Look at that cute guy! As you'd expect, the manatee emerged from the water and barked a goofy hello.

The manatees have been everything Jaime and I were wishing for: big, slow and chubby. Blue Spring State Park, where Jaime and I are camping, has this nice boardwalk along the St. John River where a pod (?) of manatees has taken up residence. We got a close-up view of the manatees and some other aquatic animals, like this old turtle and hundreds of giant fish (gar, tarpon, drum, sunnies and some fat algae-eating bottom dwellers). We also saw the scariest, most terrifying spider ever to exist. Look:

Look at the size of that mother! I tried taking a close-up, and you can see that it started getting mad.

One thing I wouldn’t do is swim in this river. The park allows scuba divers, snorkelers and swimmers to go crazy and splash around in this one cordoned-off area, but anyone who does is nutso. Why? Because we also saw a frigging alligator! The boardwalk is fine by me, thank you very much.

Although our campground isn’t as secluded as our spot in Anastasia State Park, it’s still way better than a boring ol’ RV park. If you didn’t know already, state parks are incredible, especially in Florida (of course, I’m basing my assertion on the two state parks in Florida Jaime and I have been to).

Tomorrow we’re headed to Homosassa Springs, where we’re hoping to find a really long bike path.