Thanks to the Interstate Highway System,
it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without
seeing anything.
~Charles Kuralt, On the Road With Charles Kuralt
Monday, November 24th
We spent the day at a couple state parks not too
far from where we are staying. Falling Waters and Florida Caverns.
Any guesses what we saw?
If you guessed falling water, you are wrong, but I see some now! The
rain hit around 7 and is still coming down outside our room, the surf is huge
tonight! I can almost see the appeal in surfing, though these waves
are still not even close to what it would take to surf on. The water
is so powerful, it must be such a rush to master that, even for a few seconds.
We started our day at a coffee shop drinking yummy cocoa and from there we hit the road.
Our first stop was at the only Union Soldier monument
south of the Mason Dixon Line:
This is a longleaf pine.
Yesterday we went right through the longleaf pine forest literally right out
of the Roger Reid book, Longleaf.
I learned loads reading the book, which I recited as we drove through.
So, I was excited to see a longleaf out hiking today. : )
++Falling Waters State Park++
No falling water...
Cool Bug
Cool bug macro.
This was on a guardrail, not Matt's arm. In case you were freaked a
bit by the texture...
++Florida Caverns State Park++
I love the added touch of giving directions to the nearest hospital on the little sign underneath.
We took the cave tour, it was interesting. No two caves are alike anyway, but this one was less like any other caves I have ever seen. It was shallow for one, the deepest point was only 50 feet below the surface. It also had a strange feel to it, like someone built it using a good basic cave formation handbook and not so much like it was formed the way caves in our area are. Maybe it was the lack of limestone surfaces all through it.
Cave bacon!
Flowstone
We opted for picking up pizza again on the way home, we were all tired and a bit dirty and it was raining.
After the rain stopped, Matt and Ben walked the beach a while. I stood on the balcony and watched Ben jumping like a sand flea.
We are about to change into our suits and go soak
in the hot tub a while before bed.
We booked our room for another night, so we will be here through Wednesday.