May 18, 2006, 8:17pm

So, Shirley took Diangao, Du Lin and me to see the Santa Fe River. We went to the O'Lena State Park and the Poe Springs County Park.

It has warning signs about alligators in the O'Lena State Park everywhere. Both fortunately and unfortunately, I didn't see any. One part of me wants to see the gators in the wild. But the other part of me knows I cannot run if the wild gators come close.

This is the cypress trees in the O'Lena State Park. They are everywhere near water in Florida. The little short thing coming up from the ground is called the cypress knees. Seems like no one knows what the cypress knees are for. See the article here.

Du Lin, Diangao and I walked across the bridge but Shirley and Zhi Mei didn't want to walk on the "springy" bridge. So, this photo is to show the little achievement of Du Lin and me.

We saw a deer by the road when we were leaving the O'Lena State Park. It has a sign in the park to warn drivers about gophers crossing the road. I was hoping to see one but didn't see any. It should be like a big tortoise. Wouldn't it be interesting to wait for a gophers to walk across the road? Don't know how long it takes for them to walk the several feet?

This is the Poe Springs County Park. The water here is much clearer than that in the O'Lena State Park. It's such a beautiful day. :)))