yeah... because its hilarious

Continuing with my silly graffiti theme...

HA HA... brian the explorer!!!

Lake Kissimmee State Park

Over the weekend Ellen and I went for a short backpacking trip at Lake Kissimmee State Park in Lake Whales, FL. The weather was great, the birds cooperative, and the park was a unique experience. We traveled back into the 1870's to the park's "Cow Camp" an authentic Florida cracker cow hunters camp where a cow pen and an original "Florida cracker." The thing is, these aren't your average beef cows or milk cows that you see everywhere on the sides of the interstate travelling through the state... these are scrub cows. 'Whats a scrub cow' you ask? Well the Keys are known for thier little deer, we also have little bovine. These "cracker" cattle, as they were also known, are smaller shorter horned bretheren of the Texas longhorn, that evolved into a smaller breed due to the fact that they were feral and needed to survive in the upland scrublands of Florida. History lesson aside, these are cool little cows and they are a unique part of our states past and present.
From the cow camp we set a bearing for the north loop trail. Along the trail we were suprised and slightly startled by the piercing call of a sandhill crane. I stopped in my tracks to take pictures as this bird was within a few feet of me and I feared I might never get the chance to get a shot this close ever again. Much to my surprise this magnificent bird turned to walk right across my path, close enough to touch! I followed her around for a few minutes and took my fill of shots before I decided to leave her alone. We later found out that this bird was distracting us from the rest of her family and chicks which were hiding nearby in the tall grass.
A ways down the trail we saw some deer in a field of tall grass, we moved as close as we could to take pictures before they ran off when one of the does started kicking any deer that would get in front of her, it was an odd behavior to witness but according to a hunting page I found online this doe must have been the dominant fmale of the group.
Our stay was quite nice as the temperature seemed to get down into the 60's overnight and proved cool and comfortable. We got several pictures of birds and landscape as well as a few of us goofing around. Here are a few of some birds and of Ellen. To see Ellens versions of the weekend check out her pics when she gets around to posting them :)

Ft. Desoto Park

Spent the day at Ft. Desoto Thursday after class taking pictures. Here are a few of my favorite shots. Brown Pelicans, a cute raccoon in a tree, a rose-breasted grosbeak on migration, and a female scarlet tanager also on migration (could not find a male). The birding thing has certainly hit me hard :)

Backpacking this weekend

Ellen and I are going backpacking at Lake Kissimmee State Park this weekend. Its only an over-nighter, but I am hoping to find some Florida Scrub Jays and steal their souls with my SLR. Story to come :)

A monochrome day

This last sunday Ellen and I went walking in Tampa. We took a bunch of pictures and generally had a good time. Here's the results of my shots. To see Ellen's shots see the link on my links page.

Where to next?

The touring itch is creeping up again and I'm thinking of planning my longest trip yet. I talk about it all the time and things often come up, but this time I'm planning life around it. This summer semester I am taking all online classes lending myself the ability to take my classes from local libraries as needs be. I have been doing strength training to hopefully assure that my knee is healed up and strong, combined with the hiking I have been doing hopefully that will help. Though I could be spending more time on the bike. I still dream of taking that trip to DC to see our nations capital. I definitely want to make it out of the state this trip around, possibly a trip to Kitty Hawk?
Well, as I lighten my load with "upgraded" gear i can see the plans forming for another trip and another story. Suggested routes and locations will certainly be heard and If anyone is looking to do a similar trip let me know and maybe we can plan something out.