Old grocery store complete with grumpy clerk! by B A Bowen Photography

We had fun much fun at the Crowley Museum and Nature Center – Heritage Festival this past Saturday!
“Where Southwest Florida History and Nature Meet” is the motto of the Crowly Museum and it is indeed a perfect blend of both. Take a stroll back in time as you visit the Museum and General Store filled with furniture and artifacts of the Crowley Family dating back to the Pioneer Days. The General Store is a complete replica of the Original Miakka general store with tools, glassware, and even a paper cut-out of a Grumpy Clerk to give it that old time feel. The complex also has the 1892 restored two story Tatum House that once housed over thirteen children! Be sure to go inside and take in the charm of the antique furniture and schoolroom. They are certainly a reflection of the times! There is also a fully operating Sugarcane mill that can be viewed as you journey from one pioneer house to another.

For a more natural experience, take a stroll down the Pine Level Trail, that was once an old wagon trail used by the pioneers to travel to Braidentown (AKA Bradenton).   There is also the 1/2 mile boardwalk that takes you on a journey through tall Cabbage Palm/Oak Hammocks, out to the Tatum Sawgrass Marsh that once served as a ricefield, and enjoy the fall colors as you pass through the Maple Branch Swamp. Enjoy the lush ferns, wild coffee, and butterfly orchids that line the trail.  There is also plenty of seating along the way. Climb the two story observation tower for a panoramic view of the marshland. This tower is also a favorite spot for birders.  Roseatte Spoonbills, Sandhill Cranes, Egrets and woodstorks among others can often be seen foraging in the marshland.  As the trail loops back to the visitor center, listen for the hoot of the Barred Owl in the trees or observe the Bald Eagles Nesting in the tall pines. For more inforation on this intriguing piece of Florida History go to: http://www.cmncfl.org/experience.htm

Click here to view more photos of the Crowley Museum and Nature Centeron Flickr.

Trail into the pine forest

I hiked the Florida Trail Citrus D Loop in the Withlacoochee State Forest this past weekend. The west side of this loop had very interesting scenery as the trail takes you along the Brooksville Ridge and has many Karst geological features including Dames Cave and Lizzie Hart Sink. Watch your step as you trek over this terrain as the rocks are loose and sometimes hidden it the plush fern gardens.  While positioning myself to take a photo, I happened to find a Geocache Stache near Lizzie Hart Sink.  I made sure to open the canister and leave a note! After you leave the temperate hardwood forests, that are clinging hard and fast to the Karst Limestone, the terrain changes as you hike on a soft carpet of pine needles up and down the sand-hills of the Pine Uplands. Wildflowers are abundant in the sand-hills and are a true pleasure to see along the trail. Elegant Liatris, Chapman’s liatris and short leafed Liatris were all seen in full bloom along with Dog Tongue and sweet everlasting adding a wonderful aroma in a light breeze. This trail is a 13 mile loop that can be challenging at times but a true gem in the Citrus Tract of the Withlacoochee State Forest.

Oppossum

The Citrus Tract of the Withlacoochee State Forest is maintained by the Florida Trail Association and has 40 miles of scenic hiking/backpacking trails (A,B,C and D Loops). The Citrus D Loop takes you along the Western Brooksville Ridge which is well known for its karst geology.   There is primitive camping along the loop just off Brittle Road.

Citrus D Loop google map by B A Bowen Photography

Click here to view more photos of Citrus D Loopon Flickr.

Magellan Triton 2000

Magellan Triton 2000- Needs to be commended for being the first to offer all of the whistles and bells!  The first to offer the full color touch screen with 2MP camera/picture viewer, MP3 Player, voice recorder, led flashlight, 3-axis electronic compass, barometer and more!  It also has an SD card expansion for storage of waypoints, routes, photos, geocaches, sounds, and songs.  Comes with built-in base maps with preprogrammed points of interest of the 48 states and world wide boundaries.  Magellan is now offering FREE download TOPO maps in order to keep up with the competition. The SD slot allows for downloads of more detailed maps such as National Geographic, topo maps, and marine cartography. It also has options for an external antennae and an audio jack to listen to your songs.  It’s WAAS capability offers 3 ft accuracy and is great for geocaching! MAP Price $499

