Mon, 11/12/07
Marianna, FL: Up pretty early and couldn’t wait to leave this place. Didn’t even take a shower. Just put on the same clothes I had on yesterday. We arrived at Manatee Springs State Park at about 3:00. Lost an hour because we’re now in the Eastern time zone (sigh). Pulled into the campground and got set up at our site. No one near us at all. It’s so quiet and peaceful. Supposed to be packed starting this weekend—Thanksgiving and all. Wondered if the deer were still around. Didn’t take long to find out since a deer sauntered into our site right after we set up. Went to Chiefland for dinner and saw a bunch of deer on the way. When we came back we stopped at the spring to see if there any manatees around. The ranger told us there were a bunch in the spring this morning. Guess they come into the spring at night. No manatees, but we saw lots of deer—everywhere. Walked down to the boardwalk to the Suwannee River and there was all this commotion because the vultures were juxtapositioning for roosting places in the trees by the river—hundreds of them. When we got back to our campsite there was a herd of deer behind our camper. They’re everywhere! It’s great!