Rainbow Springs

I love a good adventure! Today's adventure probably tops all others. We set off this morning for a kayak trip down the Rainbow River. This is something I have wanted to do for quite some time. So when we were making plans to go to a conference in Tampa, we decided to take a day and do something. Shopping...no, what to do, what to do. So I suggested how about going to Rainbow River? So we made out plans, and today has arrived! One of the questions we asked was are there alligators? Oh, alligators should be the least of your worries. The bees, the bees are an issue so stay away from the trees on the banks of the river because they are full of bees. Okay! Directions were given, we loaded the short bus, and off we went to the State Park, bought our ticket, and off we went in our kayaks. We decided we'd go up the river first and then down. We were half way up when we stopped and chatted with a couple heading down, they talked about the waterfalls...so this impressed us so we continued up to the end of the river, and then went down just a bit to dock. Liz and Lisa got out, Candy was next, my kayak was next to the tall grass and I looked out over to my right and I am nose to snout with a ..... GATOR"!!!! What to do? Panic? Yell, Splash???? No, I took the calm route, I was afraid to disturb the critter so I just said sternly and quietly .... "get me out of here...NOW"!!! Candy tries to get closer, "no, no...go back....gator"! "Get the camera" I tell Lisa, who is now hopping up and down, "I can't, I can't" and Liz "where, where"? I don't want to hit the gator by accident with my paddle to push myself away, I don't want to splash, I don't want to yell, but I do want a picture!! Candy gets her kayak docked and Liz has reached for a paddle and is pushing me away, FINALLY they the the cameras to take pictures. The alligator is about 8 feet long! A fine prehistoric specimen! :D I make it out, safe and sound, which I had my good camera with me....we leave and the couple that left with us, is now looking at the Gator...the man is still nasty and naggy to his wife....and we walk off in search of the waterfalls. It was a peaceful walk and we enjoy the falls. We set off again, the park rangers are now looking for the gator who has now mysteriously gone, so we show our pictures as proof, and set off down river. We stop where we put in, have lunch, a swim to cool off, and head down river. It is one long river. We go past wildlife like otters, turtles, birds, etc. We pass houses some nice, others not so nice. We finally hit the darker water, and we know that we are close....we see the water lilies and we made it back safe and sound....with happy and exciting memories!!