Manatee Springs State Park, FL

We've officially left and moved away from Georgia, which means I am happy yet very, very sad. :(
but nonetheless, life shall continue to move on, as it always does. quite frankly.
















Our stop for this weekend was Manatee Springs State Park, which is located in Chiefland, Florida! I unfortunately got sick a few days before moving here, to the point where I couldn't breathe through my noes, my eyes were pink, my head hurt, my throat hurt, and my body was weak.

Which is odd, because I eat like a rabbit. I am super duper healthy and nothing fights down the walls of my immune system! Or at least, not usually, so when I suddenly became sick this suckkkeed.



The first day we arrived at the state park, I just slept, and when I wasn't sleeping I was watching supernatural and eating soup. I was a mess. We also had no wifi, internet, water, or television here. (At least we had electricity!)







Something I loved most about this place was how our campsite was literally dead center in the woods, right in the trees. We're surrounded by birds and forest and deer and that just makes me so incredibly happy.





Also, hence "manatee springs", the park has numerous outlets to the ocean-fed river, which is currently home to tons and tons of manatee at the moment.

The water is over 70 degrees year round and is perfect for swimming! (I can see why the manatee are currently living in these waters) not to mention how crystal clear it is, you can see every fish in this water! How awesome!





The next day, after taking a long hot shower and blowing my nose a few dozen times, I was finally able to make it out the house, despite the fact I felt so sick, I just couldn't miss this day.

The sun was shining and the air was nice and cool. Dad and I went for a walk on the wooden bridge, it goes for almost a mile through the woods, and is alongside the water.














We happened across a hawk, and got very close to it, which is the highlight of my life right there because I mean how often do you get this close to a hawk and snap such an amazing picture.

I loved seeing all of the different animals - such as turtles, manatees, butterflies, hawks, squirrels, blackbirds, fish, and the list goes on.

Camping in SC

Yes, another day of traveling, but luckily the hours were short and we didn't have long to go. We ended up in Yemasesse, South Carolina.

I have to say, out of all the campgrounds I've stayed in, I love this one! All of the campers and campsites are hidden within a fast forest of trees. It was too cold to go swimming in the pool, but it was still decently warm outside.


























For dinner we ordered Pizza from the KOA's pizzaria, and afterwards we all went for a walk around the lake that is here in the campground. It's off wayyy far in the woods, but the hike was very nice and I really enjoy all of the walking trails :) It's nice to get active after sitting for so long.

KOA Campground

You have no idea how glad I was to finally make it to the campground in SC, I was so tired!! But that didn't stop Joshua & I from running around outside, I love exploring new places and it was great to get out and ride my bike around.

This campground even had a game room - sweet! The boy and I played a few rounds of air hockey before we headed over to the playground, where they had some sort of bouncy thing... I don't even know what you'd call it, but it was pretty awesome!

Meeting the Ocean

As of now, I am 15 years old and I've never been to the ocean - not even close. Southwest Virginia is the closest I've made it to the depths of the ocean blue. I mean, it was only just a few years ago when I left the Wisconsin/Illinois area for the first time in my life.

So this new life I am living is fascinating, because I'm seeing the country, even if it's just a small portion of it. I'm meeting people and experiencing new things, and that's pretty awesome!

touching the sand for the first time.
couldn't believe how white it was!

I was ecstatic for this trip to the beach, I honestly couldn't wait. Our destination was Kure Beach, North Carolina! The drive was long, but the place awaiting us was worth it.



Day one was just mostly chilling and hanging out, we got to our 'hotel' room late in the day and the only thing the boy and I wanted to do was get in the water!






Something rad was we got a hotel room, but it's wasn't like an ordinary hotel room, it had a kitchen and such, and we had a balcony overlooking the blue sea! It was like a dream!

