As a side trip this year,   (actually, I’ve made this trip for the past 15 years or so),  we made a trip to Gainesville, to visit my friends who work with Manatees.   From there we went to the Butterfly house at the University.   What an incredible experience.  Lots of butterflies and a very beautiful setting to observe them.  While we were in Gainesville, we were given a special tour of the  Lubee Bat Center.   We were able to see many types of Fruit Bats, and learned quite a bit about them too.  That was great! Then on to Crystal River to see the Manatees.   There were lots of animals this year.  They just floated by, hovering in the nice warm clear water.  I have been doing this trip since 1985, and I look forward to it every time.  I was able to get a lot of photographs, and I even identified animals (unfortunately by scar patterns), that I have seen in past years.  As usual, I can't wait until January 2006.

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