Florida

My first alligator in the wild. Definitely taken with the telephoto lens.

Not so wild alligator held by "Dad Dundee."  Advice given by #1 son, "now you need to get him a real knife." Name that movie.

This is how I spent one day. I have the peeling sunburn to prove it.

The requisite photo of me in the Gulf of Mexico. I say requisite because every time we visit a new place, whatever body of water happens to be closest, I get a photo of my tootsies in the water. I have photos of me soaking my toes in the Mediterrean Sea and the Tagus River, to name a few.

BTW-the water is incredibly warm! Being used to the freezing Pacific waves (or not-I hardly venture in farther than my ankles), I was absolutely amazed. The sandy beaches are white, white, white. It is gorgeous.

Up close and personal, with the Everglades!

In our personal airboat. FUN! The guides on these airboats are native born Evergladians (is that a word) and they are CRAZY.

If you see a floating log on a river, it's probably an alligator....

More wildlife. This is a panther. There are signs all over the highways that say, "panther crossing." There are signs on the water that say "manatee crossing."  It seems there is plenty of wildlife crossing everywhere. One more reason I don't want to live in Florida.

For Jessica-this was one event we attended at a wildlife zoo with GINORMOUS tents and delicious food.

We were so lonely for our kids, we adopted a cute couple from California.  We were out in the Everglades again. (ghastly picture of "mom & dad"!)

This was a TOTAL blast. I want one! It was really scary getting used to it at first because you use your weight to start and stop, but once we got the hang of it, I didn't want to get off. We cruised the streets of Naples on these.

And so I'll end my post with a nice Florida sunset.....

Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
We have plenty of golf courses, retirement homes, snowbirds, palm trees, sunshine and beautiful sunsets here.
Minus the humidity......