A Weekend Trip

Hello Everyone!

Well, last weekend, (Feb. 6th-8th) was quite exciting and amazing! I'm going to tell ya'll all about it in this extremely long post. I'm going to just write about the main highlights, because this would turn into a book if I wrote about all the details that took place on this adventure!
Friday afternoon our family packed up the car and headed out for Deland, Fl. Our friends had invited us to come visit them and we could go camping with them. So, we took our tent and made it to our friend's house, probably around 4:30-5 pm.  (This is a picture of a pretty tree I took when we stopped at the store. )

 When everything was ready, our friend's led the way to a pathway off the road. They took half of our family back into the woods where we were going to camp, and then came back to get the other half of our family, and all our things. The other half of our family, except mommy, rode on the back of the car, hanging on as we bumped our way farther and farther into the woods. Finally we arrived at "Gator Lake", so our family pitched the tent. Oh, I forgot to mention that it was dark and cold out, so yeah, we had to put up the tent in the dark. Well, we had flashlights, but still... Anyway, after our tent was all set up, our friends pulled out their tiny gas stove and heated up the taco soup mommy had made. This fire was a welcome sight to the ones who were freezing. :)

                      This isn't the best picture, but it shows the full moon that was shining.

So, around 10:30, we retired to our tent after singing some hymns and talking. Well, we had packed sleeping bag and enough blankets to keep us warm that night. So we thought. It was freezing! Even with sweatshirts and sweaters and blankets and more blankets piled on top of us, we were all shivering! I woke up somewhere around 4 in the morning, and mommy and daddy woke up too.  I had blankets piled on top of my head so I wouldn't breathe in the cold air, but it didn't help that much. But mommy, daddy, and I did manage to fall asleep again and we slept for a couple more hours. In the morning, daddy started a fire and he and my older sister went for a canoe ride, hoping to catch some fish.  
The lake was right across from where our tent was set up. In the morning, a fog had fallen over it, and the scene was very beautiful. 

                                                           The fog is slowly disappearing...

                                           and the sun is peaking through the trees.

Here are some more pictures of the lake after the fog cleared. 

                                               This panoramic photo came out nicely!

                                 The water was very clear and had a beautiful reflection.

After breakfast of cinnamon apple pancakes, our tent was packed up and place in our friend's trailer, along with the rest of our belongings. Us girls all squished in there, and bumpity bumpity bumpity we went, all the way out of the woods. Sometimes it felt like we were going to tip over, and it really did feel like a roller coaster. 

Our friends went to borrow a pontoon boat from their friends, and this cow was standing in the driveway. 

                                     This is another panoramic photo of a beautiful lake.

 We then drove to lake George and prepared for the pontoon boat ride.

 There were a bunch of pelicans hanging out at the boat landing, waiting for people to carry in their fish. 

 

 

 

And yet another panoramic picture. This was a huge tree that was growing out of the water. 

Now, for some pictures of Lake George. 

This manatee was swimming around when we got closer to the springs. The water in the springs was super clear!!! It was a little cold when I first got in, but after you got all wet, it warmed up. It really started getting cold when you got out of the water!

                                    This manatee was near the spring, eating the seaweed.
                                                   It was very neat to see him up close.

 

 

                                I took this picture (below) as we were leaving the springs.

                                        And we saw this Bald Eagle sitting up in a tree.

 

We had such a long ride ahead of us when we left the Springs. The picture(below) was taken as we left Silver Glen Springs. You can't even see the land, it was so far away.

 

The next morning we went to a church with our friends. After that, we toured a farmer's market, and then drove home that afternoon. Overall, it was an extremely fun trip, and lots of memories were made. :) 

Have you ever been camping? Did you enjoy it? Have you ever ridden on a pontoon boat or visited any springs? Leave a comment below! I would love to hear your answers! :) 

Thanks to our friends for the pictures of the manatee.