Saturday 15th Feb

To-day started well with David demonstrating mastery of the automatic waffle maker. Then we went round the corner to the Museum of Natural History. This had almost complete skeletons of both a mastodon and a mammoth, both of which lived in these parts up to a few thousand years ago. They also had an exhibit on the dog, entitled 'Wolf to Woof'. The highlight of the static exhibits however is an outstanding collection of butterfly specimens. Some of them are as big as your hand and the colours are incredible.
They also had a large cage full of butterflies flying around which is world-class. I'd certainly never seen anything like it. This is an Owl butterfly.










The picture was taken on our first visit. We came back after visiting the Devil's Millhopper a few miles up the road. Yes, folks we went down a sink hole and lived to tell the tale!



It's a sinkhole which is something Florida is famous for. It reminded 18th century folk of the grain feed hopper in a grist mill, and because it is deep in the ground it became associated with the devil-of course.




It is 117 feet deep and 500 feet across and was formed when the layer of clay between the limestone below and sand above was undermined by a water spring. The water from the streams which run into it disappears into the sub stratum.

Location:Gainesville