Yesterday was a warm and sunny day.  About 75′ F.  One of our river trip guests (kayaking the seven mile Coldwater Creek trip) saw six wood ducks, two deer crossing the creek, a Cooper hawk, an otter and about six snapping turtles.   In the summer months there are a lot of people out on the creek so the animals tend to stay away.  In the winter there are very few people on the water, so if you enjoy quiet and the chance of seeing wildlife; this is a great time of year to go out on Coldwater Creek.  Pack a picnic, bring your fishing pole or camera and come out and enjoy the beauty of the creek, the sky, and the quiet.

There is a Florida Black Bear living near Adventures Unlimited.  He has been spotted by staff and guests numerous times.  He is looking for food and gets into trash receptacles on the property. Florida Black Bears are on the threatened species list and are protected.  This bear is a male; he looks to be about 300 ponds and over six feet tall when he stands on his back feet.  Black bears live to be about 20-25 years old in the wild. They are omnivorous, they eat plants, fruit, nuts, insects, honey, fish, small mammals and road kill.   We have been told that there has never been an attack on a human by a Florida black bear.  The staff of Adventures Unlimited is attempting to cut off the bear’s food supply (here at the resort) so that Buddy Bear will retreat into the forest where he will be safe from humans.  So far, he doesn’t seem to want to leave.  We are encouraging all our campers to put their food up in a place where the bear can’t get it, and cabin guests to keep the lids on the outside trash cans.  Hopefully I will get to see this bear soon.  I plan on bringing my camera to work for the next couple of days and if I can get a picture of him, I will post it on the blog.

Last night we had the Adventures Unlimited Christmas party at a local Mexican Restaurant.  Fun, food  and fellowship was had by all.  Most of the staff and some family members were able to attend.  We had a great game of dirty Santa where the most popular item being fought over was a mechanical Christmas dog.

It is a beautiful day, the first day of December.  It is sunny and cold outside. It is hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner. There have been folks out on the river canoeing and kayaking.  This is a great time of year to see wildlife on the river.  Last week there were sighting of wild turkey out on Coldwater Creek.  This is a great time of year to come and stay at the fireplace cabins too.  It is so quiet at night and the stars are shining so brightly in the sky.  As we usually are in the off season, the staff of Adventures Unlimited is busy working on programs and projects for next year. We are working on getting the  cabins and grounds ready for the 2009 season. It is a fairly quiet time for us to get things done. Our company Christmas Party is this week.  We are all looking forward to seeing one another, eating a great Mexican dinner, and exchanging gifts.  This is our first post on the AU blog.  We are excited about being able to communicate with everyone this way.  There will be several AU staff writing posts so stay tuned.  Suzi Roberts