In May when we discovered Withlacoochee River Park, the cypress trees by the canoe launch were in deep languid water. Now several feet lower, there are stretches of the river without enough water to canoe in. When we arrived, shortly after sunrise, mist was dancing along the river surface.

This limpkin’s companion had a freshwater mussel that it wanted to keep us from stealing.

We were the first car in the parking lot, and so no one had yet cleared away the spider webs. This arrow-shaped micrathena was off to the side, and not nearly as large as some of the golden silk spiders sitting over the trail. I eventually picked up a stick to catch the spider webs instead them hitting my face.

After the confusion of not being on the official park trail map last time, this time we came prepared with more supplies and a better combination of maps. At the very bottom of the 5 mile Florida trail loop, we found a deserted camp site. The only frog we saw on the trip hung out on the picnic table with us while we ate lunch. We think it was a barking tree frog.

A clearing taken over by dog fennel attracted several yellow butterflies which never sit still, along with zebra longwings and this gulf fritillary.

This green anole watched us, and then hid behind the branch.

Almost back to the car, a large black snake was sunning itself along the path. It decided to slither off before we decided to take a detour.

On the way home we stopped by a frozen custard shop. While not bad, we were both expecting something more. It felt and tasted just like any other ice cream shop.