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Week Eleven Day One Family Adventure: Canoeing and Kayaking.

May 25, 2020

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About five years ago we went canoeing but that was the only time as a family. None of us are experienced at Canoeing and none of us have ever Kayaked. We were ready for an adventure 😁!
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We decided a nice calm lake would be the best option. So we went to Lake Alto.
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Rachel, “The Brave”, wanted to be in the kayak first.
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I was next. It was so much fun! We borrowed the canoe and the kayak from a friend, but it was so much fun we are strongly considering getting our own!
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While we docked the girls had fun swimming.
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Dad tried out the kayak too 😊.
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We found the attachment/the other paddle further back in the kayak storage compartment! Much better!
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Rachel and Dad had the canoe and I was having a great time in the kayak 😁.
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Rachel was excited to try the double paddle. Much better!!
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Lizzy took over the kayak for the return trip to the boat ramp. We had a great family fun adventure 💓💦🛶.
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Week Ten Day Five Trail Adventure

May 22, 2020

Week Ten Day Five Trail Adventure: Florida Trail CR25A.

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Lizzy had her last school assignments to complete so she couldn’t join us today. So far we have enjoyed the Florida Trail. This is our first time on this section of the trail. There is no trailhead sign, just the tell-tale orange blaze on a post.
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The beginning of the trail was nothing special. In fact, I was a little bit concerned that this was not going to be what I expected based on my pre-adventure research on this section of the trail
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The hike went into the woods and got a lot nicer and things were looking up. Right when I said, “I hope we see the river soon” we spotted the banks of the river. After a short hike further we came to a turn off and climbed down to this!
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This makes me So Happy 
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Refreshing and relaxing!! Ahh. . .
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She just could not resist going over to this rock!
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We walked down the bank a little to do a some exploring.
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Does anyone know what scene in The Hunger Games Catching Fire she is reenacting?
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This tree was so cool!
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She was definitely having fun!
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These are the roots from that tree! How cool is that?!
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Apparently the water level has been significantly higher in the past!
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One last look before we head back. Absolutely beautiful!
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I mentioned earlier that we had to climb down. Well now it was time time for us to climb back up!
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So far all the sections of The Florida Trail that we have explored have been very well marked and easy to follow.
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End of trail pic – Happy Are We!
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Week Ten Day Four Trail Adventure

May 21, 2020

Week Ten Day Four Trail Adventure: Silver Springs Swamp Trail.

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This is our first time at Silver Springs State Park.
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We found the trail. Some sort of drama was being portrayed here by Lizzy and Rachel decided it was a great time to photo bombs 😁.
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I told the girls prior to coming that there were (Rhesus) monkeys accidentally released in the area and that we might see some. Monkeys are Lizzie’s favorite animal so she was excited, but also a little nervous, about an encounter with a monkey.
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There were more precautionary signs posted as we got closer to the river.
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A closer look.
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According to the sign, this is what a “Threat Face” from a Rhesus Monkey is supposed to look like.
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Despite the possible threat, we pressed forward. The trail and boardwalk were very nice!
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The Silver River is absolutely amazingly beautiful 😍
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We enjoyed this riverside view for quite a while.
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Beautiful!💙
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Impossible not to relax and enjoy!
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Everyone was super happy 😊.
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Rachel taking relaxation to another level!
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Oh no!
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Heading for higher ground just in case 😊.
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Do you see the large bird on the branch to the left?
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The water is so clear you can see dozens of fish (some quite large) swimming all around.
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The birds were putting on a show as well 🙂.
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I will most definitely be coming back here! Water, palm trees, fish, and birds are a few of my favorite things 😁💝.
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Although it was only a two mile trail length, Lizzy found this cane-like stick and demonstrated her discomfort (all an act of course).
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End of trail! We really enjoyed the Silver River Swamp Trail adventure. . . although we didn’t see any monkeys (this time).
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Week Ten Day Three Trail Adventure

May 20, 2020

Week Ten Day Three Trail Adventure: Alfred A. Ring Park.

