Silver River Canoeing

We had a great visit with my brother last week. He hadn't seen our new place yet, and we were happy he could squeeze in a trip before he moves to Seattle.

Pdog LOVES J & was pretty sure that he came to town just to visit her.
Evidence:

We had a great paddle on the Silver River while he was here. Beautiful water, great scenery, and lots of wildlife. It rained a bit while we were eating lunch under a covered platform, but was mostly a perfect overcast day. It wasn't too hot, which was great since no swimming is allowed due to the high numbers of alligators.

We put in at Ray Wayside Park which had ample parking and nice boat ramps and did the 5 mile paddle up to the headspring. We had originally planned on renting a kayak for J, but ended up all going together. The boys paddled while Pdog and I kept watch.

 Most of the gators we saw were pretty small. We even saw a group of hatchlings (we assume Mama was nearby...)

 TD caught this cute baby Armadillo (there were two) while we were eating lunch

 and he grabbed this guy right out of the water as we glided by...

 There are several troops of naturalized Rhesus macaques that live along the Silver River. They were pretty interesting to watch.

 This guy crawled down to the water and caught something

 Prairie thought these were the biggest squirrels she had ever seen!

 There is no development along the entire stretch of river, except for the headspring

 The water is crystal clear and looks perfect for swimming - too bad for all the gators!

This was our favorite paddle so far and we will definitely be back!