We had an exciting day for Kelly's birthday, May 12.  We were headed toward the west side of Okefenokee Swamp, but since we came really close to the east side, we decided to visit there first.

(Did you notice the alligator above?)

We drove along a causeway where there were many interesting flora and fauna, including some carnivarous plants.

Here's a Pitcher Plant, which lures small insects into the very slippery tube of the plant, where it can't get out, and then enzymes eat it away, serving as food for the plant.

We also encountered a turtle crossing the road, so Kelly got out to take pictures

We got caught in a thunderstorm on the boardwalk of the East Okefenokee Swap park.

Lots of thunder, lightening, heavy rain, and wind.  Thank goodness there was a shade structure nearby,

so we backtracked and ensconced ourselves for the duration (mostly).  After maybe 30 minutes of this, the rain lightened up and we proceeded onwards.  It was wet, but not cold, and was quite the adventure, and the tower at the end of the boardwalk gave amazing views, even in the rain. 

We then proceeded to the West entrance of the park, about 1.5 hrs away, the long-way round.  The most direct way is through the swamp, not an option, since the trailer isn't amphibious.  😀

Along the route around the rather huge park, we were searching for gas.  We happened upon "Lacy's Kountry Store".

We drove in, under the shelter, to the first available pump and Richard, putting on a mask, got out.  First off, the pump was a really old type which has the mechanical dials.  We haven't seen these in a few decades!  It took a few seconds to realize that "pay at the pump" wasn't happening here and going in would be necessary.  Remembering the way things used to be done decades ago, Richard went inside.  The very nice lady looked at him and said,

"You're gonna back up, right?"

"Umm, I'm already positioned right beside the pump, I think," says Richard.

"I mean, your trailer will take out my cover unless you back up," says the lady.

"Hmmm.  I see what you mean!", says Richard.

While the trailer itself would barely fit under the shelter, the AC and vent units on top would most likely have caused considerable damage to both themselves and others!

"Yeah, I had a U-Haul take it out a few weeks back.  I'd like to avoid that happening again!"

"Sure, no problem!  I can easily back up after pumping gas.  Thanks for mentioning it!"

And, so, gas was pumped and major shelter (and trailer) damage was avoided!

With no further incidents, we arrived at the west park in the afternoon. 

May 13-14 we were at the West park, with no cell service or internet at our campsite.  It was raining.  

We parked outside the ranger station which offered wifi in close proximity, so we were able to pick up email, but didn't have the bandwidth to update the travel log for a few days.   There was a nice boardwalk nature trail,

but due to the rain, we saw mostly flora,

and very little fauna other than dragonflies and alligators. 

This is a test.  What's wrong with this picture?

Dragonflies!

Unknown nest:

The resident male, about 10' long, according to the ranger.

Later in the day, before we retired for the evening, we went back to the ranger station and picked up email again.  There we saw an amazing sight:  a vixen moving her kits to a new den.  We saw her with one tiny kit, moving fast in front of the parked car, and thought she'd killed a small rabbit or something.  No time to snap a pic.  Then she returned, empty mouthed, and we set up across from one another to see if she came back.  She did!   She was carrying another kit, much larger than the first.

During the late afternoon of May 13, we had a visitor at the campground site.  Farid was very interested:

but this beautiful doe was a little out of his league. ;-)

That evening, we cooked up the green peanuts we'd purchased at the Pig a few days before.  Yum!

Upon exiting the park the next morning, May 14, we saw a juvenile black bear cross the road just a little way in front of us.

Next up: Florida, somewhere along I10.  :-)  (actually we landed at De Funiak Springs, FL)