Blue Springs and ZERO-G

Our good friends Robert and Chale invited us up to Deland on Saturday to go out to Blue Springs State Park. It was a beautiful park and we had a wonderful time! It was, however, freezing cold.

I know I've been swimming at the spring-fed lake at Camp Thunder in GA, but this was totally different. It was also totally opposite from the Tabacon *hot* springs in Costa Rica.

The park consisted mainly of a parking lot and long wooden walkways widing through the woods. One path lead down to a 'dock' where you can jump into the river and swim around or float in a tube. Our trail ended in a walkway int the water closer to the spring itself.

Once in the 72° water (YIKES! That is COLD!), we walked/swam upstream against the strong current to the start of the river. The spring is a 5 x 15 ft crevice at the bottom of a bowl-shaped pool of water. Although it was a bit cloudy due to lots of visitors that day, I could still swim down and see the spring and feel the rush of cold, cold water.

Next time we go (and we will go again!), we'll be sure to bring our snorkel gear and pick a really HOT day to swim. Thanks to Robert & Chale for taking us to this great Florida landmark!

Quick report from the road

Wow! Sincere apologies for the long lapse in posts. We've been keeping very busy as always. Here's a recap:

• Our good friend Shannon moved from Phoenix to Atlanta to take a new job at Delta Airlines and moved in with my Mom & Dad until she got an apartment
• Mom and Dad brought Maw-Maw down for a visit to the house in Port Orange
• I went to the STS-118 Pre-Launch Education Conference in Orlando and met with NASA's Associate Administrator for Education
• the new Marshalls, Quiznos, and Petco are all open in Titusville in the same plaza as the new Target and Home Depot
• We formally decided NOT to go to India for SGC & IAC this year and take some other trips instead
• we've bought paint and found a new door knob for the front door. It should be done and reinstalled this week!

Next post: weekend adventures!