Palmetto Ridge (lower left) is a new campground in the State Park with full hook-ups and can accomodate any size rig. It is near the entrance. Big Flats (upper right) is an older and smaller campground with water and electric. There are only a few sites at Big Flats that will fit rigs up to 35ft. Most of the sites can only accomodate smaller rigs. Both campgrounds have 50amp electric.
The four of us rode bicycles along Lake Myakka to the the North Gate. That is about a 7 mile round trip.
We made a stop at the bird-walk.
Everybody was searching for the birds!!
Unfortunately, the wind and cold must be scaring them off.
Yesterday, Nancy and I saw hundreds….
not so many today:o((
We continued on our way and enjoyed the beautiful natural canopy over the road.
We crossed over Clay Gully.
Think this would be a nice place to paddle sometime ;o))
We reached the North Gate...
took a break and chatted with the work-camper at the gate.
After a little rest, we turned around and headed back to Big Flats campground. It finally started to warm-up:o)) It was a bit chilly riding bikes this morning.
After our ride, we walked over to show David and Sherry the Weir that forms Lake Myakka. As the sun warmed things up, more people and wildlife appeared!!
A little bit of everything;o))
A Great Egret
A Tricolored Heron
A Limpkin
Least Sandpipers
The Black Vulture
The warm weather also filled the Air Boat to capacity!!
Lake Myakka is extremely low.
Can’t imagine how this boat does not bottom out in places!?!?!?
Before long, it was lunchtime.
David and Sherry treated me to an Ice Cream Cone Lunch
to celebrate the purchase of our new motorhome purchase.
We will find ANY reason to have ICE CREAM!!!!
After Lunch we biked to the Boylston Nature Trail
and Canopy Walkway & Tower.
It is about 2 miles from our campground
Big Flats (top center) to the nature trails. 
Hi Ho, Hi Ho,
It’s off to hike we go ;o))
We decided to hike the trail and geocache
before heading to the canopy walkway.
David was the one to find the cache this time!!
We enjoyed the nature trail which ended near the
Canopy Walkway and Tower.
This Canopy Walkway is one of only about a dozen world-wide!!
Click this link for more information: Canopy Walkway
Under-side of the Canopy Walkway.
Heading across the walkway towards the Tower.
Sherry and Nancy dueling cameras!!
View of the area from the Canopy Walkway.
I really don’t like heights
so I walked the 25’ high Canopy Walkway and
then went down to ground level
while the rest headed up the Tower!!
They raved about the views from way up there. 
I just enjoyed them in my mind from way down below ;o)
After our hike,
we headed over to the State Park Memorial
where we were looking for two more geocaches.
Sherry found this cache
at the base of the tree behind the memorial.
It was a micro cache, hidden in an old shell;o)
Nice find…Sherry!!
There was another cache hidden
somewhere behind this building across the street.
Nancy stayed with the bikes and took some photos;o))
The rest of us took off to find the cache.
We weren’t gone long.
The GPS lead us down to the river and
indicated we needed to cross the river.
It was very low and we could have crossed.
However,
there were several very long and very fat alligators close by. 
Needless to say, we returned without finding the cache.
Hard to believe it is late afternoon already. What a great day with good friends. The hours just seem to fly by when your doing things you love to do in the company of people who enjoy the same things!!
Tomorrow, we have a longer hike planned
and
we are looking forward to that adventure:o))
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