We left De Soto park at 8:30 AM and drove our 133 miles to Manatee Springs State Park. We never know exactly what to expect and we like it that way. We got here at noon, it was a slow go with a couple of stops. We found out that the Manatee will come up to the spring and get warm in the 72 degree water in the winter. At this time of year you can swim in the hole, it had 33 million gallons of water coming out of the ground per day and is crystal clear. We went swimming twice really nice and not all that cold. The spring runs into the Swanee River a few hundred feet away. So I guess you could say we are way down the Swanee river today.