Feb 25 - More Paynes Prairie State Park and Gainesville,FL

  We drove over to the visitor center, watched a video of the area (absolutely incredible photography) and got some maps and recommended hiking trails.  Walked over to observation tower that overlooks a portion of the prairie basin.  Their prairie is not dry, like out west, but is very wet.  We hiked on a portion of the Cones Dike Trail, until it was flooded.  But it skirted a big swampy portion of the prairie.  We saw a lot of bison poop, but no bison.  About 3 miles round trip,  The weather had turned cooler overnight, so it was a beautiful sunny day with a high of 72 and low humidity.  Perfect for hiking.
  We came back to the RV, had lunch, and did some electronic catch up.  I sat out at the picnic table with my computer and wrote the bills, etc.  It was so beautiful out, that I walked back over to the lake and sat in the pavilion and read, and just hung out.
   We headed into Gainesville, and on the way, stopped at the EcoPreserve along the highway.  Large body of water that is part of the preserve, with a boardwalk pier into it.  What was so incredible was that so much of the green area at the edges looked solid, but were actually floating.  With the waves, the ground looked like it was undulating.  Really cool!
   We drove through University of Florida in Gainesville, and ate dinner at a great little hip mexican place, that actually had TVP and tempeh as protein choices.  We walked through the library, as it was such a huge building, and had very impressive architecture.  Also, did a quick stop at the Whole Foods (hey, it was a college town, so it had one).

Paynes Prairie visitor center observatory and hike photos:

The EcoPreserve photos:

Gainesville library:

Lake view near our campsite: