Weather: low 75 degrees, high 97 degrees, clear skies
There is a special place near here that we remember with a lot of fondness and nostalgia. We decided to visit that special place today. On a hot summer day, Juniper Springs was a place that we visited with the anticipation of jumping into cold clear water that averages 72 degrees the entire year. The springs were developed back in the 1930s as part of the work performed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
As I was walking around taking pictures today, it was funny to see the little kids running out of the water with blue lips and shivering because they were cold. Of course, it didn't take long for them to warm up in the bright sunshine.
About 1975, we took our girls for a canoe trip down Juniper Creek to Lake George. Here's the start of the canoe trip, and the picture doesn't do justice to the beauty we saw as we moved away from the springs. Note the kids wading in the creek, more commonly known as "The Run". The spring puts out 80 million gallons of cold, clear water every day, and it creates Juniper Creek on it's way to Lake George.
The trip down the run is a beautiful step back in time. However, I got the worse case of poison oak/ivy that I ever had when we paddled down the creek. It took me a month to get over it. At least my family had fun.
There was a good crowd at the spring today, and there are several shelters for people to use for picnics, etc.
The woods around the spring are protected, being left in an undisturbed state as much as possible. Check out how thick the woods are in this picture. Can you imagine how hard it was for the early settlers to travel in this stuff?
On my way back to the truck where Carolyn was waiting, I stopped for a few minutes to talk to a man who works at the spring as a security guard. It appeared that the major portion of his job consisted of stopping people carrying coolers and checking them for alcoholic beverages. From what I saw, he was very unpopular today, as he sent three people back to the parking lot with forbidden beverages. He said they had to adopt strict measures like that because some people allowed their actions to get out of hand while drinking. With the number of kids and young people there, it made sense that they had banned alcohol. That didn't make it a popular decision.
This was a good day, and the only thing that would have made it better was to have had our daughters there with their kids to see where their mothers went to have a cool swim when they were little girls.
More later, be safe.
Today's Town - Temple Terrace, Florida: The Terrace
Not all who wander are lost.
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