Oakland Damage From Hurricane Ian

A couple weeks ago Natalie went to the Oakland Preserve with Adri's friend's mom. We had been to the preserve back in August as a family. Natalie told me the preserve was destroyed from Ian. Naturally, for science, I had to go and see the destruction myself. 

The next week I took the kids to the preserve. I don't agree with Natalie that the destruction is sad. Where the canopy was destroyed the undergrowth now has a chance to grow. Now from parts of the boardwalk that were covered in canopy we can see Lake Apopka. It was shocking how much destruction there was though considering it's 15 miles northeast of us and Ian came in from our southwest. We had some damage in the preserve in Clermont and at Lake Louisa but it seemed to have hit harder here for some reason. 

Nature is destructive but this is what has created Florida's unique ecosystem. The kids were running along the boardwalk as fast as they could. I was walking slowly observing all the damage trying to learn from it. I think if I would have gone a couple months earlier I would have a better understanding of what the hurricane actually did as it appears a lot of this was hurricane damage but some of it is just seasonal changes.

Here are the pictures from August when we went to Oakland Preserve.

This is the start of the boardwalk. 

Same area back in August.

Further down the trail to where the kids play "Floor is lava".

This is where the kids play floor is lava. There's a lot more to play on since the hurricane.

This is midway down the boardwalk.

The same spot back in August.

That vine is stretched tight between the standing tree and the one that fell. I wasn't able to get off the boardwalk and see if the tree is actually touching the ground but I suspect it might not be considering how tight that vine is stretched.

This tree just split in half.

A couple months ago this area was covered in thick canopy. Now we can see Lake Apopka.

Pretty close to the same area back in August.

Can you find the gator? I might not be able to find the bottle of ketchup in the fridge but I can spot a gator at 100 yards no problem. To the right of the bird right in the middle of the picture is a gator. His face is out by the water and his body is hidden by the grass but his tail is showing.

This tree that blew over was huge. The root ball behind Zach are probably about ten feet high.

The kids looking at snake skin at the nature center.

Blue Spring - St. Augustine - Anastasia State Park

In October 2009, when Natalie was pregnant with Adri, we went camping at Blue Spring. This was the first spring I had ever been to in Florida, and it's probably still my favorite. 

A couple months ago Natalie's cousin invited us to go to St. Augustine with them to see the Night of Lights. Blue Springs just happened to be on the way so I couldn't go without a stop at the springs. It was the first week of December so we weren't able to go swimming. This isn't because it's too cold to swim, the water is 72 degrees year round. It's due to the manatees. In the summer the manatees go into the warmer St. John's River. In the winter when the river gets cold they move into the springs. Sometime in mid-November they close the springs for swimming to protect the manatees.

We were expected to see some manatees but missed them. Apparently because it was still only fall and not very cold the manatees come into the spring in the morning and then move out to the river in the afternoon when it warms up. Today, is the coldest Christmas weekend in over 30 years and I'm betting the manatees are all in the springs.

Dean running down the path that follows the springs.

 I love that booty.

This is where people normally get in to go swimming. Due to the hurricanes the water was up over the top step where normally it's a couple steps lower.

They boys were having a lot of fun running on the boardwalk and trying to hide and scare us at the turns.

This is where the water comes up.

Where the springs meet the St. John's River.

There was well over 100 vultures in the trees in this area.

After Blue Springs we stayed in the historic district of St. Augustine. It was insanely crowded that weekend. 

Saturday we watched a lame parade then went over to the fort. That night we did the Night of Lights tour. They gave us glasses that for the kids turned all the lights into reindeer shapes and stars for adults. It was still warm at night that weekend while we rode the trolley for about an hour around the town.

The boys sitting by a mortar.

We got pretzels in the old town. They have a garden in the back where we ate. This is how I want my back yard to ge once we buy a home. Now grass, just a huge garden with places to sit, lay, whatever. 

For dinner we got hibachi. Look at Zach's face.

Picture taken through the glasses. If you expand the picture you can see the stars.

This one is taken through the kid's glasses. 

Before going home we wanted to take the kids up the lighthouse. However they have a ridiculous 44 inch requirement and Dean is only 42 inches. This kid can hike volcanos but not lighthouse stairs. They told me we could leave him at the bottom and go up in two groups. Screw that. Dean goes or no one goes.

We went over to Anastasia State Park Beach instead. I had no idea the beaches were so nice in this area. They don't have the really blue water of the Emerald coast but they had really cool sand dunes.

This little guy looked dead when I found him. I think I caught him taking a nap. He woke up and got a little feisty. This is the biggest crab I've ever seen on a beach.