Paynes Prairie

We both slept well as we have on most nights here. The area is quiet, and the room is dark for sleeping.

Wild horses grazing among sandhill cranes

Cindy, Mary and I took the dogs on their morning walk then returned to have the oatmeal for breakfast. Jade enjoyed the walk, but Cedar clearly didn’t want to go out without Mark. The whole time we were walking away from the house, she constantly looked back for Mark. As we were coming back, she walked anxiously toward the house. Once in the yard she immediately ran to check on Mark. She is clearly a one-man dog.

Bison at Paynes Prairie

We drove north through Crystal River and Inglis to Paynes Prairie, south of Gainesville. As with most Florida state parks, the fee was $6. From the visitor center we walked out the Cones Dike Trail to view a huge flock of sandhill cranes, as well as many other waterfowl and shorebirds including snipes, coots, gallinules, a limpkin and a whooping crane. We walked out into the prairie where we saw a herd of perhaps a dozen bison. There are also horses that were descended from the genetic stock of the horses brought to Florida by early Spanish explorers in the 1500s. We spent a good deal of time in the area walking the trails and looking at the plants. We stopped by the visitor center again the continued north to additional trails into the prairie and an overlook of Lake Wauburg. We walked the Bolen Bluff Trail for 2.6 miles where we walked through wetlands.

Sandhill cranes feeding

Dinner was the chili and corn muffins that Mark made earlier. We had a great day but were tired. We watched the first of three hours of “And Then There Were None” on Acorn before we went to bed at 10 pm.

Follow That Dream

We slept well until after 6 am then went down when we heard Mark and Cindy stirring. We had a piece of toast then took the dogs for a long walk around the neighborhood. After the walk, Mark made scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast as we planned our day.

Observation pier near Inglis

After breakfast Mark and I installed the seats in the new kayaks and checked out the other kayak gear, while Mary and Cindy packed lunch.

We drove north through Crystal River toward the town of Inglis, where we walked along the former Florida Barge Canal. We didn’t see any wildlife except a few birds, but the scenery was beautiful, and the history of the area was interesting. We went out on several piers and got over 10 miles of hiking in. We learned that the canal was originally planned to cut diagonally across the state from the Jacksonville on the Atlantic to Inglish on the Gulf, reducing the time for freight to move. However, the plan was scuttled when people realized that the salt water would cause irreparable damage to freshwater ecosystems across the state.

Mary & Steve at Yankeetown

We drove the short distance to Yankeetown and to the tiny Bird Creek Beach. The Elvis Presley movie, Follow That Dream, was filmed in the area in 1961.

On the drive back to Homosassa, we stopped at Rural King in Crystal River for a few things then at the Publix in Homosassa. Mark and I took the dogs on their evening walk while Mary and Cindy made fish tacos from the sea trout that one of the neighbors caught. We enjoyed the meal then relaxed for the evening.