Ingles Farm

I love adventure and going new places, so I was rather excited that we'd be going over to the Ingles Farm here in Virginia! The farm, also known as Ingles Ferry, is a great example of what life was like back in the 18th century. We got there on a Sunday morning just before they opened, the air was still cool and no one else was there touring the farm except us!

Me wearing wooden shoes, imagine walking in these!

It was a very educational experience and yet very enjoyable, we learned about different weapons and tools used in the 18th century, about how people would have lived and survived, also about the clothes they wore and what kind of food someone would have eaten. Joshua was especially interested in learning about how to make bullets, and was very happy to see their example of how to shoot a gun.

We learned about Carding Wool and using a Spinning Wheel, something I'm already familiar with, My mother uses a droop spindle and we card wool all the time! I enjoyed petting the Hog Island Sheep, they felt like a sweater!

•  Ingles Farm Hog Island Sheep, they are a breed of sheep descended from animals first brought to Virginia's Hog Island in the 1700s. During the 1930s and 1940s, storm conditions forced the island's residents to evacuate, leaving some sheep behind. These sheep adapted to the environment free of human intervention, becoming feral.

 
A lovely lady sat us down, and she told us the story of Mary Draper Ingles, about her being captured by the Shawnee Indians and the tale of her escape, it's a very interesting tale, I could imagine going through something like that! Click here to read more about Mary Draper Ingles

Flax Flowers, just before harvesting

 

 

 

 

• Flax is grown both for its seeds and for its fiber. Various parts of the plant have been used to make fabric, dye, paper, medicines, fishing nets, hair gels,cloths,ropes,high quality paper and soap. Flax seed is the source of linseed oil, which is used as an edible oil, as a nutritional supplement, and as an ingredient in many wood finishing products.

After which we learned about Flax, and I got to help in the process of making flax! In the end, this will become a piece of clothing, or can also be used as flax seed (something we eat in our house!) and many other things. It was such a wonderful day, and we all learned so many new things. It's interesting how things from the 18th are not all too different from what we use today.

Ingles Farm

Libraries and Parks

I love books, so it's only natural for me to love the library! Our family makes a stop to the library at least twice a week, and currently since it is summer the library has their Summer Reading Program! I love going and doing crafts, so far I've made Dream Catchers, Dream Journals and Dream Paintings (the theme this year is 'night') They also have many other events, such as their animal programs- this month we've learned about Owls and Bats!
 

After stopping at the library, we enjoy checking out several of the local parks, one of which is actually on the river! I love going and finding clam shells, toads, snails, and even fish (if you can spot them!) There is also many trails you can go and walk, Joshua and I enjoy riding our bikes and making new discoveries by the water.

Crayfish Crawl and fun at the lake...

We are living in Dublin, Virginia which is actually where Claytor Lake State Park is located! Joshua and I have been going swimming almost every evening during the week, there's nothing like chilling off in the lake after a hot humid day! We enjoy swimming at the lake in the evenings for two reasons - one it's not super hot and the sun isn't giving you a sunburn, and two- quite often there is hardly anyone there! Usually at least a few kids to play with, but for the most part it's not crowded like in the afternoon (when there is a tons of people on the beach!)

(a fish we managed to catch)

Something cool that the State Park does, is they offer educational wildlife programs throughout the summer. Some of the things we've done (so far) is made Eco-Friendly Bird feeders, learned about Owls at the "Owl Prowl" and most recently participated in what is called the "Crayfish Crawl." These little freshwater crustaceans can be found in the lake here (and are also known as Crawdads or even craw-fish.) My cousin India is the lovely lady who teaches and offers these wonderful programs, and today we started off by learning all about these Crayfish and how they live, such is what they eat, how they find food, and so on. Then we headed off to the water with our little nets and attempted to catch some crayfish!

After looking in the water for awhile, none of us seemed to be having any luck, but then I lifted a rock and there are two crayfish just hanging out in the water! A total of 5 were caught this afternoon, and I have to say it was a very enjoyable time! These five in particular happened to be small, but I've seen them grow very large in size.