Garmin Oregon 550t GPS

Garmin Oregon 550t -  The Garmin answer to the multi-gadget GPS proves to the the heaviest hitter yet!  Improving on the already top dog Garmin Oregon 400t, the 550t full color touchscreen boast a 3.2 MP camera/picture viewer with 4x digital zoom and automatic geotagging of each photo. This will always lead you back to the exact spot of the photo. Photos can be stored online at www.Garmin.com and uploaded with Picasa.  With 850 MB of internal storage and a micros SD card expansion slot, you will never need to miss a photo opportunity. For navigation it comes with detailed preloaded topo maps of the 48 states and worldwide basemap, 3 axis digital compass for 3-D views, barometric altimeter, and high sensitivity WAAS capability for those hard to reach places.  It also capacity for up to 5000 geocache locations and 2000 waypoints which can be shared wirelessly with friends that have either the Colorado or Oregon series GPS. All this comes protected in a IPX7 waterproof rated rugged casing. MAP $599 (not available until July ’09)

Bushnell Onix 400 GPS

Bushnell Onix 400  - For those who travel in weather sensitive areas. This GPS is the first of its kind!  It boasts satellite imagery, XM satellite radio and XM Weather Navigator.  With a subscription to XM Satellite Weather, you get real time weather information and updates. Great feature for those whole like to travel in areas where the weather is highly volatile..ie Mt McKinley.  Its layering ability allows you to download a satellite photo and layer topo map, compass, navigational aids and XM services on a single screen with a feature called  TruView NavigationLayer.  NEXRAD weather data down-linked from XM NavWeather can also be layered over a georeferenced satellite map of your location.  This can help you pinpoint those nasty storms or areas of high winds.  The subscription to XM NavWeather also allows access to over 170 channels of XM satellite featuring radio news, sports, talk, entertainment and music.  Built with rugged rubberized armor offers IPX7 waterproof protection. It also has a high gain SIRF GPS receiver, digital compass, and embedded 128 Micro SD Card.  MAP Price $499

Lowrance Endura Sierra GPS

Lowrance Endura Sierra - This is the Lowrance answer to the Garmin 400t with full color touchscreen and built in detailed topo maps, MP3 Player/voice record, picture viewer, 3 axis digital compass, and barometric altimeter.   The topo maps are detailed with hill shade, topo graphic contours, trails and points of interests.   Its has 4 GB built in memory and 32 GB Micro SD card slot allows the flexibility to directly accept GPX trails and geocaches, as well as POIs from web communities or other sources.  Speaker, headphone jack, and microphone all built into waterproof IXP7 rated casing.  It is also capable of turn-by-turn directions with optional purchase.  MAP price $499 (available in July ’09)

Delorme PN 40 GPS

Delorme PN 40-  If satellite imagery is your preference this unit is blazingly fast with high-sensitivity 32-channel STMicroelectronics Cartesio chipset. It boasts a NEW Dual-core processor for instantaneous map and satellite imagery redraws.  This allows are downloading large aerial images files and works well on maps with multiple layers.  This unit supports SDHC high-capacity SD cards (up to 32 GB) for fast and direct map transfer from the included maps discs.
Its 3-axis digital compass along with a 360 deg raster rotation allows you to view roads, buildings, trees, rocks etc as you rotate around or drive, bike, or hike down the path. It also comes with barometric altimeter, 1 GB internal memory that hold up to 100o way-points. Boasting itself and a pure hybrid, the unit comes with software with both detailed topo and Street maps and has access to up-to-date USPS Quad maps, NOAA Nautical Charts, and high resolution aerial  imagery for yearly subscription of only $29.95.  This rugged little unit it also waterproof IPX7 rated and is a lot of bang for its buck!  MAP $399

You can sign up for the event and find out more on Face book.

This years event is featuring raffle give aways including a Garmin Oregon 200 GPS donated by Riverbanks Outdoor Store.  Don’t miss out!

Garmin Oregon 200 GPS

Keep checking back.  We will update the post as the event gets nearer!  Posting on GEOCaching.com will happen May 1st.

About the Author: Barbara is the owner of  an online store Riverbanks  Outdoor Store for two years and has frequently engaged in outdoor sports for years including camping, mountain biking, whitewater rating, kayaking, snorkeling, and hiking.    Barbara also hosts a blog Riverbanks Adventure Forum that focuses on product reviews and adventure vacations.