looked out over the Myakka River on the bridge again...
...and watched the alligators that seem to be nearly everywhere.
By the time we reached our campsites, we had ridden our bikes 14.7 miles. Later that evening, we enjoyed a dinner of quesadillas together and played cards at our camper.
Today was a very special day for Ken and Bonnie: their 45th wedding anniversary!
Happy Anniversary, Ken and Bonnie! Thanks for letting us be a part of it!
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