More later...

This blog is not about personal issues and a lot of personal stuff is going on in my life right now. My beloved Grandfather passed away last week, and I just haven't wanted to continue with my original post ideas. I'll get to them eventually, but in the meantime, say a prayer for my Grandmother and smile at the many wonderful memories my Grandfather created. Click to see his Memorial page.

The Drive Through the Keys

After spending the night in Key Largo, we got up early for our jaunt through the rest of the Keys. It was raining much of the time, so we didn't get our great photos on the way down.

We did see some some amazing houses and cool animals. In Marathon I saw a common mynah for the first time. They're an Asian species that occurs in the Keys. As we drove further, we happened to see a sign for Curry Hammock State Park, and they were having a birding festival and entrance was free! There we saw some rehabilitated birds, including this pelican (Gracie) who is blind in both eyes. She loved having her head rubbed and kept begging for fish. Pretty cool.

We also saw some frigate birds, which are always fun.

My favorite part of the drive down was Bahia Honda State Park. We only have one photo because it was raining off and on, but it was just gorgeous. We tried to do some snorkeling, but the water was so rough that it was difficult. If any of the underwater photos turn out, I'll post them later. So much for my determination to snorkel at a reef someday. It's still on my list!


And lastly, we checked out the Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key. We did see one deer dash across the road, but it was too quick for a photo. We didn't get to go out early in the AM or PM when we could have seen more. This photo will hopefully give you an idea of how tiny they are.

We ended the day by settling into our adorable little B&B in Key West and checking out the wildlife on Duval Street!

One more day to post, and I'll be caught up!

The First Day of Birthday Fun

Most of our first day on vacation (our first in over a year!) was spent driving to Key Largo. We stayed at a little efficiency there so that we could rest up for the rest of our "exploratory driving" experience. This means that we take our sweet time getting to our destination so that we can check out anything interesting along the way.

Since neither of us particularly loves Key Largo, we decided to drive to beautiful Islamorada for dinner. We ate at the Islamorada Fish Company and watched the sunset.

As I've explained to various people, I will take photos of any animal that lets me get close. Our camera is not very zoom equipped, so that means I only get good shots of very common animals. Or in this case, very slow ones...

I also took a shot of this Eurasian collared dove, as we don't see them much around here. They're an exotic species (in case the word Eurasian didn't give it away.)



And finally, this gull. I think it's a winter plumage laughing gull? I'm not so good with shorebirds.
That's all for now. I don't want to stare at the computer anymore. I have 2 or 3 more posts coming about this in the next few days. See ya then!

Pulling a Heather

Hey all! I've followed in Heather's illustrious footsteps and taken tons of photos of my trip. I now have to go through them and decide what's blog worthy. It should just be a few days.

For now, just know that we had a fabulous time! It was a great 30th bday present! And here's a teaser to keep you interested.

Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West

Finally! A New Adventure!

I just turned 30, and to separate (separate? WTH was I thinking?? CELEBRATE) that momentous occasion, we've decided to head to the Keys as my present. We're also celebrating what will be 10 years together in November. I will be gone for a long weekend, so I'll post when I get back.

HURRAY! New animals and adventures to share! This is long overdue.

I Like Turtles.

It seems that all the Florida soft shelled turtle babies hatched at the same time near my workplace today! In an effort to save them, we picked up all we could find (probably around 15 or so) and removed them from the roadway in favor of a nice waterway. I know they can be aggressive as adults, but as babies they are very very cute. I stole a photo for my blog before releasing this one.

Beautiful Bradenton and Sarasota!

First off, our digital camera batteries have gone to the big battery heaven in the sky, so no pictures for the time being. :(

We traveled to Bradenton Saturday night to spend some time with a high school friend of mine named Kylee and her wonderful husband Richard. We figured that if we got to see some beautiful scenery along the way, so much the better!

Bradenton is a lovely young town that we immediately liked. It was nice to see some countryside for once! Kylee and Richard also graciously decided to be our tour guides for a little jaunt around Sarasota and its barrier islands. The Sarasota Marina was gorgeous. The weather was perfect for sitting along the water and just watching the sailboats bobbing in the breeze.

Longboat Key was probably my favorite nature wise though. There were actual sections where the beach still looked natural! And the white sandbars projecting their fingers into the beautiful blue-green Gulf was oddly striking for me. Maybe it's because we get to see natural coastlines and sandbars so little these days.

As far as animals go, we saw and heard the usual birds. I think I saw a shrike, which excited me. Otherwise we mainly spent time observing a spectacular canine specimen of the beagle mix variety named Peanut. :)