One Big Holiday: yakity yak...

It's been about a month and a half since we've bought our kayaks and we have really been enjoying them! We've had 5 trips so far and this post is filled with photos and info!

Trip #1: Alligator Lake

For our first trip we decided to go somewhere with a boat ramp to put in easily. We also wanted calm waters so we could get used to being in the kayak. I learned very quickly how to manage taking pictures and killing spiders without tipping over...whew! Thankfully that did NOT happen out here...hence the name of the lake! We saw 4 gators that day...and I'll have to say it's a little scary when you're right there IN the water with them. We also discussed the option of keeping a knife in the boat just in case they came after us so we could stab them. HAHA...can you imagine what that would look like?!? I immediately opted out of that. I would say our first experience was a great one though :)

Trip #2: Ichetucknee Springs River Basin

For our second trip we headed to the Ichetucknee Springs (seen in previous post here) with Ryan and Melissa. I'd say the worst part was carrying the kayaks to the river. We immediately figured out that we would need to make or buy a kayak cart (with wheels) to pull them on instead of carrying them.

When we finally got in, we were in awe at how beautiful the area was. The water was so clear, just like the springs, and the weather was perfect. We were on the river for about an hour when we saw some other people who asked if we had seen any manatees yet. MANATEES?!?!? So of course after this we were on the hunt to find some because neither of us had seen one up close and personal before. Little did we know we would find 7!

Someone else that day had told us that they swim up from the Gulf of Mexico because they are looking for warmer waters and the Springs are 72 degrees year-round. It was seriously amazing...we stared at them for a long time and I took so many pictures!

The first pair! They were HUGE and didn't mind us being so close.

before I snapped this, the larger manatee came up for air and snorted at Clay.

enjoying the scenery

FOUR in a pod!!

One of my favorites!

Memorable day!

We had such an awesome second trip! We weren't sure if we'd be able to top it!

Trip #3: 10 miles!

This trip took quite a bit of planning but we pulled it off nicely! We drove about 30 minutes South and went down the Santa Fe River. The 10 miles we kayaked were between two boat ramps so we drove both cars that day. We dropped the kayaks off at the first ramp, both drove to the second ramp (about 10 minutes) and parked the truck, then drove my car back to the first ramp where we took off.

All along this part of the Santa Fe there are tons of natural springs. We stopped at Rum Island to check it out. It was a beautiful day and lots of families were having picnics and grilling out. I only got a few photos this trip because we were paddling quite a bit and knew we needed to keep a steady pace so we wouldn't be out there forever! Some parts were really shallow and rocky so it took some patience and concentration not to get stuck and tip over!

It was so peaceful and quiet....until we came upon a bend in the river where the noise level of people talking and laughing continued to rise. As we came around the bend, we saw hundreds of people tubing, boating, and swimming for about a mile. There were so many people it was insane! There were tents set up all along the riverbank and it literally looked like we had stumbled upon a bunch of spring breakers. We found out it later that it was called Ginnie Springs. We are planning on going there this summer to go tubing!

Rum Island

Ginnie Spings

Trip #4: Santa Fe River (different part)

For our fourth trip we found a different boat ramp to explore around on the Santa Fe. This was a shorter and more private trip for us. No one else was on the river in this area...which ended up creeping me out a little bit but it was fine. We headed one direction down the river and then turned around to go through O'Leno State Park to see if we could see the sinkhole where the river goes into the ground.

As we got closer to the park, we encountered a HUGE tree that had fallen across the entire river and the only way go continue was to squeeze under a little part on the kayak or get off on the bank, go over the tree, and get back in on the other side. Clay fit under but I couldn't. His seat back is completely flexible so he could lay back and glide under the tree. My seat back has a hard plastic backing that was stabbing me in the spine so I couldn't lay down flat...ugg! I attempted several times to try and get out and go around but I couldn't find anything to pull up on and the bank was pretty steep. Disappointment. We turned around and headed back but it was still a fun trip.