Saint Andrews State Park- Panama City, Florida

There's not much to write about in this park, it's better seen with pictures. I took these along one of the trails that circles an alligator pond. St Andrews has plenty of wet land areas for sighting birds and other life.Of course a sign like this is like telling me to go ahead and try.

When I finally spotted one he was too far in the water for me to go and play with.

Slick little joker.

If you look carefully you can see the smallest duck I've ever seen.

Only when you forget your camera- that's when something awesome happens.

I took a hike today in the woods down in Zion Chapel. The weather was overcast with spotty showers. I like walking through the forest in these conditions because the ground is soft and wet making your footsteps almost silent.

Along the trail I stopped to make sure my GPS was still locked on it's satellites when I heard a rustling about 10 yards behind me. I caught a glimpse of a small deer bounding away into the woods. Still watching the deer something else popped out on the path. It was a small gray coyote. He stopped with one paw raised and looked at me for a split second. He then turned back to his target and shot into the woods like a rocket.

It's these times that I want to kick myself when I forget my camera. I may not have been able to catch the shot but I would have tried. It would have been a great one for the album. I'll have to settle for a camera phone pic of the little worm above. I don't know how he got on that leaf but it's his little life raft on the creek. I hope he doesn't eat his own boat.

There's a freediver that frequents Vortex Springs and Saint Andrews State Park who happened to catch some footage of our class at the springs. You can see me sportin' the uber secksay short sleeve wet suit. We were on one of the teaching platforms about 20 feet deep. We sat on that platform and practiced skills such as buddy breathing and mask clearing. You can also see us feeding canned sausages to the Bluegill.

Vortex Springs is a lot of fun and I would like to go back and explore sometime soon when there aren't so many schools out there. The water is gorgeous before it gets all kicked up.

Certified PADI Basic Open Water!

I'm now an official diver! I had a great weekend diving with some folks at the Dive Locker in Panama City. It was all very exhausting, but really fun. We dove at Vortex Springs and at St Andrews state park at the jetties. There was an amazing amount of wildlife to see at the jetties, and Vortex had some really nice clear blue water-that is until all the dive classes started showing up and kicking up silt.

I'm going to get some photos up for you all very soon. I'm definitely going to further my education in diving, it's just to exhilarating to let this adventure slip away after only one weekend. This could definitely turn into a monthly trip!

TaTonKa! Bicycling is the best way to find new things in your own backyard.

I've been slacking for about two weeks on the velo training so I decided to punish myself today with a 11.5 miles of hills back on Kelley Rd. I saw some neat stuff on that road while on my bike that I never saw before when running up and down that road on the ambulance.

A bicycle moves you along at around 10-15 miles per hour. You can cover more ground by bike than you would walking or running, but you're moving just fast enough to still be able to take in your surroundings. Fortunately I had my camera with me.

I felt like Kevin Costner when I spotted these. Remember that scene in Dances With Wolves? They were grazing out in this field with some horses. Who would have know their were buffalo within a few miles of my home?

I'll bet they're tasty.

I reckon this little pooch must have known what I was thinking because
he came tearing out of the herd out of nowhere. Dogs really hate
bicyclists and accost them at every opportunity. This little mongrel
hurried me along.


A little further down the road I came across an old abandoned house. I love these places. They almost seem like they were always there, as if they grew out of the ground along with the forest around them. I managed to get a couple of pictures right before another couple of pooches decided to come running to greet me. Or rush me out of their pee grounds.

Anyways, I kicked my butt on those hills today. I can't be slacking off if I'm going to make the 100k in Orange Beach in October. SCUBA class is in less than a week. I'll keep you updated on how it goes!