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We have been here many times, but this park has been closed since our trail adventures began ten weeks ago. Lizzy had a lot of school work today so we decided to stay local. Luna, Rachel and I were happy to be out on another trail adventure today.
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We were very happy this entrance was no longer blocked off as closed!
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The Elephant Ears have gotten quite big since our last visit (last October). They are actually an invasive plant, but they look cool and can grow to 5 feet long and 3 feet wide.
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We headed down the garden walk first and this flower caught my eye! 💕
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Rachel loves the Koi fish pond. Me too 😍.
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A great place to have a class Zoom meeting. They are almost done with school. Next week is the last week!
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There are several nice wide boardwalks along the trail.
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Another nice place to participate in a class meeting.
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Climbing and crossing logs are some of her favorite things to do on our adventures.
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Mom loves encounters with butterflies. She always thinks of her sister, Aunt Karen, when they dance around us on our adventures. We imagine she is joining us 💕.
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A teeny tiny waterfall.
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By the creek 😊.
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Now that’s good balance!
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Snake! I realize this pic is terrible but this snake was super fast and he outran my camera skills.
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Most of the trail goes along the Hogtown Creek.
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Lots of pretty spots along the way.
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This was a nice little adventure 💕. Lizzy will join us tomorrow for another trail adventure 😊.
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Week Ten Day Two Trail Adventure

May 19, 2020

Week Ten Day Two Trail Adventure: Wacahoota Trail and Jackson’s Gap Trail.

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Although we have been to Payne’s Prairie, this is our first time at this trail-head.
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We decided to head to the tower first.
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There were so many beautiful oak trees!
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Level one of the tower. There were wild horses close by 😊. There were about 10 horses off in the distance as well.
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Level two.
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We went up to the top (level three) a couple of times. This was our last trip up. What’s Rachel doing with that cup of water?? 🙄😯
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Lizzy was on the bottom level! Uh oh!
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Got her! 😆


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All is well, Lizzy said it was refreshing 😊.


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Back on the trail.


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More climbing trees.


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We headed down a little side trail. Guess that’s the end of this trail.


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So we had some fun. 😄
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Definitely had to climb this branch!!
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A great place to relax.
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Happy girls make for a. . .
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Happy Mom! 😁
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This has been more of a climbing adventure than a hiking adventure.
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Reenacting a scene from the Hunger Games. Rachel was “Katniss”. . .
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Lizzy was “President Coin”.
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Striking a contortionist pose.
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Lizzy liked the color on this dragon fly.
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We headed to a second trail.
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Look what we found.
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Look who was watching us.
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They made a wish on this wishbone branch.
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We had another great day of adventure out on the trails.
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Week Ten Day One Trail Adventure

May 18, 2020

Week Ten Day One Trail Adventure: Phifer Flatwoods Preserve.

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Phifer Flaywoods Preserve. We tried to find this last week. We found it! There are several trails in this preserve and none of them actually start right here.
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Happy girls!
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Having fun 😁.
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We traveled down the Gainesville Hawthorne Trail to get to this trail head. However we had trouble finding it, and actually went quite a bit past the road we needed to turn on because there was absolutely no signage. On the way back we managed to find it thanks to Rachel!
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Down the trail we came to some more signage.
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This is a 1.3 mile loop (although we already hiked almost 2 miles to get here).
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There were quite a few informational signs along the way.
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Rachel couldn’t pass by this little climbing tree 😊.
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Cute little bridge crossing.
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A lucky feather. We heard that there was an abandoned house somewhere in this preserve and we have not found it yet, but Rachel is quite determined to keep looking. We could use some luck 😉!
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A heart shaped pond! 💙
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We finished the trail and we haven’t found the abandoned house…yet.
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Meanwhile, back on the Gainesville Hawthorne Trail.
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Very clever girls 🤣. ¿Not sure why these drawings were on the trail, but the girls sure found them irresistible.
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Beauty along the trail.
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We enjoyed the butterflies and these seed pods were pretty cool too!
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Thanks to Lizzy we found the abandoned house!!
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We did some exploring 🕵️‍♀️👁️‍🗨️👁️.
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Rachel was super happy, she said “It was the creepiest, coolest thing she has ever done!” Lizzy was less thrilled with the experience.
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Week Nine Day Five Trail Adventure

May 15, 2020

Week Nine Day Five Trail Adventure: River Rise Preserve East Trail Head.

Review the trail map ✔️.
Earlier this week we went to the River Sink where the water goes down into the ground. This is where the water rises back up – a little over three miles from the sink.
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The trail is wide and very sandy.
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There was a small tree down across the trail, but we just used it as a rest stop.
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We made it down to the information area just before the river.
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Very educational.
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Time to go to the river!!
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Beautiful ❤️.
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Mommy’s Angels.
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We were enjoying relaxing by the river when we heard something fall nearby. . .
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These two friendly 🐍🐍 (snakes) fell from a tree!
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They “played” for a while.
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We watched from a respectable distance.
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They were not interested in us at all.
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Time to soak up the scenery 😊.
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Relaxing by the river 💕.
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Time to explore.
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Look who (blue tailed skink lizard) popped his head out to see what we were doing.
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Unfortunately there were a lot of ticks!! But the river was great!
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There are other trails here that we may come back and explore. However, there is a $5 entrance fee and the most ticks we have ever encountered.


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Week Nine Day Four Trail Adventure

May 14, 2020

Week Nine Day Four Trail Adventure: The plan was Lochloosa Creek Phifer Flatwoods however we could not locate the trailhead. So we ended up on the Hawthorne Trail. I am not giving up on the other trail, but I will need to do more research.

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It was just us three girls today (Lizzy had some school projects to work on and she’ll join us tomorrow).
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We started about a mile from the beginning of the trail in Hawthorne
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We met some cows along the trail. Luna wasn’t so sure we should be talking to them 🐄🐮.
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It was very peaceful on the trail. Although, it was quite warm outside so we took several breaks.
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We happened upon two benches. This one was an Eagle Scout project. Much better than sitting on the pavement.
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Thank you Christopher Sault!
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This flower caught Rachel’s eye.
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Nice desert looking wild flower.
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Any guesses what this (no longer living) animal was?
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More clues…

Did you guess an armadillo?
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There were a lot of butterflies today!!
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This guy ran up on Rachel 😨.
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Any guesses what they are up ahead in the trail?
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I bet you did not guess chickens and roosters!
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Rachel and I had a lovely day today with each other and Luna too 💕. Lizzy will join us tomorrow!
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Week Nine Day Three Trail Adventure

May 13, 2020

Week Nine Day Three Trail Adventure: Florida Trail Bell Springs Tract.

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This is our first time here. I parked here at this entrance and we walked up a little road a short distance. Then we came to the actual trail head with a small parking area. I ran back to get the car so we wouldn’t have to walk out in the sun down the road when we got out of the nice shaded hike. . . .Nice mom 😊.


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The actual trail head 😁.

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This tree is at the very start of the trail was just begging to be climbed!!


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Several bridges.
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Almost the entire trail ran near water! It was clearly marked and even had some up and down little hills to make it almost feel like a real hike!


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The Suwannee River! 😃


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This trail adventure was Lizzy’s favorite out of all our adventures so far 💕.


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Everyone was happy and thoroughly enjoying this trail.


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Only a mile in there was a waterfall!
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We spent a good long time enjoying this spot right next to the waterfalls.

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Lizzy stayed up with Luna for a little while.
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Then she joined us by the water.
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We decided to continue onward. We came to this bridge that we all wanted to cross before we turned back.
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We all made it across the board. Even Luna went across twice! Time to head back.
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At our final bridge crossing Luna decided to go cool off in the water.
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Luna played in the mud too so we had to wipe her down before we would let her in the car. She was only a little patient with this process 😆. We give this trail six thumbs and a paw up! We will be back!